Ireland primed for record-breaking Olympics

IN ALL FAIRNESS

And just like that, the Summer Olympic Games are upon us.

There is so much sport for people to be focused by, both at home and abroad, that where once the Olympics was by far the biggest sporting event in the world, it kind of now comes in under the radar a little bit, but for the majority of the athletes, it remains the pinnacle of sporting competition.

Officially the Games of the XXXIII (33rd) Olympiad gets underway in Paris with the always inspiring Opening Ceremony on Friday night, they actually start today (Wednesday) with the opening rounds of the football and the men’s rugby 7’s, the latter one of the many realistic medal hopes Ireland have.

Ireland is sending their largest team to any Olympics with 133 competitors, up from the previous record of 116 to Tokyo three years ago (held in 2021 due to Covid). 2012 in London is Ireland’s most successful Olympic Games with six medals won, headed up by the gold won by Katie Taylor in boxing.

Twelve years on, there is a realistic expectation that this record will not only be broken, but smashed if some of our medal contenders compete to their best.

The focus locally, of course, will be on Newport’s own Sharlene Mawdsley who will compete in three events in athletics which won’t start until Friday week, but after winning a bronze at the World Relays in the Bahamas, medalling in Paris is not outside the bounds of possibility.

Ireland’s best chance for a medal on the track will be her relay teammate Rhasidat Adeleke in the 400m where the Dubliner is improving by the week and after her silver at the European Championships, she has shown since in the Diamond League that she is among the World’s best.

Boxing is by far the most successful sport for Ireland at the Olympics with 18 medals won over the years, including three gold with Michael Carruth (Barcelona 1992) joining Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington (Tokyo 2020) in the ring. Harrington returns to defend her title and remains a strong medal hope as is her teammate Aoife O’Rourke, but the any of the other eight boxers in a given year are always good for a medal.

All three of Ireland’s Rowing medals at Olympics have been won in the past two Games and there are strong hopes to match that at one go here, headed up by Fintan McCarthy & Paul O’Donovan Ireland’s best gold medal hope of any competition, to retain their Olympic title won in 2021. Aifric Keogh & Fiona Murtagh have a good chance also as does Clonmel’s Daire Lynch who joins forces with Philip Doyle in the double sculls.

Ireland have won four medals in swimming, all in 1996 by Michelle Smith (3 gold and 1 bronze) and while she banned subsequently, her medals from Atlanta were never stripped from her and remain on the official record.

Daniel Wiffen is one of Ireland’s leading medal hopes in both the 800m & 1500m Freestyle with the Down native having a superb season to date.

One of the most heart-breaking images from Tokyo was Rhys McClenaghan falling when in medal contention in gymnastics in the pommel horse apparatus, using that disappointment to fuel back-to-back World and European titles so a medal at least is certainly within his compass.

This is only the third Olympic Games in which Golf is part of the schedule and in Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Ireland certainly have medal contenders if they put four good rounds together. I feel one of Ireland’s best long shots for a medal is Leona Maguire in the ladies golf for as she has shown in two iterations of the Solheim Cup, she finds an extra edge when playing for a greater purpose, and there is none greater than competing for one’s country.

Showjumping has been one of the sports Ireland has underachieved in at Olympic Games considering the tradition it has annual on the international stage but the team of Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle and Cian O’Connor, and alternate Bertram Allen have had a superb season to date, and if they can bring that form to Paris, a second ever equestrian medal is certainly a possibility in both the individual and team events.

The Ireland Men’s Rugby 7’s team are competing in the Olympics for the second time and currently standing in second place on the World Tour behind Argentina, a medal is within their grasp, while the women’s team, containing Tipperary’s third Olympian in Tipperary Town’s flying winger Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe an outsider for a medal but having won the Perth leg of the World Tour, have the potential to medal also.

As always, it promises to be a spectacular fortnight-plus of action, particularly for sports that don’t get as much publicity as they deserve but for these two weeks will be to the forefront of public consciousness.