Rowing
In an awe-inspiring performance, Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan clinched consecutive Olympic gold medals. The Skibbereen duo rowed an impeccable race to become dual Olympic victors before a conspicuously large Irish audience in Paris. This outstanding pair bagged the fifth medal for Ireland at the Paris Olympic Games, following the bronze medals won by their teammates Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch in the men’s heavyweight doubles the previous day. Additionally, Mona McSharry won bronze, Daniel Wiffen claimed gold, and Kellie Harrington secured no less than a bronze.
In another event, Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney secured the sixth position in the final of the Men’s Pair. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t match the pace of the reigning Olympic, World, and European champions on a particularly gruelling race and fell behind in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Aoife Casey and Mags Cremen managed to grab the fifth position in the lightweight women’s double sculls final in their initial Olympic final.
Sailing
Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove faced a crushing disappointment at the men’s Skiff medal race in Marseilles. Positioned second overall before the final race, they needed to secure the fourth rank to win a medal. However, their hopes shattered right at the beginning when they started slightly ahead of the official commencement, along with a few other boats. Forced to turn around and restart the race, they had to make a herculean effort to catch up with the leaders, but ended the medal race in the ninth position, thus finishing agonisingly in fourth place in the final tally.
Equestrian
The Irish team ranked seventh in the team show jumping event, with a disappointing total of 14 faults in Versailles. Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, and Cian O’Connor, who composed the team, had a good start with a favourable position entering the final round, thanks to Sweetnam’s initial five faults and a flawless performance by Coyle. A similar performance from O’Connor was required for even a chance at the medals. However, two poles down and one time penalty ruled them out of medal contention, leaving the Irish team at the seventh position. Nonetheless, it matched their best-ever team result at an Olympic Games.
Here’s an overview of what has transpired with Irish athletes at the Paris Olympics. The Day 7 report includes a narrow miss for Ireland’s mixed relay team for the Olympic final as the tenseness and tempo upsurge in Paris. The highlight being the rowing duo of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy clinching a gold medal, however, the mixed relay team didn’t make it to the final.
In boxing, featherweight contender Michaela Walsh from Belfast had to endure a long pause before contesting in her second Olympics and finally competed today. Despite her indomitable spirit against the accomplished Bulgarian opponent, Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, a seasoned boxer with multiple European titles and a silver medal under her belt from the 2023 world championship, she concluded her journey at the final 16 of the 57kg. The contest was determined by a unanimous 5-0 verdict in favour of the Bulgarian, with Walsh managing to secure just one round from a Sri Lankan judge.
Meanwhile, in golf, Rory McIlroy surged forward, maintaining close ranks with the frontrunners at Le Golf National over the weekend. His fantastic birdie on the concluding hole on Friday earned him a card of two-under-par 69. This leaves him trailing by six shots behind the front runners, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood. By the conclusion of the preliminary rounds of Paris 2024, the thirty-five-year-old McIlroy stands at five-under-par, owing to a birdie three on 18 resulting in a favourable conclusion to the day.
The action continues for Irish athletes in canoeing events.
Irish kayakers Noel Hendrick and Liam Jegou took to the water again for the Kayak Cross time trials, where both of them had competent performances, maintaining precise lines and staying clear of any penalties. Jegou, as the initial Irish competitor on the course, clocked a timing of 70.81, quickly followed by Hendrick’s time of 69.31. Hendrick, hailing from Kildare, came in 14th place with Jegou just a notch below at 18th position, both securing places in the upper half of their event.
Madison Corcoran, another participant in the time trials, completed her run without incurring any faults. Despite encountering difficulty on one of the upstream gates and losing some time due to it, Corcoran still managed to clear it and secured the 35th place in the time trial.
On the track and field scene, the Irish Mixed 4x400m Relay group unfortunately didn’t make it through to the final day at the Olympic Games in Paris’ Stade de France. Despite exceptional efforts by the team – members being Christopher O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Thomas Barr, and Sharlene Mawdsley – the relay team fell short and secured the tenth position with a run time of 3:12.67.
The night also ended disappointingly for Eric Favors, participating in the Men’s Shot Put, as he failed to pass through to the finals. This was the first games for the 27-year-old athlete from Raheny Shamrock AC, he threw a maximum of 19.02m and came in 27th place.
Jodie McCann marked her Olympic appearance in the Women’s 5000m. The 23-year-old from Dublin ended up 20th in her heat with a run time of 15:55.08, regrettably not making it through to the final.
In the swimming events, Ellen Walshe wrapped up her individual category in these Games with the women’s 200m Individual Medley semi-final. Despite having been one of only three Irish swimmers to reach the finals in the 400m IM earlier this week, she swam her second fastest timing ever, ending in 13th place overall in 2:11.35, being just 0.43 off her Irish Record of 2:10.92. Walshe will dive back in the pool on Saturday for the 4x100m Medley Relay heats in swimming.
The report on hockey will follow.
In a splendid turn of events, the Irish men’s hockey team notched a remarkable return win against New Zealand which allowed them to conclude their Paris 2024 journey on an uplifting note at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. Despite having unfavourable outcomes in their earlier Pool B matches whereby Mark Tumilty’s squad failed to secure any points, the disappointment didn’t deter them. Instead, they completed their run on Friday evening in a grand style. Ben Walker and Jeremy Duncan’s scoring led to a well-deserved 2-1 victory over the Black Sticks.