Colin Sheridan: Adeleke's brilliance guarantees her nothing but the burden of her potential

It’s not easy to move grown-ups — this one anyway — unless it’s war or death or children crying. But Adeleke possesses a quintessence much greater than herself.

She is an athlete, yes, but much more than that. There is an etherality to her power and pace that is utterly beguiling.

The fact she is far from the finished article only amplifies the anomalous nature of her potential. She is an outlier, not just in Ireland, but amongst her peers. L’Étranger. Her Godgiven abilities, her height and languid stride, the colour of her skin, and the shade of green she wears. Each detail a formative dot in an as yet incomplete picture.

That she failed to win a medal at the Olympic Games clearly mattered greatly to her, and so many others, but in another way matters little or nothing at all. She may never win one, regardless of her ceiling. The once-every-four-years cycle means she is just one tummy bug away from never achieving what seems destined for her.

Unlike Paul O’Donovan, she has no Fintan McCarthy to carry her on a bad day. Unlike Kellie Harrington, she does not have three rounds of boxing to figure it out. Adeleke has a matter of seconds after the starter’s gun, and even then that’s just to know she’s even in the race.

Her prime, too, will be shorter than rowers and boxers and showjumpers and most of her fellow Olympians. She may have only one more decent shot at an Olympic medal, in four years time in LA.

That’s not a glass-half-empty outlook, it’s just a realistic take on the elite nature of her talent and potential. And a reminder to enjoy every minute of watching her journey.

Last Saturday, Adeleke was beaten by three better runners. 

Each one an older, more complete athlete. One of them — the Bahraini silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser — is so evolved in her sporting journey, she’s managed to squeeze in a two year ban for breaching anti-doping rules. The bronze medalist, Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland, is 26 years old — smack bang in the middle of what many would consider a sprinter’s prime.

Adeleke only turns 22 in two weeks. While the audacity of youth is an asset in most sports, the technical nature of 400m running requires an athlete to be physically mature before hitting their peak. At six feet tall, Adeleke still looks like a teenager amongst adults — at the Olympic level anyway.

Her form diminishes more visibly under intense pressure. It’s cruel to watch. Despite her speed, the unravelling seems to happen in near-slow motion. Every flaw is compounded by her immense physicality.

To even speak of “flaws” in a runner who finished fourth in an Olympic sprint final seems grossly overcritical. It’s important, though, lest we think that Adeleke has some divine right to progress. 

Like age and physical immaturity is the only obstacle to her success. If only it were so simple, 400 metre running is not breakdancing. It is not bespoke or obscure or open to gerrymandering. Imagine the wealth and depth of the American athletics sprint talent pool, yet, they didn’t even medal.

Adeleke is elite, even within the elite. And even still, she’s guaranteed nothing.

Because of our familiarity with the Polish sprinter Kaczmarek, and the notoriety of Salwa Eid Naser, the athlete that placed first ahead of Adeleke has been spoken about the least.

Marileidy Paulinho from the Dominican Republic came from a family with little or no sporting background, so grew up playing pick-up sports in her native Don Gregorio, a one-hour drive from Santo Domingo. At the age of 18, she was playing handball when her talent was scouted, and she was recruited to the athletics federation.

She was then offered a monthly salary to join the Air Force as a track and field athlete, and was diverted to athletics. Like Adeleke, she started out as a 100m/200m sprinter and moved to 400m in 2020.

“I started running barefoot, then wore socks, running shoes and then borrowed spikes until I was able to buy a pair,” Paulinho said.

In Tokyo, she won two silver in the 400m individual and relay. Last year, at the World Championships in Budapest, she won gold. She turns 28 this October.

The point is, for Adeleke, her brilliance guarantees her nothing — only our respect, and the gargantuan burden of her potential. It is impossible to predict when the next Marileidy Paulinho will be spotted playing another sport, and converted into an elite athlete. 

It is impossible to predict when the next Salwa Eid Naser will miss another drug test. It is impossible to imagine anybody beating Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone should she decide to make her life
infinitely easier and ditch jumping over hurdles to make a living.

Which should only serve to remind us to tread softly with Rhasidat Adeleke, and our expectations of her.

The air she breathes is as rare as her talent.

Has Slot out-Klopped Klopp?

How did they do it? 

Seriously, how did Liverpool outdo themselves in the vibes department to such an extent that they managed to demote Jurgen Klopp, the ultimate vibes man — the Vibes Tzar — to an afterthought by the time Match of the Day aired on the first Saturday of the season?

Arnie Slot has taken little time to out-Klopp Klopp. ‘Slot Machine’ is a one man vibes machine, very unusual for a Dutchman — especially in the Premier League — when the vibiest man the country has exported has been Erik ten Hag. Undoubtedly aware of the river of Klopp worship he was wading into, Slotto has chosen not to honour his predecessor with a quiet, dignified entrance. 

Instead, he had announced himself like a LinkedIn stepdad, unthreatened by the unanimous love Klopp enjoyed from the Kop.

Last season, it was Aussie Ange Postecoglu who won the hearts and minds of fans, pundits, journalists and housewives with his “it’s just who we are, mate” shtick when he took charge of Spurs.

This August, Sir Arnie Slot-a-Lot is de rigueur. His side’s demolition of newly promoted Ipswich on Saturday was impressive — a seamless evolution of what Klopp had been doing until fatigue set in.

Just as impressive was Slot’s handling of the media.

This was where Klopp asserted himself as an outlier — willing, as he was, to outwit any pundit or journalist who had the temerity to question his methods, while simultaneously charming the pants off all who agreed with him.

Slot seems intent on being his own man. Like life, we will learn more of his character in defeat than in victory. On first evidence, that might be a while off yet.

Refreshing openness from Osaka

Ahead of the US Open later this month, two-time champion Naomi Osaka took to social media to try and make sense of her erratic form since returning to the Tour in January after having her first child in July 2023.

“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” the Japanese star wrote on Instagram following defeat to American Ashlyn Kreuger in the second round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open.

Osaka is virtually a pioneer when it comes to openly expressing vulnerability as an athlete in elite sport. She has been ridiculed for her honesty.

That feeling of not feeling comfortable in her body since childbirth is one that is surely ubiquitous amongst mothers, inside and outside of sports.

You’d love to see her go deep at Flushing Meadows, if only so she has a platform to talk about it more.

Gallagher gamble

If we learned anything from this year’s All-Ireland football championship, it is that it’s as open a competition as it’s been in 15 years. About eight teams will give themselves a chance next summer.

One of them will be Derry, who recently offloaded Mickey Harte as manager, and are reported to be considering reappointing Rory Gallagher to the post.

Gallagher stepped away in 2023 following the revelation of domestic abuse allegations made against him by his estranged wife Nicola.

While Gallagher is free to return to coaching after a barring order was lifted following a hearing of the GAA’s Dispute Resolution Authority, his potential return to intercounty management in the Bogside has already caused a serious reaction, not just in the GAA community.

Should Derry choose to reappoint him, communication will be key to assuaging the concerns of many who will feel it’s an unnecessary gamble, all in the name of winning.