It has been a historic week in Paris with Team Ireland winning 6 medals so far with more chances to come over the next few hours as well as over the next 7 days. Mona Mc Sharry won bronze and that got the ball rolling.
Another medal in the Pool followed with Daniel Wiffin winning Gold on Tuesday evening. Success then followed in the rowing with Paul O Donovan and Fintan Mc Carthy winning Gold and the team of Phillip Doyle and Darragh Lynch taking Bronze. Kellie Harrington will have the opportunity on Tuesday to upgrade from Bronze to either Silver or Gold in her 60kg lightweight final.
Rhys Mc Clenaghan won Gold in the pummel horse gymnastics final after his disappointment in Tokyo in 2021, yesterday he roared back to claim Gold in fine style. The past number of days has seen many terrific Irish performances across many sports and our team of 133 athletes isn’t finished yet with many more chances of Irish medals with Daniel Wiffin in action this evening in the 1500m final in the pool.
Rory Mc Ilroy is in contention in the golf and will look to finish strongly today. It really is great to see how many medals Ireland have managed to win with near misses also to the fore. We have also had many strong performances that may not have garnered medals but strong times and finishes.
We will see Sophie O Sullivan in action on the track in the next few days. The 4×400 mixed relay team were just pushed out of a place in the Olympic final with the Netherlands winning Gold in last night’s final from the USA in the Silver medal spot.
The newly crowned Olympic champions were beaten by Ireland in the Europeans in Rome but came out last night a produced a stunning performance that saw Femke Bol run their final leg to come from 4th to 1st in the last 200m of the Final.
The USA had run a world record time in the semi-final and were looking to push home that advantage but the Dutch had their own ideas and secured Gold in a truly special moment on the track in recent Olympic memory.
It has been a great few days in France for Team Ireland and let’s see what the last few days of Paris 2024 may hold, we have secured 6 medals so far with Daniel Wiffin in action this evening in another Final and Kellie Harrington coming up early next week. Others will be looking to try and create their own history.
The track and field has begun and we have chances there also so strap in and enjoy what’s to come because the joy brought by the past few days has been great to see and read. The hard work and dedication of these athletes is a sight to behold as you don’t always earn the rewards your sacrifice, pain, sweat and tears warrants.
I mentioned last week, this could be a special time with our largest medal haul in the history of Irish Olympic sport. 6 medals have been secured with more opportunities on the horizon. Soak it in and enjoy because these are special days and moments….