Morning report from Team Ireland on Day Nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
AUGUST 1st, 2021: It was another action-packed morning for Team Ireland in a sweltering Tokyo this morning. There was disappointment for boxer, Kurt Walker, who lost out in his quarter-final bout with USA’s Duke Ragan by the finest of margins, a 3-2 split decision after a pulsating contest.
In athletics, there were fantastic performances from Eilish Flanagan and Michelle Finn in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase heats, with Flanagan producing the run of a lifetime to shave an incredible six seconds off her Personal Best time, while Finn produced her fastest time at a major championships.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy is still in action on the final day of the Men’s Individual Stroke Play with more updates to follow this afternoon.
ATHLETICS
Team Ireland’s Michelle Finn and Eilish Flanagan were the first track athletes in action on Day 9 for Team Ireland, competing in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase heats.
Flanagan produced the performance of a lifetime to shave six seconds off her Personal Best, with a time of 9.34.86 to finish 12th in her heat. Doing well to stay on her feet after a number of athletes fell in front of her, Flanganan battled to stay in contention throughout.
Speaking after her new lifetime best, Flanagan said: “It really excites me for that to be my first performance on the world stage. It makes me believe a bit more that I belong there, so I’m looking forward to the next opportunity on a stage like that.”
Finn, going in the fastest of the heats, had to deal with a strung-out field, but put in an impressive last 800m to record her fastest time at a major championships – 9:36.
BOXING
There was disappointment for Team Ireland boxer, Kurt Walker this morning as he lost his Men’s Feather quarter-final clash against Duke Regan (USA), by the finest of margins – a 3-2 split decision. Regan took the better of the opening round, dictating the pace throughout, but Walker regrouped well in the break and came back strong in the second to level proceedings going into the final round. An extremely closely-contested final round saw the two boxers evenly matched throughout, but Regan just pipped it in the end on a 3-2 split decision.
Speaking afterwards, Walker said: “I am so proud. It was so close. It was a good fight, and that’s the way it goes.”
Looking at the tactics before the fight he added: “We talked about it before – to push – that was it. Maybe I should have pushed more with 30 seconds to go in the first round, but when you’re in there, you don’t really know how things are going, obviously if they get the better of you, but you don’t know what way it’s going really. His jab was very fast, and I just needed to work my way around that and I knew I could do it in the second and third,” he finished, adding he will take some time off now to rest and recover.
Afternoon report from Team Ireland on Day Nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
It was a tense and thrilling final day in the Men’s Individual Stroke Play at Kasumigaseki Country Club today, with Rory McIlroy finishing in a tie for 4th after an absorbing seven-way playoff for the bronze medal.
Having fired a final round 67, 4-under par, McIlroy joined the 7-way playoff for bronze as he and Collin Morikawa (USA), CT Pan (Chinese Taipei), Mito Pereira (Chile), Sebastián Munoz (Columbia), Paul Casey (GB) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) who all finished on 15-under par.
Elsewhere, Rhys McClenaghan finished in 7th place at the Pommel Horse final this evening, rounding off a history-making journey for the Team Ireland, by becoming the first Irish gymnast to qualify for and compete in an Olympic final.
GOLF
It was a tense and thrilling final day in the Men’s Individual Stroke Play at Kasumigaseki Country Club today, with Rory McIlroy finishing in a tie for 4th after an absorbing seven-way playoff for the bronze medal.
Having fired a final round 67, 4-under par, McIlroy joined the 7-way playoff for bronze as he and Collin Morikawa (USA), CT Pan (Chinese Taipei), Mito Pereira (Chile), Sebastián Munoz (Columbia), Paul Casey (GB) and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) who all finished on 15-under par.
McIlroy made a 10-foot putt on the first play-off hole to progress while Matsuyama and Casey bowed out. On the next, all 5 remaining players made par before both Morikawa and CT Pan birdied the third play-off hole to knock McIlroy, Pereira and Munoz out.
Despite his disappointment in not securing a medal, McIlroy’s spirits were high and his determination to try again heightened: “It makes me even more determined going to Paris and trying to pick one up. It’s disappointing going away without any hardware. I’ve been saying all day I’ve never tried so hard in my life to finish third!
“It’s been a great experience. Today was a great day to be up there in contention for a medal. Certainly it had a different feeling to it than I expected but as I said, I’m already looking forward to 3 years’ time and hopefully go at least one better, if not three better.”
As for the medal play-off itself, it presented some logistical challenges as the players had to be split into two groups for the first hole.
“I’ve never been in one that big! Four is the largest I’ve been in. It was interesting, they had to split us up and I had to ask the rules official going down the fairway who did what ahead, what do I need to do here? So, yeah, it was a little different but it just adds to the experience that I’ve had here this week.”
By his own standards, McIlroy hasn’t produced his best golf so far this year, but this week has given him some confidence heading to a busy end to the 2021 schedule.
“I’m encouraged,” he continued. “I’ve played a lot better this week than I have the previous few weeks so my games trending the right direction, I’ve found a couple of things this week to go with to Memphis next week and then Play-offs, Ryder Cup and all that stuff so. It’s hard because you finished tied 3rd, one shot away from the medals, but if I look forward to the next few weeks I’m excited for what’s to come.”
GYMNASTICS
A little bit more history was made for Team Ireland this evening meanwhile, as gymnast Rhys McClenaghan became the first Irish gymnast to reach an Olympic final. McClenaghan finished in 7th place in the Men’s Pommel Horse final with a score of 13.100.
It was an extremely tough final line up, with Great Britain’s Matt Whitcock – eventual gold medal winner – setting the tone early with an absolutely stunning performance to finish with a score of 15.583, raising the bar from the start.
McClenaghan was second last to take to the pommel following a host of other impressive performances across the board. An unfortunate error early on though, saw him catch his finger under the handle of the pommel which resulted in a fall from the horse. He regained his composure quickly though and completed his routine in magnificent style, with a clean dismount, but knew that it was not enough for a podium finish. His final score of 13.100 was a combination of a 6.400 difficulty score and an execution score of 6.700.
“I was disappointed with my performance today,” he commented. “It could have gone a lot better of course, just that one finger got caught under the handle. That one finger got caught, and that’s the finest of margins in gymnastics, where that one finger placement wrong can throw you off course. It’s the beauty of the sport as well the fact that it makes it so exciting. I’m excited to get back out there and just be better than ever.”
This Olympic experience has encouraged McClenaghan to continue to excel in the sport and set future standards. The future looks bright for this young athlete.
“I want to continue to raise the bar, be the first in a lot more things. Break down those barriers for the younger generation coming through, behind me, and surpass my achievements hopefully. That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this sport, I’m proud to be here and proud to be an Olympian.”
