The Road to Paris 2024-Irish Olympic news and updates.

I have tried to summarise key recent developments for our Olympic hopefuls and the impact they have had on our medal prospects for Paris.

Athletics:

·        Rhasidat Adeleke has lowered her PB over 400m to 50.5 seconds. With Adeleke due to start training specifically for this event for the first time this winter, she should mature into a strong medal contender for Paris should she avoid injury.

·        Ciara Mageean is currently amongst the world's top 5/6 1500m runners. However, given the strength of the top 3/4 athletes, she remains a very remote medal contender at world level.

Sailing

·        Channelling the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, Finn Lynch has emerged as a major medal contender for Paris – he won the silver medal at last year’s World Championships before finishing in sixth place this year.

Boxing

·        Despite the current anarchy surrounding the IABA, we have at least retained the services of Zaur Antia whilst the funding of our high performance athletes has been ringfenced in the run-up to Paris. With a litany of Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth medallists still within our amateur ranks, I believe we are well placed to win more medals inside the ring in Paris than in Tokyo notwithstanding the best efforts of the IABA to disrupt the team’s preparation as much as possible.

Showjumping

·        Our showjumping team came fourth at the recent World Championships (qualifying for the Olympics in the process) and looked imperious in winning the Aga Khan trophy last week. With Conor Swail currently ranked fourth in the world and Cian O’Connor always delivering at Olympic Games, we should have a strong chance of winning an Equestrian medal in Paris.

Rowng

·        Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy look very well placed to retain their Olympic title in Paris, with the latter reportedly improving significantly over the past year. Whilst the upcoming World Championships will give us a better insight into the medal credentials of our other crews, the Women’s Four looked relatively impressive in winning the silver medal at the European Championships.  

Gymnastics

·        Rhys McClenaghan was off his very best at the recent Commonwealth Games and European Championships but will hopefully return to his best form in time for Paris, whereupon he would be a major medal contender.

Swimming

·        Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe won medals at the World Short Course Swimming Championships last December raising hopes that they could morph into global medal contenders in the 50 metre pool. Whilst Mona performed admirably at the European Championships last week, her times have not improved from last summer – she will need to find at least another three or four tenths of a second in the next two years to challenge for an Olympic medal. Ellen’s withdrawal from the European Championships ensures that her potential in a long-course global meet remains difficult to gauge. Elsewhere, Daniel Wiffen continues to improve exponentially at each championship he part-takes in (his new PB over 800 metres would have placed sixth at the World Championships this year) – should this [progression continue over the next two years, he may well become a realistic medal contender for Paris.  

Since my last post: Ciara MaGeean elevated herself to world-class level beating Laura Muir twice at the end of her season suggesting she may well be a medal contender at global level; Ireland won three medals at the World Rowing Championships in Olympic boats; Ireland won seven medals at the women's European Boxing Championships; Rory McIlroy regained his status as the world's number one golfer whilst Seamus Power won his second title on the PGA Tour and; Rhys McClenaghan won gold at the World Gymnastics Championships. I really believe Ireland is capable of having a breakthrough Olympics in Paris and could claim up to eight or nine medals. Let's hope these great performances continue over the coming months.

Love this thread. (And others from previous Olympiads)

Is Adeleke a serious medal prospect? Would be amazing to get a track medal..

Daniel Wiffen about to get a second world championship gold!

Ya he was amazing. Watched it on South African Tv and before the race they barely mentioned his name but then about 300m in they were questions if he could break the world record with the gold medal already a forgone conclusion!

Has a very good chance of two medals in Paris

I don’t believe it’s a requirement for many sports… definitely not in golf. Rory’s has competed in plenty Irish opens though, hosted it for a while I believe

I assume the only sport left that can qualify participants between now and July is Athletics via the European championships? Is this correct or is there quotas available for the likes of Shooting, Archery, Karate etc that can add to the Irish team?