Sligo’s Mona McSharry has won a stunning Olympic bronze medal in the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In doing so, McSharry became Team Ireland’s first medallist at these Olympic Games.
Becoming only the third Irish female swimmer to make an Olympic final tonight, Templeogue’s Ellen Walshe placed eighth in the women’s 400m Individual Medley in a time of 4:40.70. Afterwards, Larne SC’s Danielle Hill placed eighth in her semi-final of the women’s 100m backstroke in a time of 1:00.80 to place 16th overall.
The Women’s Rugby Sevens side were beaten 40-7 by Australia in last night’s quarter-final and will now face hosts France in the 5-8 placings matches tomorrow afternoon.
Badminton’s Nhat Nguyen made it two wins out of two in Group P when he defeated Nepalese player Prince Dahal in straight sets. However, the Irish ace now faces reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen from Denmark in the group decider on Wednesday morning; only one from the group will advance to the quarter-finals.
SWIMMING
A product of Ballyshannon Marlins SC in Donegal, under coach Grace Meade, McSharry stormed to third in a time of 1:05.59. South Africa’s Tatjana Smith won gold in 1:05.28, with China’s Qianting Tang taking silver in 1:05.54.
McSharry, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she has been part of the swim programme under her coach Matt Kredich, becomes the first Irish swimmer to win an Olympic medal in 28 years, and notably the first Irish swimmer to ever win an Olympic breaststroke medal.
Speaking directly afterwards, McSharry said: “I’m very excited! I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet that I’ve actually won a medal! I think once I get up on the podium it’ll all become really real but I think it’s just amazing because it’s years of hard work that have paid off and it just feels amazing!
When asked what she thought when she saw the result, she said, “A little bit of relief, a little bit of wow—okay, this is actually happening! Then I was just really excited to be in that position.”
Reflecting on the story of the race itself, “I could see the Chinese girl beside me, so I knew that she was ahead of me. So I was like, I need to try and catch her because if she’s ahead, then I don’t know what’s going on on the other side—I can’t see that.
“I had a bad first fifty—my goggles filled up with water a little bit, so it was not a perfect race, but it just shows you’re in it until the end, and you just have to keep going. I was like, ‘I’m not giving up, I’m going, I’m going,’ and I think it was 0.01 between me and the next swimmers, so that’s kind of crazy, but that’s what racing is about—close finishes!”
Ellen Walshe, swimming in her first Olympic final, was eighth in the 400m Individual Medley in 4:40.70. The Templeogue native is just the third Irish swimmer to compete in an Olympic final.
Speaking after the race, Walshe said, “I think when you look at the overall outcome, like I’m Olympic finalist, not many people are able to say that. And yeah, I would have liked a stronger swim tonight. I thought I had a little bit more in me than this morning, but I think I tried to race the race beside me, then my own race at the start, so probably paid for it a little bit.
Walshe is back in the pool on Friday for the heats of the 200m Individual Medley.
In the Women’s 100m Backstroke, Danielle Hill, swimming in her first Olympic semi-final, clocked 1:00.80, for eighth place and 16th overall, just outside the 1:00.40 she posted in Monday morning’s preliminaries.
Speaking in the mixed zone afterwards, Hill said: “Listen, of course, I’m frustrated. I know where my best time puts me in that, but it’s on the day that matters. It felt a little bit heavy in the back half, so I haven’t seen anything except for the time and the finish, so I can’t really be too critical about it because I haven’t broken it down. I wouldn’t say disappointed because I know everything I’ve done to be here, what I went through. I’ve left no stone unturned, and unfortunately, sometimes that is sport. I stand here proud of myself. I’m an Olympic semi-finalist, and that’s the guts of it. Of course, the time could have been better, but that’s the guts of it.”
Hill will be back in action on Saturday in the 50m Freestyle and will then lead off the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay.
WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS
Ireland Women’s Sevens suffered a disappointing quarter-final defeat to a rampant Australia side at the Stade de France last night, ending any medal hopes at these Games.
Allan Temple-Jones’ side advanced to the knockout stages as the best third-place team following the Pool stages but were unable to match the physicality and intent of Australia, who recorded a 40-7 win as star winger Maddison Levi scored a hat-trick of tries.
It was a disappointing evening for Ireland after they had pushed Australia all the way in their earlier Pool match, but the team can take great pride from their first Olympic appearance. They will be determined to finish on a high when they face hosts France in Tuesday’s fifth-place match at 2pm Irish time.
Speaking afterwards, Stacey Flood said: “It was not the performance we had been working towards but credit to Australia who showed their quality. We were unable to implement our game plan, and unfortunately, when you give Australia that amount of possession and time on the ball, they’re going to punish you. We have to dust ourselves off now because there are still two games for us tomorrow, and we will want to finish as high as possible.”
BADMINTON
Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen continued his great run in badminton, making it two from two wins in his qualifying group by making short work of Nepal’s Prince Dahal. He only conceded 12 points in his two-game victory, wrapping it up 21-7, 21-5 in half an hour. The Dubliner’s clever net play and powerful smashes forced his opponent into repeated errors as he built up a quick 16-5 lead in the first.
At that point, even when the Nepalese man used his first challenge for a video review, he lost it. Nguyen closed out the first game 21-7 with a dazzling smash, and it was more of the same in the second.
“I’m really happy to get it done in two,” the Clarehall man said. I know he was a little bit lower ranked and hasn’t played in a lot of tournaments, but he’s quite skilful and tricky. Once I neutralised that, I felt I was dictating the play.”
His opponent was a former world junior champion but Nepal’s first-ever Olympic badminton player with a ranking that was substantially lower than Nguyen (#43), who had already dispatched Israel’s Misha Zilberman in three sets.
But with only one progressing from each group, the two-time Irish Olympian now faces the ultimate test on Wednesday morning; Denmark superstar and reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.
“I feel I definitely have momentum here now,” Nguyen said. “Of course, he’s the defending Olympic champion and world number two, and I’ve lost to him the last two times, but I have to believe in going out there.
“If I walk out there like the last two times I played him, I have no chance. I feel fit and strong, and my confidence is high. I really feel I’ve put in the work, physically and mentally, and I’m just going to go in and totally give it my all.”
SAILING
Following race six in the Men’s Skiff, the Spanish crew lodged a protest against the Irish pair of Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, alleging that the Irish boat impeded them in a manoeuvre, which Ireland challenged, but ultimately lost, incurring a penalty of disqualification from race six.
After all 12 races in the fleet series, everyone discards their worst score before the top ten boats are determined. The Irish crew will now use this DQ as their discard score, which is not ideal with further crucial races to come, but necessary. Despite this the Irish crew remain second overall in the series at this point.
CANOE SLALOM
Team Ireland’s Liam Jegou has finished seventh in the Men’s Canoe Slalom C1 final. Jegou had an incredible day on the water at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, entering the semi-finals in 16th position but posting a remarkable semi-final run to qualify for the final in sixth place.
Performing again in the final less than two hours later, the Clare native hit the exact same time as his earlier run, narrowly missing out on a silver medal after picking up a two-second penalty on the second last gate. Up against the very best in the sport, Jegou has now firmly established himself amongst the world’s elite in his debut Olympic final.
A change in the positions of the gates from the heats to the semi-finals and finals provided added difficulty but ultimately didn’t affect Jegou as he put down his two best performances on the day – when it mattered most. Gold went to France before a deafening home crowd, silver to Great Britain and bronze to Slovakia.
Speaking immediately after coming off the water, the Clare man said, “I had a blast. That’s the best paddling I’ve produced in probably a year or two. I’m delighted that I put it down on the day that it counted. It was a really competitive run.”
“It’s tough right now, but I had to go for it and finish up strong. The slightest touch puts me out of the medals, but it’s such a privilege and honour to be in the fight for the medals. It’s what we all dream of, and today, I was almost there.”
Jegou’s finish was Ireland’s best since Beijing 2008 when Eoin Rheinisch was fourth in the K1 discipline. It was a massive improvement on his 15th place at his debut Olympics in Tokyo three years ago. Liam Jegou returns to action later in the week in the all-new Kayak Cross event.
BOXING
Ireland’s defending lightweight boxing champion, Kellie Harrington, showed all her experience and class to expertly ease into the lightweight (60kg) quarter-finals with a unanimous 5-0 victory over Italy’s Alessia Mesiano.
The Tokyo gold medallist gave a trademark masterclasses in tactical boxing, using her jab brilliantly and switching her lead regularly to pick off the Italian who came at her aggressively from the start.
Harrington got in a big early right hook to settle herself and won the first round 5:0. Her opponent caught her with a right hook at the start of the second round, but she never lost her composure and went on to win all three rounds 5:0 for Ireland’s first unanimous victory at the North Paris Arena.
Asked if she had any worries about her form after suffering a rare loss at the European Championships this year, Harrington said: “None! You have to fall to get back up. If you didn’t get back up, you may as well stay down. It’s only a loss if you don’t learn from it, and hopefully, I learned from it.
“It felt good to get going. It’s always good to get a win. I’m just happy to be here and get out and compete. It’s great to have people out there cheering me, and great to see the Irish flag floating around the stadium. It’s absolutely class.
“Our (boxing) team has put in so much work to get here. Every single one of them bit down and dug deep, and they will continue to do that in the tournament
With just 22 boxers in Harrington’s division, the thirty-four-year-old benefitted from a bye to the last 16 and is now just one bout away from fighting for a second Olympic medal. On Wednesday afternoon (31 July), she will face either Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku (a bronze medallist at the 2022 World Championships) or Colombia’s 2023 World silver medallist Paola Angie Valdas Pana.
EQUESTRIAN
After their ninth-place finish in the team competition, Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue took on the show jumping course for the second time in the individual final. The Cork man was delighted to record an impressive clear round on his 15-year-old gelding for a 17th-place finish.
O’Connor began the day in 14th individually and had looked on course for a clear first round until knocking poles at the final two fences. It was all put right, however, in the top 25 final as the pair never put a foot wrong and came home clear within the time to a rousing reception from the packed Versailles stands.
Reflecting on his day, O’Connor said: “I’m relieved, to be honest. He showed that all the ability and the want are still there – there would have been people questioning if he was finished if he hadn’t jumped clear in the final, after the two down earlier. He had actually jumped very, very well until late on. It really was just two fences too many – basically, we just didn’t get high enough over the last two, and that was it, but after that, he’s shown that he’s a long way off being finished, and it’s a great way to wrap Paris up.”
Ireland finished ninth of 16 nations in the overall standings, with Great Britain winning gold, hosts France in silver, and Japan taking bronze, a result Team Manager Dag Albert was ultimately disappointed with:
“I’m disappointed, yes, but I’m also extremely proud of the guys – they gave everything they had to achieve the best possible result, but we just didn’t get the rub of the green. We had a mountain to climb after dressage, really, and we felt unlucky to have been on that score at the time, and obviously, Sarah’s horse getting injured sucked the life out of the team a little bit, but they are so resilient and maintained their standards – I thought they all jumped great today.”
“It’s Susie’s first Olympics, and Sarah’s mare is only 10, so she has a really bright future. Austin is Austin—he has been delivering with Colorado Blue for a while now and is a real leader, so while I’m disappointed now, I’m still optimistic for the future with this team.”
HOCKEY
Ireland Men’s Hockey team produced a battling performance in their second outing, pushing FIH Pro League champions Australia all the way in this morning’s Pool B clash at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium before ultimately slipping to a narrow 2-1 defeat. Lee Cole scored Ireland’s opening goal of these Olympics, finishing brilliantly from a penalty corner in the first half, and Mark Tumilty’s side defended stoically throughout, trading blows with the world’s third-ranked team in a really encouraging display in Paris.
After Corey Weyer had given Australia an early lead, Ireland responded strongly as Cole slammed home into the bottom corner following a well-worked Irish penalty corner, sparking celebrations among the green army inside Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
Shutting down Australia’s lethal attacking threat at one end, goalkeeper David Harte once again totemic between the posts. Ireland pushed forward repeatedly with intent and accuracy during an intense contest, but Australia regained the lead moments before half-time as Blake Covers converted a penalty stroke despite Harte’s best efforts.
With Matthew Nelson and Ben Walker looking dangerous in attack, Ireland searched for an equaliser in the final quarter, and despite falling just short, there is no lack of positives for Tumilty and his players to take into tomorrow’s third Pool outing against India. Four of the six teams in each pool will progress to the quarter-finals.
Speaking after the defeat, Irish captain Seán Murray gave this assessment: “I think it was a fantastic performance from the guys; we went out there with confidence and a belief to try and get a result against one of the top sides in the world and credit to Australia, they defended really well, and they took their chances. I think since January, when we qualified, we have been doing so much work behind the scenes with the coaches and S&C on our physicality. Australia are a renowned team to run you off the park, and you could see at the end of the game some of those guys were on their knees, so I think physically and also technically, we matched them.
“It’s great to get off the mark with a great strike from Lee Cole. We said after Belgium that we wanted to create more chances, play with a bit more belief, be a bit more direct, and not be so conservative, and I think we did that today. We have three games to go. We’re living the dream out here, and we want to get those two results we’re chasing to reach a quarter-final.”
Team reserve Jonny Lynch made his Olympic debut when he was drafted into the team ahead of today’s game to replace Nick Page,who suffered a wrist injury in the opening game but will hopefully be fit enough to return later in the week.
ROWING
The Lightweight Women’s Double of Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey recorded a convincing win in their repechage this morning. Getting cleanly off the start, Ireland held a good position, moving to the front ahead of the Canadian double. The Chinese double caught some water in the opening strokes, which led to a boat-stopping crab, ruling them out of the top runners. Through the second quarter of the race, Ireland settled into their rhythm, moving efficiently in the water, increasing their lead as they went.
Afterwards, Cremen has this reaction: “It was a really solid race, so it was great and felt good. It was our goal today to just feel in control and execute our plan. I think we did that, and I think we just wanted to be with the pack as long as we could and then have confidence in ourselves so that we can push through with the fitness we have.”
Crossing the line three lengths ahead of the Canadian double, who finished fourth at last year’s World Championships, Cremen and Casey head into the semi-finals on Wednesday (July 31st) with the fastest time of the two repechages.
With thanks to the Team Ireland Media group providing a great service from Paris
Sport for Business will host its inaugural Children and Sport Conference in Dublin on Thursday, September 19th, with the support of Allianz Ireland and Sport Ireland. This is one of many events planned for the remainder of 2024.
Register your interest to attend a Sport for Business event here.
The Olympic Federation of Ireland and PTSB are among the 300 organisations, which include all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies, that are members of the Sport for Business community.
Find out more about joining us today.
Check out our upcoming events to discover ways of connecting in person with our membership.