By Heather Boyle, OFI Head of Communications & Sinéad Naughton, OFI Media Liaison
Wednesday 31st July 2024
Three-time and current European middleweight (75kg) champion Aoife O’Rourke was bitterly disappointed to be beaten at last 16 stage tonight by Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik on a split decision.
Swimmer Mona McSharry was also disappointed with her race in the semi-final of the 200m Breaststroke in placing 6th in a time of 2:24.48, and missing out on a spot in the final.
BOXING
Roscommon’s Aoife O’Rourke suffered a shock defeat in her last 16 opener against Poland’s Elzbieta Wojick, a fighter the Connacht woman had previously beaten four times.
Ireland’s multiple European champion won the first round 3:2 when the Pole got an official warning and a point deduction for holding, yet O’Rourke lost the second round 3-2 and everything was left riding on the third.
With her opponent repeatedly spoiling and crowding her, O’Rourke still got off some big shots and good combinations to the body in the third. But the judges gave it 4:1 to her opponent and Ireland’s two-time Olympian lost on a split 3:2 decision.
“I’m very disappointed. She set the pace and intensity from the start and it was a battle the whole way through,” O’Rourke said.
“I was expecting that. She only had one or two options. She was either going to come at me like the bull, or she was going to stand her ground in the middle of the ring, and she came out right from the get-go.
“I honestly think I gave it my best. There was a lot of holding but that’s part of it. Maybe I should have been quicker in getting out and what not, but it is what it is and I wish her the best of luck now.”
“We’ve met on numerous occasions and it’s always been a battle. I definitely didn’t underestimate her. She stepped it up again tonight and it came down to the wire.
SWIMMING
Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry has bowed out at the semi-final stage of the 200m Breaststroke in Paris.McSharry, who won 100m Breaststroke bronze on Monday, swam her fourth fastest time ever to finish sixth in her heat and eleventh overall in 2:24.48.
Speaking after the race McSharry said: “Right now I’m just upset, all I know is the time and it wasn’t fast enough so it’s hard to do more than that right now, but definitely upset. It was definitely a little harder than this morning, but in the race you hope that’s because you’re going faster and it’s hurting more because the times going to be faster but sadly that’s not always I guess the way it goes. I probably just exerted a bit too much energy in the front half and paid for it in the back half.”
McSharry returns to the pool on Saturday for the Women’s 400m Medley Relay, it will be the first time Ireland will have an entry in the event since 1972: “The relay is just a fun event to go out with the girls and do something special and you know that relay hasn’t raced in a long long time and it’s the first time it officially qualified, so I think that’s just going to be a great way to finish off the meet and that’s how I viewed it before even coming in this and it will be nice just to have one last race with them.”
TOMORROW
In rowing three Irish boats will feature again at the Varies-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Thursday with all eyes on the Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) of two time Olympian Philip Doyle and Olympic debutant Daire Lynch.
Doyle and Lynch racing from lane 3 will be up against the widely fancied Dutch double regarded as the standard bearers in the event at the moment alongside them in lane 4. The crew from the Netherlands have been undefeated since World Cup III last year and won the silver medal in Tokyo, but the Romanian double in the outside lane are the 2024 European Champions.
Ireland have beaten the Kiwi double at World Cup II at the end of May so will be hoping to stay ahead of them as the race progresses, and again hold off the Americans as they did in qualifying. Spain, who were second to the Dutch in the other semi-final will race on the other side of the Irish pairing who posted the fastest time in the semi-final (marginally); a fascinating race awaits.
The Women’s Double (W2x) and Four (W4-) contest the B finals in their events where they’ll race for 7th to 12th places.
The Four (W4-) of Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe and Imogen Magner are up against Australia and Denmark. Last month the Australian four raced at World Cup III, picking up a silver medal while the Danish crew finished fourth in the same event.
Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde are up against tough crews in the B Final of the Women’s Double (W2x). In the centre lanes are Czechia and Australia. Czechia won the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in June and Australia won gold at last month’s World Cup. It’ll also be worth keeping an eye on the USA crew who won World Cup II finishing ahead of both Ireland and Australia.
In Equestrian Team Ireland’s show jumpers begin their Paris 2024 campaign On Thursday morning at the picturesque Palace of Versailles venue with the team qualifier getting underway at 10am Irish time.
The team of Daniel Coyle with Legacy, Shane Sweetnam with the Irish-bred James Kann Cruz, and Cian O’Connor with Maurice, take to the arena with the aim of qualifying for Friday’s final. Of the 20 competing teams the top 10 progress to Friday’s team medal decider, all starting on zero penalties, and a jump-off will take place in the event of a tie to decide the medal placings.
The Irish have been in sensational form all season, winning at the Longines League of Nations and topping the standings, as well as a recent five-star Nations Cup in Aachen, Germany.
Tomorrow’s qualifier will consist of each combination jumping once over the 1.65m fences, and the teams with the lowest amount of combined penalties will jump last in Friday’s final. Ireland have been drawn ninth of the 20 nations lining up for tomorrow’s qualifier.
Team manager Michael Blake had also chosen his running order, with Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz leading the way. Daniel Coyle and Legacy will be second into the arena, while Cian O’Connor and Maurice will anchor the side.
In golf Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will begin their Paris 2024 campaigns at Le Golf National tomorrow morning in the Men’s Individual competition.
McIlroy, who was agonisingly close to a medal in Tokyo three years ago when finishing fourth, tees off at 10.11am in a star-studded trio that will be sure to attract crowds around the course.
World number three McIlroy will play alongside the world number one right now, Scottie Scheffler (USA), as well as number-four ranked Ludvig Aberg (SWE).
Offaly’s Lowry, who finished in a share on 22nd place in Tokyo, comes to Paris in strong form having finished sixth at the British Open. Lowry tees off at 10.44am Irish time, alongside Byeong Hun An (Korea) and Nick Taylor (Canada).
Action continues in the swimming pool on Thursday morning with the heats of the Men’s 50m Freestyle where Tom Fannon will make his Olympic debut. In May, at the Irish Open and Olympic trials Fannon became the first Irish man to break 22 seconds in the event recording a mark of 21.94.
After a much needed rest day the men’s hockey team continue their Olympic campaign on Thursday lunchtime, as Mark Tumilty’s side chase their first win of the Pool stages when they go head-to-head with Argentina at 12.15pm Irish time.
Despite remaining winless from their opening three games, Ireland go into Thursday’s tie buoyed by encouraging performances against Belgium, Australia particularly, and India.
However the Irish side face another challenge tomorrow at the historic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in world number seven side Argentina, but know if they can improve their accuracy and intent in attack, they can cause Argentina problems and push for a first win of the campaign to keep their hopes of progression alive.
In canoe slalom Olympic debutant Noel Hendrick from Kildare will be contesting the semi-final of the Men’s K1 semi-final tomorrow afternoon. They start in reverse order so the 25-year-old Hendrick will be second to go having qualified 19th of the 20 semi-finalists.
In sailing with the fleet racing series now complete the Irish pairing of Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Seán Waddilove (Sutton Sailing Club), stand on 73 net points, five points behind the Spaniards in first on 68 net points, and three ahead of New Zealand in third on 76 points heading into tomorrow’s top ten medal race.
USA are on 80 points in fourth and Poland in fifth on 83 but in reality, the double-points medal race on Thursday could go to any of the top eight boats (ninth and tenth can’t make podium).
The Medal Race, which is set for 1.43pm tomorrow is over a shorter version of the course they have been racing all week, with points scored in it doubled and added to the series points to decide the medals.
In boxing Talented Bray flyweight Daina Moorehouse will make her Olympic debut tomorrow, in the last 16 of the 50kg. Moorhouse faces France’s Wassila Lkhadiri, a two-time European medallist who beat her in the quarter-finals of last year’s European Games tomorrow night.
Sallynoggin heavyweight (92kg) Jack Marley, who made such an impressive Olympic debut last Sunday, is within one win of a guaranteed medal. He faces Davlat Boltaev of Tajikistan in the 92kg quarter-finals; a 6’1” Asian Games champion whom he has never met before, tomorrow night.
Following her historic success earlier Kellie Harrington’s semi-final opponent has been determined; Soares Ferreira, the 2023 world champion, beat Netherland’s Chelsey Heijnen 5-0 tonight.
It will mean a huge re-match in the North Paris Arena on Saturday night Ferreira is the woman she beat in the Olympic final in Tokyo.
RESULTS DAY 5 – Wednesday 31st July
Badminton, Men’s Singles, Group P, Nhat Nguyen Beaten by Viktor Axelsen 2-0 (21-13, 21-10), does not progress
Rowing, Men’s Pair (M2-), Ross Corrigan & Nathan Timoney, 3rd in semi-final, through to final on Friday 2nd Aug @ 10.30am
Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, Mona McSharry, 3rd in heat 3 in 2:23.98, through to semi-finals tonight AT 9.03pm
Rowing, Women’s Pair (W2-), Fiona Murtagh & Aifric Keogh, 6th in semi-final in 7:32.97, through to B final (7-12 placings) on Aug 2nd
Rowing, Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LM2x) won semi-final in 6:21.88, through to final on Friday Aug 2nd @ 11.22am
Rowing, Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls, (LW2x), 3rd in semi-final in 6:59.72, through to final on Friday 2nd Aug @ 11.02am
Badminton, Group L, Rachael Darragh Beaten by Carolina Marin (ESP) 2-0 (21-5, 21-5)
Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove, 11th in Race 10
Boxing, Men’s 57kg, Round of 16, Jude Gallagher Beaten by Carlo Paalam (PHI) 5-0
Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove, 14th in Race 11
Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove, 2nd in Race 12, qualify for Medal Race Thursday 1stAugust at 1.43pm
Boxing, Women’s 60kg, Q-final, Kellie Harrington BEATS Angie Paola Valdes Pana (COL) 5-0, guaranteed at least bronze and through to semi-final bout
Boxing, Women’s 75kg, Round of 16, Aoife O’Rourke beaten by Elzbieta Wojcik (POL) 3-2.
Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, semi-finals, Mona McSharry, 6th Place
SCHEDULE DAY 6 – THURSDAY 1ST AUGUST 2024
(All times are Irish times – Paris is one hour ahead)
9.30am Rowing, Women’s Double Sculls (W2x), B final, (7-12 placings), Zoe Hyde and Alison Bergin
9.54am Rowing, Women’s Four (W4-), B final (7-12 placings), Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe, & Imogen Magner, B final
10am start Equestrian, Jumping Team Qualifier, Cian O’Connor, Daniel Coyle, Shane Sweetnam
10.10am Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 1, Rory McIlroy
10.30am Rowing, Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) FINAL, Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch
10.32am Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, Tom Fannon, heat 6/10, fastest 16 go to semi-finals
10.37am Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, Shane Ryan, heat 8/10, fastest 16 go to semi-finals
11.15am Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, Race 1
11.44am Golf, Men’s Individual, Round 1, Shane Lowry
12.15pm Hockey, Men’s Pool B, Ireland v Argentina
1.20pm Sailing, Men’s Dinghy, Finn Lynch, Race 2
1.43pm Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Medal Race
2.30pm Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 semi-final, Noel Hendrick
2.35pm Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon, Race 1
4.43pm Sailing, Women’s Dinghy, Eve McMahon, Race 2
4.30pm Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 final, Noel Hendrick *dependent on progression
7.00pm Boxing, Women’s 50kg, Last 16, Daina Moorehouse V Wassila Lkhadiri (FRA)
7.46pm Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, semi-final, Tom Fannon, *dependent on progression
7.46pm Swimming, Men’s 50m Freestyle, semi-final, Shane Ryan, *dependent on progression
9.08pm Boxing, 92kg, Quarter-finals, Jack Marley V Davlat Boltaev (TJK)