Paris 2024: Rhasidat Adeleke right to prioritise 400m, says Jessie Barr

Former Irish Olympian Jessie Barr says she understands Rhasidat Adeleke's decision to prioritise her individual events over the team relay, if Adeleke chooses not to race the mixed 400m, as expected.

Adeleke will reportedly skip tonight's mixed 4x400m relay heats in order to focus on the women’s 400m event.

The Tallaght runner was part of the 4x400m team that qualified for the Olympics, winning bronze at the World Relays in May along with Cillín Greene, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley.

Adeleke also helped Ireland to gold in the mixed relay at the European Championships, although she did reveal later that the event took a toll on her fitness heading into the 400m final, where she claimed silver.

Speaking on the RTÉ Olympics podcast, Barr, who represented Ireland at the 2012 games, says she understands if Adeleke has come to the decision to prioritise the 400m and that her teammates will be supportive of her.

Sophie Becker, a silver medallist alongside Adeleke in the women's 400m relay in Rome, would most likely take her place.

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Barr said: "I would say it wasn't an easy decision to come to because I know Rhashidat really enjoyed running both at the world's relays at the Bahamas and then those European Championships, which we all remember so fondly.

"To make a decision to opt out of a relay that I know she really enjoys won't have come easy. I know her and her coach will have had their reasons for it.

"Athletics is an individual sport at the end of the day and the relays are additional.