Saturday’s Olympic line-up featured impressive Irish athletes across various sports. Starting the day at 8 AM was the Men’s Individual Stroke Play in Golf, where Shane Lowry shot a 66 round, finishing five under, and Rory McIlroy trailed closely, halfway through at five under and overall at ten under.
The 10 AM slot was eventful with activities in Cycling, Sailing and Swimming. The Road Race witnessed the participation of Ben Healy and Ryan Mullen. In Sailing, the Men’s Dinghy races 5&6 had Finn Lynch finishing 12th and 7th respectively, ranking 15th overall. The Women’s Dinghy races 4, 5, and 6 featured Eve McMahon, who finished 22nd and 34th, securing 18th place for the entire event.
Simultaneously, the Women’s 50m freestyle was underway with Danielle Hill finishing 8th in the 8th heat with a time of 25.02, but couldn’t secure a place in the semi-finals. The Men’s 1500m freestyle saw Daniel Wiffen bag the first position in the 3rd heat with a time of 14:40.34, successfully progressing to Sunday’s finals.
The Men’s and Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay began from 11:40 AM, but neither the men’s team (Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene, Max McCusker & Shane Ryan) nor the women’s team (Danielle Hill, Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe & Grace Davison) qualified for the finals, both finishing 11th overall.
Later in the afternoon, Rhys McClenaghan was in action for the Gymnastics Pommel Horse final at 4.16 pm. The Men’s 1500m athletic repechage featured Cathal Doyle & Luke McCann in the first heat and Andrew Coscoran in the second.
The day ended with Kellie Harrington battling Beatriz Iasmin Soare Ferreira from Brazil in the Boxing Women’s 60kg semi-final at 9.08 pm.
In our anticipations for today’s major events, all eyes are slated to be on Rhys McClenaghan in the final match of the men’s pommel horse, set to kick off at 4.16pm in which he will compete as the fourth participant. Following this, boxing enthusiasts eagerly await Kellie Harrington’s endeavour to elevate her bronze medal ranking to a silver or gold placing. Set to take on Beatriz Iasmin Soare Ferreira of Brazil, she will step into the ring at 9.08pm; the victor will box for the gold in the concluding Tuesday match, while the defeated contestant will secure a bronze.
On the golf links, the third round of Shane Lowry’s play sparked off just before the 9am mark. An impressive round of 66 under five earned him a total of five under. Rory McIlroy, who embarked on his round two hours later, occupies the golf course still. He’s shared fifth place, currently five under today’s round with just 16 holes played.
I’m here to keep you all informed throughout this evening which we hope will be a successful one for Team Ireland. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! This is Muireann Duffy bringing you the latest.
It was indeed a bustling morning filled with activities for our Irish sportsmen, as events today included swimming, cycling, golf, and sailing. Earlier today, Daniel Wiffen put up an impressive show at La Défense Arena in the men’s 1500m freestyle final and going forward as the fastest qualifier with a time slot of 14:40.34, as observed by Ian O’Riordan.
On the other hand, in the women’s 50m freestyle, Danielle Hill clocked 25.02, ranking her 21st overall and thus denying her a spot in the semi-finals.
In relay events, Ireland saw action from both male and female teams in the 4x100m medley preliminaries. The men’s team, represented by Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene, Max McCusker, and Shane Ryan, secured the sixth position in their race, whilst finishing 11th in overall rankings, not enough to enable them progress to the finale.
The women counterparts, Danielle Hill, Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe, Grace Davison, met a similar fate, finishing sixth in their respective heat and 11th in entire results, hence failing to proceed to the final event.