O’Connor: I feel vindicated for what happened in Athens

Cian O’Connor was delighted “to give back to the Irish public” after delivering the country’s first medal of the Olympics in extraordinary fashion.

O’Connor took bronze in the individual show jumping at London 2012 eight years after winning a gold in Athens of which he was stripped soon after.

When asked if this performance was something of a vindication for all that had happened in Greece he said: “Absolutely. Coming off Athens and what happened eight years ago it was just good being able to come here and deliver on the world stage. I figure it was something special I could give back to the Irish public. We came here and our plan was to get to the Olympic Games and do as well as we could. To get here and deliver this performance is obviously a great personal satisfaction. But I hope that the people back home can really get some good out of it too.”