Kellie Harrington, the Irish pugilist, achieved back-to-back gold medal feats! Celebrated as the pioneer boxing champ of Paris 2024, Harrington took her victory bow in a custom-made ring at the Roland Garros with a staggering 15,000 spectators vocalising their support. Having previously seized the lightweight title at Tokyo, the 34-year-old champ knocked out China’s Wenlu Yang 4-1, thereby guarding her title. Harrington now anticipates a life outside the ring, proclaiming her retirement and imminent life chapter. While Miriam Lord joined the fervent gathering at Dublin’s Diamond Park to spectate the match, Mary Hannigan replicated the majority of us, viewing the match from the safe comfort of her home. Malachy Clerkin praises Harrington as the most accomplished Irish Olympic boxer of all time with her gold brief being undebatable and inviolable.
This morning was bustling for the Irish team with Sarah Lavin making a robust start and bagging a second position in the 100m hurdles, thus, qualifying for the semis. Mark English gave one of his top performances, nearly snatching victory in the 800m race and simultaneously advancing towards the semis. Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy fell short in the 1,500m repechage and couldn’t qualify further. The men’s 5,000m qualification round had its fair share of unexpected events. The first round concluded on a sour note with athletes tumbling during the highly competitive finish while, Brian Fay of Ireland found himself short of energy in the finale to qualify for the finals, during the second lap. Rhasidat Adeleke, the 21-year-old runner will be the center of attention in the women’s 400m semi-finals. The young athlete confidently advanced through her race, planning to run in one of the three evening races at 7.45 pm. Ian O’Riordan predicts the evening races should give more clarity about potential medal recipients in Friday night’s final. Rhasidat Adeleke is confident of securing one.
Jack Woolley, taekwondo star hailing from Tallaght, experienced a blow as he was defeated by his Azeri competitor in the last 16 round. In order to have a chance at the bronze medal repechage, he is now banking on Gashim Magomedov advancing to the finals. Woolley, post-match, stated to Malachy Clerkin that he was gravely upset but mentioned that six months back he would have not thought he’d make it to the Olympics.
Early today, Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow took part in the women’s golf opening round while it is planned that Finn Lynch’s medal race will kick-off this afternoon. Regrettably, his prospects to win a medal are looking bleak.
Moreover, Irish showjumpers Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle couldn’t clinch victory during the gripping individual show jumping finals in Versailles. The challenging course allowed only three out of thirty riders to accomplish clear rounds. Unfortunately, Coyle’s medal dreams were shattered when Legacy, his mare, lost a shoe and he lost a stirrup. After clipping the second, he experienced three more falls and decided to retire his horse. Meanwhile, Sweetnam had a reasonable start and end, but fell off track early at the 5th and finished the contest with 12 faults, securing 22nd place.
The Irish women’s pursuit team consisting of Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy, bettered the national record by over three seconds in the qualifier round of Team Pursuit at Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. However, they weren’t able to qualify for the next round, finishing the 4km race at 4:12.447, thus ending in the ninth position overall. This was the Olympic debut for all four team members.
Gordon Manning, not in Paris, conducted an interview with Molly Lynch, the Cork camogie team’s captain. Molly is pursuing two championships within a week, having already successfully defended her Poc Fada title earlier. Amid the controversy surrounding the GAAGO streaming service, the association encouraged bids for media coverage rights for games presently airing there. Manchester City finalised an agreement to transfer Julián Álvarez to Atlético Madrid for a value of €95 million. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s future transfer strategies were explored by Andy Hunter.
There is a line-up of Irish athletes participating in the Olympics today:
– At 8am: Stephanie Meadow begins the first round of the women’s golf tournament
– Followed by Sarah Lavin at 9.15am in the heats for the women’s 100m hurdles; her second place in the fourth heat qualifies her for the semi-finals on Friday
– At 10.10am, Brian Fay will run in the heats for the men’s 5,000m. He came 13th in the second heat and was unable to qualify for the Saturday final
– Shortly thereafter, at 10.48am, Jack Woolley competes in the men’s 58kg Taekwondo qualifying round. After losing to Gashim Magomedov, he will find out later if he is up for repechage.
– 10.55am will see Mark English participating in men’s 800m heats. His second-place finish in the second heat qualifies him for the semi-finals on Friday
– Leona Maguire joins the women’s individual golf first round at 11.17am
– This is followed at 11.45am by Sophie O’Sullivan in the women’s 1,500m repechage. Her fourth-place finish in the first heat means she did not qualify for the semi-finals on Thursday
– Joining Sophie at 11.57am, Sarah Healy also competes in the women’s 1,500m repechage but like Sophie, her fourth place in the first heat excludes her from Thursday’s semi-finals
– After noon, at 12.13pm, Finn Lynch sails in the rescheduled men’s dinghy medal race
– Lastly, at 7.45pm, Rhasidat Adeleke will be competing in the women’s 400m semi-finals.
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