Thursday’s Irish Olympics schedule
9.11am: Rory McIlroy (Golf – first round)
9.30am: Zoe Hyde, Alison Bergin (Rowing – double sculls B final). Fourth in the B final and 10th overall in the Olympics.
9.54am Rowing, Women’s Four B final Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe, & Imogen Magner. Finished first in B final and seventh overall.
From 10am: Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor (Showjumping – qualifying)
From 10am: Tom Fannon and Shane Ryan (Swimming – 50m freestyle heats)
10.30am: Philip Doyle, Daire Lynch (Rowing – double sculls A final). BRONZE MEDAL
10.44am: Shane Lowry (Golf – first round)
From 11.10am: Finn Lynch (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
12.15pm: Ireland v Argentina (Men’s hockey)
1.43pm: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Sailing – Skiff medal race)
From 2.30pm: Noel Hendrick (Canoe Slalom – K1 semi-finals, finals)
From 2.30pm: Eve McMahon (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
7pm: Daina Moorehouse v Wassila Lkhadiri (Boxing – 50kg Round of 16)
9.08pm: Jack Marley v Daviat Boltaev (Boxing – 92kg quarter-finals)
Denis Walsh was on hand to watch Ireland’s latest bronze medal. The boys are receiving their medals from Prince Albert of Monaco.
[ Bronze medal for Ireland double sculls Philip Doyle and Daire LynchOpens in new window ]
Golf: Leaderboard
-4 J Niemann (Chile), M Schmidt (Ger), H Matsuyama (Japan)
Scottie Scheffler is two under, Rory McIlroy (-1) after six holes. Shane Lowry (+1) bogeyed the first at Le Golf National.
Philip Doyle: “We made a massive mistake at the end. We went early, pushed hard in the middle. The mistake I made was the culmination of all the work we had to do in the middle. We had to go early. The first time with a medal ever (in the men’s double sculls). It’s nice to write that into the history books. It’s nice to get a podium for the supporters.
Daire Lynch: “I think what the Romanian did we expected but we didn’t expect them to hang on. We were going toe-to-toe with the Dutch.”
Rowing: Doyle and Lynch win Ireland’s third medal of the Olympics to go with those of Mona McSharry (bronze) and Daniel Wiffen (gold). The Irish pair were never really in contention for gold or to be honest silver but they came through in the final 500 metres to claim bronze.
BRONZE medal, a first ever for Ireland in the men’s double sculls. Romania win, Netherlands, second.
Rowing: Banbridge’s Philip Doyle and Clonmel’s Daire Lynch have won a bronze medal.
Rowing: The Irish pair are still fourth, Dutch, Romanians, USA. 1500 metres.
Rowing: Doyle and Lynch are up to fourth through the halfway, 1000 metre mark.
Rowing: Banbridge’s Philip Doyle and Clonmel’s Daire Lynch are fifth through 500 metres. There’s nothing in it.
Rowing: Ireland’s Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, in Lane three. We’re racing in the Olympic final.
Rowing: Here we go.
Golf: Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (-4) leads the first round of the Olympic golf first round, Scottie Scheffler (-2) is part of a group a couple behind while McIlroy (level) managed a superb up and down on four.
Rowing: But before that a superb effort from the Irish women’s four of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe and Imogen Magner who won the B final to finish seventh overall in the Olympics.
Rowing: Ireland’s men’s double sculls of two time Olympian Philip Doyle and Games’ debutant Daire Lynch are about the race for a medal.
Golf: The heavy overnight rain has made the greens receptive and slightly slower and the players are making the most of it with a birdie blitz. McIlroy (level) missed the fairway on four, gouged his second but it flew over the green and into shin high rough, lush and clinging from that rain.
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Golf: Aberg (-1) makes birdie, Scheffler (-2) does likewise while New Zealander Grant Fox (-3) joins Schmidt at the top of the leaderboard.
Golf: Scheffler (-1) almost holes his second shot to the par five, third hole for an albatross. He was an inch away from hitting the flag but the ball misses and runs through the back of the green. McIlroy (level) gets the shot back that he dropped on the first. He plays a glorious flop shot from the heavy rough through the back of the third green to two feet and rolls in the putt for birdie.
Golf: Germany’s Matthias Schmidt (-3) leads after seven holes, one clear of a group of four players including Hideki Matsuyama
Golf: McIlroy (+1) follows up a missed birdie chance on the first with a bogey on the second, failing to get up and down from the bunker at the par three.
Golf: Scottie Scheffler (-1) holes from 15-feet for birdie on the first. McIlroy (level) watches his birdie putt from nine feet slide past.
In boxing talented Bray flyweight Daina Moorehouse will make her Olympic debut in the last 16 of the 50kg. Moorhouse faces France’s Wassila Lkhadiri, a two-time European medallist who beat her in the quarterfinals of last year’s European Games.
Monkstown heavyweight (92kg) Jack Marley, who made such an impressive Olympic debut last Sunday, is within one win of a guaranteed medal. He faces Davlat Boltaev of Tajikistan in the 92kg quarterfinals, a 6′1″ Asian Games champion whom he has never met before.
Following her historic success earlier Kellie Harrington’s semi-final opponent has been determined; Soares Ferreira, the 2023 world champion, who beat Netherland’s Chelsey Heijnen 5-0 last night. Saturday night’s fight between the pair will be a re-match of the Olympic final in Tokyo.
Swimming: Tom Fannon will make his Olympic debut in the heats of the men’s 50m freestyle. In May, at the Irish Open and Olympic trials Fannon became the first Irish man to break 22 seconds in the event recording a mark of 21.94.
Hockey: After a much-needed rest day the Irish men’s team continue their Olympic campaign as Mark Tumilty’s side chase their first win of the pool stages when they go head-to-head with Argentina at 12.15pm Irish time. Despite being winless from their opening three games, Ireland go into this tie buoyed by encouraging performances against Belgium, Australia particularly, and India. The Irish side need to win their two remaining matches to progress to quarter-finals.
In canoe slalom Olympic debutant Noel Hendrick from Kildare will be contesting the semi-final of the Men’s K1. They start in reverse order so the 25-year-old Hendrick will be second to go having qualified 19th of the 20 semi-finalists.
In golf Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will begin their Paris 2024 campaigns at Le Golf National in the individual competition. McIlroy, who was agonisingly close to a medal in Tokyo three years ago when finishing fourth, tees off at 9.11am in a star-studded trio that will be sure to attract crowds around the course. He plays alongside the world number one, Scottie Scheffler (USA), as well as the number-four ranked, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
Offaly’s Lowry, who finished in a share on 22nd place in Tokyo, comes to Paris in strong form having finished sixth at the British Open. Lowry tees off at 10.44am Irish time, alongside Byeong Hun An (Korea) and Nick Taylor (Canada).
In Equestrian Ireland’s show jumpers begin their Paris 2024 campaign this morning at the picturesque Palace of Versailles venue with the team qualifier getting underway at 10am, Irish time. The Irish team of Daniel Coyle with Legacy, Shane Sweetnam with the Irish-bred James Kann Cruz, and Cian O’Connor with Maurice, take to the arena with the aim of qualifying for tomorrow’s final.
Of the 20 competing teams the top 10 progress to the team medal decider, all starting on zero penalties, and a jump-off will take place in the event of a tie to decide the medal placings. The Irish have been in sensational form all season, winning at the Longines League of Nations and topping the standings, as well as a recent five-star Nations Cup in Aachen, Germany. Today’s qualifier will consist of each combination jumping once over the 1.65m fences, and the teams with the lowest combined penalties will jump last in tomorrow’s final. Ireland have been drawn ninth of the 20 nations.
Team manager Michael Blake had also chosen his running order, with Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz leading the way. Daniel Coyle and Legacy will be second into the arena, while Cian O’Connor and Maurice will anchor the side. Giddy up.
Rowing: The Women’s double sculls and the fours contest B finals in their events where they’ll race for seventh to 12th places. The four of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe and Imogen Magner are up against Australia and Denmark.
Last month the Australian four raced at World Cup III, picking up a silver medal while the Danish crew finished fourth in the same event. Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde are up against tough crews in the B Final of the women’s double sculls. In the centre lanes are Czechia and Australia. Czechia won the final Olympic qualification regatta in June and Australia won gold at last month’s World Cup. It’ll also be worth keeping an eye on the USA crew who won World Cup II finishing ahead of both Ireland and Australia.
In rowing three Irish boats will feature again at the Varies-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium this morning with all eyes on the Ireland’s men’s double sculls of two time Olympian Philip Doyle and Games’ debutant Daire Lynch.
Doyle and Lynch racing from lane three will be up against the widely fancied Dutch double regarded as the standard bearers in the event who are alongside the Irish pair in lane four. The crew from the Netherlands have been undefeated since World Cup III last year and won the silver medal in Tokyo, but the Romanian double in the outside lane are the 2024 European Champions.
Ireland beat the Kiwi double at World Cup II at the end of May so will be hoping to stay ahead of them as the race progresses, and again hold off the Americans as they did in qualifying. Spain, who were second to the Dutch in the other semi-final will race on the other side of the Irish pairing who posted the fastest time in the semi-final (marginally); a fascinating race awaits.
Good morning, John O’Sullivan here. There’s an air of giddiness this morning, possibly attributable to the prospect of further Irish medals today to go with those already won by Mona McSharry (bronze) and Daniel Wiffen (gold) but it’s also my last day on the blog.
I’ll be in dry dock as they’d say in Marseilles for the next while, getting a coat of varnish ahead of the new season. I am going for Cuprinol Garden Shades, leafy brown, autumnal.
Speaking of the nautical, the Irish pairing of Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Seán Waddilove (Sutton Sailing Club), stand in second place in the skiff class in the overall standings on 73 net points, five points behind the Spaniards in first on 68 points, and three ahead of New Zealand in third on 76 points heading into today’s top ten medal race (1.43pm, Irish time).
Any one of the top eight of 10 boats could make the podium. The medal race is over a shorter version of the course, with points scored in it doubled and added to the series points (12 races) to decide the medals. Essentially Ireland would have to finish four places ahead of Spain in a 10-boat race to take the gold medal.
