Ireland to send 65 athletes to European Games in Belarus

The Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) has named a squad of 65 athletes from nine sports to compete in the second edition of the European Games in Minsk, Belarus next month.

Among the medal contenders will be women's boxing world champion Kellie Harrington, with competition running from June 21st to 30th.

Minsk will feature 15 sports in all, eight of which are part of the road to Tokyo 2020 qualification process.

Team Ireland will field teams in archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling, gymnastics, judo and shooting – the athletics events taking the form of a new competition format known as Dynamic New Athletics (DNA); the teams are mixed and competitions are held in nine disciplines – six track events and three field events. Athletes can win medals individually in the nine disciplines, but their individual results also count towards the overall team tally.

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Announcing the team, OFI chef de mission Tricia Heberle said: "Minsk will provide an exciting opportunity for Team Ireland to come together in a multi-sport environment to compete against some of the best talent in Europe, providing a measure to gauge where they stand. As an athlete you don't get many chances to compete for your country in multi-sport events so it will be a good learning experience for many of the team as we prepare for Tokyo 2020."

The first of the Team Ireland athletes will travel to Minsk on June 19th. The opening ceremony takes place on June 21st.

TEAM IRELAND
Archery: Maeve Reidy (Recurve)
Athletics – Men: Nelvin Appiah-Konadu (High Jump); Brandon Arrey (4 x 400m); Stephen Gaffney (100m); Conall Kirk (Pursuit); Andrew Mellon (4 x 400m); Gerard O'Donnell (110m H); Paul White (Pursuit).
Women: Grace Casey (Javelin); Ciara Deely (4 x 400m); Sinead Denny (4 x 400m); Victoria Harris (Pursuit Race); Sarah Lavin (100m Hurdles); Sophie Meredith (Long Jump); Amy O'Donoghue (Pursuit Race); Niamh Whelan (100m),
Reserves: Paul Byrne, Luke Lennon-Ford, Kelly McGrory, Catherine McManus, Lily-Ann O'Hora, Moromoluwa Olusa
Badminton: Rachael Darragh (singles), Nhat Nguyen (singles); Chloe Magee (mixed doubles), Samuel Magee (mixed doubles); Joshua Magee (men's doubles), Paul Reynolds (men's doubles).
Boxing – Men: Anthony Browne (Men's Heavy -91kg); Regan Daly (Men's Light Fly -49kg); Dean Gardiner (Men's Super Heavy +91kg); Brendan Irvine (Men's Fly -52kg); James McGivern (Men's Light Welter -69kg); Kieran Molloy (Men's Welter -69kg); Michael Nevin (Men's Middle -75kg); Kurt Walker (Men's Bantam -56kg); Joseph Ward (Men's Light Heavy -81kg).
Women: Kellie Harrington (Women's Light -60kg); Aoife O'Rourke (Women's Middle -75kg); Grainne Walsh (Women's Welter -69kg); Michaela Walsh (Women's Feather -57kg).
Canoe Sprint: Jenny Egan (Women's K1 200, 500, 5000); Ronan Hughes (Men's K1 200, 500, 5000).
Cycling – Road, Men: Mark Downey, Conor Dunne, Robert Jon McCarthy, Ryan Mullen, Michael O'Loughlin. Women: Alice Sharp; Track Men: Mark Downey, Felix English, JB Murphy, Marc Potts, Fintan Ryan: Track Women: Lydia Boylan, Mia Griffin, Lydia Gurley, Shannon McCurley, Robyn Stewart, Orla Walsh.
Gymnastics: Emma Slevin (Women's All-Around); Adam Steele (Men's All-Around).
Judo: Nathon Burns (Men's Half-light weight -66kg); Ben Fletcher (Men's Half-heavy weight -100kg); Megan Fletcher (Women's Middle weight -70kg).
Shooting: Aoife Gormally (Women's Shotgun Trap)