The European Athletics Championships have just ended, golf’s US Open is up and running, Euro 2024 is about to start, the weekend brings big games in rugby and in the hurling and Gaelic football championships, so you’ve a considerable amount of reading to do in today’s sport’s pages. No better place to start than with Ian O’Riordan’s reflections on the success of our athletes in Rome, two golds and two silvers enough to put Ireland in the top 10 in the final medal table, “ahead of some continental superpowers such as Germany and Sweden”. Rhasidat Adeleke shone brightest of all, of course. “The ripple effect of her success and her impact on those Irish kids who look like her and have walked a mile in her shoes is immeasurable and permanent,” writes Johnny Watterson.
Over in Pinehurst, meanwhile, Philip Reid saw Rory McIlroy produce “the sure-footedness of old” when he opened his US Open challenge with a bogey-free 65, putting him alongside Patrick Cantlay at the top of the leaderboard. It was a tougher day at the office for the three other Irish players in the field, Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin and Séamus Power with work to do if they are to survive the cut.
In Germany, Gavin Cummiskey and Ken Early are limbering up for the start of Euro 2024 which gets under way this evening, the hosts taking on Scotland in Munich. Gavin heard Julian Nagelsmann’s thoughts ahead of the game, among the German coach’s revelations that he comes from a town with more cows than human inhabitants (“the population of Landsberg am Lech is just over 27,000. That’s a lot of cows”), while Ken is savouring the break from the “interminable legal and financial disputes” of the club game and plans on just enjoying the football.
In Gaelic games, Joe Canning reckons that Clare have plenty of issues to address after their defeat by Limerick, but if they can fix them and get their belief back, then they can still be in with a shout this summer.
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Seán Moran reports on the research project launched by the GAA which is examining the economic impact of their games, while John O’Sullivan was at the launch of the IRFU’s new strategic plan and heard Chief executive Kevin Potts rule out playing test matches at Croke Park following the success of Leinster’s Champions Cup visit there. “The home of Irish rugby is the Aviva Stadium and that’s where our Test games will be played,” he said.
And Brian O’Connor gives his thoughts on the RTÉ Investigates programme on the horrifying scenes of horse cruelty at an equine abattoir in Straffan and how the racing industry needs to respond if there is to be any public confidence in their welfare standards.
TV Watch: It’s round two at the US Open today (Sky Sports Golf, 12.30pm-1am) and later in the afternoon Ireland’s men take on the United States in cricket’s T20 World Cup (Sky Sports Cricket, from 3.30pm). And tonight, Euro 2024 kicks off in Munich, the hosts Germany meeting Scotland (RTÉ 2 & UTV, 8pm).
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