Paris Olympics 2024 Preview – Team Ireland’s Medal Prospects:
By: Aidan Crowley:
One hundred years on from their first Olympic Games appearance in Paris, back in 1924, Team Ireland have sent a record sized squad to the Paris Olympics 2024 which opens today (Friday 26th July).
Today’s opening ceremony in the French capital will whet the appetite of sports fans, worldwide, as the biggest sporting event on the planet unfolds, over the next two weeks (27th July to 11th August). The Irish squad, consisting of one hundred and thirty-three competitors, will test themselves against the world’s best athletes across fiveteen events categories.
This will be Ireland’s most experienced Olympics squad, ever, with boxer, Kellie Harrington and rowers, Paul O’ Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, topping the bill. Harrington, O’ Donovan and McCarthy are all defending Olympic champions, while O’ Donovan also won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016.
Four more of the record sixteen-strong rowing squad, who will compete in seven different boat types, are medal winners from the pandemic-affected Tokyo Olympics 2020, held in 2021, along with boxer, Aidan Walsh. Meanwhile, showjumper, Cian O’ Connor, won an individual bronze medal at the London Qlympics 2012.
Wicklow’s Fionnuala McCormack, will become the first Irish female athlete to compete in an extraordinary five consecutive Olympic Games, when she lines out for the women’s marathon event.
Gymnast, Rhys McClenaghan and distance swimmer, Daniel Wiffen, who are both reigning world champions in their respective disciplines, represent very realistic medal hopes. Ciara Mageean (1,500 m) and Rhasidat Adeleke (400 m), two of Ireland’s top athletes, are also very hopeful of landing medals, as are the 400 m relay squads, depending on Adeleke’s availability.
Boxing has, traditionally, been our most successful Olympic sport, with a haul of eighteen of Ireland’s thirty-eight medals (eleven gold, eleven silver, sixteen bronze).
Ireland’s ten-strong boxing team is the largest since the Rome Olympics 1960 and by far, the biggest since boxers were first required to qualify for the Olympic Games in 1992.
The only other two countries who have more boxers qualified for Paris Olympics 2024, are Australia and Uzbekistan. Ireland, along with China and Australia are the three nations who will have a full complement of six female boxers in Paris.
In golf, Rory McIlroy, following on from his heartbreak in the U.S. and British Open Championships, returns for his second Olympic Games, as does Shane Lowry. Meanwhile, top female golfers, Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow are all set to compete in their third Olympiad.
An often forgotten fact is that in the Paris Olympics 1924, both art and literature were categorised sports events. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, Ireland’s two medals were won in these categories, with Jack B. Yeats bagging a silver for art and Oliver St. John Gogarty netting a bronze for literature. It will be somewhat disappointing if Team Ireland do not at least manage to treble that tally, over the next two weeks of Olympic action.
The following is a full list of all the Team Ireland athletes and their designated sports categories:
(1) Athletics (23 – 2 relay teams):
Rhasidat Adeleke (400 m, 400 m relays).
Sharlene Mawdsley (400 m, 400 m relays).
Sophie Becker (400 m, 400 m relays).
Phil Healy (400 m relays).
Lauren Cadden (400 m relays).
Kelly McGrory (400 m relays).
Rachel McCann (500 m relays).
Andrew Corcoran (1,500 m).
Luke McCann (1,500 m).
Cathal Doyle (1,500 m).
Ciara Mageean (1,500 m).
Sarah Healy (1,500 m).
Sophie O’Sullivan (1,500 m).
Jodie McCann (5,000 m).
Sarah Lavin (100 m hurdles).
Fionnuala McCormack (marathon).
Kate O’Connor (heptathlon).
Mark English (800 m).
Brian Fay (5,000 m).
Thomas Barr (4 x 400 m mixed relays).
Chris O’ Donnell (4 x 400 m relays).
Eric Favors (shot putt).
Nicola Tuthill (hammer).
(2) Badminton (2):
Nhat Nguyen (men’s singles).
Rachael Darragh (women’s singles).
(3) Boxing (10):
Jude Gallagher (57 kg).
Dean Clancy (65.5 kg).
Aidan Walsh (71 kg).
Jack Marley (92 kg).
Daina Moorhouse (50 kg).
Jennifer Lehane (54 kg).
Michaela Walsh (57 kg).
Kellie Harrington (60 kg).
Grainne Walsh (66 kg).
Aoife O’Rourke (75 kg).
(4) Canoeing:
Liam Jegou (C1 slalom, kayak cross).
Noel Hendrick (K1 slalom, kayak cross).
Madison Corcoran (K1 slalom, kayak cross).
Michaela Corcoran (C1 slalom, kayak cross).
(5) Cycling (7 – 2 teams):
Track:
Lara Gillespie (team pursuit, madison, omnium).
Alice Sharpe (team pursuit, madison).
Kelly Murphy (team pursuit).
Mia Griffen (team pursuit).
Road:
Ben Healy (road race).
Ryan Mullen (road race, time trial).
Megan Armitage (road race).
(6) Diving (2):
Jake Passmore (3 m springboard).
Ciara McGing (10 m platform).
(7) Equestrian (7 – 2 teams):
Cian O’Connor on Maurice (showjumping).
Shane Sweetnam on James Kann Cruz (showjumping).
Daniel Coyle on Legacy (showjumping).
Austin O’Connor on Colorado Blue (eventing).
Susie Berry on Wellfields Lincoln (eventing).
Sarah Ennis on Action Lady M (eventing).
Abi Lyle on Geraldo (dressage).
(8) Golf (4):
Rory McIlroy.
Shane Lowry.
Leona Maguire.
Stephanie Meadow.
(9) Gymnastics (1):
Rhys McClenaghan (pommel horse).
(10) Hockey (16 – I team):
Sean Murray (C).
David Harte.
Lee Cole.
Shane O’ Donoghue.
Kyle Marshall.
Peter McKibbin.
Tim Cross.
Daragh Walsh.
Nick Page.
Michael Robson.
Peter Browne.
John McKee.
Jeremy Duncan.
Matthew Nelson.
Benjamin Walker.
Ben Johnson.
(11) Rowing (16- 7 boats):
Paul O’Donovan (men’s lightweight double sculls).
Fintan McCarthy (men’s lightweight double sculls).
Phil Doyle (men’s double sculls).
Daire Lynch (men’s double sculls).
Ross Corrigan (men’s coxless pair).
Nathan Timoney (men’s coxless pair).
Aoife Casey (women’s lightweight double sculls).
Mags Cremen (women’s lightweight doubles sculls).
Alison Bergin (women’s double sculls).
Zoe Hyde (women’s double sculls).
Fiona Murtagh (women’s coxless pair).
Aifric Keogh (women’s coxless pair).
Eimear Lambe (women’s coxless four).
Emily Hegarty (women’s coxless four).
Natalie Long (women’s coxless four).
Imogen Magner (women’s coxless four).
(12) Rugby Sevens (24 – 2 teams):
Men’s Squad:
Harry McNulty (C).
Andrew Smith.
Chay Mullins.
Gavin Mullin.
Hugo Keenan.
Hugo Lennox.
Jack Kelly.
Jordan Conroy.
Mark Roche.
Niall Comerford.
Terry Kennedy.
Zac Ward.
Women’s Squad:
Lucy Mulhall (C).
Alanna Fitzpatrick.
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe.
Ashleigh Orchard.
Beibhinn Parsons.
Emily Lane.
Erin King.
Eve Higgins.
Kathy Baker.
Megan Burns.
Stacey Flood.
Vicky Elmes Kinlan.
(13) Sailing (4 – 3 boats):
Finn Lynch (ILCA 7).
Robert Dickson (49er).
Sean Waddilove (49er).
Eve McMahon (ILCA 6).
(14) Swimming (12 – 2 relay teams):
Daniel Wiffen (800 m freestyle, 1,500 freestyle, 10 km open water marathon).
Tom Fannon (50 m freestyle).
Shane Ryan (50 m freestyle, 4 x 100 m medley relay).
Max McCusker (4 x 100 m medley relay).
Darragh Greene (4 x 100 m medley relay).
Conor Ferguson (4 x 100 m medley relay).
Mona McSharry (100 m breaststroke, 200 m breaststroke, 4 x 100 m medley relay).
Ellen Walshe (100 m butterfly, 200 m individual medley, 400 m individual medley, 4 x 100 m medley relay).
Danielle Hill (50 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, 4 x 100 m medley relay, 4 x 100 m freestyle relay).
Victoria Catterson (4 x 100 m freestyle relay).
Erin Riordan (4 x 100 m freestyle relay).
Grace Davison (4 x 100 m freestyle relay).
(15) Taekwondo (1):
Jack Woolley (58 kg).
https://olympics.ie/paris-2024/
