Irish in action at the Olympics on Monday:
- From 9am: Ciara McGing (Diving – 10m Platform)
- From 10.55am: Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Athletics – 400m heats)
- 11.10am: Eve McMahon (Sailing – Dinghy race 9)
- 12.18pm: Eve McMahon (Sailing – Dinghy race 10)
- From 1pm: Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor (Equestrian Showjumping – Individual qualifiers)
- 1.35pm: Finn Lynch (Sailing – Dinghy race 9)
- 2.40pm: Finn Lynch (Sailing – Dinghy race 10)
Athletics: Rhasidat Adeleke is the seventh fastest qualifier for the semi-finals, but panic not, she was just strolling at the end. Mind you, Marileidy Paulino, silver medallist in Tokyo, looked frighteningly excellent.
Athletics: Ah here, Rhasidat Adeleke is pure class. She has just cruised to victory in her 400m heat and is through to the semi-finals, easing up to finish in a time of 50.09. Remarkable.
Mind you, the nation held its breath after a false start, but it was the athlete from Ecuador, Nicole Caicedo, whose heart was left in smithereens, disqualified for being the guilty party.
Athletics: Like Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley goes in to the repechage after she was pipped to third place by Austria’s Susanne Gogl-Walli in her 400m heat, finishing in a time of 50.71 - a new personal best. Up next: Rhasidat Adeleke.
Diving: Ciara McGing finishes up with a score of 38.40 for her fifth and final dive, leaving her in 28th place overall. That’s not enough to advance in the competition, only the top 18 going through to this afternoon’s semi-finals. According to Team Ireland, McGing was suffering from a viral infection for the past few days and was on an intravenous drip - and wasn’t even sure she would be able to compete. So, a gutsy effort from the 23-year-old. And to be honest, anyone plucky enough to chuck themselves off that 10m platform deserves a medal.
Diving: A disappointing score of 26.10 for her fourth dive has Ciara McGing back down to 29th overall. One more dive to come.
Athletics: It will be the repechage for Sophie Becker after she came sixth in her 400m heat in a time of 51.84, dropping back after a strong opening 200m. Sharlene Mawdsley is our next competitor in the heats.
Rowing: The lightweight double sculls class in which Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy won their gold medals at this and the last Olympics will not be included in the programme for the 2028 Games. So, the pair are now considering a switch to the heavyweight class, “a physiological and technical transformation that could get them on to the podium in Los Angeles,” writes Johnny Watterson.
[ Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy ponder a switch to heavyweight rowingOpens in new window ]
Athletics: It’s nearly time for the 400m heats, Sophie Becker up first for Ireland. The first three go through to the semi-finals, with everyone else going in to the repechage.
TV View: Philip Reid was on telly-watching duty on Sunday, golf, tennis and swimming occupying most of his time. He will, one day, forgive the bulk of RTE’s swimming pundits for jinxing Daniel Wiffen’s gold-medal-winning efforts in the 1,500m freestyle final.
[ RTÉ’s studio quartet carried away with Wiffen mania but the W wasn’t to beOpens in new window ]
Diving: After opening scores of 33.60 and 40.00, Ciara McGing has produced her best effort with a score of 50.40. She’s in 28th, though, needing to finish in the top 18 to advance.
Showjumping: The team event proved to be a big disappointment for Ireland, having gone in to the final in fourth they ended up in seventh. Today brings the individual qualifiers, with Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle and Cian O’Connor all aiming for a place in tomorrow’s final. Derry’s Coyle will carry the biggest chunk of confidence in to the challenge having produced two superb clear rounds on Legacy in the team qualifying and final.
Sailing: It was a fine day for Carlow’s Finn Lynch out on the water on Saturday, his efforts in the dinghy class lifting him to 10th in the standings - and a top 10 placing is required in the preliminary 10-race series to qualify for Tuesday’s medal race. His task today is to hold on to that position in the final two races.
Dubliner Eve McMahon has a bit more work to do in the women’s event, standing in 14th after her eighth race on Saturday. She’s 22 points adrift of 10th place, so will need a big effort today to make that medal race. Whatever happens, it has been a mighty Olympic debut for the 20-year-old.
Diving: The preliminary 10m Platform event got under way earlier this morning, Ciara McGing Ireland’s representative. She’s in 29th and last position after her first two dives, needing a top 18 finish to advance to the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old Londoner and Ohio State University graduate, who qualifies for Ireland through a Donegal grandmother, just about sealed her Olympic place with a 26th place at the World Championships in Doha back in February.
Daniel Wiffen: Malachy Clerkin was in the Bercy Arena yesterday to see Wiffin win bronze - and “the only thing anyone wanted to know was whether or not he was disappointed”.
“An Irish flag hanging from the roof during the anthems and yet we’re tempted to colour the night in shades of regret. Mad times.”
Athletics: Ian O’Riordan previews Rhasidat Adeleke, Sophie Becker and Sharlene Mawdsley’s outings in the 400m heats this morning. Becker goes first in heat one, Mawdsley in five and Adeleke in six.
“In Ireland’s Olympic history,” he writes, “few if any of our Games debutantes have been more eagerly and justifiably anticipated than Rhasidat Adeleke. But then, few if any have been such a rare and breathtaking talent as the 21-year-old sprinter from Dublin has.”
[ Rhasidat Adeleke sets out to join the Irish Olympic medal rush in ParisOpens in new window ]
Good morning everyone. Well, are you drained after that weekend? Gold for Rhys McClenaghan and bronze for Daniel Wiffen kept our medal-a-day streak going, Wiffen giving Ireland the seventh medal of these Games, surpassing the previous best of six in London 2012. As recently as Athens 2004, we won none at all. We’ve come a long way.
We have some bad news, though: the streak will end today. That’s not because we lack faith in any of our nine competitors in action, it’s just because they’re all competing in preliminary events, so no medals are up for grabs.
We’ll take you through what lies ahead for each of the nine, among them an athlete you might possibly have heard of: Rhasidat Adeleke. She, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker are in 400m heat action from 10.55am.
There are a heap more must-see events on today: eg finals in the women’s 5,000m (8.15pm) and 800m (8.47pm) and the men’s pole vault (Mondo Duplantis alert - from 6pm), and…. possibly…. Simone Biles’ final Olympic appearances in the beam (11.36am) and floor final (1.20pm). There are also the men’s (4pm) and women’s (3.55pm) finals in the kayak cross, which has proved to be a big hit, largely because it’s mad.
