Team Ireland should sprinkle some stardust in Tokyo

Just the two medals in Brazil in 2016 was a disappointing return but there were 13 other finalists or top 10s besides and the travelling party has grown to 116 since then and in quality as well as quantity. Maybe ten sports possess the potential for podium places.

KEEPING IT LIT: Torch bearers exchange the flame during the Olympic Torch Relay Celebration event in Tokyo this week. Public torch relays have been cancelled in favour of daily ceremonies held behind closed doors as the country endures a fourth wave of coronavirus. Picture: Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images

It's February of 2012 and Mario Monti has decided that enough is enough. Rome has spent two years trying to secure hosting rights for the 2020 Olympic Games before the then Italian prime minister decides that a country struggling to escape the whirlpool that is the global financial crisis can ill afford a venture that threatens uncertain costs and untold risks.

Why tie yourself to a tiger when a lion already has your head in its mouth?