Here is Wiffen’s victory in pictures:
That’s all from me. What a night! An Olympic gold medal for Ireland doesn’t happen too often in your life watching sport. The confidence from Daniel Wiffen, the courage to pull off his plan, to kick and win when he went behind. To break the Olympic record. To get Ireland’s 12th ever gold medal. Magical stuff.
We are back tomorrow with John O’Sullivan for day five of the Olympics. Hard to live up to that, but some important events happening for Ireland in badminton, rowing and boxing. And sure to plenty more reaction from and about Wiffen. Good night! 🇮🇪🥇
Thrilling finish to the 4x200 metres freestyle relay as Britain beat US to the gold medal.
Here is that RTÉ interview with Wiffen:
From the Galway Races:
Daniel Wiffen on RTÉ: “I did shed a lot of tears there, hearing the national anthem I’ve heard it a lot of times, more than most people do! Six times this season! I did crack on the podium but I’m sure we’ll allow that. Just having my family here, makes it so much better. Every time Nathan turns up I do well! I love him, he’s done a lot for me this season. To make up for him not making it here, I got Olympic medal. We both knew I was going to win, but we just had to show it!
Keep watching Ireland, we’re not done this week!
Wiffen runs over to hug his brother Nathan, who makes sure to get a family selfie.
Here is Ian O’Riordan’s snap report:
[ Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen wins Olympic gold medal after stunning 800m swim in ParisOpens in new window ]
Gold medal and Olympic champion, Daniel Wiffen!
A few tears for Daniel, his family are proud as punch. Great moment.
“Please stand for the anthem of Ireland”
Amhrán na bhFiann plays, which is always special as more tears come for Wiffen.
Wiffen comes out for the medal ceremony
More quotes from him with Olympic Ireland: “I don’t think a lot of people actually believed me that I was going to do it tonight but yeah it was incredible. I’ve done it – that’s all I want to say!
“I was so nervous, that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been for a race but do you know what calmed me down – I heard by brother shout for me as soon as I walked out. I heard none of the crowd – just him, and that’s what calmed me down, and really levelled my head.”
“I’m not going to lie, there’s this whole saying going around that I’m getting ‘Finked’ – I’m glad to say I haven’t been ‘Finked” so obviously pretty happy to get my hand on the wall first.”
“It feels incredible. Andrew Bree said it just as I want to say it –'lights, camera, action’ – that’s exactly what I did – I’m writing myself into the history books!”
Great moment as Ireland’s Sarah Keane will be here to present the medals.
Siobhan Haughey, grandniece of Charlie, goes out again in the 100m freestyle semi-finals. She wins it and will have a strong lane for the final.
Daniel Wiffen on RTÉ: “I couldn’t do it without my family, I wasn’t alone out there! I was looking for Finke all the time, I was looking over at Bobby Finke that whole time but I was not losing last 50 metres, I’ve been practising for that all year. I was looking over and over and then I saw and I’ve won.
“I’ve won everything so far. World champ, European champ and Olympics. Now I can say I am one of the best ever.”
Ian O’Riordan’s report to come.
Wow, what a race that was! Might have been closer than he thought but he had another kick in the final 50 metres. Absolutely brilliant.
7:38.19 for Wiffen. A stunning Olympic record and personal best. The fifth fastest time ever. Stunning.
Thrilling finish here between Wiffen, Paltrinieri, Wiffen and Finke! It’s 0.10 in the difference with 50m left. Wiffen goes, kicks and takes the lead! 25 metres left. Finke goes for it. But Wiffen has it!
GOLD FOR IRELAND! DANIEL WIFFEN! OLYMPIC RECORD
Wiffen first, Finke second and Paltrinieri third.
After 700m: Paltrinieri goes ahead. Wiffen is 0.78 behind.
After 600m: Wiffen still leads! Barely. Paltrinieri makes his move to second and is looking strong. It’s neck and neck. 0.01 in the difference.
After 400m: Wiffen takes the lead! 0.07 ahead of Finke, Winnington fading.
After 300m: Strong start by Winnington, Wiffen moves ahead of Jaqouadi into second place. Only 0.79 behind. Finke up to third.
After 100m: Wiffen third as Winnington leads from Jaqouadi. +1.19 behind.
Wiffen comes out looking confident, making a gesture of writing something on his hand. Ready to go!
Australia’s Kaylee McKeown wins the women’s 100m breaststroke ahead of the two Americans. Brilliant Olympic record time.
Lane 1: De Tullio
Lane 2: Bobby Finke
Lane 3: Gregorio Paltrinieri
Lane 4: Daniel Wiffen
Lane 5: Ahmed Jaqouadi
Lane 6: Elijah Winnington
Lane 7: Sven Schwarz
Lane 8: David Aubry
Wiffen is swimming in the final at 8.07pm.
This was how they qualified for the 800m freestyle final:
Daniel Wiffen (Ireland) 7:41:53
Ahmed Jaqouadi (Tunisia) 7:42.07
Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) 7:42.48
Elijah Winnington (Australia) 7:42.86
Bobby Finke (United States) 7:43:00
Sven Schwarz (Germany) 7:43.67
Luca de Tullio (Italy) 7:44:07
David Aubry (France) 7:44:59
The world record was set in 2009 by Zhang Lin with 7:32:12. Wiffen’s has the ninth fastest time of all-time with 7:39:19.
In 2021, Bobby Finke took the gold with 7:41:53, beating Paltrinieri.
USA win the gold in the team competition in gymnastics. Italy the silver and Brazil the bronze.
Biles is truly a modern Olympics legend, Ian O’Riordan met another one before Daniel Wiffen’s race. He tips Wiffen to win! Let’s hope Michael Phelps is right.
A Hollywood finish for Simone Biles in the team event now, last out and her usual stunning routine!
Coming up in under an hour now is Daniel Wiffen in the 800m freestyle in the pool. A real gold medal chance after qualifying first into the final and winning the world championship earlier this year. Should he do it, it would only Ireland’s 12th ever gold medal, and only the second ever gold in swimming.
The women’s team gymnastics is on now with Simone Biles starring for the US team and there is more good news for the Americans as they finish third in the Rugby Sevens after beating Australia in the bronze medal match. I don’t think anyone expected Australia to lose to Canada and USA and miss out on a medal after beating Ireland, but there you go.
Canoe slalom/kayaking: In the men’s kayak single heats, Noel Hendrick finished 19th after his two runs, putting him through to Thursday’s semi-final. The 26-year-old improved on his 98.64 from the first round to get home in 90.68.
Earlier, Michaela Corcoran finished 21st in the women’s slalom C1, clocking 129.55 in the first run and 168.08 in the second.
Rugby Sevens: Ireland lose 28-12 to Great Britain in the women’s sevens. They finish the tournament in eighth place.
Stadelmann wins five points in a row! It’s 20-15 now, Darragh has made a few sloppy errors.
Another point for Stadelmann and she wins 21-15. Darragh beaten unfortunately. Had a great opportunity there but just slipped away.
It’s 15-15 now, back and forth between the two.
It’s 10-10, Stadelmann hitting a great smash and this is going down to the wire.
Darragh takes an 8-5 lead, but again is pegged back to 8-7. But stays ahead 9-7 with some good play.
An early 5-3 lead for Darragh in the deciding game, but Stadelmann gets it back to 5-5.
Neck and neck again, 21-21. Fantastic rally and Darragh hits a high lob and just sneaks in. 22-21. But Stadelmann wins the next two points and back to game point at 23-22. The Swiss woman wins the game 24-22. One game all! Best of three.
Great stuff by Darragh, who goes 18-16 behind, but then gets back to 18-18. Darragh lets one go and it’s in, could be costly at 19-18, Stadelmann goes long again, 19-19.
David Gorman logging on here.
Badminton: Rachael Darragh has won the first set of her match against Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland. In the second set she trailed for nearly all of the second set but now it’s back level, 16-16!
Thank you for your company. David Gorman will keep you well informed for the rest of the blog. He’ll tidy up any outstanding Irish interest in the afternoon’s fare, the Canoe Slalom, Rugby Sevens and Badminton. And of course he’ll be on hand for Daniel Wiffen’s medal race tonight.
SAILING: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove’s excellent Olympic regatta in the men’s Skiff class continued with a fourth place finish in race seven, 13th in race eight and then ninth in the last race of the day to leave them maintain their second place in the overall standings from yesterday.
SAILING: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove’s excellent Olympic regatta in the men’s Skiff class continued with a fourth place finish in race seven, before a 13th place in race eight dropped them from second to third in the overall standings with one further race to come today.
RUGBY: Canada advanced to the gold-medal game in the Women’s Sevens at the Paris Olympics with a stunning 21-12 upset win over second-ranked Australia - the Aussies beat Ireland twice in the tournament - at Stade de France. Charity Williams, Asia Hogan-Rochester and Piper Logan scored tries for the fifth-ranked Canadians, who also stunned world number three France in the quarterfinals.
Top-ranked New Zealand defeated the United States 24-12 in the other semifinal. Ireland, who lost to France 19-7 earlier to day will take on GB at 5.0pm, Irish time for seventh and eighth place.
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EQUESTRIAN
Abigail Lyle made her Olympic debut in the Dressage Individual Grand Prix on board Giraldo, at the picturesque Palace of Versailles venue, and scored a brilliant 69.441 to finish sixth in her group, but it wasn’t enough to progress to the individual final.
Lyle and 13-year-old Giraldo; affectionately known as ‘Arty’, were almost foot perfect throughout their routine, and the result meant a sixth place finish in Group B. However it wasn’t enough for the Bangor rider to qualify for Sunday’s final, but nonetheless Lyle was over the moon with the performance.
Lyle said: “I had expectations - I wanted a comfortable, happy horse to do himself proud and take him home to look after him for the rest of his life but here we are, with an amazing ride, in an amazing stadium, and I just can’t fathom it. He was so comfortable in there - we both went into some sort of zone.
“I’ve been very emotional over the last few days, sometimes nervous, sometimes overwhelmed but I’ve reminded myself that I’m so lucky to have such an incredible horse and such an incredible team around me. Everything went according to plan, maybe with the slight exception being the halt, but the main content of the test, I was delighted with.”
MORNING SUMMARY FROM TEAM IRELAND PERSPECTIVE
ROWING
Belfast’s Philip Doyle and Clonmel’s Daire Lynch are through to the final of the Men’s Double (M2x) after an impressive showing in their semi-final this morning. In a time of 6:13.14, Ireland are top seed going into the final.
Lynch said: “We knew we were in a good position coming in but you don’t really know where other countries are at, and like we didn’t win a single race until Worlds last year so we’re showing good signs I suppose that we’ve timed it fairly well. Obviously the last block before we came here was probably our best one yet so hopefully we can just bring that in to the final now.
Doyle added: “It went pretty much the exact way we thought it would go, we did what we wanted to do, we executed well. We’re knew there would be a couple that would go off like the clappers at the start, and sure we knew they’d go off like that and if they’re going to go off and do silly things they’re going to pay for it later so you just have to be confident that we are going to make them pay. We just have to watch because obviously the six lads in the final might not pay too hard so we need to not let them get too much and then work our way through again.”
Doyle and Lynch are up for the main event on Thursday morning where they face reigning world champions Netherlands, Spain, Romania, New Zealand and the United States in the race for the medals.
The Women’s Double (W2x) of Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin miss out on the medal race, failing to push into the top three positions in today’s semi-final. They crossed in fifth which sees them into the B Final where they will race for 7-12 place.
Afterwards a disappointed Bergin said: “We’ve been preparing for a long time for this and we were just taking every race as it comes so yeah we’re disappointed but we’ll just look forward to the next race now. We’ll re-assess later, sit down and look at the race and make a news strategy for the next day.”
The Women’s Four of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe and Imogen Magner also fell short on picking up a place in the final with a fourth-place finish in the repechage. With only two boats to qualify to the final, Ireland will race for final placings (7-12) on Thursday.
BOXING
Meath’s Jennifer Lehane met a very experienced Chinese fighter on her Olympic 54kg debut and ultimately lost 5-0 to Yuan Chang in the last 16, but said the experience will only drive her on further. The Ashbourne native has only been boxing at international level for a few seasons after switching from elite Taekwondo five years ago.
“I thought the first round was close and that I came more into myself in the second. I was a bit more relaxed and the shots flowed a little bit more but overall I think she got the better of me today,” the 25-year-old said.
Chang had incredibly fast fists and won every round unanimously on the judge’s scorecards for a 5:0 victory but the Irish fighter, who could hear the travelling fans chanting her name, gave everything right to the last bell.
“It was just an incredible experience overall to come out to such a huge crowd. I’ve never fought before as many people before in my life and in such an amazing venue. To hear so much support coming from the crowd was just incredible and I’ll be forever grateful for that experience alone.
“All my crazy family were there. They all came over to support me here and I know there was loads of support from my home town of Ashbourne and the school I worked in (St Mary’s), where I know the kids were looking up to me, so I hope I have been able to inspire a few more to follow their dream.”
Lehane put her primary school teaching career on hold to train fulltime with Ireland’s elite boxers and indicated that she would like to continue that in future, with some occasional substitute teaching.
HOCKEY
Ireland Men’s Hockey suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists India in their third Pool match. Harmanpreet Singh scored a first-half double to give India an early lead at the historic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, and although Ireland created a number of goal-scoring opportunities, the world number five ranked side held firm to see out the win. Mark Tumilty’s Ireland side now have a rest day on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s clash with Argentina at (12.15pm Irish time), before they conclude the Pool stages against New Zealand on Friday at 4.0pm, Irish time.
Men’s Kayak: Noel Hendrik lies in third place after the first eight competitors in the first of two runs. He had 10 penalty points after hitting five gates. His second run comes later this evening.
RUGBY: Women’s Sevens semi-final: New Zealand 24 USA 12. The Olympic champions are one match away from retaining their crown.
SAILING: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove’s excellent Olympic regatta in the men’s Skiff class continued with a fourth place finish in race seven, the first of three today. The Irish crew lie in second place overall.
RUGBY: Women’s Sevens semi-final: New Zealand 7 USA 5
RUGBY: Full-time: France 19 Ireland 7
Ireland led 7-0 through an Eve Higgins try at halftime but three second half tries allowed the hosts to cruise home. They will contest fifth and sixth place, Ireland seventh and eighth, those matches taking place this evening. They take on GB who beat them in the opening match of the tournament.
RUGBY: France now lead Ireland 14-7 with two minutes remaining.
RUGBY: France have scored a converted try and with four minutes left they are level with Ireland, 7-7
Full-time: Ireland 0 India 2
A much improved second half performance but Ireland were left to rue a first 30-minutes that lacked energy and intensity, and perhaps after the break their failure to convert even one of 10 penalty corners. Mark Tumilty’s side play their final two matches on Thursday and Friday.
RUGBY: The Ireland women’s Sevens lead France 7-0 at half-time. Railway Union’s Eve Higgins continued her rich vein of form with the try and conversion having scored all of Ireland’s points in the pool match against Australia. The Irish side lost to the Aussies again, this time in the quarter-final and are currently competing for a place in the fifth and sixth team playoff.
Half-time: Ireland 7 France 0
Canoe Slalom: The 21-year-old Michaela Corcoran hit five gates, each a two second penalty, in her first run in the C1 class. 18 of 21 will qualify for the semi-finals.
Hockey: Ireland’s second half performance has been appreciably better but they still can’t find a way to score.
53 mins: Ireland 0 India 2
Hockey, end of third quarter: Ireland 0 India 2
Hockey: A glorious chance for Ireland to reduce the deficit but Ben Walker flicks a shot wide with teammate John McKee free and facing just a tap-in if Walker had been aware of his presence.
44 mins: Ireland 0 India 2
Hockey: Ireland finally manage a shot of note through Lee Cole from a short corner and from two ensuing penalty corners they also failed to score. It’s been much better from Ireland in the third quarter.
Ireland 0 India 2
Swimming: Siobhán Haughey, a grandniece of former Irish Taoiseach Charlie Haughey, became the only athlete from Hong Kong to ever win three Olympic medals after claiming the bronze in women’s 200-metre freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of those to congratulate her was Irish Tánaiste Micheál Martin. He tweeted that it was “a fantastic result” and a “proud day” for the Haughey family.
Hockey
Half-time: Ireland 0 India 2
Hockey
23 mins GOAL: Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh gets his and his team’s second goal. Three penalty corners in succession and from the third his shot took a deflection off Ben Walker and into the roof of the net. It’s ridiculously hot at Stade Yves du Manoir and that won’t help Ireland who need to find more, a lot more.
Ireland 0 India 2
Hockey: Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty has given the team a rocket, exhorting them to be proactive not reactive and reminding them that they are representing their country. He pointed to the need to chase the runners and that they have to have more energy and discipline. He emphasised the fact that they were better in the last seven minutes of the quarter.
17 mins: Ireland 0 India 1
Hockey, end of first quarter: Ireland 0 India 1.
Hockey, 11 mins, GOAL: Ireland concede a penalty, Shane O’Donoghue forced into the foul. Harmanpreet Singh the scorer. India full value.
Ireland 0 India 1
Hockey, 7 mins: It’s all India from the opening whistle, Ireland giving away frees by the bucket load as they can’t get out of their own half.
Hockey: Ireland take on the Olympic bronze medalists from Tokyo, India.
Boxing
Lehane: “I did well in the first two rounds, the second round was my best. The overall experience of the Chinese fighter was (key). I am only young and there is a lot more to come from me. It has been an amazing experience here. I have had amazing support. Thank you every single one of them. I hope people are inspired to follow their dreams.”
Boxing: Chang continued to dominate, heavier of hand in her punching but also a sharp technician, dominating the centre of the ring. Lehane was gutsy and can be proud of her effort, five years after taking up boxing. She just came up against a better fighter. Chang wins.
Boxing: Lehane looked less nervous at the start of the second round and settled into her work nicely, her footwork excellent and a sharper snap to her punching. Chang though continued to catch the Irish girl with the more powerful shots. All five judges go for the Chinese boxer.
Boxing: Ireland’s Jennifer Lehane has lost the first round on all five judges’ cards (10-9). Yuan Chang beat the Irish girl to the punch in the early stages of the fight, her two-inch reach advantage apparent. The Chinese boxer utilised her experience and ring craft to dominate the round.
Boxing: Jennifer Lehane is on her way to the ring.
Came across this graphic while waiting for the Jennifer Lehane fight. Irish swimmer Ellen Walshe’s race as an animated graphic.
Boxing: Ashbourne schoolteacher Jennifer Lehane got a bye in to the last 16 of the 54kg division. She faces China’s two-time Asian Games champion Yuan Chang in the 54kg division and is due in the ring in about 15 minutes.
For those that missed it here is Ireland’s Olympic bronze medalist Mona McSharry’s charming post race interview last night.
Rowing: Our man Denis Walsh is at the rowing. Here’s what he has had to say. “Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch reached the final of the men’s double sculls with an impressive win in theiri semi-final, comfortably holding off crews from the United States and New Zealand in the closing 200 metres. However there was no joy for Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin who finished fifth in the semi-final of women’s double sculls, or the women’s four, who came fourth in their repechage.
[ Olympic final awaits Irish duoOpens in new window ]
Rowing: The Irish four of Emily Hegarty, Eimear Lambe, Natalie Long and Imogen Magner finish a disappointing fourth in their repechage race. The Irish boat was in third place behind the winners America and China for most of the race but they faded and were overtaken by the Danes in the final 50 metres. The top two crews made the Olympic final.
Rowing: Emily Hegarty, Eimear Lambe, Natalie Long and Imogen Magner are the Irish four. They are third after 1,000 metres.
Rowing: The Ireland women’s four are at the start line for their Repechage race to see if they can get into the top two for a place in the Olympic final.
Rowing: Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch win their men’s double sculls semi-final. Cool, calm, collected and commanding. A superb display of race rowing. That’s all the alliteration I’ve got. The Irish pair are into the Olympic final.
Rowing: Doyle and Lynch lead after 1,500 metres.
Rowing: The Irish crew are second after 1,00 metres.
Rowing: Ireland’s Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch are third after 500 metres.
Rugby: The Ireland women’s Sevens team take on France in the first of two matches to compete for fifth to eighth place after last night’s quarter-final defeat. Having lost captain Lucy Rock earlier in the tournament, the Irish squad could be further depleted after Béibhinn Parsons limped off in the Aussie game. Allan Temple-Jones squad face France this afternoon.
Rowing: The Irish crew are in the second semi-final in about eight minutes.
Rowing: Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch are next up in the men’s double sculls semi-final, having been impressive winners in their heat. Philip is in his second Olympics.
Rowing: Tralee’s Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin of Fermoy finished fifth in the women’s double sculls. The Irish boat was never really in contention after falling off the pace a little in the second 500 metres. New Zealand won the race, Netherlands were second and France third. The Irish crew were fourth in the world championships last year in which they finished ahead of the New Zealand and French boasts, albeit that the French boat was a different pair.
Rowing: Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin in the women’s double sculls, are fifth through the first 500 metres and retain that position through 1,000 metres. The need to finish top three to qualify for the Olympic final.
Sailing: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove lie in second place as the Men’s skiff event reached the halfway stage of the Paris Olympic regatta in Marseilles. The Dublin pair were overall leaders going into the final race of yesterday thanks to earlier fourth and second places.
They placed eighth in the third race of the day. The light winds faded while New Zealanders Isaac Kale McHardie and William McKenzie took their third race win to move into the overall lead of the event.
The Irish crew hold a nine-point lead over the next placed crew, Spain’s Diego Botin le Chever and Florian Trittel Paul. They undertake three more races today.
Speaking of required reading Denis Walsh spoke to Finbarr Kirwan.
[ Finbarr Kirwan is the most powerful Irish person in the wide world of sport.Opens in new window ]
Ian O’Riordan witnessed Mona McSharry win a bronze medal, Ireland’s first of many, hopefully, in Paris. On the basis that he’s a lucky omen we will be sending the intrepid Olympics theologian back to the pool tonight to watch Daniel Wiffen. Ian had a look at Daniel’s prospects ahead of the final.
[ Ian O'Riordan had a look at Daniel’s prospects ahead of the final.Opens in new window ]
SCHEDULE DAY 4.
(All times listed are Irish times – Paris is one hour ahead)
9.50am: Rowing, Women’s Double Sculls (W2-) semi-final 1 of 2, Zoe Hyde & Alison Bergin, only top three will go to final
10.20: Rowing, Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) semi-final 2 of 2, Philip Doyle & Daire Lynch – only top three will go to final
10.30: Rowing, Women’s Four (W4-) repechage, Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe & Imogen Magner – only top two will go to the final
11.36: Boxing, Women’s 54kg, Round of 16, Jenny Lehane V Yuan Chang (CHN)
12.15pm: Men’s Hockey, Men’s Pool B, Ireland V India
1.38: Equestrian, Individual Dressage Grand Prix qualifier, Abigail Lyle
2.00: Canoe Slalom, Women’s C1 1st run, Michaela Corcoran
2.00: Women’s Rugby Sevens, 5-8 placings match, Ireland v France
5/5.30: Women’s Rugby Sevens, final placing match TBC
3.00: Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 1st run, Noel Hendrick
3.35: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 7, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove
4.10: Canoe Slalom, Women’s C1 2nd run, Michaela Corcoran
4.27: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 8, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove
4.30: or later Badminton, Women’s Singles, Rachael Darragh V Jenjira Stadelmann (SUI)
5.10: Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 2nd run, Noel Hendrick
5.19: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 9, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove
8.02: Swimming, Men’s 800m Freestyle final, Daniel Wiffen
In badminton Donegal Olympic debutant Rachael Darragh takes to the court for the first time in Group L when she takes on Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland; a medallist from the European Games last summer. Darragh; a niece of three-time Irish Olympian fellow badminton player Chloe Magee, has a current world ranking of 82.
Following Liam Jegou’s brilliant seventh place finish in the C1 final yesterday canoe slalom teammates Michaela Corcoran and Noel Hendrick get their 2024 Olympic Games underway in the first and second runs of the Men’s K1, and Women’s C1, respectively.
Ireland’s men’s hockey team face a match approximating to a win-or-bust – it’s not strictly that – after defeats to Belgium (2-0) and yesterday, Australia (2-1). There were aspects of the performance against the Aussies that were first class, especially in the second quarter and they’ll need to replicate that against the Tokyo bronze medallists India at lunchtime (12.15).
In Equestrian Abigail Lyle’s Olympic debut begins in the Dressage Individual Grand Prix on board Giraldo, at the picturesque Palace of Versailles venue. Lyle is Ireland’s only dressage competitor and will bid to qualify for the Individual Final (Freestyle to Music). The top two athletes from each group and the six athletes with the next best scores (including ties) will qualify to the Individual Final (Grand Prix Freestyle).
Hello and good morning, John O’Sullivan here. I am rehydrated and ready to go.
Following Mona McSharry’s historic bronze medal last night, Ireland’s double world champion Daniel Wiffen will attempt to win his first medal of the Olympics when he goes in the final of the 800m freestyle. The Armagh man is the fastest qualifier for that final on a time of 7:41.53 from yesterday’s heats.
Three of the Irish rowing crews are back on the water tomorrow morning aiming to make it into their respective Finals. The men’s and women’s doubles must finish in the top three of their semi-finals to gain a spot in the final, and a tight top two finish is needed for the women’s four in the repechage of their event.
Malachy Clerkin wrote: “First up, Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin go in the women’s double sculls at 9.50am. Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, the men’s double sculls pair who probably had the most eye-catching display of all the Irish crews in the heats. They posted the fastest time in their event – and that was with them easing off over the second half of the race so as not to leave all their best efforts in the early rounds.
In boxing Ashbourne schoolteacher Jennifer Lehane got a bye in to the last 16 of the 54kg division. Today she faces China’s two-time Asian Games champion Yuan Chang in the 54kg division. The Meath fighter has put her primary school teacher career on hold to become Ireland’s first female Olympian at bantamweight, when she makes her Games debut.
Following the later 60kg bouts yesterday evening Kellie Harrington’s last eight opponent has been determined. Harrington faces Colombia’s 2023 World silver medallist Paola Angie Valdas Pana on Wednesday evening after the South American beat Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku on a split 3-2 decision.
