At the full-time whistle in Croke Park on Sunday, Malachy Clerkin found himself surrounded by “delirium”, Armagh’s Olympic effort having earned them only the second All Ireland title in their history. Hill 16, he writes, looked “like a Fanta explosion in a bouncy castle”, years of heartache coming to an end after Kieran McGeeney’s men held off Galway to get their hands on Sam Maguire. “Sometimes your strongest steel is forged in fire,” said the manager afterwards, recalling all the lows he and his team had endured along the way. “Penalty shoot-outs, everybody telling them they can’t win tight games, can’t beat teams above them ... [we] gave them a perfect answer. All-Ireland champions 2024,” Philip Reid heard him say.
Seán Moran reflects on that journey too, one that concluded, appropriately enough, with an Armagh man, GAA president Jarlath Burns, presenting the trophy to captain Aidan Forker. And among those he hugged and congratulated was his own son, Jarly Óg. “He just said, I’m so proud of you,” the young fella told Gordon Manning.
Joy unconfined, then, in the Armagh camp. “It is great to get over the line and you see the emotions from the fans and the players and what it means to them,” said Tiernan Kelly to Philip. Meanwhile, nothing but devastation in the Galway camp. “It’s going to haunt us for a while,” said manager Pádraic Joyce of what was a missed opportunity. Seán takes you through how it all unfolded in his match report, and we have the player ratings for Armagh and Galway and five key moments from the game.
Over in Paris, it was a mixed weekend for the Irish at the Olympic Games, Denis Walsh rounding up the news, among the highlights the form of Mona McSharry, Ian O’Riordan seeing her qualify for this evening’s 100 metres breaststroke final in the finest of style. And Ian also witnessed Rhys McClenaghan nervelessly go through to the pommel horse final. “I’m at the top of the mountain now, and I’m just enjoying the view,” said the gymnast. That might have been how the women’s rugby Sevens side felt too after their 38-0 mauling of South Africa kept alive their chances of making the quarter-finals.
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Heavyweight Jack Marley, meanwhile, brought a much-needed win to the Irish boxing team, Johnny Watterson seeing him produce “a performance full of heart and aggression in his first Olympic Games”, while Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove lie second overall after an impressive start to their sailing campaign. There’s lots more Olympic reading to be done, and keep an eye on the website through the day for updated reports on the action. John O’Sullivan will be live-blogging it all.
TV Watch: There’s a mountain of Olympic action to enjoy today, among the Irish highlights Kellie Harrington’s bout against Italy’s Alessia Mesiano at 2.46pm, Nhat Nguyen’s second badminton match from 8.10pm and Mona McSharry’s breaststroke final at 8.25pm. And away from Paris, there’s coverage of the Galway Races on RTÉ 1 (4.40pm-5.45pm, 6.30pm-7.30pm) and highlights of the All Ireland football final on TG4 (8pm).
Irish in action schedule at Olympics
9am: Ireland v Australia (Men’s hockey)
From 9.30am: Austin O’Connor, Sarah Ennis, Susie Berry (Equestrian – Three Day Eventing, Jumping Team & Individual)
10am: Margaret Cremen, Aoife Casey (Rowing, lightweight double sculls repechage)
10.06am Ellen Walshe (400m IM heat)
10.19am: Danielle Hill (100m Backstroke heats)
10.58am: Daniel Wiffen (800m Freestyle heats)
From 11.05am: Robert Dickson/Seán Waddilove (Sailing, skiff, races 4-6)
1.30pm: Ireland v Australia (Women’s Rugby Sevens)
From 2.30pm: Liam Jegou (Canoe Slalom – C1 semi-final and final)
2.46pm: Kellie Harrington v Alessia Mesiano (Italy) (Boxing, 60kg Round of 16)
8.10pm: Nhat Nguyen v Prince Nahal (Badminton, singles)
8.25pm: Mona McSharry (100m Breaststroke final)
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