LEONA MAGUIRE and Stephanie Meadow are relishing representing Ireland at their third Olympics.
The pair have been the country’s top two female golfers since the sport was introduced to the Games in Rio and so will again fly the flag.
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And after Covid-19 ensured there were no fans in Tokyo, the duo have enjoyed getting a taste of the atmosphere they can expect from watching the men’s competition.
Meadow said: “I think we realise how special this is to both of us.
“That’s why we came in early, so we could watch the guys and get to a few things and settle in.
“We’re excited about the atmosphere we saw for the guys. Japan was amazing but no fans.
“When I was watching the guys, it was incredible to be in this atmosphere and have those kind of chills and goosebumps. We want that.
“We don’t want to be out there with ten people watching us and just a small clap.
“That’s something we dream about.
“The guys get it more than us but we would obviously want that as well.
“I’m very excited. I’m in the first group so I expect the first tee will be quite a lot of fun and probably a memory that will last a lifetime.”
Maguire added: “Each year has been very different, I was still an amateur in Rio so I was happy to be there trying to soak up as much as I could.
“We are very fortunate to come from a country that there’s a sense of camaraderie as an Irish team, and had our best Games so far as a country.
“It’s inspiring to watch them succeed and do so well and obviously you want to be able to add to that.
“And like Steph said, out watching the guys at the weekend, there’s a lot of Irish jerseys and felt like we can were closer to home rather than France.
“It almost has that sort of Solheim Cup/Ryder Cup sort of atmosphere to it with the grandstands and the crowds.
“I think it’s going to be very exciting, and it’s one of those things where you want to do as well as you can do give the fans as much to cheer about as you can.”
Maguire will be a stronger contender than her world ranking of 30 suggests given there are nine golfers from the USA, five from Korea and four from Japan ahead of her and each country can only put forwards its top two.