'HE SHAPED ME AS A PERSON' - RHASIDAT ADELEKE PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE COACH
RHASIDAT ADELEKE HAS paid tribute to her former coach Johnny Fox, who died yesterday after a short illness.
Fox served as a volunteer and coach at Tallaght AC for over 50 years.
He was Adeleke’s first mentor at her local club from when she was 10 years old, and he guided the sprinting sensation to the European U18 200m title in 2018.
“Johnny helped Rhasidat develop her potential as a uniquely-talented sprinter and he predicted a wonderful future, including Olympic success, for his star athlete,” Athletics Ireland wrote in a tribute today.
Fox shared similar thoughts in an interview with The 42 in late 2023.
Adeleke, now 21 and gearing up for her first Olympic Games this summer, paid her heartfelt respects this afternoon.
“I was really upset to hear that this morning,” she said. ”It’s just a really hard pill to swallow.
“He was such a staple individual in my life. He definitely shaped me and helped how I view things – he just shaped me as a person.
“I knew he had felt sick a little bit. I was just continuously praying that he was going to be fine. Johnny is just so resilient. He’d always tell you the stories of what he’s been through in his life. You’ll just think, ‘Wow, how can one person go through so much?’
“He just always comes out at the end of it, always has a smile on his face and he always gives joy to other people. He just invests himself so much in other people and he’s so passionate. He’s just so selfless. He’s an amazing, amazing man and it was just really, really sad to not even have the opportunity to see him in his last couple of days.
“It just kind of happened. It’s just really, really hard.”
“I’ve just been thinking about all our times together and all the different experiences that we’ve had – and his effect, on not just my life but the whole community,” Adeleke added.
“If you go down to Tallaght, everybody knows Johnny and what he’s done for the community, working with Tallaght AC for over 50 years, Pieta House, he’s just done so many things.
“He’s just a staple in our community, and he won’t be ever forgotten. I just hope God rests his soul.”
Adeleke has enjoyed a strong start to the 2024 season, breaking several Irish record indoors and kicking off her outdoor campaign with a world best 4x200m time at Texas Relays last month.
Her next headline event is World Relays in The Bahamas in early May, where the Dubliner will be targeting Olympic qualification with the Irish Women’s 4x400m and Mixed 4x400m teams.
“It’s going to be really exciting to try qualify the relay teams for the Olympic Games. I love the team aspect, I love being in relays. I’m really, really excited to have that relay spirit going on — and it’s for a bigger reason now.
“I’ve been to World Relays before. This time it just means so much more because I think we have a really, really strong team and a really strong chance to do well.”
The Women’s 4x400m relay team finished fifth at World Indoors in Adeleke’s absence.
The increased depth is a huge positive, with the “amazing” Sharlene Mawdsley among those impressing.
“It’s very encouraging,” Adeleke said. “It’s different when you know you can really compete with the best.
“Knowing that we can go out there and be neck-and-neck with the best in the world is just so exciting. I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll put our best performances out there. The girls always do, and we know each other very well.”
Adeleke, who is based in Texas and working under coach Edrick Floréal, will compete at meets in the US over the coming weeks, before European Championships in Rome in June and other competitions on this side of the world in the lead-up to the Olympics in Paris.
“I’m just really excited for the season overall,” she concluded.
“It’s going to be a big year, and every day is getting closer to the Olympics. I’m just trying to make sure that I’m putting myself in the best position to compete well.”
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Rhasidat Adeleke and Israel Olatunde, Irish record-breaking sprint athletes, today launched SPAR’s European Athletics Championship campaign, which calls on the Irish public to show why we are known as the best fans in the world. Details of SPAR’s Rome Comforts can be found on www.spar.ie.
2024-04-15T16:34:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd