The Irish sportsstars in action today
10am Cycling
With less than a week to recover from a gruelling Tour de France, Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin will be joined by David McCann as they hit the streets of London on a 250km route that includes nine laps of Box Hill, a climb in the Surrey hills. The riders are expected back at The Mall some time after 3pm.
10.30am Equestrian
Traditionally one of the weaker disciplines, Ireland’s three-day eventers will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes when they go through their dressage routines this weekend. Poor scores will all but kill off any medal hopes but the team have been improving in recent years and hope this can be replicated in Greenwich. Michael Ryan goes at 10.32am, Aoife Clark is out at 12.54pm with Joseph Murphy in action at 4.04pm.
11am Judo
Lisa Kearney will be one of the first Irish athletes in action, but also could be one of the first on the plane home, when she takes on China’s Shugen Wu for a place in the last eight of the 48kg category.
The Belfast judoka, who received a bye into the last 16, is facing an opponent ranked 10 places higher than her at the ExCel Arena.
Gymnastics
Kieran Behan, the first Irish gymnast to qualify for an Olympics, will go through his entire routines (Floor, Vault and Horizontal Bars). Depending on his results in each discipline, Behan will then progress to individual finals next week. Or not, as the case may be.
11.50am Swimming
Barry Murphy could feasibly advance from the heats of the 100 metres breaststroke but should be satisfied with a personal best swim.
The Dubliner goes in the fourth heat at the Aquatics centre which should be just after midday. The semi-finals are due to take place at 7.30pm.
1.30pm Rowing
Sanita Puspure, our only rower at the London Games, goes in the heats of the women’s singles sculls shortly after lunchtime. The Latvian native has high hopes of making the quarters, with the top four of six going directly through.
2.15pm Boxing
John Joe Nevin (fourth in the world rankings) will be the first of Ireland’s six-strong team into the ring at the Excel Arena, the Mulingar bantamweight (56kg) drawn against Denmark’s Dennis Ceylan. Team captain Darren O’Neill is in action at 3.15pm, the middleweight taking on the highly rated young Nigerian Muideen Akanji.
