Boxing
Kellie Harrington was the first boxing champion crowned at Paris 2024 in the purpose-built ring at the iconic Roland Garros tennis stadium, with an audience of 15,000 cheering her on. The Irish fighter retained the lightweight crown she won in Tokyo three years ago by beating China’s Wenlu Yang 4-1 in Paris.
Harrington already made history in Paris last Wednesday by becoming the first Irish woman ever to win medals at two Olympic Games.
And on Tuesday night, the 34-year-old from Portland Row in Dublin became the first Irish woman ever to win back to back Olympic gold medals.
Harrington’s gold is the 19th Irish Olympic medal won in the sport of boxing.
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Afterwards an overjoyed Harrington spoke of what it meant: “It just gives hope. All these young kids, all these teenagers, it gives hope to them, it gives hope to the people of Ireland, that’s what it means, but this one was for me.
On the her future plans, Harrington said: “Just be happy – happy, smile and enjoy it. It’s the last hurrah, I’m done, I’ve always said that I want to retire a champion – that’s it!”
Equestrian
It was not to be for Irish showjumpers Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle in a nail-biting individual show jumping final in Versailles, on a course which proved so demanding that only the three riders of 30 finalists managed to go clear.
Ireland’s pair had qualified third and second respectively to the decider, leaving them in the last three riders to go and they needed clean rounds to force a jump-off for the medals.
Coyle’s medal hopes came unstuck when his mare Legacy lost a shoe and he lost a stirrup. They were still clear until the difficult final line but he clipped the second and had three more down and the 30-year-old Derry man retired his horse at that point, who had served him so brilliantly with three previous clear rounds in Paris.
Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz; his 11-year-old grey gelding known as ‘Gizmo’ started and finished well but came unstuck early at the 5th and finished with 12 faults, in 22nd place.
Of the three men in the jump-off to decide the finals only Germany’s Christian Kukuk managed to go clear a second time to win gold on a monumentally difficult course.
Athletics
Sophie O’Sullivan clocked a personal best time of 4:00.23 to move to fourth on the Irish all-time list for the 1,500m, just missing out on a semi-final spot by one place. She will now go in Wednesday morning’s repechage races.
Sarah Healy finished in the exact same position in her heat and will, like O’Sullivan, have to prepare now for the repechage tomorrow. The 23-year-old crossed the line in 4:02.91.
Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker also both failed to advance to the semi-finals of the women’s 400m following their repechage heats. Mawdsley finished third in her race in 51.18, down on the personal best she had ran the day before, while Becker clocked the second fastest time of her career, 51.28, to finish second in her heat.
Track Cycling
Ireland’s women’s pursuit team of Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe knocked over three seconds off the national record in the qualifying round of the Team Pursuit at the Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, but narrowly missed out on progressing to the next round.
The quartet, all racing in their first Olympics, finished the 4km race in 4:12.447 to finish ninth overall, with the top eight progressing through to the next round.
Murphy said: “This has been the culmination of two years of really hard work. To come to the world’s biggest race and do a big PB is something we’ve been dreaming of and to actually make it a reality today is a real joy, I still can’t quite believe it. I’m really proud of us.”
Diving
Jake Passmore came agonisingly close to making the semi-final in the men’s 3m Springboard on his Olympic debut. With a total score of 360.90, Passmore was just 2.25 points off the top 18 qualification for the semi-final, ultimately placing 21st overall.
The youngest competitor in the field, Passmore started with a forward 3½ somersaults, which would turn out to be his highest scoring dive with 68.20 points. The 19-year-old was consistent in the first four dives adding scores of 64.50, 63.00 and 66.30 for dives two, three and four putting himself right in contention at 11th place overall.
Mistakes however in dives five and six cost Passmore with scores of 49.40 and 49.50 moving him down the rankings and just outside the qualification places.
Sailing
As has been a running theme at these Games, the low winds in Marseilles led to the postponement of the Men’s Dinghy medal race. Ireland’s Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club), will have to wait until Wednesday afternoon for his final race.
Day 11 results
Diving, 3m Springboard preliminary: Jake Passmore, score of 360.90, 21st overall, does not progress
Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Final: Shane Sweetnan, 12 pens in 82.03, 22nd overall; Daniel Coyle, retired during final round, 25th overall.
Athletics, Women’s 1,500m, Round 1: Sarah Healy, 7th in heat in 4:02.91, through to repechage on Wednesday; Sophie O’Sullivan, 7th in heat in 4:00.23 PB, through to repechage on Wednesday.
Athletics, Women’s 400m repechage: Sophie Becker, 2nd in 51.28, does not progress; Sharlene Mawdsley, 3rd in rep in 51.18, does not progress.
Sailing, Men’s Dinghy: Finn Lynch – Medal Race – postponed, rescheduled for Wednesday.
Track Cycling, Women’s Team Pursuit Qualifying: Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy, Alice Sharpe – 9th in NR of 4:12.447, do not progress.
