Cork Olympians going for gold!
Cork is sending 16 athletes to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games with predictions bubbling of a record medal haul for Ireland.
Not surprisingly, the majority of Cork Olympians will be on the water at this year’s games with nine of the 16 being rowers.
Olympic gold medallists Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan are hotly tipped to take gold again in the Men's Lightweight Double Scull.
The pair won gold in Tokyo in 2021 and are seen as strong contenders again this year, with Sports Illustrated tipping them to beat Stefano Oppo and Gabriel Soares of Italy, and Stanislav Kovalov and Igor Khmara of Ukraine.
If they were to win a medal, Paul O'Donovan would become the first Irish athlete to win a medal in three consecutive Olympic games.
Ireland won its first rowing medal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 when Paul and his brother Gary won silver in the Lightweight Men’s Double. Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan will be in action at 10am Irish time on Sunday morning.
Cork rowers will also be competing in the Women's Double Scull, the Women's Lightweight Double Scull, and the Women’s Four.
Outside of rowing, Cork will be represented in the 1500 metres, the hammer throw, the men's cycling road race, showjumping, equestrian eventing, men’s hockey, women’s rugby sevens, and the women's 4x400m relay and the 4x400m mixed relay.
Representing Cork in the two relay events will be Bandon Athletic Club star Phil Healy.
The Ballineen native qualified for an Olympic final in the mixed relay in Tokyo in 2021 and recently bagged a silver medal in the final of the women's 4x400m relay at the European Athletics Championships in Rome last month making them medal prospects.
She will join the same team of Rhasidat Adeleke, Sophie Becker, and Sharlene Mawdsley for the women’s event on 9 August.
A number of sports data analysis services have predicted that Team Ireland could come away with up to nine medals, including Gracenote, an American sports data company.
Preparations going well
Speaking to the Cork Independent from France, Olympic Ireland Team Medical Officer Louise O’Connell, said everything is going very smoothly in the camp so far.
“All the staff in the Olympic Federation of Ireland have done a really good job getting all the groundwork done, preparing everything before all the staff and the athletes arrive,” said Ms O’Connell, who is a medical graduate of UCC.
Having arrived in the Olympic Village on Saturday, Ms O’Connell said more and more Irish athletes are arriving and excitement is going through the roof.
She said: “The mood is good, the excitement is building now, there’s lots more Irish athletes coming in every day, so the village is getting noticeably busy now.
“We were watching the hurling on Sunday, so myself and David Harte (hockey) were the Cork representatives in the room,” she added.
With so much at stake and so much preparation done by athletes, Ms O’Connell said it’s crucial to keep everyone healthy, well rested, and germ-free.
She said: “Athletes and staff have been preparing for this for the last three years now since the Tokyo cycle, so there would be a lot of education beforehand, before they travel, about keeping well, avoiding illness, and all the things we learned during Covid about handwashing and respiratory hygiene.
“As the crowds at the village get busier now, we’re just encouraging the athletes to avoid the busier areas, try to have their meals in the dining hall at maybe off-peak times if they can.”
Schedule and key dates
Ireland’s men’s rugby sevens team played yesterday late afternoon and evening, Wednesday, taking on South Africa first and then Japan. They play again today at 2.30pm against New Zealand.
Ireland play Belgium in men’s field hockey on Saturday at 8.30am. Cork player David Harte will start in goal.
Women’s rugby sevens start on Sunday with Ireland taking on Great Britain in the afternoon and South Africa in the evening. Cork’s Emily Lane is on Team Ireland.
The first of the Cork rowers will be in action at 10am on Saturday when Alison Bergin joins Kerry rower Zoe Hyde in the Women’s Double Scull heat.
Then its Cork rowers Imogen Magner, Nathalie Long, and Emily Hegarty in the Women’s four heats at 10.30am Irish time. They will join Dublin rower Eimear Lambe, with Cork’s Holly Davis travelling with the team as backup.
The next Cork rowers competing will be Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen from UCC Rowing Club. They will compete in the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull at 9.30am on Sunday morning.
Shortly afterwards at 10am, Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan will take to the water in the Men’s Lightweight Double Scull.
Cork’s Nicola Tuthill will compete in the women’s hammer throw on 4 August at 8.20am Irish time.
Daughter of Irish World champion and Olympic Silver medallist, Sonia O’Sullivan, Cork’s Sophie O’Sullivan goes in the women’s 1500 metres round 1 on 6 August.
Cork cyclist Ben Healy takes part in the men’s road race on 3 August. Originally from Birmingham, Healy qualifies for Ireland through his Cork grandparents and is fast emerging as one of the most exciting young riders in the world.
Cork has two riders taking part in equestrian events. Austin O’Connor will compete in the eventing individual dressage on 27 July, while Shane Sweetman will compete in the showjumping individual qualifier on 5 August.