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Adeleke The Face Of Modern Ireland Eyes Olympic Glory

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Rashidat Adeleke (PHOTO BY RFI)

 

Rhasidat Adeleke hopes to become the first Irish female to win an Olympic athletics gold in Paris, an achievement that would provide a fitting riposte to racists who have targeted her for online abuse.

Born and raised in Ireland to Nigerian parents, Adeleke, 21, heads to Paris as the European 400 metres silver medallist — one of three medals she won in Rome in June — and an impressive win at the Monaco Diamond League meet.

 

However, the warm afterglow of her performances at the European Championships — gold in the mixed 4x400m relay and silver in the 4×400 women’s relay — was overshadowed by a wave of racist abuse on social media which questioned her right to represent Ireland.

 

“Irish athletes have trained all their lives just to see opportunities taken away from them by Africans,” said one post on Twitter.

Those close to Adeleke say the abuse affected her deeply.

“I think that’s probably the most pain I’ve seen her have,” Edrick Floreal, her coach at Texas University, revealed.

“She was really in a dark place when she read those things on the Internet.

 

 

“She doesn’t cry ever, so when she cries it’s like, ‘Oh my God’, so that bothered her more than I ever thought and I just let her handle it.”

The abuse prompted Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris into saluting her as an inspiration to “young girls and boys.”

– ‘You are Ireland’ –

“Rhasidat Adeleke is not only a world-class champion, she is a world-class person,” said Harris. “You are class, so please do not let online cowards bring you down.

“You are Ireland and Ireland could not be more proud of you.”

 

 

Adeleke’s mother, Ade, decried the abuse — “she is just a little girl” — while telling her daughter to “look forward to the positivity, not the negativity.”

Indeed there is much to be positive about heading to the Olympics, with her clocking the fourth fastest time of the season thus far of 49.07 seconds in Monaco.

 

Had it not been for her mother, though, Adeleke might not be in the position of dreaming of Olympic gold and bettering the 5,000m silver won by Sonia O’Sullivan at the 2000 Sydney Games, which remains Ireland’s only female Olympic athletics medal.

 

“Her mom, Ade, was very keen that Rhasidat would get the best and education and homework had to align with sport,” her former school head teacher Aine Mulderrig told Buzz.ie in June.

 

“There was a straightforward bus ride from her home in Tallaght (suburb of Dublin) but Ade picked her up every evening past fourth year because there was a tight schedule.

 

“She had training, she had her homework and that all had to be done because mom was extremely determined that she was getting her education.”

Adeleke showed she had taken as much care of her homework as her training as she won a scholarship to Texas despite taking the exams in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

 

As ever, she had been accompanied by her mother to have a look at the campus — but unlike a legion of tricky relationships between pushy parents and talented athletes — this one seems unbreakable.

 

“My mam comes to every single meet ever since I was growing up. She put me first all the time,” Adeleke told Irish broadcaster RTE after taking European silver.

 

“She would switch out shifts at work. She would take me everywhere, pay for everything.

“To be able to be here, doing what I love, I just feel so grateful to her because I definitely wouldn’t be here without her.”

 

Adeleke, whose sister Latifah is also a promising athlete, feels she owes her mum and there could be no better gift than Olympic gold.

“I wanted gold,” she said in Rome.

“Hopefully moving forward I get my gold.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP

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Iraola: My Fight With Isak Has Never Been About Goals

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Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says Alexander Isak is a “massive” player for him – but adds he “fights” with the player about needing to do more for the “collective”.

 

Isak scored twice in the opening nine minutes in the 2-0 win over Ipswich to take his tally to three for the season – but Iraola hinted the player needs to do more off the ball for the team.

“He’s a massive player for us,” he told Sky Sports. “My demands will not be about the goals: he’s fit, in a good shape and he will produce the numbers.

“But my fights with him are more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations. But it’s good he has played two full games and today a good amount of minutes, scoring the goals.”

Iraola did not reveal which specific areas Isak needs to improve, but it could be interpreted that Iraola wants his striker to do more in the pressing.

“I will demand other things so we can play well,” he said in his post-match press conference about those demands to Isak. “And if we play well, we are in good positions, the goals will come.

“He has to contribute to the collective and when everyone helps, after the goals and results will come.”

Iraola also said to Sky: “Today we were much, much better in our press. We were recovering very high and then we can contact him in good positions.

“If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him to have less spaces. So we need more quality effort to put our No 9 in situations like he had today.”

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‘It’s So Strong’ – Sabalenka Halts Play Over Cannabis Smell

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Aryna Sabalenka briefly halted her US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova because of a strong smell of cannabis before cruising into the fourth round in New York.

 

Top seed Sabalenka raised the issue after going 3-0 up in the first set against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that “someone is smoking weed”.

The Belarusian asked the umpire to intervene “because it’s so strong”.

Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio and made a smoking gesture to someone behind her, before play continued.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka went on to secure a confident 6-3 6-4 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium as she chases a fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sabalenka said afterwards she was not sure where the smell of cannabis was coming from but asked fans to be more mindful.

Smoking is not permitted on site at Flushing Meadows but the smell of cannabis sometimes wafts on to court from the nearby Corona Park.

It is legal to smoke it in New York for adults aged 21 and over.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.

“I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

Sabalenka is not the first player at this year’s US Open to complain about the smell of cannabis at Flushing Meadows.

Britain’s Katie Boulter previously said it was distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed the smell.

In past years players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have also complained.

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Onana Gets Twins As Salah Welcomes First Son Weeks After Joining Turkish Team

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Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah has welcomed his third child and first son, named Lail, Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan said after the Turkish club’s third-round league match against Amedspor.

 

Doğan said Salah and his Cameroonian teammate André Onana travelled outside Turkey following the match as their wives were due to give birth.

“After the Amed match, we travelled abroad with Onana and Salah. Onana welcomed twins, while Salah welcomed a baby boy. I congratulate their families and wives,” Doğan was quoted as telling Turkish media.

Salah’s sister, Rabab Salah, later revealed the baby’s name on Instagram, posting a photograph of a baby hat and congratulating her brother on the birth of Lail.

The child is Salah’s first son. The Egyptian star and his wife, Magi, already have two daughters, Makka and Kayan.

Doğan’s comments came after a photograph of Salah and Onana aboard a private jet circulated online, prompting questions among Trabzonspor supporters and local media about the reason for their trip.

The club president said both players had travelled for family reasons following the match.

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