After a year of chaos, Ireland's Olympic ambition somehow remains on track

Ireland has already qualified 52 athletes for the Olympic Games. Cathal Dennehy caught up with three of Ireland’s leading medal hopes to see how preparations are going

Sanita Puspure, Rhys McClenaghan, and Brendan Boyce. Pictures: Sportsfile

Here they go again — Ireland’s top athletes about to greet the New Year with giddy anticipation, their Olympic dream deferred, but not yet denied.

It’s just under seven months until the Games will – *holds breath* – get under way in Tokyo, and after a marathon of waiting since Rio 2016 that time should pass by at a relative sprint. Ireland has already qualified 52 athletes for the Games, a number that will rise significantly over the next six months.