The inaugural boxing champion ordained at Paris 2024 was Kellie Harrington in an especially designed ring stationed at the renowned Roland Garros tennis stadium. Harrington, who hails from the Emerald Isle, defended her status as the lightweight champion – a title she previously clinched in Tokyo three years prior – by defeating Wenlu Yang of China 4-1 in Paris amidst roars from a 15,000-strong audience.
Having written her name in history when she became the first female from Ireland to clinch medals at two consecutive Olympic Games, Harrington solidified her place in the annals of sporting history on Tuesday night. As she emerged as the winner once more, the Dubliner became the first Irish female to secure consecutive Olympic golds.
Harrington’s triumph marks the 19th boxing medal bagged by an Irish Olympic contestant. The boxer stands out as a pathfinder, being the only Irish woman to have secured gold at two different Olympic games.
After tasting victory once again, Harrington expressed her immense joy, stressing the hope her achievement provides for Ireland, especially the youth. However, she stated this victory was specially dedicated to her own satisfaction. When probed about her future, Harrington stressed her intent to bask in happiness, relax and relish the moment, stating it as her last remarkable moment and her aspiration to retire as a champion realised.
Meanwhile, Irish show jumpers Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle missed out in an intense Equestrian individual show jumping final in Versailles. The tough course left only three out of the 30 finalists to complete it unscathed. The duo, who initially qualified in the third and second spots respectively, found themselves in the concluding three and required unblemished rounds to trigger a jump-off for the medals.
In a series of unfortunate events, Coyle’s chances at a medal took a downfall as his mare, Legacy, lost a shoe and he mislaid a stirrup. Even though they had a clear run previously, the final challenging stretch led to them fumbling at the second and knocking three more down, forcing the 30-year-old from Derry to retire his steadfast companion who had previously demonstrated stellar performances with three clears in Paris.
Another perturbation emerged when Sweetnam and his 11-year-old equine partner, Gizmo, began and ended well but faltered early on at the 5th, resulting in a 22nd place finish with 12 faults.
The competition concluded with only one of the three finalists, Germany’s Christian Kukuk, maintaining a clear jump-off, securing the gold in an exceptionally challenging course.
In athletics, Sophie O’Sullivan recorded her personal best of 4:00.23 in the 1,500m, landing herself in the fourth position in the Irish all-time list. Despite narrowly missing the semi-final spot, Sophie is set to participate in the repechage races on Wednesday.
Similar circumstances were seen with Sarah Healy, who also prepped up for the repechage next day after achieving the same position in her heat with a time of 4:02.91.
Furthermore, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker did not advance to the semi-finals of the women’s 400m after their repechage heats. Mawdsley finished third running a 51.18, not as strong as her personal best time a day earlier, while Becker completed her heat with the second best time of her career, 51.28.
In the track cycling event, the Irish women’s pursuit squad, including Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe established a new national record in the qualifying round at the Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome by eclipsing their previous time by three seconds. However, they failed to advance, finishing ninth overall in the 4km race with a time of 4:12.447. Only the top eight went forth to the next round.
Murphy expressed his delight and disbelief over achieving a personal best in the most prominent race worldwide, after investing two years of intensive effort. His dream had come true and this accomplishment brought him immense joy and pride.
In the men’s 3m Springboard at the Olympics, rookie Jake Passmore almost qualified for the semi-final. His total tally was 360.90, which was barely 2.25 points away from the top 18 that would have seen him earn a semi-final spot, hence he ended 21st in total.
As the field’s youngest competitor, Passman’s first move was a forward 3½ somersaults, fetching him an impressive 68.20 points. The first four of his dives increased his chances with scores of 64.50, 63.00 and 66.30 for dives two to four, situating him at an overall 11th position. Unfortunately, errors in his last two dives led to him scoring just about 50 points in each, shifting him down the ranks and missing the cut-off for qualification.
There was a delay in the Men’s Dinghy medal sailing contest due to low wind conditions in Marseilles. Thus, Finn Lynch of Ireland’s National Yacht Club would have to participate in his concluding race on Wednesday afternoon.
Scores for Day Eleven consisted of Jake Passmore achieving 360.90 points in the preliminary 3m Springboard diving and not advancing further. In equestrian show jumping, Shane Sweetnan scored 12 pens in 82.03 placing him 22nd overall and Daniel Coyle decided to quit during the last round, placing him 25th. In women’s 1,500m athletics, Sarah Healy ranked 7th in the preliminary round with 4:02.91 and Sophie O’Sullivan also ranked 7th with a personal best of 4:00.23. Both will compete in the repechage on Wednesday.
Rewriting the original text, we find that in the Women’s 400m repercharge category of Athletics, neither Sophie Becker, who finished second with a timing of 51.28, nor Sharlene Mawdsley, who concluded third in repercharge with a time of 51.18, have proceeded forward.
In the domain of Men’s Dinghy Sailing, Finn Lynch’s Medal Race has been shifted and will now take place on Wednesday owing to a postponement.
As for Track Cycling in Women’s Team Pursuit Qualifying, the squad comprising Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy, and Alice Sharpe gained the 9th slot with a National Record time of 4:12.447 but unfortunately did not make it through to the next round.