THE POOL TOOK centre stage on the third day at Tokyo 2020 as another swimming rivalry went to the wire and Mona McSharry made history. Welcome to the latest of our overnight updates from the Olympic Games.
The Irish Eye
An embarrassing false start kicked things off in the men’s triathlon. Half the field dived in while the others were blocked by a media boat. Two jet skis took off to stop the competitors and bring them back. Eventually, the race successfully executed the starting process.
Ireland’s Russell White finished 48th in the triathlon final, 9 minutes and 36 seconds down on the winner Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway. Britain’s Alex Yee took silver with New Zealander Hayden Wilde taking bronze.
There was disappointment for the Irish women’s hockey team as they went down 4-0 against the Netherlands, the gold medal favourites. Just one goal separated the sides heading into the final quarter but a brave defensive effort eventually wilted in the face of formidable pressure.
The Ireland men’s sevens team opened their debut Olympics campaign with a 33-14 defeat to South Africa. With two more games to go in Group C, they are still in the mix for a place in the quarter-finals.
Ireland captain Brendan Irvine was eliminated from the men’s flyweight division after a split decision loss to Filipino Carlo Paalam in the Kokugikan Arena. The Belfast boxer did his best to launch a late comeback after struggling at the start.
“I did study him coming into it and I know he would be explosive and jumping on from the start. I am a slow starter. I did think I won the last two rounds but that is boxing,” said a crestfallen Irvine in his post-fight interview with RTE.
Liam Jegou bid to qualify for the canoe slalom Olympic final fell short after he missed two gates on his semi-final run.
The day’s positive news comes from the pool where Mona McSharry finished fourth in her semi-final to qualify for the 100m breaststroke final. The Sligo woman hit the wall with a time of 1:06.59, just 0.3 seconds off her Irish senior record. She is the second Irish swimmer ever to make an Olympic final.
Who else is making headlines?
The highly touted showdown between Katie Ledecky and Ariane Titmus went to the Australian as she claimed the Olympic 400m freestyle gold medal with a 3:56.69.
Her coach seemed relatively content with the result.
Ariarne Titmus’s coach after she beat Katie Ledecky in the 400m free 😂 #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/7vypTbv1sZ
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) July 26, 2021
“To pull it off in the backend against someone who has an amazing second half of her race, I’m really proud of that,” said the 20-year old post-race.
Britain’s Adam Peaty won the 100m breaststroke gold to defend his Olympic title while the USA took gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka progressed to the third round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Viktorija Golubic.
Your Olympic Schedule for the rest of the day
Boxer Michaela Walsh will face Irma Testa at 6.27am in the last 16 of the women’s featherweight division. Annalise Murphy sets off in the women’s laser radial sailing at 6.35am.
The men’s rugby sevens are back in action at 10.30am when they will face USA in their second pool game.
Ireland’s swimmers hit the water from 11.29am onwards. First up, Brendan Hyland in the men’s 200m butterfly heat. Shortly afterwards, Ellen Walshe will compete in the women’s 200m individual medley heat (11.56am).
In badminton, Nhat Nguyen will play Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka at 11.20am.
Finally, late tonight Limerick native Carolyn Hayes will make her Olympic debut in the women’s triathlon. That starts at 10.30pm.
Highlight of the night
The men’s artistic gymnastics team final sees Japan try to defend their title on home soil. They won the 2016 medal largely thanks to reigning floor champion Kenzo Shirai’s performance. It kicks off at 11am Irish time.
Some further reading
Nicole Frank’s grandmother, Angelika Rädche, qualified to swim for Germany at the 1940 Helsinki Olympics, incidentally rescheduled from Tokyo.
Then, just a few days later, World War II broke out. The Olympics were cancelled. She never got to compete.
Quote of the day
“I am happy to say that race felt a lot better than the one I did yesterday. That is exciting. I am just grabbing my bearings at the minute. It is just amazing, this is my first event ever at the Olympics and I made it into a final.”
An elated Mona McSharry tells RTE things are building nicely ahead of tomorrow’s final.
