And so it begins. With just under 60 days left to the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Team Ireland has made the first official selection of athletes to represent us at the Games.
Nhat Nguyen and Rachael Darragh have been officially selected to represent Team Ireland in badminton.
Dubliner, Nguyen, will be competing in his second Games, having made his debut at the Tokyo Olympics, while Darragh, from Raphoe in Donegal will be making her first Olympic appearance.
The Badminton events take place in the Porte de la Chapelle Arena from the 27 July to the finals on the 4 August 2024.
Qualification for badminton in the Olympic Games was based on ranking, with Nguyen impressing with a 19th place ranking position when rankings closed. Darragh was ranked 34th, with an anxious wait for the 10th of May, when rankings closed. Darragh’s aunt Chloe Magee competed in the Women’s Singles event at three Olympic Games, and her uncle Dan Magee is the Performance Director for the team.
“It’s very hard to explain the emotions you feel with someone tells you that you’ve qualified for the Olympics,” she said.
“It’s a dream that has been there for my whole life, since I was little.”
“With my higher ranking this time around, I could qualify quite safely, but I wanted to raise my level and get closer to the best in the world,” added Nguyen.
“I’m grateful to be going to my second Olympic Games, and I hope the experience from Tokyo will help me.”
“We are delighted to officially select Nhat and Rachael to Team Ireland for the Paris Olympics,” said Chef de Mission Gavin Noble.
“They are the first two athletes to be officially selected by Team Ireland for the Paris Olympic team. They both represent the dedication, resilience, and commitment that is evident in all our elite athletes.”
“Nhat has been consistently performing at a world-class level, and we are excited to watch him continue to grow as he heads into his second Games.”
“Rachael has been impressive throughout her Olympic qualification campaign, and we are delighted to confirm her on the team.”
“It is fantastic to see the progress that has been made from the Tokyo cycle with a strong coaching team now in place and a centralised training system on the National sports campus,” said Badminton Ireland High Performance Director Dan Magee.
“Having a home-based training on campus means we benefit greatly from Sport Ireland, the Sport Institute team and Team Ireland daily.”
“The qualification of two athletes in this cycle demonstrates that the system is progressing, and it has a positive impact on our junior athletes in the system who have a goal to qualify for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. I am looking forward to seeing our athletes perform in Paris and to see what we can achieve in the cycles ahead.”
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