Adeleke leads Irish gold medal rush with a sprint double

Ireland had only won three titles in European Athletics U20 Championships history prior to Tallinn but the Irish contingent have amassed four gold medals in just over 24 hours in Estonia, including three within a golden three hours on the third day of competition inside the Kadriorg Stadium on Saturday (17).

And with one day of competition remaining, the Irish team currently sit atop the medal table with those four gold medals ahead of Germany, Great Britain and Finland with three titles apiece.

After storming to victory in the 100m, Rhasidat Adeleke was in unassaiable form in the 200m as she became the first sprinter since Jodie Williams on this very same track a decade ago to win a sprint double at the European U20 Championships.

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A heavy schedule of six races within three days didn’t seem to unduly affect the Irishwoman whatosever who led off the bend before her strength showed as she forged an awesome half-a-second-plus winning margin on her seven competitors.

Her winning time of 22.90 was an outright Irish record and she won by an incredible 0.65 over Dutchwoman Minke Bisschops who toned for missing out on the 100m medals with silver in the 200m in 23.55.

“I am so happy after today; it was all I could ask for. It feels so good to smash that 23 second barrier again, I am very happy about that. I was going pretty strong during the race, I just wanted to stay in line. When I decided to come here, I just told myself that since I am doing double, I need to win them both,” said Adeleke.