Rowing: There was huge disappointment for the Irish men's lightweight four crew today as they failed in their bid to reach the final by finishing fourth behind semi-final winners Denmark at Shunyi Park.
Cathal Moynihan, Gearóid Towey, Richard Archibald and Paul Griffin were hoping to reach the Olympic final for the second time but were unable to secure one of the three qualifying spots from today's second semi-final and finshed fourth in a time of 6:13.85.
Denmark crossed the line first in a time of 6:05:75 with France closing in the latter stages to take second 6:07.26 with Britain coming home in the third 6:08.75. James Lindsay Finn from Meath and Barry Chambers from Coleraine were in the British boat.
The Irish boat was in a tough line-up as today's winners Denmark are the reigning Olympic champions while Britain and France are genuine medal contenders.
Three of the experienced Demmark crew of Thomas Ebert (35), Morten Joergensen(23), Mads Christian Kruse Andersen (30), Eskild Balschmidt Ebbesen (36) are in their 30s and remain favourites to go on and win gold in Sunday's final.
Although the Irish quartet had high hopes of qualifying for the final after winning the repechage in convincing style earlier in the week they were always on the back foot in today's race.
Once more the Irish boat didn't make the best of starts and were fourth at the 500 metres stage. Matters didn't improve at the halfway stage as Denmark and Britain pulled away while Ireland were left chasing France in third.
By the 1500 metre stage it was clear Ireland's race was run as the French boat upped their work rate and pipped the British boat in the closing stages as the Irish boat could find nothing more.
Poland won the first semi-final in a time of 6:06.60 with Canada coming in second (6:07.86) and the Netherlands third (6:08.73)
Ireland will contest the B-Final to finalise places from seventh to 12th plus world rankings but it will be little consolation for the Irish crew that dreamed and hoped for so much more.
The Irish men's heavyweight four took to the water for their B Final shortly after the lightweight semi-finals were completed and the quartet ended their Olympic campaign by finishing fourth.
Cormac Folan, Sean Casey, Jonno Devlin and Sean O'Neill had a solid race and were never far off the lead to finish in a time of 6:07.97 at Shunyi Park.
The New Zealand boat won in a time of 6:06.30 with the Netherlands second (6:06.37) and the United States third (6:07.17).
Men's Lightweight Four Semi-Final (B)
1 Denmark
2 France
3 Britain
4 Ireland
Men's Lightweight Four Semi-Final (A)
1 Poland
2 Canada
3 Netherlands
Men's Lightweight Four Final line-up
Denmark
France
Britain
Poland
Canada
Netherlands
Men's Heavyweight Four B Final
New Zealand
Netherlands
United States
Ireland