Irish in action at the Olympics today:
- 9.05am – Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon – 100m hurdles). Seventh in heat one, 22nd overall (967 points).
- 9.22am – Leona Maguire (Golf – second round). Shot 13 over round of 79, putting her 13 over par after two rounds.
- 9.55am – Stephanie Meadow (Golf – second round). Shot 2 over round of 74, putting her 8 over par after two rounds.
- 10.05am – Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon – high jump). First in group A, up to 19th overall (941 points, 1,908 overall).
- 6.35pm – Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon – shot put). Throws 13.79m in the Shot Put, 18th overall (780 points, 2,688 overall).
- 7.55pm – Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon – 200m). Runs 24.77, back to 19th overall (900 points, 3,588 points).
Best reads:
- Adeleke into 400m final after ‘messy’ semi-final run
- At a glance: how the Irish fared yesterday
- Q&A: What is the repechage and what do the athletes think of it?
Here is Ian O’Riordan’s report from Paris. That’s all from me, see you tomorrow for a busy day that includes Rhasidat Adeleke’s big final at 7pm!
Basketball: So USA have not had it their own way against Serbia and the great Nikola Jokic. They won 95-91, it got within a few points there near the end. The Dream Team survives to play the home nation France in one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the Olympics. That is 8.30pm on Saturday.
Some quotes from Lyles on his Covid diagnosis from Ian O’Riordan:
On his health:
“I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday morning. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling real chills, aching, sore throat, and those were a lot of the symptoms I’ve had right before getting Covid.
“We tested it, came back positive and we quickly quarantined in a hotel nearby the (Olympic) Village. Tried to get me on as much medication as we legally could to make sure my body could keep the momentum going. I still wanted to run, it was still possible, we just stayed away from everybody. I knew that if I wanted to come out here and win, I had to give everything I have from the get-go. I didn’t have any time to save energy. That was the strategy.”
On how he feels:
“I’ve had better days, but I’m walking around again. I was quite light-headed after that race. Shortness of breath, chest pain, but after a while I could catch my breath and get my wits about me. I’m a lot better now.”
On whether Covid-19 affected his performance:
“It definitely affected my performance. I’ve had to take a lot of breaks… I was coughing through the night. I’m more proud of myself than anything, coming out here to get a bronze with Covid.”
On who knew he had Covid-19:
“We were trying to keep this close to the chest. The people who knew were the medical staff, coach, my mum. We didn’t want everybody going into a panic, we wanted them to be able to compete. We wanted to make this as free as possible. I’m competitive. Why would you give them an edge over you?”
On whether not competing in the 200m final was a consideration:
“I was going to compete. If I didn’t make it to the final, that would’ve been the sign not to compete.”
Javelin: Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem wins with an Olympic record, India’s Neeraj Chopra got silver and Grenada’s Anderson Peters with bronze.
110m hurdles: Grant Holloway wins the gold in 12.99 seconds. Daniel Roberts silver in 13.09, Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell in bronze with the same time.
World record and gold for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, stunningly dominant run by the American! Bol in third.
McLaughlin-Levrone with 50.37 time, smashed it! A fast time for 400m flat, never mind over hurdles. Cockrell second in 51.87, Bol with 52.15.
Long jump: Tara Davis-Woodhall wins with a distance of 7.10m, another gold medal for USA. German Malaika Mihambo won silver with 6.98m and Jasmine Moore bronze with 6.96m.
Next up is the big rivalry on the track between Netherlands’s Femke Bol and USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400m hurdles.
In the 200m heptathlon, Kate O’Connor ran 24.77, beating her personal best!
Katarina Johnson-Thompson had the best time in the 200m. O’Connor is 19th overall after the 200m.
So a twist in the story of the 200m final. Noah Lyles had Covid but still ran:
Javelin: Amazing Olympic record throw by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem! Their first ever track and field finalist and he’s set to win gold with a throw of 92.97m.
Tebogo wins the 200m! Lyles only third. A time of 19.46, super stuff.
A comfortable win by the Botswana sprinter, accelerated through and couldn’t be beaten. Bednarek from the US was second in 19.62 and Lyles third in 19.7. Lyles was .4 off his personal best.
It is Botswana’s first ever gold medal! Great stuff.
Basketball: France are through to the final of the men’s competition to play the winners of USA and Serbia tonight. France won 73-69 in a low-scoring contest, Yabusele top scoring with 19 points. Victor Wembanyama, the young NBA star, is through to the final and the biggest game of his career, likely against the seemingly unbeatable USA.
Kate O’Connor throws 13.79m in the Shot Put, up to 18th overall in the heptathlon.
Diribe Welteji from Ethiopia wins the second semi-final in the women’s 1500m.
Women’s 1,500 metres semi-final coming up, featuring Laura Muir. Sadly not including Ciara Mageean after she pulled out of the Olympics through injury.
Kipyegon wins the semi-final in strong finish, Muir finished fourth.
David Gorman taking over the blog. In golf:
Leona Maguire endured another difficult day at Le Golf National in the Olympics golf competition which left her 21 shots off the lead of Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and with nothing to play for over the final two days but pride.
Maguire’s 79 added up to 13-over-par 157 over two rounds and tied 57th of 60 players, Meadow marginally better at eight over after a 74 on day two, but also well off the pace and tied 52nd.
Maguire had hopes of medal contention having won on the Ladies European Tour in London last month. But her mixed year continued having missed the cut at three of the four Majors. The Cavan woman has been left scrambling for any resemblance of form ahead of the final Major of the year, the Women’s Open at St Andrews in two weeks’ time.
Maguire’s tournament has been a case of disastrous holes after two double bogeys or worse in round one, she double bogeyed the 12th hole in her second round and finished with a quadruple-bogey nine on the treacherous 18th hole where she hit into the water three times.
Gold (street lights) for Portland Row...
After Kellie Harrington won her second Olympic gold medal on Tuesday night, Dublin City Council decided to mark the achievement in a novel fashion, by painting the lighting columns (a.k.a. street lights, does anyone actually call the lighting columns?) gold in the area where Kellie grew up.
We’ve hit that midday lull, so we’ll take a look at some of the main events coming up at Stade de France this evening.
The semi-finals of the women’s 1500m will be run from 6.35pm. That’s the event Ireland’s Ciara Mageean unfortunately had to pull out of on Monday due to injury. The first semi-final will include Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who had her silver medal from Monday’s 5000m final reinstated after she was disqualified for a brush with another runner during the race. Just FYI, Kipyegon is the world and Olympic record-holder in the event and is the reigning champ from Tokyo.
There are also a number of medal events on the agenda, including the women’s long jump (7pm) and men’s javelin throw (7.25pm) finals.
Back on the running track, Team USA’s Noah Lyles will be looking to pick up a historic sprinting double when he competes in the men’s 200m at 7.30pm. Lyles took victory in the 100m final on Sunday after a photo finish, denying Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson the gold by just five thousandths of a second.
At 8.25pm, the middle lanes of the women’s 400m hurdles final will likely see the battle for gold play out between the Netherland’s Femke Bol and USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, followed by the men’s 110m hurdles final at 8.45pm.
There’s no Irish involvement in any of the evening’s finals, but don’t forget Kate O’Connor still has two event’s left in day one of the heptathlon. She’s in the shot put at 6.35pm and the 200m at 7.55pm.
“I am of course thrilled to have a connection to our Irish Olympic heroes because I went to school with Rhasidat Adeleke,” Emer McLysaght writes in today’s column.
“Well, we went to the same primary school. Two decades apart. Look, maybe she once sat in the same classroom as my six-year-old ghost. Let me have that at least.”
“It was at St Mark’s Primary School in Springfield, Tallaght, that Adeleke’s talent was first spotted by a teacher. Many Olympians start on their path to greatness at an early age.
“Simone Biles started taking gymnastics at six years old. US Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky was also six when she started swimming. It’s probably too late for any of us to get into training for the Los Angeles Games in 2028. Or is it?”
Read Emer’s full column below:
It has been another nightmare day for Leona Maguire at Le Golf National, a quadruple bogey 9 on the final hole rounding off a difficult round of 79 to go with her 78 in round one. She is 59th of 60 golfers and is left only playing for pride.
She warned us, we just didn’t want to believe her. Kellie Harrington has confirmed her retirement.
Marie O’Halloran writes: Olympic boxing champion Kellie Harrington confirmed she is hanging up her boxing gloves after her second gold medal in the women’s lightweight division.
The double gold winner, who after her victory on Tuesday night in the Roland Garros stadium in Paris said she was “98 per cent” sure she was retiring, confirmed the decision on Thursday.
She is also hoping to support other Irish athletes including Rhasidat Adeleke in the 400m sprint final and Daniel Wiffen in the 10,000m open water swim, and “decompress” before “heading home to the madness” of victory celebrations.
Team Ireland may be far from finished in Paris, put preparations are already well under way to give our athletes a warm welcome home.
A free homecoming event will be held on Monday, August 12th outside the GPO on O’Connell Street in Dublin city centre, starting at 12.30pm.
And if you’re in the city on Saturday or Sunday evening, swing by the Samuel Beckett Bridge to see a special message to mark Ireland’s success over the last fortnight.
At Le Golf National, it’s already proving to be a better day for Ireland’s golfers.
Both Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow are currently level par. Maguire’s thru 11 holes while Meadow is on the 10th.
They’re both looking to claw their way back from the 78s they shot during Wednesday’s opening round.
Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux leads the field on seven under, putting her nine under across the two rounds as she plays the 18th.
Quick update on the heptathlon, Ireland’s Kate O’Connor is now 19th overall after the opening two events with 1,908 points.
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson leads on 2,197 points.
Good news for tomorrow, the men’s marathon swim event is due to go ahead in the Seine and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen is set to take part.
Johnny Watterson has this update from Paris:
Daniel Wiffen, who has already won swimming medals for Ireland with a gold in the 800m freestyle event and a bronze in the 1500m freestyle will compete in the men’s Marathon race, a 10km event taking place in the River Seine on Friday.
It will be Wiffen’s first time taking part in an Olympic marathon swim making him the first Irish Olympian to have participated in the event.
A unique course has been designed in the heart of the capital on the stretch of river by the Pont Alexandre III bridge, where 33 athletes will compete for only the fifth gold medal. The event first became part of the Olympic roster at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
[ Daniel Wiffen to compete in 10km Olympic swim in the SeineOpens in new window ]
Heptathlon: After three attempts at 1.80, Ireland’s Kate O’Connor finishes up in the high jump. She did however bag a season best of 1.77 along the way.
No other athlete in group A managed to make the height either, so she sits top of the group for the event, giving her another 941 points.
In Group B, Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam and GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson both cleared 1.92, each earning 1,132 points for their effort.
There are two types of people in this world – those who love to strike up a conversation with people on a plane, and those who avoid it at all costs.
Luckily for two of Ireland’s Olympic gold medallists, Kieran Duggan is the former.
“It is not everyone can say they went to the Olympics and brought home two gold medallists, but that’s exactly what Kieran Duggan found himself doing this week when he gave champion rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy a lift home to Co Cork,” Barry Roche writes.
“Limerick native Kieran had watched on television on Friday as the pair won the men’s lightweight double sculls. Two days later he flew to Paris with friends to see the equestrian events at Versailles, and he was flying back on Tuesday when he found himself seated near McCarthy on the plane.
Read the full story below:
Heptathlon: The high jump is ongoing and Kate O’Connor is competing in group A.
She’s cleared 1.71, currently putting her joint first in this event.
As we’ve mentioned, Kate O’Connor has become Ireland first ever heptathlete, so how about we go over what the heptathlon entails.
The heptathlon involves seven events. For women they’re the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin throw and 800m. The first four take place on day one, followed by the remaining three the next day.
The heptathlon follows a points system, with athletes awarded points based on how they fare in each event. The scoring system was dreamt up by a mathematician so I might spare you the explanation. In simple terms it’s: Do well, get more points. The athlete with the most points after the seven events wins gold.
And even if you think you know nothing of the heptathlon, you’ve very likely heard of Team GB’s Jessica Ennis. She won gold in London 2012 and is considered one of the greats.
Earlier, O’Connor came seventh in heat one of the 100m hurdles, posting a time of 14.08, earning her 967 points. For comparison, Switzerland’s Annik Kaelin clocked the fastest time across the three heats (12.87) to take 1,144 points.
Good morning everyone! Muireann Duffy here, I’ll be keeping you up to date on all the antics from day 13 at the Olympic Games in Paris.
It’s a quiet day for Team Ireland, just three of our athletes are competing today.
At Le Golf National, Leona Maguire will get her second round in the women’s stroke play event under way shortly before 9.30am, followed by Stephanie Meadow who tees off just before 10am.
And in athletics, Ireland now has our first Olympic heptathlete after Kate O’Connor started her campaign earlier this morning. She placed seventh in heat one of the 100m hurdles, the first of four events taking place in the heptathlon today.
And for anyone who missed yesterday’s big result, Rhasidat Adeleke booked a spot in the women’s 400m final on Friday, placing second in her semi-final behind Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser.
“Coming into the homestretch, right where the stagger unwinds, Rhasidat Adekele had an Olympic 400 metres final at her beckoning, only some signs of concern were already there,” Ian O’Riordan writes from Stade de France in Paris.
“Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain had got a clear run on her, and suddenly Adeleke was struggling, losing her form and it seemed some hope too, before holding on second place. Plenty good for now.
“Still her time of 49.95 seconds appeared laboured, and something clearly was off. The Olympics do take a different sort of physical toll, and this race had taken more out of her than she would have liked.”
