Australian player Matt Dawson exemplifies the spirit of a true athlete with his audacious sacrifice for the Olympic Games. Dawson was facing the sad reality of heading towards the end of his career, even possibly facing his last Olympics. To get there, he took an extreme measure by amputating part of his finger, which had been severely broken, to avoid a lengthy recovery process from surgery. This determined move led him to Paris, to aim for gold in his third Olympic appearance.
Upon Dawson’s decision, his teammate, Aran Zalewski, expressed his admiration for his commitment. Matt is hoping to take a medal back home, even if it means leaving a part of his finger behind.
In other Olympic news, the Sports Illustrated tasked with the gargantuan challenge of predicting medalists for all events this time, seemed a bit misunderstood with the Irish picks. They predicted a mere six medals for Ireland, two of which were presumed to be golds. Their forecast indicated Rhys McClenaghan for gymnastics, Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan for lightweight double sculls as gold prospects. They guessed silver for Rory McIlroy in golf. Additionally, bronze predictions were made for Daniel Wiffen and the double sculls pair Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle.
In the spotlight also were the lone representatives from Belize, Liechtenstein, Somalia and Nauru at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Games. This was a relatively straightforward decision for the Olympic committees of these nations, as they brought only one athlete each to the Games.
Ali Idow Hassan, a runner from Somalia, is set to participate in the 800m race at the Olympics, and Nauru’s Winzar Kakiouea and Shaun Gill of Belize will both compete in the 100m race. Celebrating for Liechtenstein, mountain cyclist Romano Puntener is poised to showcase his skills. All these athletes will be lodging in their respective nation’s quarters in the Olympic Village, which could potentially be a solitary experience. Nonetheless, we wish them favourable winds.
In advance of the Olympic Games, some intriguing statistics have emerged. Analysts at CBS have determined which country has the largest number of competitors per capita participating in the 2024 Olympics. According to their findings, among nations with more than a million inhabitants, Slovenia tops the list, boasting 42.9 Olympic athletes for every million. Following Slovenia comes New Zealand and then Ireland, which is quite noteworthy.
Team Ireland’s contribution to the games comprises 133 athletes, based on the country’s 2023 population of 5,233,461. This implies that for every million Irish, 25.4 are qualified for the Paris Olympics. Despite the majority belonging to the 999,974.6 demographic who didn’t qualify, coming third place in this context is no small feat.
As quoted, a proud Shane Lowry expresses his love for his country after being selected alongside Sarah Lavin to initiate the games, serving as Ireland’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony.
The upcoming fortnight presents a vast collection of 987 medals, with 10,500 athletes vying for them across 329 events.