RHASIDAT ADELEKE has been crowned 2024 Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards on Wednesday night.
The ceremony took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry, where Adeleke took home top honours.
2024 saw her smash Irish records over 60m, 200m and 300m indoors, and over 100m and 400m outdoors.
In May, the Tallaght athlete helped Ireland to bronze medals in the mixed 4x400m at the World Relays and won silver in both the 400m and women’s 4x400m at the Europeans in June, along with gold in the mixed 4x400m.
Adeleke was just 0.3 away from an individual 400m medal at the Olympics, and followed up by another fourth-place finish with the women’s 4x400m team.
She would race in the relay final alongside Sopie Becker, Phil Healy, and Sharlene Mawdsley – which took home Team of the Year – and smashed.
Adeleke would round out her season with a third-place finish in her debut at the Diamond League final, capping another breakthrough year for the Dubliner.
Athlete of the Year was one of two awards won by the 21-year-old as she walked away with Sprint & Hurdles Athlete of the Year.
She was not present at the awards night, with her awards picked up by Adewumi Ademola and Abdullahi Adeleke on her behalf.
Ciara Mageean walked away with the Middle Distance Athlete of the Year Award.
The City of Lisburn AC star opened her season by lowering her own 800m record to 1:58.51 back in May, before going on to be crowned European 1500m champion on an historic night in Rome.
That gold medal performance secured the third European outdoor medal of Mageean’s career, following on from her bronze in Amsterdam in 2016 and the silver in Munich in 2022.
Unfortunately, the year took a turn when Mageean was forced to miss the Paris Olympics due to injury.
Describing her devastation at being forced to withdraw, Mageean said: “In those moments I felt like I was drowning, that it was just a void.
“But a few people were my rocks that I could clamber onto, and just keep me afloat, and I’m very fortunate to have had them.
“I just felt numb. It wasn’t even sadness, it was just emptiness. I didn’t know how to feel.
“I think a lot of people thought I was going to retire. My daddy had his arm around me and he’s like, ‘Right we’ll call it a day. You come home, you go watch the hurling with me, you can get a dog finally. And be done with all this.
“I said ‘what are you talking about? I’m not retiring yet, there’s another Olympics in four years’ time and I’ve only gotten faster over the past few years so I’m determined to be back’.
“Sport is a little microcosm of life. You experience all the emotions other people get throughout their lives all in one little season, or one little sporting career.
“There’s been a few moments in my life where I’ve felt sheer grief and loss – the loss of my grandmother when I was at university, she died far too young. Whenever Jerry Kiernan passed away and I was in Manchester.
“It always feels kind of crass to compare sport to that but it quite often gives you the same emotions. It was a grief to have the loss of a dream.
“It’s my life’s work and it’s everything that I’ve put all of my energy into but also all of those people around me have put their lives and things on pause and on hold to pursue my dreams.”
123.ie National Athletics Award Winners 2024
- Hall of Fame: Gillian O’Sullivan
- Lifetime Services to Athletics: Peter Hanlon
- Athlete of the Year: Rhasidat Adeleke
- Endurance Athlete of the Year: Fionnuala McCormack
- Under 20 Athlete of the Year: Oisin Joyce
- Sprint & Hurdles Athlete of the Year: Rhasidat Adeleke
- Middle Distance Athlete of the Year: Ciara Mageean
- Field Athlete of the Year: Nicola Tuthill
- Team of the Year: Women’s 4x400m
- Inspirational Performance on Irish Soil: Cathal Doyle (Morton Mile)
- Special recognition Award: Neil Cusack
- Performance Club of the Year: Leevale AC
- Services to Coaching Award: Peter McDermott
- Official of the Year: Anne McHugh
- Development Club of the Year: Glenmore AC
- Mountain Runner of the Year: Enda Cloake
- Masters Athlete of the Year: John MacDermott
- Ultra Runner of the Year: Sorcha Loughnane
- Schools’ Athlete of the Year: Cian Crampton
- University Athlete of the Year: Pierre Murchan
- Member Federation Award: Amanda Hynes
- Coaching Awards: Gary Ryan & Kay Bannon.
