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The Jerries

Meet Ireland's Olympic team: Leona Maguire

The Cavan native was ranked 1st in the world on the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking up until recently.

Leona Maguire Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO

Event: Golf

Who is she? The 21-year-old is one of four golfers due to represent Ireland, along with Pádraig Harrington, Séamus Power and Stephanie Meadow. She was also ranked 1st in the world on the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking up until recently.

Where’s she from? Maguire is a Cavan native, though she has spent a significant portion of her time in the US of late, attending Duke University in North Carolina.

Olympic CV: Given that Rio will be golf’s first appearance at the Olympics for 112 years, this is obviously Maguire’s first time competing at the Games.

Road to Rio: Maguire’s Olympics place was confirmed after her overall ranking was enough to guarantee her a spot.

When does she start? Maguire’s bid for golfing glory begins on 17 August.

What she says: “I’m taking it as it comes. I’ve three years left (in college) and a lot can change in three years, so I’m taking it as it comes I’ll not make any rash decisions, but if a situation presented itself, then obviously turning pro and on the tour is where I want to be. I’ll have one eye on that and one eye on my amateur golf,” Maguire said when asked last year about her future ambitions in an interview with The42.

Medal chances? Stranger things have happened, but her lack of experience at the highest level is expected to count against her — two out of five Jerries.

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And here’s something you probably didn’t know… Maguire’s twin sister Lisa is also a talented golfer, while she could easily have been competing in Rio in a different event, having been a promising swimmer as a youngster, before giving up the sport to focus on golf.

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Meet Ireland’s Olympic team: Finn Lynch>

Meet Ireland’s Olympic team: Sinead Jennings and Claire Lambe>

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