Road to Rio 2016 - Irish Olympic News

The_Kew_Tour

Fair play Dan, great work there.

I would like to think we can aim high in Rio. I would be hoping the Irish squad will go there with real potential and hopefully we win at least 6 medals and 2 being Gold.

I know that will seem very high standards, but like to think we should try beat previous medal haul 4 years before.

Dan man

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Fair play Dan, great work there.

I would like to think we can aim high in Rio. I would be hoping the Irish squad will go there with real potential and hopefully we win at least 6 medals and 2 being Gold.

I know that will seem very high standards, but like to think we should try beat previous medal haul 4 years before.

I agree and the great thing is we have reason to aim high and not just hope for the best. The loss of John Joe Nevin really hurts our hopes, but still, 2 golds and 6 medals is possible.
Personally, I would also be happy with a similar medal total to London 2012 even if we didn't improve on it. It would show that London 2012 wasn't a once off and also it would be a success given that we won't have the same home support available as there was in London (by support I don't just mean fans, but logistical issues which made London 2012 much easier for the Irish athletes to prepare for).

I would have liked to see more progress this season from our pentathletes as there seemed to be potential for them to challenge strongly in Rio. 2013 has been a step backwards for them but I won't be too critical in the post-Olympic season and we'll get a better idea of their prospects next year.

Cycling continues to grow and much hard work is being done at grass-roots and under-age level to develop riders to progress through the ranks (the 2020 talent team is such a fantastic initiative and I think this will really bear fruit in years to come).

Equestrian too is coming along nicely, eventing in particular seems to be going in the right direction. If, (and this is a big if) the current rate of progress continues, we can expect to challenge for either a team or individual medal in Rio with a bit of luck.

Also, I'm really looking forward to the start of this season's Women's Rugby Sevens World Series as it will indicate whether we can qualify for Rio but more importantly if we can seriously challenge for a medal. All the signs have been positive so far with much progress being made over such a short period of time. But, the next step up to the real top elite level will be hard.

In swimming we will be hoping that Sycericka McMahon can really push forward now that she has gone on scholarship to the States. The next couple of seasons could be huge...if she makes the step up required then we really are looking at an exciting prospect for Rio. But as we know with Grainne Murphy, these things are never guaranteed and continued progress is always fragile.

Overall, 2013 hasn't thrown up any big surprises for us or hasn't really uncovered a fresh challenger for success in Rio 2016 and nobody has really made the step forward from promising up-coming athlete to approaching world class level (boxing of course excluded as we saw Jason Quigley do just that...go from promising talent to world-class). Martyn Irvine did show his exceptional talents with a gold and silver in the world track cycling championships but we need to temper that with the fact that those were non-Olympic events. Still though, what an incredible performance from him and he recently won gold in the points race at the opening world cup of the 2013-14 season.

Rob Heffernan's gold medal was outstanding and really bodes well for Rio and I think he can actually improve each season between now and then or at least keep his current level. Motivation will surely be huge, the only question really is whether he can stay lucky in terms of remaining injury-free so that he can maintain his fitness.

Annalise had a decent year and of course she became European Champion on home-waters so that's a massive achievement. Her lack of consistency though remains a huge concern and she really struggled at the World Championships in China.


Overall then, my analysis of 2013 is, some top class performances by our leading candidates in our main successful sports and that is really encouraging, but a little concerned with the lack of progress in some of the athletes and sports which had made a big leap forward in the last Olympic cycle. We are still relying on the boxers in general to determine whether we have a good Olympics or if we have an Olympics where we judge success as simply just getting onto the medals table.
I'm still really excited though that we seem have a lot of prospects moving towards Rio 2016.

Skid X

Tremendous work again, Dan Man.

It's nice to see a few 'virtual' medals on the table, and I think Katie Taylor will join them next year (it's a slight worry that she is getting so few fights at the moment)

I would agree with your analysis of our medal chances. Golf will be another Sport where we will hopefully have realistic medal chances, but it's a difficult Sport to predict (even without the decisions facing the Northern Ireland players).

Hopefully other Athletes will emerge in the 987 days before Rio starts and become familiar to us all

http://mycountdown.org/Sports/Summer_Games/

Dan man

Skid X wrote: »

Tremendous work again, Dan Man.

It's nice to see a few 'virtual' medals on the table, and I think Katie Taylor will join them next year (it's a slight worry that she is getting so few fights at the moment)

I would agree with your analysis of our medal chances. Golf will be another Sport where we will hopefully have realistic medal chances, but it's a difficult Sport to predict (even without the decisions facing the Northern Ireland players).

Hopefully other Athletes will emerge in the 987 days before Rio starts and become familiar to us all

http://mycountdown.org/Sports/Summer_Games/

Only 141 weeks until the Olympics begin.... I always think that the time flies after the Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup have taken place and then all eyes are very much on Rio 2016.

locum-motion

Dan man wrote: »

...Annalise had a decent year and of course she became European Champion on home-waters so that's a massive achievement. Her lack of consistency though remains a huge concern and she really struggled at the World Championships in China...

As a sailor myself, I know that weight can have a huge effect. My buddy and I (at a combined weight of about 30-31 stone) often struggled against lighter crews (24-26 stone). (Of course, other factors could've been at play too, such as them being better sailors!)

Annalise is a big girl - I think she's over 6' tall. A laser radial weighs just less than 10 stone. If you've an 8 stone girl racing against a 10 stone girl, the boat+girl totals are 18 stone v 20 stone. The 10st girl has a >11% disadvantage. Being over 6', Annalise is probably at least 11-12 st even though she's slim, so that's an even greater disadvantage.

With that in mind, I think it's a pity that the Olympic single handed class is such a light boat. With a heavier boat, such as the Finn, which weighs about 17 stone, the same difference in weight between 2 sailors leads to a much smaller difference in overall boat + sailor weight (only 8% for 8 st v 10st). Still a disadvantage, but not as great of a disadvantage.

As we saw in Weymouth, though, in bigger winds the extra weight becomes an advantage. Boats move fastest when they're vertical, and a heavier sailor is better able to use their weight to keep it so. I don't know what the weather's like in August in the Tropics, but I doubt it's as windy as 50 deg North.

Overall, though, I think Annalise would have a better chance in a heavier boat. Such a shame that there isn't a Finn class for women.

Dan man

locum-motion wrote: »

As a sailor myself, I know that weight can have a huge effect. My buddy and I (at a combined weight of about 30-31 stone) often struggled against lighter crews (24-26 stone). (Of course, other factors could've been at play too, such as them being better sailors!)

Annalise is a big girl - I think she's over 6' tall. A laser radial weighs just less than 10 stone. If you've an 8 stone girl racing against a 10 stone girl, the boat+girl totals are 18 stone v 20 stone. The 10st girl has a >11% disadvantage. Being over 6', Annalise is probably at least 11-12 st even though she's slim, so that's an even greater disadvantage.

With that in mind, I think it's a pity that the Olympic single handed class is such a light boat. With a heavier boat, such as the Finn, which weighs about 17 stone, the same difference in weight between 2 sailors leads to a much smaller difference in overall boat + sailor weight (only 8% for 8 st v 10st). Still a disadvantage, but not as great of a disadvantage.

As we saw in Weymouth, though, in bigger winds the extra weight becomes an advantage. Boats move fastest when they're vertical, and a heavier sailor is better able to use their weight to keep it so. I don't know what the weather's like in August in the Tropics, but I doubt it's as windy as 50 deg North.

Overall, though, I think Annalise would have a better chance in a heavier boat. Such a shame that there isn't a Finn class for women.

Yes, that's pretty much the situation in a nutshell. I have a feeling too that the waters at Guanabara Bay won't suit Annalise at all because it's just not usual to get the sort of strong wind conditions in Rio de Janeiro from which Annalise can thrive on.

Dan man

Just to wrap up the results from the Men's Laser Sailing World Championships.... Ireland's 2012 Olympian James Espey finished in 31st position, a personal best result for him at a World Championship regatta. When you take into account the Olympic quota rule of one boat per nation then James and Ireland finished 19th best nation at the regatta.
Colin Leonard finished in 107th place overall.

Nothing spectacular from an Irish point of view but great to see that James' performances are moving in the right direction and hopefully he can continue to improve as we approach Rio 2016.

Dan man

The Irish swimming team for the European Short-Course Swimming Championships which take place in Herning, Denmark is as follows:

Fiona Doyle - 50m Breaststroke
Brendan Hyland - 200m Individual Medley, 100m Butterfly
Barry Murphy - 100m Breaststroke
Shani Stallard - 200m Individual Medley
Bethany Carson - 200m Individual Medley, 100m Freestyle
Andrew Meegan - 400m Freestyle

The Championships begin tomorrow and conclude on Sunday 15th December.
Ireland has won 1 silver and 4 bronze in the history of these Championships:

Dublin 2003 - Andrew Bree - Silver Medal - Men's Breaststroke
Eindhoven 2010 - Gráinne Murphy - Bronze Medal - Women's 400m Freestyle
Eindhoven 2010 - Gráinne Murphy - Bronze Medal - Women's 800m Freestyle
Szczecin 2011 - Melanie Nocher - Bronze Medal - Women's 200m Backstroke
Chartres 2012 - Sycerika McMahon - Bronze Medal - Women's 50m Breaststroke

Dodge

YOu can see a full list of medals won by Irish swimmers at major international meetings here

http://statsthatarepointless.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/swim-fast-and-earn-precious-metals/

The_Kew_Tour

Barry Murphy just got a Bronze in European Short course championships.

Good to see swimmers do well.

Dan man

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Barry Murphy just got a Bronze in European Short course championships.

Good to see swimmers do well.

A nice early Christmas present. We don't do too well in swimming so when any medal comes around at international level it should be celebrated. Well done Barry!!

Barry with his bronze medal :

The_Kew_Tour

He loos totally different here to when he had his hair short and goatee.7

Just little off topic I know. Anyway great to see us get medal in swimming.

Like you say Dan Man they dont come around too ofter.

Skid X

Article about the Irish Hockey Teams qualification routes to Rio here

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/hockey/promising-draw-for-irish-hockey-squad-in-bid-to-reach-olympics-29854837.html

Both the Irish Mens and Womens teams are ranked 15 in the World, and 12 countries will get to Rio. After coming so close last time it would be great if we could get one (or both) teams to Brazil.

The_Kew_Tour

A team participating in the Olympics would be refreshing and nice to see

feargale

Wishing all a Happy Christmas and every good fortune in 2014.

Skid X

Happy New Year, everyone.

Documentary on TG4 tomorrow about some of our early Olympians, might be interesting

http://www.locatetv.com/tv/lamh-laidir-abu/8422453

9pm Saturday TG4 - Lamh Laidir Abu

Documentary highlighting the lives of Irish-born American men who took part in strength events in Ireland, and went on to win 23 medals and five Olympic games. The history of the games the sportsmen enjoyed is recalled, and though much of their success is largely forgotten, the programme reveals that statues of them can be found throughout the countryside (In Irish, Subtitled)

Dan man

Something to cheer us sports fans right up...

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/blueprint-must-put-sport-on-centre-stage-29908261.html

A really encouraging and long overdue initiative to create a national masterplan and strategy for sport in Ireland. Hopefully this will gain momentum and that it will target all levels from grassroots to elite international level.

The_Kew_Tour

Everything about that article sounded positive and seems like great plan.

Will need time like it says, but its encouraging that sports are coming together and not letting politics or themselves get in the way.

Big Big step if it is true.

feargale

EUROPEAN MEN'S HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 2014 IN DENMARK. I don't know if this belongs here or not, but this is the timetable of what remains: ( all times are BST.)
Today 3 p.m. 5th/6th place : Iceland v. Poland.
Today 5.30 p.m. semi-final France v. Spain.
Today 8 p.m. semi-final Denmark v. Croatia. ( Put your money on Denmark to win out! )
Sunday 3 p.m. 3rd/4th place.
Sunday 4.30 p.m. Final. Unfortunately, I know of no tv channel showing it. Maybe if you have a Danish channel!

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

EUROPEAN MEN'S HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 2014 IN DENMARK. I don't know if this belongs here or not, but this is the timetable of what remains: ( all times are BST.)
Today 3 p.m. 5th/6th place : Iceland v. Poland.
Today 5.30 p.m. semi-final France v. Spain.
Today 8 p.m. semi-final Denmark v. Croatia. ( Put your money on Denmark to win out! )
Sunday 3 p.m. 3rd/4th place.
Sunday 4.30 p.m. Final. Unfortunately, I know of no tv channel showing it. Maybe if you have a Danish channel!

It's a Denmark v France final....my money would be on Denmark to beat the twice-over reigning Olympic champions.

Dan man

Actually, France are romping home in this one....second consecutive major tournament were the Danes were destroyed in the final, they need to sort it out for next time whatever is troubling them....it's purely psychological.

feargale

Dan man wrote: »

Actually, France are romping home in this one....second consecutive major tournament were the Danes were destroyed in the final, they need to sort it out for next time whatever is troubling them....it's purely psychological.

Did you pick it up on tv, Dan?

feargale

Final : France 41 Denmark 32.
3rd place: Spain 29 Croatia 28.
5th place: Iceland 28 Poland 27.
In the qualifiers, consisting of 38 nations, ( excluding hosts Denmark ) Ireland had a neck and neck contest with Malta for the wooden spoon. Both took zero points in their respective groups, Ireland with a goal difference of -96 edging out Malta with -83. The only other competing nation with zero points in qualification was Great Britain with -25 goal difference. This game doesn't seem to be catching on in the English-speaking world.

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

Final : France 41 Denmark 32.
3rd place: Spain 29 Croatia 28.
5th place: Iceland 28 Poland 27.
In the qualifiers, consisting of 38 nations, ( excluding hosts Denmark ) Ireland had a neck and neck contest with Malta for the wooden spoon. Both took zero points in their respective groups, Ireland with a goal difference of -96 edging out Malta with -83. The only other competing nation with zero points in qualification was Great Britain with -25 goal difference. This game doesn't seem to be catching on in the English-speaking world.

Still though, we've made progress....at least we are competing now so that's something to build on. But there's a long, long, long way to go before we even get close to challenging even the half-decent teams.

feargale

"Brazilian Government move to reinsert Star Keelboat event for Rio 2016 Regatta." Good news for Peter O'Leary and David Burroughs?

http://afloat.ie/home/item/24276-brazilian-government-make-move-to-reinsert-star-keelboat-for-rio-2016?utm_source=Ireland+Afloat&utm_campaign=6bca4588c6-AfloatEbulletin_Jan271_27_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_56cc7c153a-6bca4588c6-405533105

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

"Brazilian Government move to reinsert Star Keelboat event for Rio 2016 Regatta." Good news for Peter O'Leary and David Burroughs?

http://afloat.ie/home/item/24276-brazilian-government-make-move-to-reinsert-star-keelboat-for-rio-2016?utm_source=Ireland+Afloat&utm_campaign=6bca4588c6-AfloatEbulletin_Jan271_27_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_56cc7c153a-6bca4588c6-405533105

Yes I read this a few times over the last few months, but there is little speculation elsewhere online about this move. I wonder whether there is any substance behind it....would be great for us if it were to happen.

The_Kew_Tour

Im half way through reading "The Dirtiest Race in History" Anyone ever read it?

Have found it excellent so far.

For anyone wondering its about the the rivalry between Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson, but also about the other 8 runners in the 1988 Olympic 100m final.

feargale

Dan man wrote: »

Yes I read this a few times over the last few months, but there is little speculation elsewhere online about this move. I wonder whether there is any substance behind it....would be great for us if it were to happen.

Friday's Irish Times article on page 23 confims that the attempt by Brazil is very serious, including the whole-hearted involvement of the Brazilian government.

Dodge

Confirmation of qualifying criteria/schedule for Rio in boxing

http://www.aiba.org/documents/site1/Events/2016/Olympic%20Games/2014-02%20-%20Rio%202016%20-%20Qualification%20System%20-%20FINAL%20-%20Boxing%20-%20EN.pdf

Basically, it seems they've given more spots to the upcoming WSB and APB series and their rankings. After than only 1-3 at worlds and 1-3 at Euro qualifying is guarenteed

feargale

Saturday's Irish Times has an obituary of Joan O'Reilly, who earned 34 Irish hockey caps, but began as a sprinter who "qualified for the London 1948 Olympics .....while also pushing Fanny Blankers-Koen in a pre-Olympic race but, because of the prevailing attitude to women in Ireland at the time, was precluded from travelling to the games." Can you tell us anything, Dan? Was she good for a medal at London?

Dan man

feargale wrote: »

Saturday's Irish Times has an obituary of Joan O'Reilly, who earned 34 Irish hockey caps, but began as a sprinter who "qualified for the London 1948 Olympics .....while also pushing Fanny Blankers-Koen in a pre-Olympic race but, because of the prevailing attitude to women in Ireland at the time, was precluded from travelling to the games." Can you tell us anything, Dan? Was she good for a medal at London?

It's difficult to say feargale. She had the potential to be a great athlete had she been given the chance. She was beating Maeve Kyle before turning her attention to hockey so she was definitely a high calibre athlete. But to answer your question directly, I really can't say if she could have won a medal or not. It's a pity we'll never know what she could have produced.

Dan man

Extremely positive news for Irish cycling if this gets the go-ahead

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/plan-to-develop-ireland-s-first-indoor-velodrome-to-be-unveiled-this-week-1.1678429

The_Kew_Tour

good to hear.

is there many good prospects coming through the ranks for Rio or more realistically 2020?

Dan man

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

good to hear.

is there many good prospects coming through the ranks for Rio or more realistically 2020?

You mean for track cycling I presume? Well yes, there is the likes of Eoin and Ryan Mullen who are still developing their skills and have a good chance to qualify for Rio 2016.....medals at this stage would be hard to call just yet, but probably 2020 would be a more realistic ambition.
But this is really exciting times for Irish track cycling and the 2020 programme for young talent (which has been operating for a couple of seasons already), is gaining momentum all the time. There are training camps for our talented juniors on a regular basis, including camps abroad. I think we have a lot to be optimistic about if this continues....by 2020 we could be looking at a crop of young medal hopes.
Cycling is really getting its act together in Ireland, with serious high performance plans and unlike some of our other sports federations, serious steps are being taken to achieve those plans.
The velodrome could be in place by the end of the year and this would be another giant leap forward. Membership in clubs continues to grow and more and more people are getting involed in cycling. And don't forget that the Giro is coming to Ireland this year.
Irish cycling is riding on the crest of a wave and thankfully there seems to be a serious move to capitalise on this momentum.

Dodge

Qualificaton criteria for Rugby now set. A real shame that the IRFU isn't trying to get a men's team in. They seem to be making an effort with the women's team

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/10412041/rugby-announces-olympic-qualifying-process

http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediazone/pressrelease/newsid=2070257.html#olympic+rugby+sevens+qualification+confirmed

The Lost Sheep

Dodge wrote: »

Qualificaton criteria for Rugby now set. A real shame that the IRFU isn't trying to get a men's team in. They seem to be making an effort with the women's team

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/10412041/rugby-announces-olympic-qualifying-process

http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediazone/pressrelease/newsid=2070257.html#olympic+rugby+sevens+qualification+confirmed

Too much to catch up on in Mens to make a serious attempt at qualifying for 2016. If they get the right procedures in they will be able to try for future games but Rio is too close for a real attempt to be made.
IRFU haven't given 7s enough thought and when they decide to they'll give it proper attention etc it needs but trying to get a men's team into 2016 would only be rushed and wouldn't qualify while the women's team will do well.

Dan man

The IOC have officially ruled out the possibility of the Keelboat Star sailing class returning to the Olympic programme for Rio 2016.

Dan man

Brilliant new website with a superb initiative in support of Irish athletes and helping to support them on their adventures....

http://www.pledgesports.org/

Skid X

Silver for Martyn Irvine in the Scratch Race at the World Cycling Championships.

Great effort after his recent injury problems, he almost managed to defend his title.

Skid X

... and 19 year old Ryan Mullen just missed a medal in the Individual Pursuit. He came fourth, losing in the bronze medal race.

It's a shame the Individual Pursuit and the Scratch race are not Olympic Events at the moment, but it's great to see Irish Cyclists competing at the top.

Dodge

Skid X wrote: »

It's a shame the Individual Pursuit and the Scratch race are not Olympic Events at the moment, but it's great to see Irish Cyclists competing at the top.

They're 2 parts of the omnium though and if Irvine (or Mullen) could finish high up in those events, they'd be given themelves every chance of a medal

Dan man

Skid X wrote: »

... and 19 year old Ryan Mullen just missed a medal in the Individual Pursuit. He came fourth, losing in the bronze medal race.

It's a shame the Individual Pursuit and the Scratch race are not Olympic Events at the moment, but it's great to see Irish Cyclists competing at the top.

And Caroline Ryan still has a great shot at a medal in the women's individual pursuit.
The future is very bright for Irish track cycling and our first velodrome is expected to be opened by September....full steam ahead!!

KevIRL

Our 3 time olympic canoe slalomist Eoin Rheinisch has retired

Dan man

RIO2016

Olympic Medal Table Simulation
Updated after 2014 Track Cycling World Championships 26th Feb. - 2nd Mar.

As some of you may know from the previous Olympic thread, I usually keep a track on how countries are doing in each Olympic cycle and I like to create an Olympic medals table simulation based on the most recent results at the World Championships in each Olympic event within the Olympic cycle. So here is the current state of play with the medals won at the most recent World Championships since London 2012.
*The table is not yet complete as some Olympic events didn't have a World Championships yet in this current Olympic cycle (2012-2016).

Rank|Country|GOLD|SILVER|BRONZE|TOTAL
1|United States|29|30|24|83

2|Russia|27|29|32|88
3|China|25|16|22|63
4|Germany|15|16|21|52
5|France|13|7|15|35
6|Great Britain|11|11|13|35
7|Japan|11|6|8|25
8|New Zealand|9|6|5|20
9|Hungary|9|3|11|23
10|Australia|8|16|6|30
11|South Korea|8|4|10|22
12|Brazil|7|9|9|25
13|Italy|7|7|8|22
14|Netherlands|6|6|9|21
15|Jamaica|6|2|1|9
16|Kenya|5|4|3|12
17|Ukraine|5|3|7|15
18|Czech Republic|5|3|4|12
19|Cuba|4|6|5|15
20|Kazakhstan|4|4|5|13
21|Iran|4|4|2|10
22|Azerbaijan|4|2|4|10
23|Lithuania|4|1|-|5
24|Spain|3|6|14|23
25|Denmark|3|6|3|12
26|North Korea|3|5|2|10
27|Ethiopia|3|4|4|11
28|Sweden|3|3|2|8
29|Croatia|3|1|3|7
30|Estonia|3|-|1|4
31|Thailand|2|1|3|6
32|Colombia|2|1|1|4
32|South Africa|2|1|1|4
34|Norway|2|1|-|3
35|Israel|2|-|1|3
36|Indonesia|2|-|-|2
37|Canada|1|7|9|17
38|Poland|1|6|5|12
39|Belarus|1|3|6|10
40|Mongolia|1|2|3|6
41|Bulgaria|1|2|-|3
42|Serbia|1|1|4|6
42|Switzerland|1|1|4|6
42|Uzbekistan|1|1|4|6
45|Armenia|1|1|2|4
46|IRELAND|1|1|1|3
47|Chinese Taipei|1|1|-|2
48|Greece|1|-|3|4
49|Trinidad & Tobago|1|-|1|2
50|Albania|1|-|-|1
50|Gabon|1|-|-|1
50|Portugal|1|-|-|1
50|Uganda|1|-|-|1
54|Mexico|-|3|5|8
55|Romania|-|2|3|5
56|Finland|-|2|1|3
56|Georgia|-|2|1|3
56|Venezuela|-|2|1|3
59|Cote d'Ivoire|-|2|-|2
60|India|-|1|3|4
61|Malaysia|-|1|1|2
61|Nigeria|-|1|1|2
61|Slovakia|-|1|1|2
64|Algeria|-|1|-|1
64|Austria|-|1|-|1
64|Botswana|-|1|-|1
64|Cyprus|-|1|-|1
64|Ecuador|-|1|-|1
64|Jordan|-|1|-|1
64|Montenegro|-|1|-|1
64|Qatar|-|1|-|1
72|Slovenia|-|-|5|5
73|Turkey|-|1|3|4
74|Belgium|-|-|2|2
74|Tunisia|-|-|2|2
74|Vietnam|-|-|2|2
77|Argentina|-|-|1|1
77|Costa Rica|-|-|1|1
77|Djibouti|-|-|1|1
77|Dominican Republic|-|-|1|1
77|Fiji|-|-|1|1
77|Senegal|-|-|1|1
-|Hong Kong|-|-|-|-Ireland are in 46th position, and you might remember that we finished 41st in the London 2012 Olympic medal table. However, we can be very encouraged by the fact that Katie Taylor has not yet had her say so Ireland might expect to climb the standings after the Women's Boxing World Championships next autumn.
For tennis I have used a simulation based on results at the 4 Grand Slam events of the season combined with the World Rankings.
For men's golf I am using the World Cup of golf event to provide the 3 medallists since it has changed format to sort of mimic the Olympic tournament (72-hole individual strokeplay and same qualification system).
For women's golf I will be using a simulation based on the 5 Major tournaments of the season combined with the World Rankings.


Other things of interest:

• China can challenge for top spot when you consider that the ISSF World Shooting Championships take place this season, so there's a big opportunity for them to put their names on some of those gold medals not to mention the near guaranteed gold medals in the men's and women's team table tennis events to come in May.
• Great Britain have fallen back quite a bit as you might expect from their Olympic performance (29 golds won) even if the table is, as of yet, incomplete.
• 82 countries appear on the current medal simulation (compared to 85 in London 2012).
• Hong Kong have fallen off the table after their bronze medal from the 2013 Track Cycling World Championships expired after the results from the 2014 edition.
• Singapore will have hope in the team table tennis events at the upcoming world championships and football may also see another country from South America or Africa get onto the table. Also, not forgetting the boxer from Tajikistan that was beaten in the semi-finals of both the 2012 World Championships and Olympic Games by Katie Taylor.
• The big story for me is the emergence of New Zealand. Truly remarkable how well they are doing for such a small nation.
• Lithuania have also have an extra-ordinary 2013 season and between their swimming superstar, young Ruta Meilutyte, and their clean sweep of modern-pentathlon wins at the World Championships, they sit in a lofty 23 positions with 4 golds and 1 silver...not bad for a country with a population just under 3 million and without the sprinting talents of Jamaica
• Spain and Canada as usual are very disappointing, both with huge stacks of silvers and bronzes but very few of the gold variety.
• 275 of the 306 Olympic medal events are accounted for.
• This leaves 31 medal events still to be accounted for. They are as follows:
  

• Team events in Table Tennis (2 events...the world team championships 2014 will take place in Tokyo between April 28th- May 5th, 2014).
• Men's and Women's Hockey (2 events....the men's and women's Hockey World Cups will take place in The Hague, Netherlands in May-June, 2014).
• Men's Football (1 event....the FIFA Men's World Cup will take place in Brazil between June 12th-July 13th, 2014).
  
• Equestrian (6 events....the World Equestrian Games will take place in Normandy, France between August 23rd-September 7th, 2014).
  
• Men's Basketball (1 event....men's World Cup will take place in Spain between August 30th-September 14th, 2014).
• Rifle and Pistol events in Shooting (10 events....will take place in Granada, Spain between September 6th-20th, 2014).
• Men's Volleyball (1 event...the men's World Championships 2014 will take place in Poland between September 3rd-21st, 2014).
  
• Women's Boxing (3 events....World Championships 2014 will take place in Canada between September-October 2014).
• Women's Basketball (1 event.....women's World Championships will take place in Istanbul, Turkey between September 27th-October 5th, 2014).
• Women's Volleyball (1 event....women's World Championships 2014 will take place in Italy between September 23rd-October 12th, 2014).
  
• Team All-Around events in Artistic Gymnastics (2 events....World Championships 2014 will take place in Nanning, China between October 3rd-12th, 2014).
• Women's Football (1 event...the FIFA Women's World Cup will take place in Canada between June 6th-July 5th, 2015).

Skid X

Excellent work, as always, Dan man.

Nine World Champions is a great return for New Zealand, strange to see them ahead of Australia at the moment.

Skid X

The head of Cycling's UCI has said he thinks that Track Cycling, Judo and Badminton should move to the Winter Olympics

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cycling/26734781

If you have a problem with summer Olympics where the whole thing is perceived as over-heated with too many facilities, too many sports, too many competitors and so on, why not look at moving some of the other sports indoors that traditionally take place in the northern hemisphere winter?

It would free up space in the Summer Games for other Sports/disciplines if it happened. It will be interesting to see if his proposal gains support.

Dodge

The IAAF has been camaigning to get Cross Country running into the Winter Olympics too.

I'd be against moving "indoor" sports into the Winter games tbh

Dan man

Ireland's Alex Dolly put in a superb performance at the European Wrestling Championships today, coming agonisingly close to winning the country's first ever medal at a major championships in wrestling.
Dolly lost his opening match-up against Murad Gaidorov of Belarus, but after his opponent went on to reach the final (and eventually claim the silver medal), this allowed Dolly a chance to fight for bronze via the repechages.

In the repechages, Dolly secured a good win over a tough Ukrainian wrestler to qualify for the bronze medal match against the 2-time European silver medalist Musa Murtazaliev of Armenia. Unfortunately Dolly came up short in the medal match but his performances here secured Ireland's best ever result at a European Championships in the sport and bodes well for his chances for qualification to Rio 2016. Dolly was close to making the grade for London 2012, just missing out and has a best placing of 9th at a World Championships.

Skid X

There was an interesting article in The Irish Examiner about Irish Rowing, and their High Performance Director Morten Espersen.

He has achieved considerable success in Denmark and other countries, it would be great if he could help Irish Rowing atain similar heights (albeit with low funding at the moment).

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/a-trip-inside-the-world-of-irish-rowing-264815.html

“The ultimate success would be winning medals at world championships and of course also Rio in 2016. An Olympic medal is the ultimate thing. I am sure it will happen. I know there has been none in rowing in Ireland. I can’t promise you that in two and half years but I am sure if this progress goes on it will happen. Whether it is in two and half years or in six years in Tokyo it will happen. The athletes are there, if we can get the coaches working right I am sure we can deliver. Denmark won three medals at the Olympic Games in London. Ireland has the same type of population – I can’t see any reason why we can’t. But it takes time. You have to be a little patient.”

KevIRL

Why this no sticky no more?