McGarrity hails Byrne’s brave effort

SIOBHAN BYRNE was the first Irish Olympian to exit these Beijing Games but national fencing chiefs are convinced the sport will benefit from her participation in China.

German born Byrne, whose father is from Slane, suffered a 15-8 defeat to Poland’s Irena Wieckowska in the opening round of the individual sabre on Saturday. Team manager Nuala McGarrity, Honorary General Secretary of the Irish Fencing Federation, preferred to put a positive spin on the loss of their first Olympian since Michael O’Brien in 1992.

She admitted: “It was disappointing for us and Siobhán because we know she can do so much better but, on the day, nerves got the better of her at the beginning of the match. She got her act in gear but it wasn’t in time.”

She stressed: “But having a fencer in an Olympic Games has been fantastic for us. The publicity has been very, very good for our sport. There would be 500 or 600 fencers in Ireland and in a competition we have about 40 or 50 fencers. We have a dozen clubs but they’re mainly in Dublin.

“We also have clubs in Cork, Limerick, Galway, a new one in Westmeath and, while I was out here, I got an e-mail about one in Letterkenny. So we’re spreading a bit.”

The Pole, seeded 30, raced four touches clear before the Irish girl had her first success but then her opponent had another excellent spell reeling off four unanswered points to open an 8-1 lead to end the round. The 36th seeded Byrne fought back to cut the gap to three before the experienced Pole upped the pace and pulled away. The bout was officially timed at 1:15.

A former Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Star, Byrne, can take some solace from that fact that Wieckowska defeated fourth seed and reigning world champion Elena Nechaeva in the second round before losing to 13th seed Ying Ying Bao in the last 16.

The 24-year-old struggled to put her Olympic debut into perspective.

“I can’t really say (what I’ll learn from this), but if I’m here the next time, I’ll have the experience of having competed in an Olympics.”

She is unsure of her long-term plans but will now enjoy the Olympic Village and the sights of Beijing.

“I haven’t really thought about the future. I’m taking a break, then I’ll start back training in a month or two, and I’ll see from there. The next World Cup in February or so will probably be my next target.”

However McGarrity is convinced the Ohio State University graduate will bounce back, and she expects that Byrne’s Irish Sports Council funding will continue: “Maybe it won’t be increased but I don’t see why there should be a change.”