Olympics - Irish round-up:Sanita Puspure got the weekend off to a great start for the Irish team by taking the C Final of the women's single sculls at Eton Dorney.
The 30-year-old Latvian-born rower showed again that she belonged in better company as she blitzed the field to win by eight seconds as she went over the line in 7:59.77.
Zimbabwe’s Micheen Thornycroft came home in second place in 8:07.52, with Cuba’s Yariulvis Cobas in third.
Triathlete Aileen Morrison
finished 43rd with a time of two hours eight minutes and 16 seconds, more than eight minutes behind Nicola Spirig who won gold for Switzerland.
It was an eventful race for the Irishwoman who crashed on her bicycle near Buckingham Palace but still finished.
“You have good races and bad races all the time and unfortunately today was one of the not so good races. I didn’t have the swim I wanted, I was left chasing on the bike,” she said. “I thought I was doing okay and then on the first lap on the bike I came down. It was slippy and you’re putting in every effort you can. We were never going to catch up.”
There was disappointment in the Olympics Stadium for pole vaulter Tori Penawho failed to qualify, unable to clear the bar.
Steeplechaser Stephanie Reillycame ninth in heat two in a race won by Ethiopia's Sofia Assefa and thus misses the final over 3000m.
Cyclist Martyn Irvineadmits his chances of a medal in the men's omnium are over but has vowed to put in an improved performance tomorrow.
The 27-year-old from Newtownards had a disappointing day in the velodrome, closing in 10th position after three of the competition’s six events.
He started off with a ninth-placed finish in the 250m flying lap, clocking 13.504 seconds, and was then sixth with a score of 47 in the points race. But his podium ambitions took a hammering when he was the fourth rider out of 18 to exit out in the elimination race.
“It was a reality kick,” he said.
Cian O'Connorand Billy Twomeyboth came through the first knockout of the show jumping, with O'Connor recording a clear round and Twomey picking up four penalties. A total of 63 riders have qualified through to Sunday's second round.
SATURDAY
8.05pm: Women’s 400m semi-finals
After a somewhat lucky escape in the heats to qualify as a fastest loser, Joanne Cuddihy is drawn in lane two, and must hold off the challenge of the likes of Christine Ohuruogu and Sanya Richards-Ross to make the final, with only the top two, and the two fastest losers, progressing.
SUNDAY
9am: Trap shooting
Going in his fourth Olympic Games, Derek Burnett will be hoping to improve on his best ever finish of seventh place in Athens. Disappointed by his 29th place in Beijing, the Athlone shooter qualified for London thanks to a bronze medal at this year’s European Championships and has an outside chance of a medal here if his aim holds true.
From 10am: Track Cycling
Martyn Irvine goes in the final pair of events in the omnium, the pursuit and scratch race.
11am: Women’s marathon
With 119 women entered to run, the challenge facing the Irish is evident by the fact that Irish champion Linda Byrne is ranked 97th, Ava Hutchinson is ranked 92nd, Catriona Jennings is ranked 95th. Sixty of the starters have bettered the 2:30 barrier; none of the Irish have.
From 1pm: Sailing
Disqualification in Thursday’s race seven dealt a virtual death blow to the medal chances of Peter O’Leary and David Burrows in the Star. They have qualified for the medal race in ninth place but lying 45 points behind third place Sweden it’s mathematically impossible for them to take a medal in what has been a good regatta for them.
In the 49er, Ireland’s pair of Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern slipped back in yesterday’s three races and now lie in 11th overall. They’ll hope to pull themselves back into the top 10 today with good performances at noon and 12.45.
8.45pm: Boxing
With the prospect of a medal tantalisingly close, John Joe Nevin goes toe to toe with Oscar Valdez in a bantamweight quarter-final. The Mexican qualified for the last Games at the age of 17 and became the first boxer from his country to take a medal at the world championships, taking a bronze in 2009. Nevin has looked comfortable in these games so far but will have his work cut out for him to make the semi-finals.