By Heather Boyle, OFI Head of Communications & Sinéad Naughton, OFI Media Liaison
Monday 5th August 2024
At the individual showjumping qualifier in Versailles this afternoon Team Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam with James Kann Cruz, and Daniel Coyle with Legacy both secured spots in tomorrow’s final in impressive fashion. London 2012 medallist Cian O’Connor with Maurice narrowly missing out, finishing 33rd of the 66 qualifiers, with only 30 spots in the final.
In Marseilles the low winds caused disruption again today. In the women’s dinghy Eve McMahon raced very well to finish 7th in race 9, and move herself up to 13th in the overall standings.
However, race 10 was cancelled due to the low wind and the current standings therefore determined the top ten for the medal race, leaving Olympic debutant McMahon with a notable 13th place overall of the 43 nations contesting this regatta.
In the men’s dinghy both races were cancelled today, and similarly with the medal race determined based on current standings, Team Ireland’s Finn Lynch will be pleased to qualify for tomorrow’s finale in 10th place.
EQUESTRIAN
Two Irish show jumpers will be right in the mix for medals tomorrow morning after finishing in the top three of the individual jumping qualifying in Versailles, but sadly Ireland’s 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Cian O’Connor did not make it, just edged out of the 30 combinations (from 66 starters) who will battle it out in the final.
Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and his grey James Kann Cruz were first of the Irish into action and had a stunning clear round in the second fastest time of the day (73:35 seconds).
Next came Derry’s Daniel Coyle and his brilliant mare Legacy and they were equally as good, clear in a time of 73:64 which ranked them third best overall.
O’Connor and his gelding Maurice came very late in the order, and clipped a plank at the sixth fence, finishing on four faults and a time of 75:17 seconds. That left him in 30th place but there were still seven riders to follow and he had an anxious wait until being unfortunately edged out, finishing 33rd overall.
However having two Irishmen in the top three of qualifying, with the final run off in reverse order, puts them in a great position and makes up for their disappointment in the team event. Both riders were thrilled with their horses’ performances.
“He jumped great, still had a lot of energy which I was a little worried about because this is unknown territory and it’s quite hot out today, but the course was straightforward,” said Florida-based Sweetnam.
“The big thing I wanted was to be quick enough, that if I knocked one that I’d still have a chance for tomorrow. He just loves to jump! Normally we have clear rounds and he was a bit unlucky the last two days. When I watched the video of Friday, I think he breathed on it! I don’t know what happened but in the replay it looked like he didn’t touch it. You just have to have a little bit of luck and today we had luck.”
Coyle’s partnership with his mare in Paris so far has been breath-taking. They produced their third clear round, despite the searing heat and Coyle said: “She’s 14 but her mind doesn’t think it, which is hard sometimes. I was expecting her to be more tired but when I felt she was fresh I thought ‘OK, I need to change a little bit how I’m going to rider her today, otherwise I’ll end up making a mistake.’
“After the week she’s had she deserves to be in the final, no matter what. I’d have been disappointed if she wasn’t.”
He performed brilliantly himself despite illness on Sunday, admitting to having “a very tough 24 hours” beforehand. Cian O’Connor came heartbreakingly close to joining them, just three places off another Olympic final.
“I’m not upset. These horses aren’t machines,” he stressed. “They’ve been jumping all over the world. We started up with Maurice in Spain last October, went to Mexico, California, Florida, Ocala, Rome, Aachen and they’ve given us their all.
“A horse has a pole down and people get excited and say ‘it wasn’t able for it.’ or whatever. The horse jumped really well, just touched a plank. He earned his place to be here, jumped class again today and I’m absolutely over the moon with him.”
SAILING
Carlow’s Finn Lynch has qualified for the Men’s Dinghy Final after low winds in Marseille forced the cancellation of Races 9 and 10 on Monday afternoon. The cancellation of today’s racing in the Men’s Dinghy event meant the top 10 in the current standings advanced through to Tuesday’s Medal Race.
Twenty-eight-year-old Lynch, sitting in 10th position, progresses through to the Medal Race. In the Medal Race the course is shorter and the points scored are doubled, and added to the series points to decide the final standings.
Lynch spoke after a frustrating day: “It was a long day on the water; unfortunately, we didn’t get any racing so I’m a little bit sad that I couldn’t fight one more day and try get a bit higher but (I’m) into the medal race so hopefully I end the regatta with my best race. I’m not happy with the way I sailed this week, I really didn’t perform very well so I just want to end the regatta with a good race.
Unfortunately Eve McMahon narrowly misses out on progression to the Women’s Dinghy Medal Race after the 10th and final race was cancelled earlier. Olympic debutant McMahon was sitting in 13th place after the nine races, having moved up to that position today with an impressive 7th in race 9 meaning she was disappointed not to get the opportunity to contest a final fleet series race.
Afterwards McMahon said: “I’m a little bit disappointed not to get the second race in today, I raced my heart out and I was really climbing up, making the points a lot smaller to the gap to the medal race. I kind of went out with a mission and I did pretty well. It’s just been a lot of hard work put into it, and I was quite close, but just when you wanted that last race. Looking back on the results, I’ve beaten the Silver medallist from Tokyo and the current European champion so I’m really happy, but it’s a little bit heart breaking too.
However for the twenty-year-old to have placed 13th of the 43 nations contesting the Olympic regatta is a significant achievement in itself that bodes very well for her future in the sport.
McMahon spoke about her debut Olympic experience: “I’m hugely proud and I really have to thank my family for all their help and support. I would never be here without them. I raced my heart out, I gave it everything I had. I think the LA cycle is going to be a new chapter and something I’m really looking forward to; this has just made me so much hungrier.”
TOMORROW
SAILING
Carlow’s Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) will contest the top ten medal race of the Men’s Dinghy tomorrow in Marseilles having qualified in 10th place. In the Medal Race the course is shorter and the points scored are doubled, and added to the series points to decide the final standings.
EQUESTRIAN
Two of Ireland’s show jumpers have put themselves in poll position to battle for Olympic medals when the individual jumping final takes place at the stunning Chateau de Versailles arena tomorrow (9am Irish time).
Qualifying second and third in today’s qualifying round puts Shane Sweetnam (riding James Kaan Cruz) and Daniel Coyle (riding Legacy) in the perfect place tactically.
The final, involving the top 30 from today’s 66 combinations, will be run in reverse order of qualifying. That means Ireland’s pair will be among the last three to go, so will know exactly what they need to do.
If the medals are decided by time in a jump-off, as so often happens in this event, the omens are also encouraging because both of their horses showed brilliant pace, as well as being foot-sure, today.
The only combination to better the Irish men was France’s Julien Epaillard and his mare Dubai De Cedre, whose time was 73:07. Only 20 competitors went clear today. The 21st picked up a time fault and the remaining nine each had one fence down.
ATHLETICS
Tuesday morning promises to be a busy one for the Irish at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with five Irish athletes set to take to the track. Ciara Mageean, Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan get their championships underway in the heats of the Women’s 1500m..
O’Sullivan will race in heat one, Healy toes the line in heat two, while Mageean will be in action in the final heat. The first six athletes across the line in each heat will advance to the semi-finals with all remaining athletes heading for the repechage on Wednesday morning.
Elsewhere, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker will take to the majestic purple track of the Stade de France for the Women’s 400m repechage. Mawdsley, who was the fastest non-automatic qualifier in the heats this morning where she ran a new personal best, will race in the first of the repechage heats at 10:20am. Becker meanwhile will be in the last of the four heats at 10:44am.
Only the first athlete across the line will automatically secure qualification to the semi-finals, however there will be two fastest time qualifiers.
DIVING
One of the first in action for Team Ireland on Tuesday morning; Jake Passmore, takes to the boards for the 3M Springboard preliminary. The youngest competitor in tomorrow’s field, Passmore is only completing his second year in the senior ranks.
The 19-year-old, who was 44th at World Championships in 2023, qualified for the Games after a 17th place finish in the semi-final at the 2024 World Championships in Doha.
TRACK CYCLING
Team Ireland’s women’s pursuit team of Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy, and Alice Sharpe will being their Olympic campaign tomorrow at the Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in the qualifying round. This is the first time Ireland has ever qualified in team pursuit at the Olympics.
In Team Pursuit each team of four riders does a 16-lap time trial to create seedings for head-to-heads. Only the top eight go through to the next stage, and following that, only the two fastest teams compete for gold and silver, with the next two fastest competing for bronze, and similarly for 5th-8th places.
BOXING
Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday night’s women’s lightweight (60kg) Olympic final, Kellie Harrington has already made history by becoming the only Irish boxer ever to contest back-to-back Olympic finals, and the first Irish woman to win medals at two Olympic Games.
The much-anticipated women’s 60kg final between reigning Olympic champion Harrington and the number one seed in the division; Wenlu Yang of China is the last bout on the cards at the spectacular Roland Garros Stadium tomorrow (10.06pm Irish time).
The pair have only ever met once before; in the World Championship final back in 2016 when both were fighting at 64kg, with the Chinese fighter the victor on that occasion. Yang is the number one seed in Paris based on her 2023 Asian Games win.
RESULTS DAY 10 – SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST 2024
Diving, 10m Platform preliminary, Ciara McGing, score of 188.50, did not advance to semi-final
Athletics, Women’s 400m, Sophie Becker, 6th in heat in 51.87, into repechage Aug 6th
Athletics, Women’s 400m, Sharlene Mawdsley 4th in heat in 50.71PB, into repechage Aug 6th
Athletics, Women’s 400m, Rhasidat Adeleke, won heat in 50.09, through to semi-finals Aug7th
Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon Race 9 – 7th, 13th overall
Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon Race 10 – cancelled, finishes regatta 13th overall
Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Qualifier, Shane Sweetnan, through to final Aug 6th
Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Qualifier, Daniel Coyle, through to final Aug 6th
Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Qualifier, Cian O’Connor, 32nd overall, does not advance to final
Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, Race 9 – cancelled
Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, Race 10 – cancelled, advances to the medal race lying 10th overall
SCHEDULE DAY 11 – TUESDAY 6TH AUGUST 2024
(All times are Irish times – Paris is one hour ahead)
9.00am Diving, 3m Springboard preliminary, Jake Passmore
9.00am Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Final, Shane Sweetnan
9.00am Equestrian, Show jumping, Individual Final, Daniel Coyle
9.05am Athletics, Women’s 1500m, Round 1, Ciara Mageean
9.05am Athletics, Women’s 1500m, Round 1, Sarah Healy
9.05am Athletics, Women’s 1500m, Round 1, Sophie O’Sullivan
10.20am Athletics, Women’s 400m, Repechage, Sophie Becker
10.20am Athletics, Women’s 400m, Repechage, Sharlene Mawdsley
2.43pm Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch – Medal Race
4.20pm Track Cycling, Women’s Team Pursuit, Qualifying
10.06pm Boxing, Women’s Lightweight (60kg) FINAL, Kellie Harrington V Wenlu Yang (CHN)