Paris 2024: Rhasidat Adeleke has work cut out in 400m semi-final

Rhasidat Adeleke will have her work cut out for her to qualify for the women's 400m final, according to former Irish Olympian Rob Heffernan.

The Tallaght woman is the only Irish competitor to make it through to tomorrow’s semi-final after teammates Sophie Becker and Sharlene Mawdsley missed out in the heats and repechage.

Adeleke cruised home in yesterday’s heats in a time of 50.09 and was even afforded a few glances to her left and right as she eased up down the straight.

However, Heffernan believes Adeleke will need to be on top form once again as it is "not a foregone conclusion" that she will qualify for the final.

"It’s not a foregone conclusion that she’s even going to get to the final, so the semi is really, really important tomorrow," he told RTÉ Sport.

Heffernan added: "She has Naser [of Bahrain] in her heat. Naser was world champion in Doha in 2019 and she came from nowhere in that year.

"She looked really good in the heat the last day so I wouldn’t write her off. It’s going to be very interesting to see how she [Adeleke] handles her.

"I’d imagine, either way, she’ll still get top two in the heat if everything is good. It’s great she’s avoided the girls [Natalia Kaczmarek and Nickisha Pryce]," he said.

'This is certainly the type of semi-final you'd pick for Rhasidat'

Derval O'Rourke and Rob Heffernan look forward to tomorrow's 400m semi-finals as Rhasidat Adeleke looks to book a spot in the Olympic final #Paris2024 #OlympicGames #RTESport pic.twitter.com/ZVaT3qlV22

Former Olympic hurdler Derval O’Rourke described the field in the women’s 400m as "very deep", but also homed in on Naser as the threat to Adeleke’s hopes.

"I was in Doha in 2019 when she won, and it was such a shock. She did the mixed 4x400m relay and she