And with that, the Olympics disappears from view for another few years. It's only three this time before Paris rolls around in 2024, but even though the last two weeks were played out behind closed doors in a city grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, we still witnessed all of those moments that only the Olympics can produce. And what a moment it was the cap it all off for Team Ireland as Kellie Harrington yesterday morning took on Beatriz Ferreira, beat here and became Olympic champion. Reflecting on it all this morning, Johnny Watterson writes that there is relief and joy for a warrior who is just trying to be the best version of herself. For the Dubliner the focus is now, as always, on giving back, writes Ian O'Riordan from Tokyo. "This is her story of becoming the Olympic champion and how exactly that rubs off on others means nothing and everything to her," he writes. For coaches John Conland and Zaur Antia it's a proud moment and another Olympic medal to add to the collection while Mary Hannigan writes that it's been a long, hard climb for the girl from Portland Row to reach her golden peak.
And that's the thing about the Olympics. For the vast, vast majority who get there, reaching the heights Harrington did never even becomes a remote possibility. As Malachy Clerkin writes in his column this morning, it's a pretty insane thing to do with your life when, as is the case for all sport, the most likely outcome is some sort of failure. To catch up on all of the action from the last two weeks in Tokyo you can check out our dedicated Olympics website.
Moving on to GAA and Cork are back in the All-Ireland hurling final after they eventually got the better of Kilkenny in extra-time yesterday after a scintillating semi-final. They'll now face defending champions Limerick in the final on Sunday, August 22nd and Nicky English writes this morning that the resilience they showed yesterday proves that they could well have what it takes to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup. "They're on the right track. Waterford tried to outmuscle Limerick on Saturday and it didn't stand a chance of working. Cork will try to play around them and they've nothing to lose which makes them dangerous opposition," he writes. Limerick will likely be without Peter Casey for the final after his red card against Waterford on Saturday but manager John Kiely spoke after the match about how much he's been encouraged by his side's gradual improvement throughout the championship.
Finally to rugby and it was a heartbreaking end to the series for the Lions on Saturday as they were beaten at the death by South Africa and the tourists may well feel a bit hard done by. This morning Gerry Thornley writes that the Lions were the better team in almost every metric bar the crucial one (the scoreline) and that Warren Gatland and his squad will come away from this tour with some regrets. Meanwhile, captain Alun Wyn Jones has defended the concept of the tour and says it would be a travesty if rugby was to lose it.
