Welcome to our (limited enough) golden Olympic circle, Daniel Wiffen. “It took one massively heroic effort and 16 lengths chasing glory and then he was the Olympic champion, producing an utterly astonishing display of 800 metres freestyle swimming to carve his name into Irish sporting history,” writes Ian O’Riordan who was in the Paris La Défense Arena to witness the Armagh man’s magical display. He becomes just the 10th Irish Olympic champion since independence, but nobody was less surprised than himself. “I’m not going to lie, I did tell everybody I was going to do it before, so just good to see it on paper,” he said.
The pool, then, has been exceedingly kind to us thus far at these Games, Ian reflecting on Mona McSharry’s journey to that bronze in the 100m breaststroke on Monday evening. And then he took himself off to the Place de la Concorde to see the BMX freestyle crew in action, the number of tricks on view unending, among them “the 540 bar spin, the backflip, the bike flip, and – when in Paris – the cancan”. McSharry made it through the heats of the 200m breaststroke this morning and will swim in the semi-final this evening.
It was a productive morning for the Irish rowers with four crews in action in semi-finals and three making it through. Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy were particularly impressive in winning their race and burnishing their medal credentials. Sadly, Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh could never quite get going in their race. You can see the full schedule for today at the Olympics by clicking on the link below to continue reading.
Yesterday, Johnny Watterson was over at the Bercy Arena to see “one of the Olympic Games’ biggest rock’n’roll acts” Simone Biles dazzle once more as she helped the USA to Artistic Gymnastics team gold.
Ciara Mageean: ‘I just felt numb. It wasn’t even sadness, it was just emptiness’
Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year: Celebrity ‘manifesting’ influences 2024 choice
Sonia O’Sullivan: A jog down Olympic memory lane shows how far Irish athletes have come
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn retires from competitive breaking after Olympic upset
Back home, Seán Moran reviews the All Ireland football and hurling seasons and wonders if unexpected finals in both have ushered in more open championships, while Gordon Manning talks to Galway captain Ailbhe Davoren ahead of Sunday’s football final against Kerry.
Brian O’Connor brings all the latest from the Galway Races, Joseph O’Brien breaking new ground for his clan when Mexicali Rose won Tuesday’s feature, the Colm Quinn BMW Mile. “The historic handicap has a huge range of famous names on its roll-of-honour but remarkably none from one of world racing’s most famous racing families.” Brian also previews today’s action, Gordon Elliott with six chances to record a landmark fifth Tote Galway Plate success.
TV Watch: You have another full Olympic day in front of your TV screens, and plenty of Irish competitors to cheer on . Malachy Clerkin has a guide to the day for you, with all the times of the Irish appearances, while John O’Sullivan will update you through the day with all the latest news.
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
From 1.00pm: Rachel Darragh v Carolina Marin (Badminton, Women’s Singles, pool match)
1.50pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 10)
2.30pm: Jude Gallagher v Carlo Paalam (Philippines) (Men’s Boxing, 57kg round of 16)
2.45pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 11)
3.37pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 12)
4:54pm: Kellie Harrington v Angie Valdez (Colombia) (Women’s Boxing, 60kg quarter-final)
7.45pm: Mona McSharry (Swimming, 200m breaststroke semi-final)
8.52pm: Aoife O’Rourke v Elzbieta Wojcik (Poland) (Women’s Boxing, 75kg round of 16)
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