Irish In Action: Wednesday, July 31st
From 8.20am: Nhat Nguyen v Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) (Badminton Men’s Singles, final pool match) Nguyen lost 2-0.
9.34am: Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney (Men’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final) Finished third and advanced into the final
9.54am: Fiona Murtagh, Aifric Keogh (Women’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final) Finished sixth and missed out
10.00am: Mona McSharry (Swimming, 200m breaststroke heats) Finished third and moved into semi-final
10.14am: Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy (Men’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final) Won and advanced to final
10.34am: Margaret Cremen, Aoife Casey (Women’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final) Finished third and advanced to final
1.00pm or later: Badminton, Group L, Rachael Darragh v Carolina Marin (ESP). Darragh lost 21-5, 21-5.
1.50: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 10, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove. Finished 11th.
2.30: Boxing, Men’s 57kg, Round of 16, Jude Gallagher v Carlo Paalam (PHI). Gallagher lost unanimous decision.
2.45: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 11, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove. Finished 13th.
3.37: Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 12, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove. Finished 2nd and qualify for Thursday’s medal race in silver medal position
4.54: Boxing, Women’s 60kg, Q-final, Kellie Harrington v Angie Paola Valdes Pana (COL) - won on a unanimous decision and qualifies for Saturday night’s semi-final
8.52: Boxing, Women’s 75kg, Round of 16, Aoife O’Rourke v Elzbieta Wojcik (POL)
9.03: Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, semi-finals, Mona McSharry
Leon Marchand wins a third gold of the Games as the 22-year-old French phenom is cheered to the rafters in the men’s 200m breaststroke final, while in the last race of the night in the pool, China’s Zhanle Pan broke the world record to win the men’s 100m freestyle.
Right I’m defo heading off now. Have to put out the bins. And so do you!
Seems like I’m not the only to think that Aoife O’Rourke was hard done by.
Back to the boxing and I’d like to know what the RTÉ panel make of Aoife O’Rourke’s defeat in the 75kg division. Her Polish opponent was warned for holding and looked more interested in wrestling than boxing. Well, the judges have made their decision and the 27-year-old Roscommon is out of the Olympic Games.
We’ll see what Johnny Watterson makes of it when he files his report from the North Paris Arena in a little while. Ian O’ Riordan was at the swimming and he’ll get a word from McSharry after her swim.
But that’s it for another long day at the Olympics. John will have the day off tomorrow, but you’ll be in the safe hands of Mary Hannigan in the morning for another packed programme, including the start of the men’s golf tournament with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in action. Here’s the rest of the Irish programme.
Nighty night!
Thursday’s Irish schedule (all times Irish)
9.11am: Rory McIlroy (Golf – first round)
9.30am: Zoe Hyde, Alison Bergin (Rowing – double sculls B final)
From 10am: Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor (Showjumping – qualifying)
From 10am: Tom Fannon and Shane Ryan (Swimming – 50m freestyle heats)
10.30am: Philip Doyle, Daire Lynch (Rowing – double sculls A final)
10.44am: Shane Lowry (Golf – first round)
From 11.10am: Finn Lynch (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
12.15pm: Ireland v Argentina (Men’s hockey)
1.43pm: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Sailing – Skiff medal race)
From 2.30pm: Noel Hendrick (Canoe Slalom – K1 semi-finals, finals)
From 2.30pm: Eve McMahon (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
7pm: Daina Moorehouse v Wassila Lkhadiri (Boxing – 50kg Round of 16)
9.08pm: Jack Marley v Daviat Boltaev (Boxing – 92kg quarter-finals)
Back to the pool and Mona McSharry finishes 6th in her semi-final of the 200m and that won’t be good enough to make the final. She finishes 11th overall.
Back to the boxing and we are into the last minute of Aoife O’Rourke’s bout. She’s finishing strong.
3rd Rd: Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik beats Ireland’s Aoife O’Rourke on a split decision and I have to say that is a big surprise.
Mona McSharry about to go in the women’s 200m breaststroke semi-final
Rd 3: This is a scrap, but O’Rourke is by far the better fighter
2nd Rd: O’Rourke takes the round
2nd Rd: O’Rourke is definitely landing the cleaner shots in the second round
2nd Rd: This is a fierce scrappy fight and the referee has his work cut out here to keep the fighters apart and boxing.
1st Rd: The polish fighter has engaged in a lot of holding and a questionable push as O’Rourke goes to the canvas. Now Wojcik has been docked a point for holding.
O’Rourke wins the round 3-2
Wojcik started like a train from the bell but the fight has settled down and O’Rourke is moving well.
Aoife O’Rourke on the way to the ring now
Amazing celebrations from Panama’s Atheyna Bylon after she beat Kazakhstan’s Valentina Khalzova in the bout before O’Rourke’s bout. Bylon picked her opponent up after being awarded the decision. She put here back down too.
The boxing is running around 10 minutes late, but Aoife O’Rourke will be in the ring next against Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik in the 75kg Round of 16.
Back here for some late action on this Wednesday night and we’ve just seen the great American swimmer Katie Ledecky win her eighth Olympic gold medal, winning the 1,500m freestyle and taking over 5 seconds off her own Olympic record. She now has 12 Olympic medals in total and has more events to come in these Games.
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Nadal have lost their doubles quarter-final to the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, 6-2, 6-4.
And the home fans in the crowd at a packed Paris La Défense Arena get what they came for, with French swimming sensation Leon Marchand winning a second gold medal of the Games in the men’s 200m butterfly in an new Olympic record time of 1:51.21.
Siobhán Bernadette Haughey, grandniece of former taoiseach Charlie, has won bronze for Hong Kong in the final of the women’s 100 freestyle. The gold went to Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström with Tori Huske taking silver for the USA.
Quick update from Roland Garros with news that Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Nadal have lost the first set of their doubles quarter-final against the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
Here’s the report on a historic day in Paris.
We have a bit of a gap now until the last two Irish in action today with Aoife O’Rourke taking on Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik in the 75kg Round of 16 at 8.53pm and Mona McSharry swimming in the semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke at 9.03pm.
We’ll have a report from Johnny Watterson from Kellie Harrington’s brilliant quarter-final win and news of our sailors from David Branigan in Marseille up on the site soon. Until then here’s Dave Hannigan on the rap legend Snoop Dogg’s Paris takeover.
[ Olympic Games just another venue for Snoop Dogg to hawk his many waresOpens in new window ]
Here’s how the main contenders are sitting ahead of Thursday’s medal race, which is due to get under way at 1.43pm Irish time. Wind permitting of course.
Thank you for your company, Emmet Riordan will take you through the rest of the evening and tonight and he’ll be able to tell you about some good news in Marseilles where Rob Dickson and Seán Waddilove finished second in the 12th and final race to qualify for the Skiff medal race. They are second overall in the 10m boat final.
Harrington: “Here’s the thing, every person in the Olympic Games is a brilliant opponent. There is no easy fight, no easy contests, no one gets to an Olympic Games without being good. I felt relaxed and listened to what the coaches were telling me. I enjoyed it in there. I’ll do a couple of national championships (but) internationally I think I will be finished (after the Olympics).
World class from the reigning Olympic champion. Kellie Harrington will become only the fourth Irish athlete in history to win medals at successive Olympics. She’s guaranteed a bronze medal but will fight in the semi-final for the chance to win a gold or silver.
Round 3: Harrington in exhibition mode, catching her opponent with both hands, picking off the Colombian and then skipping out of range. It’s clinical.
Round 2: The two fighters smiled at each other and nodded at the end of the first round but they’re back at it in earnest from the opening bell of the second. Harrington scoring at will while Valdes makes her opponent miss time and again. The Colombian needs to be more proactive but doesn’t appear to have a Plan B. She’s fighting in the exact same manner as the first. Harrington’s distance control is top notch. Three judges have Harrington ahead and two deemed it all square.
Round 1: Kellie Harrington caught a couple of times on the way in, in the initial throes of the fight, plenty of bounce and skill from both fighters. Great right hand lands flush from Harrington with just over a minute to go. Harrington then treats her opponent to an identical punch that sends her the Colombian backwards. Judges go 5-0 Harrington.
Boxing: Kellie Harrington is on her way to ring.
In boxing defending 60kg champion Kellie Harrington, who gave a tactical masterclass in her opening win, is just one victory away from a historic second Olympic medal. She faces Angie Paola Col Valdes Pana of Colombia, a world silver medalist last year, in the lightweight quarter-finals. She’s in the ring in about 15 minutes.
Sailing: Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove finished 11th in Race 10 and 13th in Race 11 of the Skipp series, results that see them drop to fourth overall standings with just one race to go to qualify for the Medal Race. The top 10 boats race for medals.
Results round-up from team sports is Paris today.
Women’s Basketball: Puerto Rico 62-63 Spain; People’s Rep. of China 59-81 Serbia
Equestrian - Dressage Grand Prix Team Qualifier Day 2: Germany - 237.546, Denmark - 235.730, Great Britain - 231.196
Men’s Handball: Norway 26-25 Hungary; Croatia 31-26 Germany; Spain 37-33 Japan.
Women’s Hockey: Argentina 2-1 Spain; France 1-5 Germany; South Africa 1-2 Great Britain; Australia 3-0 USA.
Men’s Volleyball: Poland 3-2 Brazil; Japan 3-1 Argentina.
Women’s Water Polo: Netherlands 14-15 Australia.
Sailing: Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove have finished 11th in Race 10 of the Skiff series, a result that sees them drop into third in the overall standings, six points behind joined leaders Spain and New Zealand. There are two further races this afternoon in Marseilles.
Gallagher: “He is an Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo. I thought I performed pretty well. I think it was tighter than the final verdict.”
Round 3: Gallagher chases Paalam around the ring knowing that he needs a stoppage and is picked off. Gutsy, courageous from Gallagher and he landed some good shots but ultimately came up a little short over the first two rounds; at least according to the judges. Irishman won the third and final round on four cards. Unanimous decision for the man from the Philippines.
Round 2: This is a cracking contest, both fighters catching each other with some lovely punches, Gallagher caught a few times by Paalam’s left hand. The Irishman needs to keep his right hand up. Some slick work from Gallagher in the last minute of the round, picked his punches, and moved away quickly. Wow all five judges go for Paalam.
Round 1: Jude Gallagher started brightly his three-inch height advantage allowed him to box from range, Carlo Paalam of the Philippines looking to jump in when closing the distance. Good head movement from the Irishman but tagged a couple of times and one straight shot snapped Gallagher’s head back. Judge’s scores, three go for Paalam, two for Gallagher.
Boxing: Tyrone featherweight Jude Gallagher (54kg) will make his Olympic debut after getting a bye to the last 16. He faces Carlo Paalam of the Philippines who won the Olympic flyweight (52kg) silver medal three years ago. About five minutes time.
Sailing: Learn a little about one member of Ireland’s Skiff crew
Ever thought you’d see Snoop Dogg and Michael Phelps incorporated in a sentence never mind a video. WARNING: contains images of the American rapper in speedos.
Athletics: Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson has just confirmed in a press conference that she will not participate in the 100m. Jackson, who won bronze in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and silver at the 2023 world championships, will be replaced by Shashalee Forbes, who finished fourth at the Jamaican trials. The organisers are still awaiting confirmation as to whether she’ll still race in the women’s 200m or be a part of Jamaica’s relay teams for the Games.
Tennis: Top seed Novak Djokovic has won his match against Dominik Koepfer (GER) in straight sets, as has Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) (beating Sebastian Baez (ARG) 7-5, 6-1). Both men now advance to the quarter-finals, but they’ll have to wait to find out their opponents as there is plenty more action to come at Roland Garros today.
Badminton: Ireland’s Rachael Darragh lost her second and final match of the group stage of the tournament to experienced Spanish veteran Carolina Marin by two sets to nil, 21-5, 21-5, the Rio Olympic champion, a three-time world champion and the fourth seed in Paris. It brings to an end the Irishwoman’s Olympics.
Right I’m back. Just finished some turtle blood soup and had a vitamin injection, so ready to go for the afternoon.
SWIMMING: Mona McSharry has moved into tonight’s semi-finals of the 200m breaststroke, and afterwards spoke about how mental tiredness might be more of a danger than physical tiredness. She definitely won’t be wasting any mental energy worrying about the doping cloud surrounding some Chinese swimmers at these games – she definitely wasn’t biting when asked about the controversy: “There’s not a lot that I can do, only probably get worked up about, so I just don’t think about it, honestly.”
Read Ian O’Riordan’s morning report from the Paris La Défense Arena here.
[ Mona McSharry stays on track for another Olympic breaststroke finalOpens in new window ]
ROWING: For the first time ever Ireland will have four boats in Olympic finals, quite the achievement. Leading the way were those “underdogs” Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy who this morning delivered what Denis Walsh saw as a “statement” performance. Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey also reached the final of women’s lightweight double scull by qualifying in third place. Read Denis’ full report here.
[ Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy set the bar high to qualify for finalOpens in new window ]
Gymnastics: Johnny Watterson went along to watch the phenomenon that is Simone Biles.
[ Simone Biles leads USA to team goldOpens in new window ]
Denis Walsh is at the rowing. He wrote: “On a terrific morning for Ireland at the Olympic regatta, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy were commanding winners of their semi-final in the lightweight double sculls while Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney became the first Irish crew to reach the final of the heavyweight pair.
“Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey also reached the final of women’s lightweight double scull, which means that Ireland will have four boats in Olympic finals for the first time ever.”
Rowing: Ireland’s Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey HAVE QUALIFIED for the Olympic final. The Cork duo finished in third place behind Romania and Greece but managed to see off the reigning Olympic silver medalists, France. A superb row from the Irish pair. The Olympic final is on Friday.
Rowing: Fourth after 1,500 metres. Three boats within a metre and a half in second to fourth places.
Rowing: The Cork crew are in fourth place at the halfway mark. Three qualify for the Olympic final.
Rowing: Ireland’s Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey are racing in the women’s lightweight double sculls
As this blog showcased yesterday we do love a good animated graphic. So with a nod to the New York Times once again, here’s Daniel Wiffen’s race.
Rowing: Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy rowed beautifully as they destroyed the semi-final opposition in the men’s lightweight double sculls. They established clear water over their Swiss rivals and closest pursuers by the halfway mark and eased through the second half of the race for an impressive victory. The Olympic final is on Friday.
Rowing: O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy have taken the lead, just over a second in front after 1,000 metres.
Rowing: Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are third through 500 metres in the men’s lightweight double sculls semi-final.
Rowing: Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh finished sixth in their Olympic semi-final of the women’s pair. They never got into a race won by Australia with the USA and Lithuania.
Swimming: Mona McSharry finished third in the opening heat of the women’s 200 metres breaststroke. The bronze medalist in the 100 metres will qualify for tonight’s semifinals. The Sligo woman was third after 50 metres, second after 100 metres, second after 150 metres, before touching the wall behind a couple of South Africans including Olympic record holder Tatiana Smith.
Swimming: Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry is about to go in the heats of the Women’s 200 metres.
Rowing: The Irish pair reversed the result from the heats when they finished behind the New Zealand duo, the Olympic champions in Tokyo.
Rowing: Ireland’s Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan have qualified for the Olympic final in the men’s pairs as they finished third in their semi-final. The Enniskillen rowers took it out hard from the start and led through the first 500 metres but despite being overtaken by the Romania and British crews held off New Zealand to make the final. A brilliant achievement.
Badminton: Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen has been beaten 21-13, 21-10 by Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), the reigning Olympic champion. The Irish player, who can be proud of his efforts, won his other two group games but it is the Dane that progresses to an Olympic quarter-final.
Badminton: Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen trails the defending champion Olympic champion and current world number two Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) by a set and 17-10. Nguyen has played extremely well but the Dane is such a classy operator.
Mary Hannigan with tales from the couch, that’s the television review.
[ RTE studio tears and cheersOpens in new window ]
Ian O’Riordan, or lucky ducky as he’s known to his colleagues – it’s to do with water and ponds – given he has reported on Ireland’s two medals to date and wrote about Daniel Wiffen’s triumph at La Defense arena last night.
In swimming newly crowned Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry is back to business when she returns to the pool for the 200m Breaststroke heats this morning. McSharry, from Grange in Sligo, became Ireland’s first medallist of the Paris Games on Monday when she claimed bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. The University of Tennessee graduate holds the Irish record in the event at 2:22.49 which she set just last month.
In sailing the men’s Skiff of Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove go into the final three of the fleet races still lying in second position. The battle to make the top 10 boats for Thursday’s Medal Race (to which all crews carry their cumulative score) is getting particularly fierce.
Standings were tightened considerably after yesterday’s tricky wind conditions and few crews, with the exception of overall leaders Spain, escaped unscathed.
The Spaniards moved into pole position (on 35 points) thanks to two seconds and a third place today. Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) are currently on 46 points but New Zealand are just a point behind them. Great Britain are only a further six points adrift and USA are on a score of 58.
None of the top 15 crews has more than 80 points so all still have a shot of qualifying and the Irish duo will be hoping to keep their scores to a minimum tomorrow to guarantee their top 10 spot and a chance to race for the medals on Thursday.
In boxing it’s a big day for Team Ireland with defending 60kg champion Kellie Harrington, who gave a tactical masterclass in her opening win, is just one victory away from a historic second Olympic medal. She faces Angie Paola Col Valdes Pana of Colombia, a world silver medallist last year, in the lightweight quarter-finals.
Three-time and current European middleweight (75kg) champion Aoife O’Rourke finally gets to enter the ring at the last 16 stage. The Roscommon fighter takes on Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik, a former world youth champion and four-time European medallist, whom the Castlerea BC woman has beaten four times previously.
Tyrone featherweight Jude Gallagher (54kg) will make his Olympic debut after getting a bye to the last 16. He faces Carlo Paalam of the Philippines who won the Olympic flyweight (52kg) silver medal three years ago.
Rowing: Enniskillen’s Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan are up first in the men’s pair. In a stacked race they’ll they face reigning world champions GB, as well as the New Zealand duo that were part of the men’s Eight gold medallists from Tokyo and have now moved into the pair winning bronze at the most recent World Cup in Poznan.
The Romanians have moved between the four, eight and pair over the last two seasons but have solidified their position as a pair, winning silver at this years’ European Championships. Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh will be watching the Australians and the Lithuanians as the top seeds in the women’s pair semi-final. Australia are the 2023 World silver medallists and have been on the podium at both World Cups that they raced in this year. The Lithuanian pair haven’t been on the podium this season but pulled to a very quick time in their heat on Sunday.
Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy go head-to-head with the Swiss double who pipped them on the line at World Cup II in Varese. This year the Skibbereen pairing were beaten for the first time this Olympiad, coming home with bronze medals from World Cup II. This will be a test to see whether the last few weeks of training have worked in their favour.
Up against the Tokyo Olympic silver medallists and home crowd favourite, France, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey will have a tough semi ahead of them. They are also facing the Romanian duo who are current European Champions and 2023 World bronze medallists.
Good morning, it’s the day after Ireland’s first gold medal of the Olympic Games following Daniel Wiffen’s superb win to victory in the 800 metres last night. John O’Sullivan here once again, fuelled by Overnight Oats, and a delicious berry yoghurt – that’s a long-established eating plan rather than just an Olympic one – and black coffee to take you through the day’s proceedings in Paris and Marseilles.
In badminton Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen and first-time Olympian Rachael Darragh both face the toughest matches of their careers. Two-time Olympian Nguyen, who has already beaten Israeli and Nepalese opponents, now faces a must-win final group game, as only one from the group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Nguyen is up against the defending champion Olympic champion and current world number two Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), and only the winner of their battle will progress to the knockout stages.
After losing her debut to a Swiss player in a three-game thriller, Darragh also has a mountain to climb. Her second and final group game is against Spanish veteran Carolina Marin, the Rio Olympic champion who is a three-time world champion and the fourth seed in Paris.
In rowing four Irish crews are on the water this morning contesting semi-finals of their events. Each of the crews will have to claim one of the top three spots if they are to reach their Olympic finals.
