Rhasidat Adeleke makes Irish history with 49.90 400m run

Rhasidat Adeleke sped to a new 49.90 400m Irish record to come second behind Britton Wilson of University of Arkansas (49.51) at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Florida on Saturday.

The 20 year old holds the former record of 50.53 which she set at the Olympiastadion in Munich, German last year.

But on Saturday, the University of Texas undergraduate student made history as the first Irish athlete to run inside 50 seconds over the 400m distance.

Prior to the race, the Irish-Nigerian is the second athlete in Ireland after Joanne Cuddihy (50.73) to run a sub-51 seconds in the event.

Now, Adeleke stands alone as the only Irish girl to run a sub-50 seconds over the distance.

The time is also the third fastest time in University of Texas history.

Earlier on Friday, Adeleke set a new 200m Irish record with her 22.34 run.

It has been a record and lifetime setting outdoor campaign for Adeleke who helped her school set three relay records last month at the Texas Relays.

She was in the University of Texas team that broke three collegiate records in the 4×100 record (42.00), the 4×200 record (1:28.05) and the sprint medley relay record (3:36.10).