The class of 2021: How each member of Team Ireland fared at the Tokyo Olympics
Flag bearers Kellie Anne Harrington and Brendan Irvine of Team Ireland lead their team out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
ATHLETICS (TRACK)
Thomas Barr (400m hurdles):
Qualified for the semi-finals where he clipped the seventh barrier but still came in with a 48.26, his second fastest ever time. It left him fourth and just outside the final places. A championship performer.
Andrew Coscoran (1,500m):
Caused a bit of a shock by qualifying for the semi-finals where he finished 10th in a time of 3.35.83, the second fastest time of his career, and with an overall ranking of 20th.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (800m):
Finished in a time of 2.04.62 to finish seventh in her heat. Suggested the battle just to make it to Tokyo had taken a lot out of all three of Irelandâs 800m runners.
Mark English (800m): Finished fourth in a time of 1.46.75, over two seconds slower than the mark that got him here. Described himself as âguttedâ afterwards.
Michelle Finn (3,000m steeplechase):
Finished ninth in her heat with a time of 9:36.26 and wasnât slow in declaring herself dissatisfied with that after the race, even if it was her fastest ever time at a championship.
Phil Healy 200m/400m/400m relay): Part of a relay team that made their Olympic final, followed it up with a seasonâs best time of 23.21 in the 200m heats and narrowly missed out on a 400m semi by 0.07 seconds with a 51.98 that was her second fastest outdoor time ever.
Eilish Flanagan (3,000m steeplechase): Produced a personal best on her Olympic debut. Not bad, like. The 24-year old put in a time of 9:34.86 to finish 12th in her heat, chopping almost six seconds of her previous best for the distance.
Sarah Healy (1,500m):
Eleventh in her heat with a time of 4:09.78, Healy admitted afterwards that she probably let the magnitude of the occasion get to her.
Sarah Lavin (400m hurdles):
Became just the second Irishwoman to break the 13-second barrier in June with a 12.95. That would have seen her through her heat here but a 13.16 left her seventh and eliminated.
Marcus Lawler (200m):
Cracked a seasonâs best time of 20.73 but it wasnât enough to make a semi-final.
Ciara Mageean (1,500m): Eliminated in the heats after posting a time of 4:07.29 and finishing 10th, Mageean later revealed that she had suffered a calf injury eight days previously.
Nadia Power (800m): Ran a 2:03.74 in her heat which wasnât nearly enough to progress to the next round. Spoke of a confusion as to why it wasnât better.
Leon Reid (200m): Progressed through to the semis where he finished seventh in a time of 20.54. He would have needed a huge chunk off the national record to go any further.
Louise Shanahan (800m): Posted the best time of the three 800m runners with a 2:03.57 but it wasnât enough to prolong her interest in the meet.
Mixed 4x400m relay: Sophie Becker, Cillin Greene, Chris OâDonnell, and Phil Healy set a new national record in qualifying the team for the final with a time of 3:12,88 from a dramatic heat marked by disqualifications and reinstatements.
Finished last in the final with a time that was over two seconds slower but a huge achievement nonetheless.
ATHLETICS (ROAD)
Brendan Boyce (50k walk): Came in 10th in a time of 3:53.40 in
Sapporo, a magnificent effort by the experienced athlete.
Aoife Cooke (marathon): Her Olympic debut came to an end just after the 20k mark when she withdrew.
David Kenny (20k walk): Ranked 92nd in the world coming in, Kenny reversed those figures to come in 29th in Sapporo where temperatures touched 32 degrees Celsius.
Fionnuala McCormack (marathon): Finished in 25th, which was not what she was after. âIt was a battle out there today, both mentally and physically,â McCormack said.
Paul Pollock (marathon): Came in 71st and was clearly spent as he crossed the finishing line.
Kevin Seaward (marathon):
Finished 58th in the punishing conditions with a good second-half to the race that saw him pick up 30 places.
Stephen Scullion (marathon):
One of 30 runners to drop out of the event, Scullion withdrew around the 20k mark.
Alex Wright (50k walk): A finishing spot of 29th marked the highest finish ever recorded in a major championship by Wright.
His 4:06.20 was also a seasonâs best for the 30-year old.
BADMINTON
Nhat Nguyen (menâs singles):
An impressive showing from the 21-year Dubliner who saw off Sri Lankaâs Niluka Karunaratne in the first round before pushing the higher-ranked Tzu-Wei Wang of Taipei and eventually going down 2-1 in sets.
BOXING
Brendan Irvine (flyweight): Captain of the boxing team and joint flag bearer for the opening ceremony, Irvine went out at the first attempt to Carlo Paalam of the Philippines despite having won the first round of their flyweight bout.
Kurt Walker (featherweight): Started with a comfortable win over Spainâs Jose Quiles Brotons and a brilliant defeat of Uzbekistanâs number one seed Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov in round two. Lost out narrowly in the quarter-final to the Billy Walsh-trained American Duke Ragan.
Michaela Walsh (featherweight):
Benefited from a bye into the last 16 but faced a tough opener in the Italian Irma Testa, the Italian who had beaten the 28-year-old Belfast woman in the European Olympic qualifier final and who would go on to earn bronze here.
Aidan Walsh (welterweight): Michaelaâs brother earned Irelandâs first boxing medal since London 2012 but had to make do with a bronze after fracturing his foot while leaping to the air in celebration at his quarter-final victory.
Kellie Harrington (lightweight):
The golden girl. Boxed better as the Games went on and delivered an absolute stormer in the final against Beatriz Ferreira. A shining light beyond the ropes too.
Aoife OâRourke (middleweight): Like Michaela Walsh, the 24-year-old got an opening bye but then found herself faced with a brutally tough opener in the form of Rio medallist and Tokyo second seed Li Qian.
Emmet Brennan (light heavyweight): Gave an emotional interview after his defeat to the Uzbeki fighter Dilshod Ruzmetov who was then surprisingly beaten in the last 16.
CANOE SLALOM
Liam Jegou: Seemed to be putting a superb run together in the semi-final when he missed a gate and that was the end of his Olympic ambitions. âIâve done it in training 20 times and I havenât missed it once, but thatâs slalom,â he said.
CYCLING (ROAD)
Dan Martin: Finished 16th in a punishing 234-kilometre race, just shy of his 13th in Rio which, along with CiarĂĄn Powerâs effort in Athens, still stands as the best result by an Irish rider in this event.
Nicholas Roche: His fourth crack at the Olympics and Roche was happy to serve as a domestique for Martin and Dunbar before turning to the individual time trial where he finished 28th in a time of 1:01.23.
Eddie Dunbar: Picked specifically for his climbing abilities, the Corkman was part of one attack late on but was quickly swallowed up. Finished 76th.
CYCLING (TRACK)
Shannon McCurley (Madison):
Finished 13th in the womenâs Madison with Emily Kay after failing to finish. McCurley was caught in a crash with the Italian team in the early stages of the 30km track race and that was that.
Emily Kay (Omnium and Madison): Failed to finish the Madison with team-mate McCurley and suffered further frustration when taken out in a crash in the Omnium before posting a 13th-placed finish there too.
Felix English and Mark Downey (Madison): Failed to finish a typically chaotic race which they admitted afterwards went at a âphenomenalâ pace.
DIVING
Oliver Dingley (3m springboard):
Made the final in Rio but bowed out in the preliminaries this time with a score of 335,00 points which was over a hundred short of the number he recorded in that final five years ago. Finished the event ranked 25th.
Tanya Watson (10m platform):
Described making the semi-finals, where she finished 15th on her debut at the Games, as âamazingâ. Only 19 years of age.
SHOW JUMPING (INDIVIDUAL)
Cian OâConnor: Ireland was one of the few nations to qualify all three riders for the individual final in which Cian OâConnor came closest to a medal with a seventh-place finish after just a single
time-fault on Kilkenny.
Darragh Kenny: Second best of the entire field in the qualifying, Kenny and Cartello couldnât follow it up in the final with eight faults leaving him in 17th.
Bertram Allen: The third of the showjumping team to make the final round, Allen and Pacino Amiro also had eight faults and finished 15th.
SHOW JUMPING (TEAM)
Shane Sweetnam and Alejandro replaced Cian OâConnor and Kilkenny when the latter pair withdrew after the horse suffered a nosebleed in the individual event but Ireland crashed out of the team competition when the replacements were eliminated for a fall.
The remaining two team members, Bertram Allen with Pacino Amiro and Darragh Kenny with Cartello, didnât compete as all three team riders had to finish if they were to get among the medals.
EVENTING (TEAM)
Thrown off kilter at the 11th hour when Cathal Daniels was forced to withdraw his mare Rioghan Rua due to veterinary reasons. Replaced by Austin OâConnor who finished highest of the trio on Colorado Blue in 13th. Sam Watson finished in 30th and Sarah Ennis in 36th. In the team standings Ireland finished eighth.
Heike Holstein (dressage): Finished sixth of 10 in Group D of the Grand Prix test. Not enough to progress for the four-time Olympian.
GOLF
Shane Lowry: Played well enough to push for a medal through three-and-a-half rounds without ever finding his groove but a disastrous front nine on the last day, when he covered it in three-over par, ended his hopes of making it to the podium. Lowry tied for 22nd.
Rory McIlroy: Showed real grit in keeping his challenge alive on the Sunday to extend his interest into a seven-player playoff for the bronze but missed out on the second extra hole when he had a sinkable putt to continue on. So close, but so far.
Leona Maguire: A week of what-could-have-beens, finished on five-under and in a tie for 23rd. Was within touching distance of the medals until she hit a tree on the ninth in her third round and wrote up a triple bogey.
Stephanie Meadow: An encouraging week for the Jordanstown woman who had a putt at the 12th in her first round to avoid dropping to four-over. Ended up on twelve-under and on her own in seventh spot. Itâs been a good couple of weeks for her.
GYMNASTICS
Rhys McClenaghan (pommel horse): Made history by becoming the first Irish gymnast to qualify for an Olympic final but a mistake early on his routine in that deciding round basically eliminating him from contention.
Megan Ryan (all-round): Twenty-four qualified for the final, Ryan finished 25th. With a score of 47.199. âIâm feeling great,â she said afterwards. âTo officially be an Olympian is just amazing, itâs surreal.â
HOCKEY
The Irish women set themselves up perfectly for a crack at the quarter-finals with an opening win over South Africa. Losses to Netherlands and Germany were not unexpected but the wheels came off when losing to India in a game both needed to win. A heavy defeat to GB brought confirmation that this was their end.
JUDO
Megan Fletcher: Lost her bout with Austriaâs Michaela Polleres in the dying seconds and immediately turned her thoughts to retirement. âI think this is my last competition,â she said. âI am very proud of myself; I have had a great career.â
Ben Fletcher: Did well just to make it to Tokyo after an injury but lost his last-32 bout to Mukhammadkarim Khurranov of Uzbejistan and, like his sister, spoke of a new path afterwards.
MODERN PENTATHLON
Natalya Coyle: The Olympics can be cruel but this was off the scale. In fourth heading into the showjumping stage, an uncooperative horse destroyed her bid for a medal and left her in the high teens going into the laser run. Her race was run, she finished 24th.
ROWING
Sanita Puspure (womenâs single sculls): Appeared to be on course for a gold medal bid after winning her heat and quarter-final in some style but finished fifth in the semi-final and later revealed that she had not been feeling well for a number of days. Pulled out of the B final.
Paul OâDonovan and Fintan McCarthy (menâs lightweight double): Sublime from start to finish. Won all three of their races, recorded a worldâs best time in the semi-final and held off a huge German challenge in the final itself to claim Irelandâs first ever gold medal in rowing. Lived up to all the expectations, which says everything.
Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey (womenâs lightweight double): Two 22-year-olds who had put together a fine run of form in the previous nine months and who then delivered on that promise with an outstanding finish in the B final. Eight place overall in their standings, they look a great bet to go even further in the years to come, not least Paris in 2024.
Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne (menâs double): A hugely disappointing event for a crew that won silver at the World Championship in Linz in 2019. As Doyle said time and again, it just never âclickedâ for them and they finished off the pace in all four of their races.
Aileen Crowley and Monike Dukarska (womenâs pair): Finished fifth in their B final and 11th overall for a more than respectable showing, although they never really looked like challenging for a place in the final.
Emily Hegarty, Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe and Fiona Murtagh (womenâs four): Irelandâs first medal of the Games and what a medal!
This crew wasnât one of those being touted as a major medal hope but there was a quiet fancy for it to do something within rowing circles and, boy, did they deliver.
RUGBY SEVENS
Hugo Lennox spoke of the players being âembarrassedâ at their showing. If that was too strong then there is no denying that the menâs team fell far short of their abilities and expectations. Losses to South Africa and the USA did the damage.
SAILING
Annalise Murphy (laser radial): Fought back after a slow start but ultimately failed to make the medal race. A three-time Olympian and medallist in Rio, she indicated that this was the end of her line.
Robert Dickson and Sam Waddilove (49er skiff): Disqualified from two races for a technical infringement, it cost them dearly as they finished 13th when the top 10 made it to the final race.
SHOOTING
Derek Burnett (trap): Competing in his fifth Olympics, Burnett finished 26th with a score of 118 and failed to make the final.
SWIMMING
Darragh Greene (100m and 200m breaststroke): The national record holder in both these events, Greene produced a strong race in the fastest of the 200m heats to finish with a rank of 23rd while his 100m time was 0.6 seconds off his best to date.
Danielle Hill (100m backstroke and 50m freestyle): Recorded an Irish record in the 100m back as recently as June, Hill was almost 0.7 seconds off that in Tokyo. The Larne swimmer finished sixth in her 50m freestyle heat in a time of 25.70, half a second off her best.
Brendan Hyland (200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay):
Posted his second fastest time ever to finish third in his 100m backstroke heat but it didnât pull him through to a semi-final. Part of the relay team that set a new national record too and spoke brilliantly and positively about his whole journey and Olympic experience.
Finn McGeever (4x200m freestyle relay): The Tipperary man followed up Jack McMillanâs record start in the relay with a strong leg of his own and helped the team to a finishing time of 7:15.58 and an ultimate ranking of 14th, up one place from their pre-Games ranking.
Jack McMillan (4x200m freestyle relay): Missed out on qualification for the individual 200m freestyle, but led out an historic first appearance by an menâs swimming relay team by dipping under the 1:47 mark for the first time and smashing the Irish record with a figure of 1:46.66.
Mona McSharry (100m and 200m breaststroke): Irelandâs leading light in the pool. Became the first person from this country to make an Olympic swimming final for 25 years when doing so in the 10m breaststroke and she did it by returning three sub-1:07 times. Top eight in the world, not bad at all. Followed it with a new Irish record in the 200m.
Shane Ryan (100m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay): Started terribly with an injury ruling him out of his favoured 100m backstroke but he was able to play a strong part in the relay teamâs effort and claimed a new Irish record in the 100m butterfly with a time of 52.52 which, unfortunately, wasnât enough to make a semi-final.
Ellen Walshe (100m butterfly and 200m individual medley): Opened Irelandâs account in the pool by winning her 100m heat with a time just 0.23 off her PB but it wasnât enough to make the semi-finals. Followed it up with an eight-placed finish in her heat in the 200m medley which left ranked 19th overall.
Daniel Wiffen (800m and 1,500m freestyle): You canât ask more of an athlete than bringing their best to the Games and Wiffen did that. Set set new national records in both of his events. Nine seconds came off the 1,500m time and over one from the 800m.
TAEKWONDO
Jack Woolley: Missed out on Rio by a whisker, came to Tokyo talking about a gold medal and got eliminated in the first round with a last-second attack from opponent Lucas Lautaro Guzman. The devastation was clear. âSomething didnât click,â he said.
TRIATHLON
Russell White: The Banbridge man finished 48th on his Olympic debut in a time of 1:54.40. Admitted that he it was not the performance he was looking for but may have been one of those athletes who expended too much energy in simply qualifying for the Games in the weeks beforehand.
Carolyn Hayes: Not the result she was targeting. A top 10 was within her compass and ambition but Hayes got caught up in a troublesome pod and had to dig in to move her way up the field to record a 23rd-place finish. Finished in a time of 2:02.10. Never gave up.
Continue reading for âŹ5
Unlock unlimited access and exclusive benefits
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Cancel anytime
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
