Two finals last night at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina produced two top-eight finishes for Team Ireland.

The low-profile coach credited as the driving force behind the O’Donovans’ silver medal success once banned Gary from Skibbereen Rowing Club for a week.

Defending champion Jack Hume is the bookies’ favourite and Rosses Point’s Gary McDermott the home hope but young Dubliner Kevin LeBlanc could surprise some in the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open at County Sligo.

They may have finished out of the medals but two Irish golfers helped make golfing history over the past two weeks as the sport made its first appearance in an Olympic event for 110 years.

Imagine Rory McIlroy and Stephanie Meadow teeing it up together for Ireland at the 2016 Olympics in Rio?

BOXING: Johnny Joyce and Wayne Kelly will be aiming to get Ireland back to winning ways at the 105-nation AIBA World Youth Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria today.

London Olympian Adam Nolan admitted he ‘fell asleep’ in the second round of Saturday’s welterweight quarter-final at the National Elite Championships at Dublin’s National Stadium.

Ireland's World Amateur Boxing Championship medallists Jason Quigley and Joe Ward returned to a tremendous welcome at Dublin Airport shortly after 12.15 this afternoon.

It was only a four-hundredths of a second gap, but it was enough for Karl Burdis to qualify for May’s European Championships in Hungary last night.

Although Olympic qualification was an unlikely prospect during the second night of Irish Long-Course Championship finals, there were other prospects.

Sean Tobin claimed his fourth Aviva Munster Schools’ cross-country title in a row yesterday with a power-packed display at the CIT Sports Complex in Bishopstown.

RUAIRI FINNEGAN (Letterkenny AC), a finalist at the world youths championships a couple of weeks ago, claimed the gold medal in the 1,500m at the European Youth Olympics in Trabzon, Turkey, yesterday.

FOLLOWING medal successes at the world youth and European U23 championships, Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) will be one of the favourites at the women’s European junior 1,500m final in Tallinn on Thursday morning.

RUAIRÍ FINNEGAN (Letterkenny AC) has qualified for Sunday’s 1500m final at the World Youth Track and Field Championships in Lille.

MEGAN KIELY (Ferrybank AC) qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 400m hurdles when she finished fifth in her first-round heat at the World Youth Championships in Lille yesterday.

RÓISÍN UPTON’S whirlwind 12 months came to a fitting end at the Burlington Hotel on Saturday night, as she was named U18 Female Player of the Year at the sixth annual ESB Electric Ireland Irish Hockey Awards.

WORLD SILVER medallist, Olive Loughnane, faces her first big assignment of the year when she lines up for the European Cup Race Walking in Olhão on the Algarve on Saturday.

CON SHEEHAN (Clonmel BC),the defending champion, andthe new pretender to the throne, Tommy McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett, Belfast), served up the best performance of an action packed weekend when they met in the quarter finals of the heavyweight division at the Elite national boxing championships at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

ROSS HICKEY, who won a national senior title at lightweight back in 2008, launched his campaign at light-welter at last night’s national elite championships at the National Stadium with victory over Crumlin’s Stephen Carroll.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN got 2011 off to a record breaking start on his home turf when he smashed the national 30k walk record with a sizzling 2:07.48 in the Woodies DIY national walk championships around the Monahan Road/Centre Park Road circuit in Cork yesterday.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN entered a new realm at the European Championships last year when he followed up his fourth place in the 20k walk with fourth in the 50k walk, putting himself amongst the medal favourites for next year’s Olympic Games in the process.

DEFENDING champion, Patrick Maher (Leevale AC) will be among the stars in action at the Woodies DIY AAI national junior indoor championships in Nenagh tomorrow.

KENNY EGAN may have an Olympic silver medal but Ireland’s most decorated boxer of thisgeneration will face a difficultassignment in his quest for asensational 11th successive national senior title.

ULSTER will begin their bid to continue their domination of the girls’ underage interprovincials at Alexandra College tomorrow, as the U16 and U18 showpieces get underway.

IRISH boxer Ryan Burnett threw down the gauntlet for London 2012 when he claimed the gold medal in the light flyweight division at the World Youth Olympics in Singapore yesterday.

A teenager from North Belfast has won a gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Singapore.

IRISH ATHLETICS legend Sonia O’Sullivan is set for an Olympic return – but not on the track.

PAUL HESSION is aiming to build on his phenomenal 2008 achievements when he returns to action next month.

MANAGER, Noel O’Reilly is putting the finishing touches to his squad’s preparations for next week’s European Olympic Tournament in Lignano, Italy.

Eighteen-year-old Colin Costello continued his impressive development this afternoon in Newcastle, winning the BUPA Great North Mile junior men's race.

The Irish girls' soccer squad for the European Youth Olympics has been named by team coach Noel King.

New Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr is no stranger to success, with a remarkable record in charge of national under-age teams since his appointment by the Football Association of Ireland six years ago.

THE infamous gear row which raged throughout two Olympic Games and kept Irish athletes out of the last European Youth Olympics could be resolved over the coming months.