Irish In Action: Wednesday, July 31st
From 8.20am: Nhat Nguyen v Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) (Badminton Men’s Singles, final pool match) Nguyen lost 2-0.
9.34am: Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney (Men’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final) Finished third and advanced into the final
9.54am: Fiona Murtagh, Aifric Keogh (Women’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final) Finished sixth and missed out
10.00am: Mona McSharry (Swimming, 200m breaststroke heats) Finished third and moved into semi-final
10.14am: Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy (Men’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final) Won and advanced to final
10.34am: Margaret Cremen, Aoife Casey (Women’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final) Finished third and advanced to final
1.00pm or later: Badminton, Group L, Rachael Darragh v Carolina Marin (ESP)
1.50: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 10, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove
2.30: Boxing, Men’s 57kg, Round of 16, Jude Gallagher v Carlo Paalam (PHI)
2.45: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 11, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove
3.37: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 12, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove
4.54: Boxing, Women’s 60kg, Q-final, Kellie Harrington v Angie Paola Valdes Pana (COL)
8.52: Boxing, Women’s 75kg, Round of 16, Aoife O’Rourke v Elzbieta Wojcik (POL)
9.03: Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, semi-finals, Mona McSharry
SWIMMING: Mona McSharry has moved into tonight’s semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke, and afterwards spoke about how mental tiredness might be more of a danger than physical tiredness. She definitely won’t be wasting any mental energy worrying about the doping cloud surrounding some Chinese swimmers at these games – she definitely wasn’t biting when asked about the controversy: “There’s not a lot that I can do, only probably get worked up about, so I just don’t think about it, honestly.”
Read Ian O’Riordan’s morning report from the Paris La Défense Arena here.
[ Mona McSharry stays on track for another Olympic breaststroke finalOpens in new window ]
ROWING: For the first time ever Ireland will have four boats in Olympic finals, quite the achievement. Leading the way were those “underdogs” Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy who this morning delivered what Denis Walsh saw as a “statement” performance. Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey also reached the final of women’s lightweight double scull by qualifying in third place. Read Denis’ full report here.
[ Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy set the bar high to qualify for finalOpens in new window ]
Gymnastics: Johnny Watterson went along to watch the phenomenon that is Simone Biles.
[ Simone Biles leads USA to team goldOpens in new window ]
Denis Walsh is at the rowing. He wrote: “On a terrific morning for Ireland at the Olympic regatta, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy were commanding winners of their semi-final in the lightweight double sculls while Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney became the first Irish crew to reach the final of the heavyweight pair.
“Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey also reached the final of women’s lightweight double scull, which means that Ireland will have four boats in Olympic finals for the first time ever.”
Rowing: Ireland’s Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey HAVE QUALIFIED for the Olympic final. The Cork duo finished in third place behind Romania and Greece but managed to see off the reigning Olympic silver medalists, France. A superb row from the Irish pair. The Olympic final is on Friday.
Rowing: Fourth after 1,500 metres. Three boats within a metre and a half in second to fourth places.
Rowing: The Cork crew are in fourth place at the halfway mark. Three qualify for the Olympic final.
Rowing: Ireland’s Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey are racing in the women’s lightweight double sculls
As this blog showcased yesterday we do love a good animated graphic. So with a nod to the New York Times once again, here’s Daniel Wiffen’s race.
Rowing: Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy rowed beautifully as they destroyed the semi-final opposition in the men’s lightweight double sculls. They established clear water over their Swiss rivals and closest pursuers by the halfway mark and eased through the second half of the race for an impressive victory. The Olympic final is on Friday.
Rowing: O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy have taken the lead, just over a second in front after 1,000 metres.
Rowing: Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are third through 500 metres in the men’s lightweight double sculls semi-final.
Rowing: Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh finished sixth in their Olympic semi-final of the women’s pair. They never got into a race won by Australia with the USA and Lithuania.
Swimming: Mona McSharry finished third in the opening heat of the women’s 200 metres breaststroke. The bronze medalist in the 100 metres will qualify for tonight’s semifinals. The Sligo woman was third after 50 metres, second after 100 metres, second after 150 metres, before touching the wall behind a couple of South Africans including Olympic record holder Tatiana Smith.
Swimming: Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry is about to go in the heats of the Women’s 200 metres.
Rowing: The Irish pair reversed the result from the heats when they finished behind the New Zealand duo, the Olympic champions in Tokyo.
Rowing: Ireland’s Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan have qualified for the Olympic final in the men’s pairs as they finished third in their semi-final. The Enniskillen rowers took it out hard from the start and led through the first 500 metres but despite being overtaken by the Romania and British crews held off New Zealand to make the final. A brilliant achievement.
Badminton: Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen has been beaten 21-13, 21-10 by Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), the reigning Olympic champion. The Irish player, who can be proud of his efforts, won his other two group games but it is the Dane that progresses to an Olympic quarter-final.
Badminton: Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen trails the defending champion Olympic champion and current world number two Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) by a set and 17-10. Nguyen has played extremely well but the Dane is such a classy operator.
Mary Hannigan with tales from the couch, that’s the television review.
[ RTE studio tears and cheersOpens in new window ]
Ian O’Riordan, or lucky ducky as he’s known to his colleagues – it’s to do with water and ponds – given he has reported on Ireland’s two medals to date and wrote about Daniel Wiffen’s triumph at La Defense arena last night.
In swimming newly crowned Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry is back to business when she returns to the pool for the 200m Breaststroke heats this morning. McSharry, from Grange in Sligo, became Ireland’s first medallist of the Paris Games on Monday when she claimed bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. The University of Tennessee graduate holds the Irish record in the event at 2:22.49 which she set just last month.
In sailing the men’s Skiff of Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove go into the final three of the fleet races still lying in second position. The battle to make the top 10 boats for Thursday’s Medal Race (to which all crews carry their cumulative score) is getting particularly fierce.
Standings were tightened considerably after yesterday’s tricky wind conditions and few crews, with the exception of overall leaders Spain, escaped unscathed.
The Spaniards moved into pole position (on 35 points) thanks to two seconds and a third place today. Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) are currently on 46 points but New Zealand are just a point behind them. Great Britain are only a further six points adrift and USA are on a score of 58.
None of the top 15 crews has more than 80 points so all still have a shot of qualifying and the Irish duo will be hoping to keep their scores to a minimum tomorrow to guarantee their top 10 spot and a chance to race for the medals on Thursday.
In boxing it’s a big day for Team Ireland with defending 60kg champion Kellie Harrington, who gave a tactical masterclass in her opening win, is just one victory away from a historic second Olympic medal. She faces Angie Paola Col Valdes Pana of Colombia, a world silver medallist last year, in the lightweight quarter-finals.
Three-time and current European middleweight (75kg) champion Aoife O’Rourke finally gets to enter the ring at the last 16 stage. The Roscommon fighter takes on Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik, a former world youth champion and four-time European medallist, whom the Castlerea BC woman has beaten four times previously.
Tyrone featherweight Jude Gallagher (54kg) will make his Olympic debut after getting a bye to the last 16. He faces Carlo Paalam of the Philippines who won the Olympic flyweight (52kg) silver medal three years ago.
Rowing: Enniskillen’s Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan are up first in the men’s pair. In a stacked race they’ll they face reigning world champions GB, as well as the New Zealand duo that were part of the men’s Eight gold medallists from Tokyo and have now moved into the pair winning bronze at the most recent World Cup in Poznan.
The Romanians have moved between the four, eight and pair over the last two seasons but have solidified their position as a pair, winning silver at this years’ European Championships. Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh will be watching the Australians and the Lithuanians as the top seeds in the women’s pair semi-final. Australia are the 2023 World silver medallists and have been on the podium at both World Cups that they raced in this year. The Lithuanian pair haven’t been on the podium this season but pulled to a very quick time in their heat on Sunday.
Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy go head-to-head with the Swiss double who pipped them on the line at World Cup II in Varese. This year the Skibbereen pairing were beaten for the first time this Olympiad, coming home with bronze medals from World Cup II. This will be a test to see whether the last few weeks of training have worked in their favour.
Up against the Tokyo Olympic silver medallists and home crowd favourite, France, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey will have a tough semi ahead of them. They are also facing the Romanian duo who are current European Champions and 2023 World bronze medallists.
Good morning, it’s the day after Ireland’s first gold medal of the Olympic Games following Daniel Wiffen’s superb win to victory in the 800 metres last night. John O’Sullivan here once again, fuelled by Overnight Oats, and a delicious berry yoghurt – that’s a long-established eating plan rather than just an Olympic one – and black coffee to take you through the day’s proceedings in Paris and Marseilles.
In badminton Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen and first-time Olympian Rachael Darragh both face the toughest matches of their careers. Two-time Olympian Nguyen, who has already beaten Israeli and Nepalese opponents, now faces a must-win final group game, as only one from the group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Nguyen is up against the defending champion Olympic champion and current world number two Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), and only the winner of their battle will progress to the knockout stages.
After losing her debut to a Swiss player in a three-game thriller, Darragh also has a mountain to climb. Her second and final group game is against Spanish veteran Carolina Marin, the Rio Olympic champion who is a three-time world champion and the fourth seed in Paris.
In rowing four Irish crews are on the water this morning contesting semi-finals of their events. Each of the crews will have to claim one of the top three spots if they are to reach their Olympic finals.
