How the Irish fared in Munich: Podiums and positives aplenty, but still some feelings of regret

Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy celebrate with their gold medals after the  Lightweight Double Sculls Final A at the European Championships in Munich.

More than a few Irish athletes voiced their enthusiasm for Munich’s multi-sport championships this summer. Rhys McClenaghan saw it as a means of instilling a ‘Team Ireland’ ethos that could build towards Paris 2024. Jenny Egan-Simmons was thrilled at the spotlight it would shine on the minority sports.

If there were other unifying threads to it all then those were the hopes and dreams everyone arrived with. Some achieved them, others probably went beyond them, but there is always the cohort for whom the reality doesn’t live up to the anticipation and that held here much the same as it does everywhere else in sport.