Rachael Darragh's agonising wait ends in Olympic joy

It was Badminton Ireland’s high-performance director Dan Magee, a brother of Chloe’s and an uncle of Darragh’s, who got to deliver the good news.

OLYMPIC DREAM: Rachael Darragh finally found out that her ambition had been realised last Friday when her place in the women’s badminton singles in Paris was confirmed. Pic:©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Sixteen years. Sixteen years since Rachael Darragh watched her aunt Chloe Magee compete in the Beijing Olympics from the family home in Raphoe in Donegal and think that maybe she could do the same one day.

The 26-year old finally found out that her ambition had been realised last Friday when her place in the women’s badminton singles in Paris was confirmed. The two weeks leading up to it though? Pure torture.