2023 Big 12 Outdoor Championships: All eyes on record chasing Rhasidat Adeleke
University of Texas Junior sets sights on another 400m Irish record
Nearly a month after she became the first Irish woman to run inside 50 seconds (49.90) in the 400m event at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, Rhasidat Adeleke will be on the prowl again, this time at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
The event which will hold at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex on the University of Oklahoma campus in Oklahoma will be the Irish’s first since April 15, 2023 after she blazed to Irish 200m (22.34) and 400m (49.90) records on her outdoor season’s debut in Florida.
All eyes, especially in Ireland and Nigeria as well as among the students of her school, University of Texas will be on the 20 year old to set a new 400m mark again, the only individual she will be running at the championships.
Adeleke will however be aiming to win her first individual conference title after finishing third (50.70) in the 400m event last year at the Terry and Linda Fuller T and F Complex, Lubbock, Texas.
The Irish girl, named Europe’s women’s Athlete of the Month for April 2023 has been phenomenal this year.
She was part of three collegiate records at the Texas Relays, breaking the 4×100 record (42.00), the 4×200 record (1:28.05) and the sprint medley relay record (3:36.10).
She also anchored the 4x400m relay team to win (3:32.27) the Sanya Richards relay event.
Her 49.90 new Irish record is the third-fastest 400m time in Texas history and eighth-fastest ever in NCAA history.
Adeleke is the fastest athlete in the line up for the 400m event at the Big 12 Championships.
Meanhwile, Nigerian duo of Imaobong Nse Uko of Baylor University and Mercy Umoibang (Texas Tech University) will also be in action in the event.
Nse Uko, the former World U20 champion who holds a 51.66 personal season’s best will be seeking to run faster than the 51.24 lifetime best she ran at the final of the championships last year.
