Here’s what the Irish Olympic timetable looks like this Thursday:
Rory McIlroy kicks it off with the golf’s initial round at 9.11am, followed shortly by Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin taking part in rowing’s double sculls B final at 9.30am. Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor are set to start their showjumping qualifiers at 10am. Also, at the same time, Tom Fannon and Shane Ryan are set to begin the swimming 50m freestyle heats.
At 10.30am, Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch will participate in rowing’s double sculls A final. Shortly after that, at 10.44am, the golf’s first round will experience Shane Lowry showing off his skills.
Moving into the next hour, starting 11.10am, sailing’s dinghy races one and two will be tackled by Finn Lynch. Fast forwarding to 12.15pm, the men’s hockey has Ireland paired against Argentina. On the sailing front, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove are on for the Skiff medal race at 1.43pm.
Afternoon events start at 2.30pm with Noel Hendrick in the Canoe Slalom K1 semi-finals and finals. Also at the same time, Eve McMahon shows her prowess in sailing’s dinghy races one and two.
In the evening, at 7pm, Daina Moorehouse squares off against Wassila Lkhadiri in the boxing 50kg Round of 16. Jack Marley’s boxing 92kg quarter-final bout against Daviat Boltaev takes place at 9.08pm.
Furthermore, it’s worth noting that this morning marks the Irish Equestrian team’s onset to their Paris 2024 programme. Taking place at the noble Palace of Versailles grounds, the team qualifier begins at 10am, Irish time. The team comprises of Daniel Coyle with Legacy, Shane Sweetnam with James Kann Cruz, and Cian O’Connor with Maurice, all vying for a slot in tomorrow’s final.
In the upcoming team medal decision match, the top ten out of 20 competing teams will vie for supremacy, starting with no penalties. In the case of a tie, a jump-off will commence to separate medal positions. The Irish team’s performance this season has been superb, notching victories in the Longines League of Nations and securing top spots in the standings. Moreover, a recent triumph in the high-profile five-star Nations Cup in Aachen, Germany has served to display their remarkable form. Each event in today’s qualifier will see participants jump over 1.65m fences once; those teams with the lowest overall penalties will be last to jump in the final tomorrow. As for the order of the competition, Ireland has been selected as the ninth out of 20 competing nations.
The team’s manager, Michael Blake, has set a running order, with Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz leading the pack. Daniel Coyle and Legacy follow next, as they will be the second pair to enter the arena. Meanwhile, the combination of Cian O’Connor and Maurice is set to be the final act. Onwards!
The women’s rowing teams are eager to compete in the B finals of the double sculls and fours, where positions seventh to twelfth will be contested. Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe, and Imogen Magner team up to face off against Australia and Denmark.
The Australian women’s four claimed a silver medal at the World Cup III last month while the Danish team placed fourth. Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde are set to compete against formidable crews in the B Final for women’s double sculls. Crews from Czechia and Australia will be occupying the centre lanes, having won the final Olympic qualification regatta in June and World Cup gold respectively. The USA crew, the victors at World Cup II, pose a significant challenge, as they previously outperformed both Ireland and Australia.
This morning, Irish boats are set to make a comeback at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in rowing. Enthusiasts have their eyes on the Irish men’s double sculls team, composed of two-time Olympian Philip Doyle and newcomer Daire Lynch. Racing from lane three, they will face off against the Dutch double, who are highly favoured and viewed as the event’s role models, positioned just beside in lane four. The Dutch team has an undefeated record since World Cup III and earned a silver medal in Tokyo. However, the Romanians, who will compete from the outer lane, are also strong competitors, holding the title of 2024 European Champions.
In the climax of World Cup II during the late days of May, Ireland emerged victorious over the Kiwi duo and will aim to maintain their lead as the competition continues. They are also preparing to fend off the Americans, as they proved successful during the qualifiers. Spain, who fell short to the Dutch in one of the semi-finals is gearing up for a race against the Irish team who showed the highest speed in the semi-finals (just slightly). This signals the prospect of an intriguing race ahead.
John O’Sullivan here, greeting you with a good morning. The atmosphere is quite exhilarating today, which could be the anticipation of Ireland potentially adding more medals to their tally, with Mona McSharry (bronze) and Daniel Wiffen (gold) already having done their part. However, it might also have something to do with today being my last day presenting this blog.
I’ll be taking a break after today, preparing for the forthcoming season by getting some refurbishing work done, much needed ‘Cuprinol Garden Shades’ with an autumn-themed leafy brown shade of varnish.
Getting back to aquatic news, the Irish duo of Robert Dickson from Howth Yacht Club, and Sean Waddilove from Sutton Sailing Club, currently hold second place in the skiff class with a net score of 73 points. They trail behind the Spanish leaders by five points, who have accumulated a score of 68 points, but also lead the Kiwis who are in third place with 76 points. All eyes are now on today’s top ten medal race set to kick off at 1.43pm Irish time.
The medal race will feature the top 10 boats with the potential for any one of them to place on the podium. This contest occurs across a condensed version of the course, where points earn double value and get added to the series score (from 12 races) to calculate the winners for medals. In essence, to clinch gold, Ireland must surpass Spain by at least four positions in the upcoming 10-boat race.