By Heather Boyle, OFI Head of Communications & Sinéad Naughton, OFI Media Liaison
Thursday 1st August 2024
Twenty-one-year-old Sallynoggin heavyweight (92kg) Jack Marley, who made such an impressive Olympic debut last Sunday was beaten tonight by Davlat Boltaev of Tajikistan in the 92kg quarter-finals; 4-1.
Earlier talented Bray flyweight Daina Moorehouse was bitterly disappointed to be on the wrong side of a 4-1 decision in favour of hometown fighter Wassila Lkhadiri of France, on her Olympic debut in the last 16 of the Flyweight division (50kg).
Swimmer Tom Fannin on his Olympic debut was fourth in the semi-final of the 50m Freestyle tonight, in a new PB and NR of 21.74, but it was not enough to make the top eight for the final finishing just outside on 10th overall.
BOXING
Jack Marley’s dream of bringing home a medal from his first Olympic games ended with a 4:1 defeat by Tajikistan’s Davlat Botaev in the 92kg quarter-finals. Despite his youth – the 21-year-old from Monkstown BC was the youngest in his entire heavyweight division in Paris – he gave everything he had against an Asian Games gold medallist who proved just too elusive.
The Sallynoggin man lost the first round 4-1 and the second round was stopped temporarily to check a cut above his eye which appeared to come from a clash of heads but despite losing the second round 4:1, he never quit, unleashing some great left hooks and combinations as he chased to the end, winning the third round 3:2.
“He was elusive, I thought I outpunched him but it is what it is and I’m really grateful for all the support I had out there,” Marley said.
“I thought I gave it socks and I always do that. I gave it a real rattle, that’s the least you do in this sport. We’ll just have to re-group and go again. It’s a hard one to swallow but I’ve an amazing group around me. After this I can take in the full Olympics experience and I’ll be up those stands now shouting on Michaela (Walsh) and Kellie (Harrington), just as much as I’d like to be cheered on.”
Earlier in the evening young Wicklow flyweight Daina Moorehouse(22) looked particularly unlucky not to get the decision after making a super Olympic debut in the last 16 of the 50kg.
The 22 year-old from Bray defied the baying, partisan crowd at the North Paris Arena by winning the first round (3:2) against French veteran Wassila Lkhadiri.
The Enniskerry BC fighter never took a backward step and was aggressive and accurate throughout against a much more experienced 28-year-old, yet the judges gave both the second and third rounds 4:1 to her opponent and the Frenchwoman won on a split 4:1 decision.
“When you’re getting beaten you feel you’re getting beaten, but I didn’t feel like I was losing,” Moorehouse said after losing to the woman who also beat her narrowly in the European Games last year.
“It was 3:2 when I met her last year and I think I won two of the three rounds. It would have been nice to finally beat her but maybe next time,” she said.
“I definitely thought I was landing the harder shots and was the busier boxer. I don’t think I could have done anything more. I pushed on in the third round thinking surely I have this. I just went for it.
“It is hard to take but I’m just so proud for even being here. I’m 22 years of age and I’m at the Olympics. It would have been a bonus to get a win and fight for a medal but I am happy to be here.”
SWIMMING
Tom Fannon had another impressive showing in the semi-final of the 50m Freestyle on Thursday at La Defense setting a second Irish Record to place fourth in his semi-final and tenth overall. The 26-year-old, who broke the existing Irish Record of 21.82 in this morning’s heats lowering it to 21.79, lowered that time once again to 21.74, just missing out on the final by one tenth of a second.
Commenting on the race Fannon said: “It’s a really stacked heat, a really stacked event, the 50m Free is always fast and obviously to go back-to-back PBs, morning and evening is great. I would have liked to have gone a bit faster, I think. I think the morning swim in terms of the mistakes gave me more confidence than that 21.74 there and I think personally I could have gone 0.1 faster there.
“In hindsight and you can’t really work off that, at the end of the day it is really bittersweet, I have to be happy with the fact that, first Games, semi-final, just off a final, two Irish records, two PBs back-to-back, I mean I’d be silly to say I’m disappointed.”
With the 50m Freestyle Fannon’s sole event of the Games, he commented on his experience: “It’s been good, it’s hard to race one event especially when it’s 21 seconds, day six of the meet, it’s not easy and it’s about manging emotions throughout the week, just being in control of that, not getting too excited, knowing when to switch off, when to switch on, and I think I did really well, I think I managed that perfectly, in my opinion. But yeah, I would have liked to have done a Final but we learn from it, we move on and we reflect and also celebrate.”
With one withdrawal confirmed, Fannon is now first reserve for Friday’s Final.
TOMORROW
In rowing on the last day racing for the Irish rowers it’s set to be an exciting one with three crews in finals bidding for glory; the Men’s Pair (M2-) of Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan, the Women’s Lightweight Double (LW2x) of Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen, the Men’s Lightweight Double (LW2x) of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan.The Women’s Pair (W2-) of Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh will race the B final of their event for the 7-12 placings at these Games.
The Men’s Pair (M2-) of Timoney and Corrigan, will start in lane six on the course, facing Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Romania and Great Britain. The current World Champions Switzerland have been on the podium four times this season but have yet to beat the GB crew who have been dominating this season in the Men’s Pair, picking up three gold medals, two at the World Cups and one at the European Championships. Timoney and Corrigan beat the Swiss duo in the heat over a photo finish and finished just half a second behind GB in the semi-final.
The Romanian pair had a very strong semi-final, finishing ahead of Ireland and Great Britain to progress to tomorrow’s Final. They are also doubling up in the Men’s Eight so have an additional two races in their legs. The Croatian Pair of the Sinkovic brothers, decided to swap from the double to the pair after last year’s World Championships and have had some fourth and fifth place finishes this season. They are, however, the Tokyo Olympic Champions in the pair and look to be on form again.
Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are ready to defend their Olympic title in the Lightweight Double (LM2x). After suffering defeat in May to the Swiss and Italian doubles, the Irish crew are looking to place themselves back on top of the podium. The Skibbereen rowers have showed dominant performances in both their heat and semi-final, beating the Swiss crew yesterday, but are yet to face the Italian double. Italy, like Ireland, have won both their heat and semi-final, so are definitely one of the top contenders for the podium.
Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey have performed incredibly through the week to make it to the final of the Lightweight Women’s Double (LW2x). Having finished eighth at the last Olympics, Cremen and Casey have already improved their result this time around by making the final. The double that everyone is watching is the GB crew who have been undefeated since July 2022. They finished fourth in Tokyo, but from their next appearance together, they haven’t let a single crew get the better of them.
The Romanian double are the next top seed, having won both their heat and semi-final. They’re the current European Champions and finished with bronze medals at last year’s World Championships. The USA crew in lane six, one upped them in Belgrade at the 2023 World Championships, taking home the silver medal so they’re not to be forgotten about either.
Irish athletics involvement at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games gets underway tomorrow morning on the newly laid purple track at the Stade de France. First into action will be Team Ireland’s three 1500m men; Cathal Doyle, Luke McCann, and Andrew Coscoran. Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers AC) and McCann (UCD AC)will make their Olympic debuts while Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) has proven pedigree at this level having made the semi-final of the event in Tokyo three years ago. The first six athletes in each of the three heats will advance to the semi-finals with all remaining athletes entering the repechage round; the first time ever this format occurs in athletics.
In the evening session Jodie McCann (Dublin City Harriers) will also make her Olympic debut having qualified for the Women’s 5000m. The younger sister of Luke, McCann will need to finish in the top eight to book her place in the final.
All eyes will then turn to the Mixed 4x400m Relay heats. The Irish team, which will not be announced in advance of final declarations in line with other nations, bids to make a second successive Olympic final in the event. The top three in the heats automatically advance to the final, followed thereafter by the two fastest times.
Eric Favors closes out the athletics action from an Irish perspective when he makes his Games debut in the Men’s Shot Put. Favors will need to throw 21.35m to advance automatically to the final, if not he will be relying on placing within the top twelve from the two qualification groups.
In sailing the Medal Race of the Men’s Skiff, which had to be abandoned on two separate occasions today, has been rescheduled for 12.13pm Irish time today, when it is hoped wind conditions will be more favourable for racing. Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove win start that medal race in second position overall, with the Spanish crew leading and New Zealand only two points behind in third. The points from the medal race are doubled and added to the fleet series score to determine podium positions so any of the top seven or eight crews can make the medals.
Lying 16th overall after the opening two races in the Men’s Dinghy Finn Lynch contests races 3 and four tomorrow. Twenty-eight-year-old from Carlow Lynch is competing in his second Olympics after debuting in Rio but missing out on the subsequent Games in Tokyo.
After posting an 8th in her first Olympic race today Eve McMahon will have three races on the cards tomorrow in the Women’s Dinghy Fleet Series with race 2 – rescheduled from Thursday run off, before races 3 and 4 afterwards.
In golf Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry return to the course at Le Golf National in their second rounds of the Men’s Individual competition. Offaly’s Lowry will be first out at 8.44am Irish time and will be hoping to improve on his opening round of 71 to move up the standings. Rory McIlroy is out at 11.06am Irish time alongside Scottie Scheffler (USA) and Ludvig Aberg (SWE).
In canoe slalom Noel Hendrick and Liam Jegou will be back on the water tomorrow in Kayak Cross, which is a new Olympic event in Paris. Like ski-cross or snowboard cross, it is contested as four-person races, with competitors starting off a launch pad two metres above the water. Then it’s a mad dash to negotiate the slalom gates and there is also a big roll barrier across the course at one point where the paddlers have to do an eskimo roll. The time trials are tomorrow to decide seeding for the heats. In heats it’s top two to go through and other two go to a repechage where it’s top two again to qualify.
The Irish Men’s hockey team will play their final game of these Games tomorrow against New Zealand hoping to record a win at Yves du Manoir Stadium. After today’s defeat to Argentina they cannot progress from their group but will be hopeful of ending on a positive note against the side one place above them in the world rankings, in 10th.
In equestrian Ireland’s show jumpers remain on course for a strong showing tomorrow in the Team final. Twenty teams have been whittled down to 10, with Switzerland and Brazil the major casualties from round one.
Michael Blake’s team of Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle and Cian O’Connor had plenty in hand to reach the big dance in sixth position, with Coyle and Legacy particularly impressive, jumping a superb clear round.
With the Olympic format of three combinations jumping and no discard score – or no warm-up class – there was little room for error but Ireland safely navigated the challenge.
With a difficult course build in the final, it remains to be seen what the course designers have in store tomorrow but, with world number nine Sweetnam and number 11 Coyle teaming up with the ever-reliable O’Connor, hopes are high for the Irish at the Palace of Versailles.
In boxing the last of Ireland’s boxers; featherweight Michaela Walsh, finally makes her entrance in Paris tomorrow (2:46pm Irish time) in her second Olympic Games. Belfast’s two-time European bronze medallist faces Bulgaria’s Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, a world bronze medallist in 2023, in the last 16 of the 57kg.
In swimming 400m Individual Medley Finalist at these Games Ellen Walshe returns to the pool on Friday for the heats of the 200m Individual Medley. Walshe is the Irish record holder in the event in 2:10.92, a time she set in the semi-final of the 2023 World Championships.
RESULTS DAY 6 – Thursday 1st August
Rowing, Women’s Double Sculls (W2x), Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin, 4th in B final in 6:55.62; 10th overall
Rowing, Women’s Four (W4-), B final (7-12 placings), Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe, & Imogen Magner, won B final in 6:34.74, 7th overall
Rowing, Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) FINAL, Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, BRONZE MEDAL in 6:15.17
Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, Tom Fannon, won heat in 21.79 PB,NR, through to semi-finals tonight as joint 6thfastest time
Equestrian, Jumping Team Qualifier, Cian O’Connor, Daniel Coyle, Shane Sweetnam, qualified for Team final on August 2nd
Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 1, Rory McIlroy, Round of 68, 3-under-par
Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 1, Shane Lowry, Round of 71, Level-par
Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, 9th in Race 1
Hockey, still in play, Men’s Pool B, Ireland 1-2 Argentina
Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, 25th Race 2, 16th overall
Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Medal Race – ABANDONED due to light winds, RESCHEDULED for August 2nd
Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 semi-final, Noel Hendrick, 15th overall in 102.46
Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon, 8th in Race 1
Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon, Race 2 – Abandoned, rescheduled for Aug 2nd
Boxing, Women’s 50kg, Last 16, Daina Moorehouse Beaten by Wassila Lkhadiri (FRA) 4-1
Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, semi-final, Tom Fannon, 4th in semi-final in 21.74 in new PB & NR, 10th overall, does not advance to final
Boxing, 92kg, Quarter-finals, Jack Marley Beaten by Davlat Boltaev (TJK) 4-1
SCHEDULE DAY 7 – FRIDAY 2nd AUGUST 2024
(All times are Irish times – Paris is one hour ahead)
9.54am Rowing, Women’s Pair (W2-), B final (7-12 placings), Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh
10.10am Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 1, Round 1, Cathal Doyle (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)
10.21am Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 2, Round 1, Luke McCann (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)
10.11am Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 2, Rory McIlroy
10.30am Rowing, Men’s Pair (M2-), FINAL, Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney
10.32am Athletics, Men’s 1500m, Heat 3, Round 1, Andrew Coscoran (first 6 in each heat to s/f, rest to repechage)
10.35am Swimming, Women’s 200m IM, heats, Ellen Walshe, heat 5/5 (16 fastest to s/f)
11.02am Rowing, Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LW2x), FINAL, Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy
10.05am Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 2 – rescheduled, Eve McMahon
11.15am Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 3, Eve Mc Mahon
11.22am Rowing, Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LW2x) FINAL, Aoife Casey, Margaret Cremen
11.44am Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 2, Shane Lowry
12.13pm Sailing, Men’s Skiff, RESCHEDULED MEDAL RACE
12.23pm Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Race 4, Eve Mc Mahon
1.00pm Equestrian, Show Jumping, Team FINAL, Shane Sweetnam, Cian O’Connor, Daniel Coyle
2.30pm Men’s Kayak Cross Time Trial, Noel Hendrick, Liam Jegou
2.35pm Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Race 3, Finn Lynch
2.46pm Boxing, Women’s Featherweight (57kg), Last 16, Michaela Walsh V Svetlana Kamenova Staneva (BUL)
3.40pm Women’s Kayak Cross Time Trial, Madison Corcoran
3.45pm Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Race 4, Finn Lynch
4.00pm Hockey, Men’s Pool B, Ireland v New Zealand
5.36pm Athletics, Women’s 5000m, Round 1, Heat 2/2, Jodie McCann (first 8 in each heat to final)
6.22pm Athletics, 4x400m Mixed Relay, heat 2/2, (first 3 in each heat Q, and next two fastest q advance to final)
7.10pm Athletics, Shot Put, Qualification Group A, Eric Favors (standard 21.35m, all that meet standard, or at least 12 best to final)
8.22pm Swimming, Women’s 200m IM semi-final, Ellen Walshe, *dependant on progression