Wednesday – Irish at Olympics: Golfers, Athletics, Taekwondo, and Sailing
**GOLF**
Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow will begin their Women’s Individual Golf Singles tournament at Le Golf National on Wednesday. The duo, who previously represented Team Ireland in Rio and Tokyo, aim for medals at Paris 2024.
Meadow tees off at 8am Irish time, followed by Maguire at 11:17am.
Reflecting on the tournament, Maguire remarked, “It’s been really cool to cheer on the rest of Team Ireland and we’re excited to get going tomorrow. It’s going to be a really great test and there will be big crowds cheering us on, so we’ll do our best to give them some good golf to cheer about.”
Meadow added, “It’s always a great feeling putting on the Ireland uniform and we’re both very excited and very honored to be here for a third time. It’s a great golf course and both of us feel good, so it’s about believing in ourselves now and making the country proud.”
**ATHLETICS**
Three Irish athletes will compete at the Stade de France on day twelve of the Olympic Games.
Sarah Lavin, one of Team Ireland’s flagbearers at the opening ceremony, will compete in the Women’s 100m Hurdles heats at her second Games. The Limerick athlete from Emerald Athletics Club will race at around 9:15am, aiming for a top-three finish to advance to the semi-final.
Brian Fay, the first quadruplet to represent Ireland at the Olympics, will participate in the Men’s 5000m heats at 10:10am. The Raheny Shamrock AC runner needs to finish in the top eight to advance directly to the final.
Mark English from Donegal, now a two-time Olympian, will compete in the Men’s 800m. Having set two new Irish records this season, the qualified doctor aims for a top-three finish in heat two at 11:03am to secure a semi-final spot.
Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy will compete in the repechage of the Women’s 1500m. O’Sullivan, who achieved a personal best in her heat this morning, will race at 11:45am, followed by Healy at 11:57am. The top three from each race will advance to the semi-finals.
Rhasidat Adeleke will be the focus on Wednesday evening as she competes in the Women’s 400m semi-finals. She will race in the first of three semi-finals at 7:45pm, with the top two from each semi-final, along with the next two fastest times, advancing to the final.
**TAEKWONDO**
Dubliner Jack Woolley, the first Irish Taekwondo Olympian in Tokyo, will compete in his second Games at the Grand Palais in Paris. Woolley, from South Dublin Taekwondo club in Tallaght, faces Gashin Magomedov of Azerbaijan in the Men’s 58kg last 16 match at 11:48am Irish time. Magomedov, a bronze medalist at the European Championships and a former junior world silver medalist, has faced Woolley before, with each winning once.
**SAILING**
The medal race in Marseilles, featuring Carlow’s Finn Lynch from the National Yacht Club, has been rescheduled due to light winds. Lynch qualified in 10th place for the Men’s Dinghy race. In the Medal Race, points are doubled and added to the series standings to determine the final positions. The best possible outcome for Lynch is an eighth-place finish.
