Irish in action at the Olympics on Monday:
- From 9am: Ciara McGing (Diving – 10m Platform) - finished 28th in the preliminary round and failed to advance to the semi-finals
- From 10.55am: Rhasidat Adeleke won her heat and goes through to the semi-final, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker came fourth and sixth respectively and go in to the repechage (Athletics – 400m heats)
- 11.10am: Eve McMahon (Sailing – Dinghy race 9) - finished seventh, up to 13th overall
- 12.18pm: Eve McMahon (Sailing – Dinghy race 10) - the final race was cancelled due to light winds, so McMahon finished 13th and misses out on a place in the final by three spots
- From 1pm: Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor (Equestrian Showjumping – Individual qualifiers) - Sweetnam and Coyle qualified for the final, but O’Connor missed out
- From 1.35pm: Finn Lynch (Sailing – Dinghy races 9 and 10) - both races were cancelled due to light winds, so Lynch held on to 10th overall and qualifies for the medal race
BREAKING NEWS!
Ireland’s Ciara Mageean has been forced to withdraw from Tuesday morning’s 1,500m heats due to injury.
A statement from Team Ireland on Monday night read: “In her final weeks of preparation for these Paris Olympic Games, Ciara has been dealing with painful chronic Achilles issues.
“Despite every effort made by Ciara and the Team Ireland medical team, the European champion will unfortunately be unable to toe the line tomorrow morning.”
Mageean added: ”I’m absolutely heartbroken not to be able to compete in my third Olympic Games. I gave it everything to make it possible to be on the start line, but time was against me. I want to thank everyone for all their support.”
On that sad note, we’ll sign off for the evening. Join us again for more Olympics action in the morning.
Gymnastics: Malachy Clerkin was in the Bercy Arena today to witness “possibly the last Olympic acts of the great Simone Biles”. She took her tally of Olympic medals to 11 – seven gold, two silver, two bronze. An athlete like few - any? - others.
This sport is an absolute hoot.
Showjumping: You might recall that Cian O’Connor initially missed out on the final at London 2012, but was a last minute call-up as the first reserve after another rider withdrew - and he went on to win bronze. This time, though, he’d need three finalists to withdraw to make it in. Unlikely? We’ll see.
Showjumping: It’s not to be for Cian O’Connor - he has fallen out of the top 30 in the qualifiers, finishing 33rd, and so misses out on a place in the final. Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle clinched their spots earlier in the day with brilliant clear rounds to finish second and third, respectively, on the leaderboard. The final starts at 9.0 in the morning.
Sailing: The news is less cheerful for Eve McMahon - her final race today was also cancelled because of light winds, so she had no chance to improve on her overall placing of 13th - three short of reaching the final. But a brilliant effort from the 20-year-old who was making her Olympic debut. You’d have a notion it won’t be her last Olympic Games.
Sailing: Finn Lynch is through to the medal race after finishing 10th overall in the qualifying series!! Today’s races were cancelled because the winds never picked up, so he held on to the 10th position in reached in yesterday’s races. But ..... RTE’s sailing experts say he has no chance of a medal because of the points gap between him and the leaders. Still, reaching the final? Outstanding.
Showjumping: Ooooh, it’s going to be a nervy wait for Cian O’Connor - after picking up four faults in his round, he’s in 30th position with seven riders to come. And he has to be in that top 30 to reach the final. His cause wasn’t helped by his horse Maurice doing a Cinderella - he lost a shoe in the warm-up, so O’Connor’s start was delayed.
Kayak Cross: Not too many sports can have had a more successful Olympic debut than this one, thousands upon thousands turning up at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium to witness the action. It looks like it might be here to stay.
Sailing: It’s been a frustrating day for Eve McMahon and Finn Lynch in the dinghy event, with their races delayed or abandoned because of winds that are a bit on the light side. Lynch has yet to race today, while McMahon’s final race in the qualifying series has been abandoned - but will hopefully get going soon. She’s 13th overall, and needs to climb in to the top 10 to make the medal race. Lynch is 10th overall, so if he can hold that position after his two races today, he’ll qualify for that medal decider.
Showjumping: France’s Julien Epaillard has overtaken Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle at the top of the qualifier leaderboard, but they’ve both already booked their place in the final. Can Cian O’Connor complete a nigh on perfect day? He needs a top 30 placing. He’s up soon (live on RTE2) with his four-legged pal Maurice, which must be the least horsie name ever.
Athletics: Here’s Ian O’Riordan’s report on this morning’s 400m heats, where Rhasidat Adeleke cruised in to the semi-finals. Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker will attempt to join her when they run in the repechage.
[ Rhasidat Adeleke cruises to victory in 400m heatsOpens in new window ]
Showjumping: Shane Sweetnam and Daniel Coyle, still first and second on the leaderboard in the qualifier, already looked certain of a place in tomorrow’s final, but it’s now official - they can’t be knocked out of the required top 30 finish. Brilliant performances from them both. Cian O’Connor is still to come.
Dinghy: An excellent effort from Eve McMahon in her penultimate series race, finishing seventh to move her up a place to 13th overall. The pressure will be on, though, in race 10 - she needs to get in to the overall top 10 to make the medal race.
Showjumping: The leaderboard in the individual qualifier looks glorious - Shane Sweetnam is still top and now Daniel Coyle is second after a clear round!
Kayak cross: The glorious madness that is this new Olympic sport is live on BBC1 at the moment with the women’s quarter-finals. The commentator is trying to explain the rules, but there don’t appear to be any. One competitor appeared to attempt to drown a rival just now, but we’re told there’s unlikely to be any penalty. See what we mean?
Showjumping: With 33 of the 74 (74!) riders having completed their rounds, Shane Sweetman still leads the qualifier. There have been nine clear rounds so far, but he had the fastest. Daniel Coyle will be the 37th rider out, and Cian O’Connor the 63rd.
Sailing: Eve McMahon has finally got going in race nine of the Dinghy event after the first attempt to run it was abandoned. The Dubliner is 14th overall and needs to finish in the top 10 in the 10-race qualifying series to reach the medal race.
Gymnastics: Some drama at the women’s floor final. Romania’s Ana Barbosu was busy celebrating her bronze medal when Jordan Chiles of the United States, who had finished fourth, was successful in her appeal against her score. So, she was bumped up to third, and Barbosu is distraught. Brutal.
Gymnastics: There’ll no be no gold medal for Simone Biles in the floor final, she received 14.133 for her routine and finishes second behind Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. That’s Biles’ 11th Olympic medal - gobsmacking.
Showjumping: Daniel Coyle and Legacy are up next for Ireland in the qualifier. Shane Sweetnam’s brilliant clear round, in a time of 73.35 seconds, still has him in first place.
Showjumping: Shane Sweetnam is off to a fine start in the jumping qualifier, where he is currently leading, even if only 16 of 74 have gone so far. He and his mount James Kann Cruz will aim to finish in the top 30 to make the final, and their clear round will help. Daniel Coyle and Cian O’Connor still to come.
Gymnastics: The competitors in the women’s floor exercise final are coming out. No surprise that Simone Biles gets the biggest reaction from the crowd. Let’s see if she can add another gold to that glittering resume.
Gymnastics: Malachy Clerkin writes from Paris ...
On her last day of Olympic competition, Simone Biles shocked the world again – only this time, it was for falling rather than flying. In a balance beam final that saw four of the eight competitors find their way to the mat prematurely, gold went to Alice D’Amato of Italy. Biles, who has already won three gold medals here this week, fell off the beam midway through her routine and could only finish fifth.
Her final event of Paris 2024 will be the floor exercise individual final. That starts at 1.20pm Irish time. She is by no means guaranteed to keep going until Los Angeles in four years so there’s a real possibility this could be the final event in one of the great Olympic careers.
Athletics: Rhasidat Adeleke is the seventh fastest qualifier for the semi-finals, but panic not, she was just strolling at the end. Mind you, Marileidy Paulino, silver medallist in Tokyo, looked frighteningly excellent.
Athletics: Ah here, Rhasidat Adeleke is pure class. She has just cruised to victory in her 400m heat and is through to the semi-finals, easing up to finish in a time of 50.09. Remarkable.
Mind you, the nation held its breath after a false start, but it was the athlete from Ecuador, Nicole Caicedo, whose heart was left in smithereens, disqualified for being the guilty party.
Athletics: Like Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley goes in to the repechage after she was pipped to third place by Austria’s Susanne Gogl-Walli in her 400m heat, finishing in a time of 50.71 - a new personal best. Up next: Rhasidat Adeleke.
Diving: Ciara McGing finishes up with a score of 38.40 for her fifth and final dive, leaving her in 28th place overall. That’s not enough to advance in the competition, only the top 18 going through to this afternoon’s semi-finals. According to Team Ireland, McGing was suffering from a viral infection for the past few days and was on an intravenous drip - and wasn’t even sure she would be able to compete. So, a gutsy effort from the 23-year-old. And to be honest, anyone plucky enough to chuck themselves off that 10m platform deserves a medal.
Diving: A disappointing score of 26.10 for her fourth dive has Ciara McGing back down to 29th overall. One more dive to come.
Athletics: It will be the repechage for Sophie Becker after she came sixth in her 400m heat in a time of 51.84, dropping back after a strong opening 200m. Sharlene Mawdsley is our next competitor in the heats.
Rowing: The lightweight double sculls class in which Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy won their gold medals at this and the last Olympics will not be included in the programme for the 2028 Games. So, the pair are now considering a switch to the heavyweight class, “a physiological and technical transformation that could get them on to the podium in Los Angeles,” writes Johnny Watterson.
[ Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy ponder a switch to heavyweight rowingOpens in new window ]
Athletics: It’s nearly time for the 400m heats, Sophie Becker up first for Ireland. The first three go through to the semi-finals, with everyone else going in to the repechage.
TV View: Philip Reid was on telly-watching duty on Sunday, golf, tennis and swimming occupying most of his time. He will, one day, forgive the bulk of RTE’s swimming pundits for jinxing Daniel Wiffen’s gold-medal-winning efforts in the 1,500m freestyle final.
[ RTÉ’s studio quartet carried away with Wiffen mania but the W wasn’t to beOpens in new window ]
Diving: After opening scores of 33.60 and 40.00, Ciara McGing has produced her best effort with a score of 50.40. She’s in 28th, though, needing to finish in the top 18 to advance.
Showjumping: The team event proved to be a big disappointment for Ireland, having gone in to the final in fourth they ended up in seventh. Today brings the individual qualifiers, with Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle and Cian O’Connor all aiming for a place in tomorrow’s final. Derry’s Coyle will carry the biggest chunk of confidence in to the challenge having produced two superb clear rounds on Legacy in the team qualifying and final.
Sailing: It was a fine day for Carlow’s Finn Lynch out on the water on Saturday, his efforts in the dinghy class lifting him to 10th in the standings - and a top 10 placing is required in the preliminary 10-race series to qualify for Tuesday’s medal race. His task today is to hold on to that position in the final two races.
Dubliner Eve McMahon has a bit more work to do in the women’s event, standing in 14th after her eighth race on Saturday. She’s 22 points adrift of 10th place, so will need a big effort today to make that medal race. Whatever happens, it has been a mighty Olympic debut for the 20-year-old.
Diving: The preliminary 10m Platform event got under way earlier this morning, Ciara McGing Ireland’s representative. She’s in 29th and last position after her first two dives, needing a top 18 finish to advance to the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old Londoner and Ohio State University graduate, who qualifies for Ireland through a Donegal grandmother, just about sealed her Olympic place with a 26th place at the World Championships in Doha back in February.
Daniel Wiffen: Malachy Clerkin was in the Bercy Arena yesterday to see Wiffin win bronze - and “the only thing anyone wanted to know was whether or not he was disappointed”.
“An Irish flag hanging from the roof during the anthems and yet we’re tempted to colour the night in shades of regret. Mad times.”
Athletics: Ian O’Riordan previews Rhasidat Adeleke, Sophie Becker and Sharlene Mawdsley’s outings in the 400m heats this morning. Becker goes first in heat one, Mawdsley in five and Adeleke in six.
“In Ireland’s Olympic history,” he writes, “few if any of our Games debutantes have been more eagerly and justifiably anticipated than Rhasidat Adeleke. But then, few if any have been such a rare and breathtaking talent as the 21-year-old sprinter from Dublin has.”
[ Rhasidat Adeleke sets out to join the Irish Olympic medal rush in ParisOpens in new window ]
Good morning everyone. Well, are you drained after that weekend? Gold for Rhys McClenaghan and bronze for Daniel Wiffen kept our medal-a-day streak going, Wiffen giving Ireland the seventh medal of these Games, surpassing the previous best of six in London 2012. As recently as Athens 2004, we won none at all. We’ve come a long way.
We have some bad news, though: the streak will end today. That’s not because we lack faith in any of our nine competitors in action, it’s just because they’re all competing in preliminary events, so no medals are up for grabs.
We’ll take you through what lies ahead for each of the nine, among them an athlete you might possibly have heard of: Rhasidat Adeleke. She, Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker are in 400m heat action from 10.55am.
There are a heap more must-see events on today: eg finals in the women’s 5,000m (8.15pm) and 800m (8.47pm) and the men’s pole vault (Mondo Duplantis alert - from 6pm), and…. possibly…. Simone Biles’ final Olympic appearances in the beam (11.36am) and floor final (1.20pm). There are also the men’s (4pm) and women’s (3.55pm) finals in the kayak cross, which has proved to be a big hit, largely because it’s mad.
