THE MIDSUMMER MONTH produced some outstanding achievements by Irish athletes, namely the onces announced in our ‘winners’ section.
Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal won his sixth French Open at Roland Garros, the original Ronaldo played his final game in a considerably larger Brazil shirt than the one he wore on his debut back in 1994 and Usain Bolt… does what he does best. Run. Fast.
The winners
Rory McIlroy: Wee Mac became the youngest US Open winner since 1923 with a life-changing win at Congressional. The 22-year-old boy wonder made a full recovery from his collapse at The Masters in April to put Holywood, County Down on the map by carding a record low 16-under-par total.
Katie Taylor: The Bray fighter won a forth successive European title in the kind of some style – beating here opponent Karolina Grazcyk 25-9 in Poland. Roll on London 2012.
Conor Niland: Seeing off Croat Nikola Mektic in straight sets, Niland was the first Irishman in 25 years to qualify for the main stages at Wimbledon. In the first round, he took on Adrian Mannarino of France but eventually went out 4-6 6-4 7-6 4-6 6-4.
The losers
Paddy Barnes: Dreams of winning back-to-back titles at the European Boxing Championships in Turkey were dashed for Belfast’s light-flyweight after he sustained ligament damage and brusing to his hand a week before the competition was to kick off.
Ireland’s ‘missing’: Giovanni Trapattoni recorded what must have been a satisfying 2-0 victory over his homeland Italy in Liege but was none to happy about a number of the players who failed to show up for the friendly. James McCarthy, Marc Wilson, Jonathan Walters and Darron Gibson all missed out and it has been argues that Trap has held a grudge ever since.
Ryohei Yamanaka: The Japanese rugby player (who had just one previous cap to his name) found himself in hot water with the IRB after attempts to grow an impressive ronnie. Unfortunately the facial hair tonic of choice possessed steriods, meaning Yamanaka missed out on September’s World Cup after picking up a two-year ban.
Highlight of the month
McIlroy’s US Open win. Here it is in pictures.
Headline of the month
Hair we go: Wayne Rooney reveals his new hairstyle to the world The Manchester United striker shocked the sporting world when he admitted to having a hair transplant, then went a step further by tweeting a photo of the results to his couple of million followers.
Picture of the month
If this is anything to go by, you do not want to get Canadian ice hockey fans angry. Supporters of the Vancouver Canucks, unhappy with their team’s performance in the Stanley Cup, decide to trash the city.
Sporting Viral of the month
After Ryan Giggs is accused of having an eight-year affair with his brother’s wife, this video of him supporting an unfortunately-named organisation surfaces.
Tweet of the month
Shaq, a 15-time All-Star, four-time champion and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player, retires – through Twitter. “I’m retiring,” O’Neal posted on the social media site, along with a link to a video of him saying “We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That’s why I’m telling you first: I’m about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.”
