Four medals already! If the Irish at these Olympics keep this up we won’t have enough vehicles for the open-top bus parade on their return. Mona McSharry, Daniel Wiffen, Kellie Harrington and now Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch. The rowers came third in the double sculls final to earn bronze this morning, our first rowing medal of these Games.
“Ireland has four boats in Olympics finals, more than we’ve ever had before,” writes Denis Walsh who was at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium to see Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey, and Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy also make finals.
Whatever happens in Harrington’s semi-final and – hopefully – final, she’s already guaranteed a bronze after her 5-0 points win over Colombian Angie Paola Valdes Pana. And that, writes Johnny Watterson, made her “the first Irish women to win medals at two Olympic Games” after “another controlled outing from the reigning champion” who looked in the form of her life in “an almost carefree three rounds”. You can see the full schedule for today at the Olympics by clicking on the link below to continue reading.
And down in Marseille, David Branigan was on hand to witness Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove secure their place in today’s medal race in the skiff competition – and they go in to it in second place. “A huge day of opportunity awaits them as they sail out from the Roucas Blanc Marina for the last time.”
Ian O’Riordan profiles Daniel Wiffen after his golden success on Tuesday, while Denis Walsh recalls the days when “Ireland were no good at the Olympics. . . Since the last Paris Games, 100 years ago, there have been eight Olympics where Ireland won nothing.” What has changed? Denis points to the reforms brought in after the Sydney Games, when a high performance network was introduced and “a no-excuses environment” created.
By the sounds of it, NBC viewers over in the United States are seeing almost as much of Snoop Dogg on their screens during the Olympics as they are of any of the action. In his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan writes about the rapper’s “remarkable personal transformation” from “a former pimp and jailbird who defeated a murder charge” to “the country’s favourite eccentric stoner uncle”, one who is being paid by NBC to be their “mischievous on-camera goofball” in Paris.
Back home, Brian O’Connor brings you news from the Galway Races where Noel Meade “rolled back the years and secured Tote Galway Plate glory on Wednesday evening”, Pinkerton winning the summer’s most coveted steeplechase prize. And Brian previews today’s Galway Hurdle in which Willie Mullins has eight of the 20 runners – so a sixth win in nine years is a distinct possibility.
TV Watch: Are we being greedy in hoping-for/half-anticipating more medals today? Of course, but look it, you can never have enough. So, cross your fingers, toes and ear-lobes, if that’s even possible, and tune in to the efforts sailors Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove in the final skiff race (1.43). You can see the full schedule for the ‘Irish in Action’ here.
Thursday’s Irish Olympics schedule
9.11am: Rory McIlroy (Golf – first round)
9.30am: Zoe Hyde, Alison Bergin (Rowing – double sculls B final) Finished fourth
From 10am: Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor (Showjumping – qualifying)
From 10am: Tom Fannon and Shane Ryan (Swimming – 50m freestyle heats)
10.30am: Philip Doyle, Daire Lynch (Rowing – double sculls A final) Finished third and won bronze
10.44am: Shane Lowry (Golf – first round)
From 11.10am: Finn Lynch (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
12.15pm: Ireland v Argentina (Men’s hockey)
1.43pm: Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove (Sailing – Skiff medal race)
From 2.30pm: Noel Hendrick (Canoe Slalom – K1 semi-finals, finals)
From 2.30pm: Eve McMahon (Sailing – dinghy races one and two)
7pm: Daina Moorehouse v Wassila Lkhadiri (Boxing – 50kg Round of 16)
9.08pm: Jack Marley v Daviat Boltaev (Boxing – 92kg quarter-finals)