ROWING

Today is the last day of racing for the Irish rowers, and it is set to be exciting. Three crews in the finals are bidding for glory.

The Men’s Pair (M2-) of Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan, the Women’s Lightweight Double (LW2x) of Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen, the Men’s Lightweight Double (LW2x) of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan, are all rowing for medals this morning.

The Women’s Pair (W2-) of Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh will race the B final of their event for the 7-12 placings at these Games.

The Men’s Pair (M2-) of Timoney and Corrigan will start in lane six on the course, facing Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Romania and Great Britain. The current World Champions Switzerland have been on the podium four times this season but have yet to beat the GB crew, who have been dominating this season in the Men’s Pair, picking up three gold medals, two at the World Cups and one at the European Championships. Timoney and Corrigan beat the Swiss duo in the heat over a photo finish and finished just half a second behind GB in the semi-final.

The Romanian pair had a very strong semi-final, finishing ahead of Ireland and Great Britain to progress to tomorrow’s Final. They are also doubling up in the Men’s eight, so they have two more races in their legs. The Croatian Pair of the Sinkovic brothers decided to swap from the double to the pair after last year’s World Championships and have had some fourth—and fifth-place finishes this season. They are, however, the Tokyo Olympic Champions in the pair and look to be on form again.

Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are ready to defend their Olympic title in the Lightweight Double (LM2x).

After suffering defeat in May to the Swiss and Italian doubles, the Irish crew is looking to return to the top of the podium. The Skibbereen rowers have shown dominant performances in both their heat and semi-final, beating the Swiss crew yesterday, but they have yet to face the Italian double. Italy, like Ireland, has won both its heat and semi-final, so it is definitely one of the top contenders for Gold.

Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey have performed incredibly throughout the week to make it to the final of the Lightweight Women’s Double (LW2x). Having finished eighth at the last Olympics, Cremen and Casey have already improved their result this time around by making the final.

The double that everyone is watching is the GB crew, which has been undefeated since July 2022. They finished fourth in Tokyo, but from their next appearance together, they haven’t let a single crew get the better of them.

The Romanian double are the next top seed, having won both their heat and semi-final. They’re the current European Champions and finished with bronze medals at last year’s World Championships. The USA crew in lane six beat them in Belgrade at the 2023 World Championships, taking home the silver medal, so they’re not to be forgotten about, either.

 

SAILING

The Medal Race of the Men’s Skiff, which had to be abandoned on two separate occasions yesterday, has been rescheduled for 12.13 pm Irish time today when it is hoped wind conditions will be more favourable for racing.

Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove start the medal race in second place overall, with the Spanish crew leading and New Zealand only two points behind in third. The points from the medal race are doubled and added to the fleet series score to determine podium positions, so any of the top seven or eight crews can win the medals.

After the opening two races in the Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, who is 16th overall, will contest races 3 and 4 today. The twenty-eight-year-old from Carlow is competing in his second Olympics after debuting in Rio but missing out on the subsequent Games in Tokyo.

After posting an 8th in her first Olympic race yesterday, Eve McMahon will have three races on the cards today in the Women’s Dinghy Fleet Series, with race 2 – rescheduled from Thursday’s run-off before races 3 and 4 afterwards.

 

EQUESTRIAN

Ireland’s show jumpers remain on course for a strong showing today in the Team final.

Twenty teams have been whittled down to 10, with Switzerland and Brazil the major casualties from round one.

Michael Blake’s team of Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, and Cian O’Connor had plenty in hand to reach the big dance in sixth position. Coyle and Legacy were particularly impressive, jumping a superb clear round.

With the Olympic format of three combinations jumping and no discard score – or no warm-up class – there was little room for error but Ireland safely navigated the challenge.

With a difficult course build in the final, it remains to be seen what the course designers have in store today, but with world number nine Sweetnam and number 11 Coyle teaming up with the ever-reliable O’Connor, hopes are high for the Irish at the Palace of Versailles.

 

ATHLETICS

Irish athletics involvement at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games gets underway this morning on the newly laid purple track at the Stade de France. And sure who wouldn’t love a purple track?

First into action will be Team Ireland’s three 1500m men: Cathal Doyle, Luke McCann, and Andrew Coscoran.

Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers AC) and McCann (UCD AC) will make their Olympic debuts, while Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) has a proven pedigree at this level, having made the semi-final of the event in Tokyo three years ago. The first six athletes in each of the three heats will advance to the semi-finals, with all remaining athletes entering the repechage round; this is the first time this format has occurred in athletics.

In the evening session, Jodie McCann (Dublin City Harriers) will also make her Olympic debut, having qualified for the Women’s 5000m. The younger sister of Luke, McCann, will need to finish in the top eight to book her place in the final.

All eyes will then turn to the Mixed 4x400m Relay heats. The Irish team, which will not be announced before final declarations in line with other nations, bids to make a second successive Olympic final in the event. The top three in the heats automatically advance to the final, followed thereafter by the two fastest times.

Eric Favors closes out the athletics action from an Irish perspective when he makes his Games debut in the Men’s Shot Put. Favors will need to throw 21.35m to advance automatically to the final; otherwise, he will rely on placing within the top twelve from the two qualification groups.

 

GOLF

In golf Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry return to the course at Le Golf National in their second rounds of the Men’s Individual competition.

Offaly’s Lowry will be first out at 8.44 am Irish time and will be hoping to improve on his opening round of 71 to move up the standings. Rory McIlroy is out at 11.06 am Irish time alongside Scottie Scheffler (USA) and Ludvig Aberg (SWE).

 

CANOE SLALOM

Noel Hendrick and Liam Jegou will be back on the water today in Kayak Cross, which is a new Olympic event in Paris. Like ski-cross or snowboard cross, it is contested as four-person races, with competitors starting off a launch pad two metres above the water.

Then it’s a mad dash to negotiate the slalom gates, and there is also a big roll barrier across the course at one point where the paddlers have to do an Eskimo roll. The time trials are first to decide seeding for the heats. In heats it’s top two to go through and other two go to a repechage where it’s top two again to qualify.

 

HOCKEY

The Irish Men’s team will play their final game of these Games today against New Zealand, hoping to record a win at Yves du Manoir Stadium.

After yesterday’s defeat to Argentina, they cannot progress from their group but will be hopeful of ending on a positive note against the side one place above them in the world rankings, in 10th.

 

BOXING

The last of Ireland’s boxers, featherweight Michaela Walsh, finally enters Paris today (2:46 pm Irish time) in her second Olympic Games. Belfast’s two-time European bronze medallist faces Bulgaria’s Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, a world bronze medallist in 2023, in the last 16 of the 57kg.

 

SWIMMING

400m Individual Medley Finalist at these Games Ellen Walshe returns to the pool today for the heats of the 200m Individual Medley. Walshe is the Irish record holder in the event in 2:10.92, a time she set in the semi-final of the 2023 World Championships.
Today’s Team Ireland Schedule

Irish Participation Events 

09:54 Rowing, Women’s Pair (W2-), B final (7-12 placings), Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh

10:10 Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 1, Round 1, Cathal Doyle (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)

10:21 Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 2, Round 1, Luke McCann (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)

10:11 Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 2, Rory McIlroy

10:30 Rowing, Men’s Pair (M2-), FINAL, Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney

10:32 Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 3, Round 1, Andrew Coscoran (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)

10:35 Swimming, Women’s 200m IM, heats, Ellen Walshe, heat 5/5 (16 fastest to s/f)

11:02 Rowing, Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LW2x), FINAL, Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy

10:05 Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 2 – rescheduled, Eve McMahon

11:15 Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 3, Eve Mc Mahon

11:22 Rowing, Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LW2x) FINAL, Aoife Casey, Margaret Cremen

11:44 Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 2, Shane Lowry

12:13 Sailing, Men’s Skiff, RESCHEDULED MEDAL RACE

12:23 Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 4, Eve Mc Mahon

13:00 Equestrian, Show Jumping, Team FINAL, Shane Sweetnam, Cian O’Connor, Daniel Coyle

14:30 Men’s Kayak Cross Time Trial, Noel Hendrick, Liam Jegou

14:35 Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Race 3, Finn Lynch

14:46 Boxing, Women’s Featherweight (57kg), Last 16, Michaela Walsh V Svetlana Kamenova Staneva (BUL)

15:40 Women’s Kayak Cross Time Trial, Madison Corcoran

15:45 Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Race 4, Finn Lynch

16:00 Hockey, Men’s Pool B, Ireland v New Zealand

17:36 Athletics, Women’s 5000m, Round 1, Heat 2/2, Jodie McCann (first 8 in each heat to final)

18:22 Athletics, 4x400m Mixed Relay, heat 2/2, (first 3 in each heat Q, and next two fastest q advance to final)

19:10 Athletics, Shot Put, Qualification Group A, Eric Favors (standard 21.35m, all that meet standard, or at least 12 best to final)

20:22 Swimming, Women’s 200m IM semi-final, Ellen Walshe, *dependant on progression

 

With thanks to the Team Ireland Media group providing a great service from Paris

 

 

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