Irish sports star Rhasidat Adeleke said she will continue to push herself as her training programme continues.
Recent research from KPMG has found that 92% of Irish people agree that female sports stars have a positive impact on Irish society.
Following the release of this study, Irish Olympian Rhasidat Adeleke told Newstalk Breakfast that she "never expected to be a role model".
Ms Adeleke has said it is important for athletes to show the positive element of sports to inspire young people.
"Without you even realising, people are aspiring to do the things you do," she said.
"The competing, the friendship, the social aspects, the opportunities - there are just so many good things that come from sports.
"People are appreciating that now - we’re competing at such a high level, but we’re also having fun, we’re bringing the looks, the accessories, the fashion."
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Reflecting on her performance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Ms Adeleke said she can now see that she achieved "a lot of amazing things".
"I think it’s very important to give myself grace as a professional athlete and understand that this is a building process and as long as I’m moving forward, that’s all I can ask for," she said.
"It could have gone a lot worse – I could have got injured, I could have got sick."
Ms Adeleke said she is taking lessons from Paris and using them to become an even better athlete.
"People say I'm young but I still don’t see that as a reason for me not to perform at the highest level," she said.
"I do need to remember that there are a lot more years in front of me and those are years I’m going to be able to perfect my craft and become the athlete that I know I can be."
Moving forward
Missing out on a medal at Paris "weighed" on Ms Adeleke, however she said she has a "new perspective" on it now.
"I’m very self-aware and I’m very in tune with reality so I understand that there’s nothing I can change about what happened," she said.
"There’s no point in me moping around and being sad - I’m very action-oriented."
Ms Adeleke said her focus for this training season will be on "moving forward".
Feature image shows Rhasidat Adeleke as KPMG launch their research celebrating an inspiring year for women’s sport in Ireland, ©INPHO/Ben Brady
