With only three Irish competitors scheduled for today’s events in France, the day held a certain tranquillity. Leona Maguire, Stephanie Meadow, and Kate O’Connor held the line for the Emerald Isle in golf and heptathlon, respectively. The golfing duo found themselves in a difficult position following the first round at Le Golf National, each ending with six-over par, which tied them for the 50th spot within the field of 60 participants. They lagged by 13-trailing back against the leader, France’s Celine Boutier, which positioned their chances for a podium finish quite far off. However, in the heptathlon, O’Connor marked a historical moment as the first Irish woman to compete at the Olympic level in this discipline. She began her Olympic journey with a 100m hurdles sprint and would continue with a high jump, shot put before the day ended. The long jump, javelin, and 800m are scheduled for completion tomorrow, a hefty workload that is intimidating by just contemplating it.
Reporting separately, Ian O’Riordan offered an update on Rhasidat Adekele, who made history by becoming the first Irish woman to qualify for an Olympic sprint final. She secured her spot after securing a second-place finish in the 400m semi-final on Wednesday night. Even though she admitted her run had been rather disorganised, she voiced her determination to make necessary adjustments ahead of the final race. Meanwhile, Malachy Clerkin was at the Grand Palais in Paris to report on Jack Woolley, another athlete from Tallaght, whose journey in taekwondo triggered a flurry of sentiments. Sadly, despite being just shy of two minutes from advancing to the bronze level, it wasn’t Woolley’s day. Nonetheless, he expressed pride in his journey, highlighting his unique position as a double Olympian.
In a final update, Barry Roche shared an amusing story from a Limerick local, Kieran Duggan, and his brush with equestrian events at Versailles. Upon flying back to Dublin on Tuesday, he found himself in the company of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, both double Olympic gold medallists, and ended up driving them home to Cork. Barry notes the unique experience Duggan had, describing it as something not every Olympian visitor can boast about!
In the city of Paris, a plethora of spectator sports are lined up today, featuring championship rounds for disciplines ranging from track and field, boxing, to kayaking sprints, underwater acrobatics, field hockey, yachting, and two-wheel racing, just to list a few. One of the anticipated events should be the ladies’ 400m hurdle race, bringing to the frontline Femke Bol from the Netherlands and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from the United States, both hailed as the fastest women for the said race. Moreover, Noah Lyles’ attempt to replicate the historic dual sprint win by Usain Bolt in the men’s 200m final stands out as a key moment.
In other news, a duo of football clubs from Ireland’s League will march into Euro battle tonight. Shamrock Rovers are set for a toe-to-toe with NK Celje in Slovenia. They will be up against a team led by ex-Liverpool flanker, Albert Riera, in their maiden duel of the third round for the Europa League qualifiers. Concurrently, St Pat’s welcome Sabah from Azerbaijan to Tallaght Stadium for the next stage of the Europa Conference League qualification. Regrettably, Irish television will not be broadcasting either of these matches.