Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke crossed the line in 50.96. Photograph: Francesco Scaccianoce
A visibly and understandably tiring Rhasidat Adeleke managed to grab third place in the women’s 400m in the Diamond League final in Brussels, promoted from fourth after Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser was disqualified for a lane infringement.
Adeleke finished in 50.96 seconds on a cool, damp evening the inside the King Baudouin Stadium in the heart of the Belgian capital, exactly five weeks after her fourth-place finish in the Olympics, lining up against two of the medal winners from Paris.
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic proved her dominance once again, winning in 49.45 seconds. Adeleke was still in contention for a top-three place coming into the homestretch, alongside Naser, who won silver in Paris, before Alexis Holmes from the US came through on the inside to nail second in 50.32.
Naser originally held on for third in 50.64, before her disqualification was announced. Still Adeleke’s long season clearly left her well running a little dry, having started her outdoor season over five months ago. One notable absentee was Natalia Kaczmarek from Poland, who edged Adeleke out of the Olympic bronze medal and has called time on her season.
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The climax of a particularly long summer that included the European Championships in Rome and the Olympics in Paris, the Brussels Memorial Van Damme event is also the culmination of the 14 Diamond League meetings and spread over two nights
Interestingly, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles from the US, who had hoped to attempt a 200m-400m double this weekend, had to settle for the invitational race, which she won in a faster time of 49.10 seconds, well over a second ahead of Stacey Ann Williams from Jamaica, who took second there in 50.33.
Ian O’Riordan