Adeleke mural features in Waterford street art festival

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

A stunning mural of Irish Olympian Rhasidat Adeleke has been completed in Waterford city.

It is one of dozens of murals brightening up the area as part of a street art festival.

The large-scale works range from abstract art to depictions of Irish mythology as well as freestyle graffiti to hyper-realistic portraits of well-known people.

The Adeleke tribute on Jenkins lane was created by muralist JEKS, who is usually based in North Carolina.

It was completed during Waterford Walls, Ireland’s largest international street art festival.

The festival, organised by The Walls Project, is running until August 18th and features food, music and live street art.

Adeleke, 21 and from Dublin, narrowly missed out on the medal podium in her two events, the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay.

She placed fourth in the individual event while the Irish quartet came achingly close to bronze in the team event – breaking a national record in the process.

As Ireland’s first ever female Olympic sprint finalist, Adeleke also became a role model for aspiring athletes across the country.

In a social media post, The Walls Project said: “How lucky are we to have such amazing talent here in Ireland?

“While Ireland isn’t perfect, the progress our country has made over the last 20 years is staggering.

“Rhasidat Adeleke is a beautiful emblem of everything that’s great about modern Ireland.

“She symbolises talent, hard work, achievement at the highest possible level and diversity.

“She represents the Ireland that the vast majority of us want to live in.”