Rhasidat Adeleke finishes season in style with fourth place over 200m at London Athlos meeting

Rhasidat Adeleke finished her season in literal style when placing fourth over the 200 metres at the Athlos meeting in London, clocking 22.64 seconds behind Olympic champion Gabby Thomas from the US.Thomas took the win in 22.13, and the top prize of $65,000, with Adeleke getting $15,000 for fourth, part of the lucrative purse at the first European staging of the all-women meeting at the StoneX Stadium.Entries for the six premium events, featuring only six athletes, were decided by invitation only. Starting in lane three, Adeleke had a trio of US runners in the lanes outside her, including Thomas, who started in lane six.An excellent first bend put Adeleke in contention, third into the homestretch, before Thomas raced clear to win, her US compatriots Kayla White second (22.40) and Anavia Battle third (22.43).READ MOREAdeleke has been concentrating on the 200m since winning the silver medal at the European Championships in Birmingham last month, running an Irish record of 22.28.Sophie O’Sullivan finished fifth in a high-class 800m, where Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, sporting a full body speed suit, was the runaway winner in 1:56.40.O’Sullivan had broken two minutes in her last three races over the distance, clocking 2:00.53 on this occasion. The first lap was passed in 57.53 seconds, “probably a bit fast for me,” O’Sullivan said. She also earned herself $10,000 for fifth: “I loved it, it was so much fun, and cool to see people investing in the sport like this,” she said.At times, the event seemed more about the presentation and appearance of the athletes, rather than their actual performance, although the athletes were certainly enjoying the experience. Each participating athlete was paraded on to a stage before their event, set up immediately opposite the homestretch. There was also a bespoke Tiffany & Co crown to each winner, presented immediately after the event.The mile also produced a thrilling finish, Klaudia Kazimierska from Poland sneaking through on the inside line down the homestretch to edge past Georgia Hunter Bell, winning in 4:19.43. It was her third successive win over her British rival.The other $65,000 winners on the night included Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic, who just edged the 400m, winning in 48.73. European champion Henriette Jaeger set a Norwegian record of 48.73 in second, her first sub-49 second clocking, and the sixth fastest ever time by a European.Alaysha Johnson from the US also took the 100m hurdles in 12.50 seconds, with compatriot Sha’Carri Richardson winning the 100m in 10.80. The Athlos meeting is part of founder Alexis Ohanian’s wider ambition to develop more elite women-only sporting events across the globe, the US entrepreneur and investor pulling in a lucrative prize purse to match.