Olympics 2024: Team Ireland Results 30.07.24

By Heather Boyle, OFI Head of Communications & Sinéad Naughton, OFI Media Liaison 

Tuesday 30th July 2024

The only news of the night from Team Ireland is the stunning Olympic gold medal winning performance of Armagh’s Daniel Wiffen in the men’s 800m freestyle final, in a new Olympic record time of 7:38.19.

Twenty-three-year old Wiffen becomes Team Ireland’s second medallist at these Olympic Games, after team mate Mona McSharry claimed bronze in the pool last night. Wiffen, under coach Andi Manley at Loughborough University, where he is studying, becomes the first ever Irish man in history to win an Olympic swimming medal.

Wiffen stormed to gold in a time of 7:38.19 setting a new personal best (PB), national record (NR), and European record (ER) by a full second in the process. Wiffen’s stunning performance also set a new Olympic record (OR) on the night, knocking over three seconds off the previous mark of 7:41.28 set by Mykhalo Romanchuk of Ukraine in Tokyo 2020. 

In a nail-biting race Wiffen beat Tokyo 2020 gold medallist American Bobby Finke into second place, who touched in a time of 7:38.75, with Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri claiming bronze in 7:39.38. The trio exchanged the lead throughout, with the Italian making his move at the 650m mark but there was no panic from Wiffen who kept to his own plan. On hitting the wall for the final turn at the 50m mark Wiffen kicked for home, passing Paltrinieri and holding off a sprint finish from reigning champion Bobby Fink outside of him to touch the wall first cementing his place in the history books.  

Wiffen has had the most remarkable year having become the first Irish swimmer to ever medal at a World Long Course Championships in February, before becoming double world champion in the 800m & 1500m freestyle, and his 14:34.07 in the latter was the fifth fastest in history.

Speaking poolside afterwards a jubilant Wiffen said: “I don’t think a lot of people actually believed me that I was going to do it tonight but yeah it was incredible. I’ve done it – that’s all I want to say!

“I was so nervous, that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been for a race but do you know what calmed me down – I heard by brother shout for me as soon as I walked out. I heard none of the crowd – just him, and that’s what calmed me down, and really levelled my head.”

“It feels incredible. Andrew Bree said it just as I want to say it –‘lights, camera, action’ – that’s exactly what I did – I’m writing myself into the history books!”

After an emotional medal ceremony when Amhrán na bhFiann played out around a packed LaDefense Arena a proud Wiffen said: “I don't normally cry. So I really hope nobody could see that but yeah, it did come out of me, obviously, it was just a special moment. I've never heard that national anthem at Olympics before and, um, yeah, it's just crazy to say that it was me standing up on that podium hearing it for the first time at an Olympics.”

Reflecting on the race itself Wiffen said: “I’ve been training every different scenario for what’s going to happen. To be fair I only train one way and that’s to try and hold on and burn everyone out but I knew Olympics was going to be completely different. Really my first 200m was absolutely terrible. My stroke was all over the place but luckily, I had a good enough easy speed to keep it going and was still in the race, and then my goal was to keep building, keep building, keep building, and we got to the 150m and in my head it went so fast.

“Then I was literally just looking at Bobby Fink; that’s all I was doing. This guy comes back the fastest, I was like I had to have at least a body length on him. I was doing this weird low key stroke to try to have a look, and went on the turn; the last wall turn, I put my head down and sprinted the last 20m. WAS dying last 20 meters- not sure if you saw that but my arms were in so much pain – but I knew that the crowd was gonna carry me in and that’s exactly what happened and I saw the red light on the block and that was it!”

Asked about his next event; the 1500m final Wiffen said: “Yeah, 1500m on Saturday, my hope is to be back on the podium again and my goal now is to just get the recovery in. I will enjoy myself tonight. I will try treat myself to maybe whatever they have in the village, I don’t  know what they have in the village to be fair but yeah, just get through the 1500m heats and see what happens.

“People should just watch my YouTube channel. I blog/vlog every week, show you exactly what an Olympic champion does, day in, day out in the pool and I don’t know what else to say – subscribe!” laughed Ireland’s ninth ever Olympic gold medallist.

Elsewhere in the Olympics, at the canoe slalom Michaela Corcoran in the women’s C1 placed 21st overall and did not advance to the semi-finals, while Kildare paddler Noel Hendrick did enough over the course of his two runs in the K1 to advance to Thursday’s semi-final, ranked 19th.  
 
The Irish women’s rugby sevens team concluded their first ever Olympic Games with an eighth place finish overall after they were beaten by France and Great Britain in the placing matches today.
 
Competing in their second Olympic Games together the Irish sailing crew of Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove placed 4th, 13th and 9th in races 7, 8 & 9 respectively of the Men’s Skiff, to remain in second overall in the fleet qualifying series, with three races to go before the top ten for the medal race is determined.
 
Olympic debutant Rachael Darragh was beaten 2-1 in her opening badminton group match by Jenjira Stadelmann of Switzerland this afternoon.
 
Team Ireland golfers Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy featured at the press conference today at Le Golf National, where they will both compete in the Men’s Individual Stroke Play, which gets underway on Thursday (1st Aug). More below.

TOMORROW

In badminton unbeaten Nhat Nguyen and first-time Olympian Rachael Darragh both face the toughest matches of their careers tomorrow.

Two-time Olympian Nguyen, who has already beaten Israeli and Nepalese opponents, now faces a must-win final group game, as only one from the group will advance to the quarter-finals. 

Nguyen is up against the defending champion Olympic champion and current world number two Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), and only the winner of their battle will progress to the knock-out stages.
 

After losing her debut to a Swiss player in a three-game thriller, Darragh also has a mountain to climb. Her second and final group game is against Spanish veteran Carolina Marin, the Rio Olympic champion who is a three-time world champion and the fourth seed in Paris.

In rowing four Irish crews are on the water tomorrow morning contesting semi-finals of their events. Each of the crews will have to claim one of the top three spots in their respective semi-finals if they are to reach their Olympic finals. 

Enniskillen’s Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan are up first for the Irish tomorrow (M2-). In a stacked race they’ll they face reigning World Champions GB, as well as the New Zealand duo that were part of the Men’s Eight gold medallists from Tokyo, and have now moved into the pair winning bronze at the most recent World Cup in Poznan. The Romanians have moved between the four, eight and pair over the last two seasons but have solidified their position as a pair, winning silver at this years’ European Championships.

Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh will be watching the Australians and the Lithuanians as the top seeds in the Women’s Pair semi-final (W2-). Australia are the 2023 World silver medallists and have been on the podium at both World Cups that they attested to this year. The Lithuanian pair haven’t been on the podium this year but pulled a very quick time in their heat on Sunday. 

Reigning Olympic Champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy go head to head with the Swiss double who pipped them on the line at World Cup II in Varese. This year the Skibbereen pairing were beaten for the first time this Olympiad, coming home with Bronze medals from World Cup II. Tomorrow will be a test to see whether the last few weeks of training have worked in their favour.

Up against the Tokyo Olympic silver medallists and home crowd France, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey will have a tough semi ahead of them. They are also facing the Romanian duo who are current European Champions and 2023 World bronze medallists. 

In boxing it’s a big day for Team Ireland’s boxers with defending 60kg champion Kellie Harrington, who gave a tactical masterclass in her opening win, is just one victory away from a historic second Olympic medal. She faces Angie Paola Col Valdes Pana of Colombia, a world silver medallist last year, in the lightweight quarter-finals.

Three-time and current European middleweight (75kg) champion Aoife O’Rourke finally gets to enter the ring at the last 16 stage. The Roscommon fighter takes on Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik, a former world youth champion and four-time European medallist, whom the Castlerea BC woman has beaten four times previously.

Tyrone featherweight Jude Gallagher (54kg) will make his Olympic debut after getting a bye to the last 16. He faces Carlo Paalam of the Philippines who won the Olympic flyweight (52kg) silver medal three years ago.

In sailing Team Ireland’s Men’s Skiff of Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, who have been having such a consistent regatta in Marseille in their second Olympic Games together, go into the final three of the fleet races still lying in second position.

The battle to make the top 10 boats for Thursday’s Medal Race (to which all crews carry their cumulative score) is getting particularly fierce. Standings were tightened considerably after today’s tricky wind conditions and few crews, with the exception of overall leaders Spain, escaped unscathed.

The Spaniards moved into pole position (on 35 points) thanks to two seconds and a third place today. Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and Waddilove (Skerries Sailing Club) are currently on 46 points but New Zealand are just a point behind them. Great Britain are only a further six points adrift and USA are on a score of 58.  

None of the top 15 crews has more than 80 points so all still have a shot of qualifying and the Irish duo will be hoping to keep their scores to a minimum tomorrow to guarantee their top 10 spot and a chance to race for the medals on Thursday.

In swimming newly crowned Olympic Bronze medallist Mona McSharry is back to business when she returns to the pool for the 200m Breaststroke heats in the morning. McSharry, from Grange in Sligo, became Ireland’s first medallist of the Paris Games on Monday when she claimed bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. The University of Tennessee graduate holds the Irish record in the event at 2:22.49 which she set just last month.

RESULTS DAY 4 - Tuesday 30th July 2024

Rowing, Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) semi-final, Zoe Hyde & Alison Bergin, 5th in semi-final in 6:55.08, through to B final (7-12 placings) on Aug 1st

Rowing, Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) semi-final, Philip Doyle & Daire Lynch, won semi-final in 6:13.14, through to final on Thurs Aug 1st @ 10.30am

Rowing, Women’s Four (W4-) repechage, Emily Hegarty, Natalie Long, Eimear Lambe & Imogen Magner – 4th in rep in 6:38.10, through to B final (7-12 placings) on Aug 1st

Boxing, Women’s 54kg, Round of 16, Jenny Lehane Beaten by Yuan Chang (CHN) 5-0

Men’s Hockey, Men’s Pool B, Ireland 0-2 India

Equestrian, Individual Dressage Grand Prix qualifier, Abigail Lyle, score of 69.441

Canoe Slalom, Women’s C1 1st run, Michaela Corcoran, time of 129.55

Women’s Rugby Sevens, 5-8 placings match, Ireland 7-19 France

Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 1st run, Noel Hendrick, 98.64

Badminton, Women’s Singles, Rachael Darragh V Jenjira Stadelmann (SUI)

Sailing, Men’s Skiff, , Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, 4th Race 7

Canoe Slalom, Women’s C1 2nd run, Michaela Corcoran, time of 168.08

Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, 13th in Race 8

Canoe Slalom, Men’s K1 2nd run, Noel Hendrick, 90.68, through to semi-final on Aug 1st

Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, 9th in Race 9, remain in second overall in fleet series

Women’s Rugby Sevens, 7/8 place play-off, Ireland 12-28 Great Britain, Ireland 8th overall

Swimming, Men’s 800m Freestyle final, Daniel Wiffen, GOLD MEDAL in 7:38.19 (PB, NR, ER, OR)

SCHEDULE Day 5 – Wednesday 31st July

(All times are Irish – Paris is one hour ahead)

8.20am Badminton, Men’s Singles, Group P, Nhat Nguyen V Viktor Axelsen 

9.44am Rowing, Men’s Pair (M2-), Ross Corrigan & Nathan Timoney, semi-final 2, must finish in top 3 to advance to final 

10.00am Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, Mona McSharry, heat 1/3, 16 fastest qualify to semis

10.04am Rowing, Women’s Pair (W2-), Fiona Murtagh & Aifric Keogh, semi-final 2, must finish in top 3 to advance to final

10.14am Rowing, Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls (LM2x) semi-final 1, must finish in top 3 to progress to the final

10.44am Rowing, Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls, (LW2x), semi-final 2, must finish in top 3 to progress to final

1.00pm or later,  Badminton, Group L, Rachael Darragh V Carolina Marin (ESP)

1.50pm Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 10, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove

2.30pm Boxing, Men’s 57kg, Round of 16, Jude Gallagher V Carlo Paalam (PHI)

2.45pm Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 11, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove

3.37pm Sailing, Men’s Skiff, Race 12, Robert Dickson & Seán Waddilove

4.54pm Boxing, Women’s 60kg, Q-final, Kellie Harrington V Angie Paola Valdes Pana (COL)

7.45pm Swimming, Women’s 200m Breaststroke, semi-finals, Mona McSharry *dependent on progression

8.52pm Boxing, Women’s 75kg, Round of 16, Aoife O’Rourke V Elzbieta Wojcik (POL)