Irish fencer qualifies for Beijing Olympics

Irish fencer Siobhan Byrne has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics by winning the silver medal at the European qualifying tournament in Istanbul this evening.

Byrne now becomes the first Irish fencer to reach an Olympic Games since Michael O’Brien in 1992. Only the two finalists at this tournament would qualify for Beijing and Byrne booked her place by beating the tournament’s number one seed Andreea Pelei of Romania 15-14 in a thrilling semi-final.