The reason for Rhasidat Adeleke's withdrawal from the World Championships uncovered
Rhasidat Adeleke, the Irish sprinter based in Texas since January 2021, has announced her withdrawal from the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. The decision comes after a challenging season marked by lingering injuries and continuous setbacks, which made it difficult for her to train and perform at her expected level [1][2][3][5].
Adeleke's coach confirmed that she was genuinely injured and not in a condition to compete at a world-class level. The Irish athletics team was disappointed by the news, especially considering her previous near-podium finishes at global events and her role in the relay team [1][4][5].
In her last race on July 19th in London, Adeleke finished fourth. Her performance this season has been short of her best, with her season best time currently ranked 26th in the world for the 200m and 400m races [6][7]. In the 200m race in London, her performance was down on her Irish record, and she never looked her sharpest in 10 races this year [4].
The exact nature of Adeleke's injuries remains unclear, but she revealed that an injury from earlier in the season has led to additional lingering setbacks [3]. Her training group in Texas includes Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith, two renowned athletes in the world of track and field [8].
Adeleke graduated with a degree in corporate communications last year and forfeited her last year of collegiate eligibility to turn professional with Nike [9]. Despite the setbacks, she remains optimistic about her future in athletics and plans to take time to heal, recover, and prepare for the next season.
The World Championships in Tokyo will start on September 13th, and without Adeleke, the Irish team will have to regroup and find alternative solutions for the 200m and 400m events.
[1] https://www.irishathletics.ie/news/rhasidat-adeleke-withdraws-from-world-championships-in-tokyo [2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/61640230 [3] https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/athletics/rhasidat-adeleke-withdraws-from-world-championships-due-to-injury-41448024.html [4] https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/other-sport/rhasidat-adeleke-withdraws-world-champs-41448024.html [5] https://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sports/2025/0801/1235687-adeleke-withdraws-from-world-championships/ [6] https://www.worldathletics.org/rankings/list/10/season/2025/women/200m/personal-best [7] https://www.worldathletics.org/rankings/list/10/season/2025/women/400m/personal-best [8] https://www.texastrackandfield.com/athletes/rhasidat-adeleke [9] https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/athletics/rhasidat-adeleke-withdraws-from-world-championships-due-to-injury-41448024.html
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