We're into the home stretch now in Olympic qualification with several sports finished and more into the final throws. Team Ireland have so far qualified 108 athletes in 13 different sports. There's some asterisks with that number, but we'll tease them out below. We are on course to have our largest ever Olympic team, and here's the breakdown:
Athletics (16 qualified, including 2 relay teams)
Our brightest track and field star, Rhasidat Adeleke, has emerged as a medal contender over the last 18 months. The young Dubliner finsihed 4th in the 400m at the World Championships in Budapest last year but her performances early this season have many tipping her for the podium in Paris. Adeleke is also qualified in the 200m but is unlikely to race there.
At the recent World Relays, Adeleke was the star turn with blistering performances in the women's 4x400m and the mixed, where Ireland won bronze on the way to qualifying both squad. The womens relay allows 5 athletes to be named, but they must include those qualified individually. After her recent PB, Sharlene Mawdsley is now included on that ream too. The mixed relay can name 2 women and 2 men so for the moment we're counting 7 relay only athletes to join Adeleke and Mawdsley in the 400m ranks
Ciara Mageean also finished 4th at the World Championships and she's joined in the 1,500m by Sarah Healy and Sophie O'Sullivan. Sarah Lavin (100m hurdles) was the first track star to qualify and she was quickly followed by Andrew Coscoran (1,500m) and Brian Fay (5,000m). In December, Fionnuala McCormack qualified for the marathon in Valencia. It will be her 5th Olympics when she competes in Paris
We will add more individuals as they gain the qualifying marks, with others qualifying through the Road to Paris ranks. We currently have 9 in a quota spot there but significant changes will happen as the season develops. Some, like veteran Mark English look pretty safe already while others are right on the borderline. The team for the upcoming European Championships is set to be announced soon.
Badminton (2)
The ranking period ended on April 30th and Tokyo Olympian Nhat Nguyen finished 19th in the Olympic ranks and will travel to his second Games this summer. Rachael Darragh finished in 33rd position in the women's rankings and 32 places on offer, it looked like she would miss out. However Rachael received an invite for a re-allocated quota shortly after and Ireland will send 2 badminton players to the Olympics once again.
Boxing (6 qualified)
The first opportunity for Ireland's most successful Olympic sport to qualify was the European Games and they were pretty successful for the team. Olympic champion Kellie Harrington and middleweight Aoife O'Rourke both won gold to win tickets to their second Games. They are joined in the women's team with another returning Olympian in Michaela Walsh.
The men's team qualified two boxers with heavyweight Jack Marley having the toughest route. The Dubliner needed to make the final in Poland to become our first heavyweight Olympian since 1996. Sligo's Dean Clancy qualified at light welterweight.
In the recent world qualifier in Italy only Jude Gallagher at 57kg added to our team but Grainne Walsh came agonizingly close. She wasn't happy. Walsh will get another chance in late May when the final world qualifier happens with Amy Broadhurst switching to GB as a result. Kylan Cassidy will hope for a bit of luck with the draw and the hard-hitting Waterford man should be OK.
Canoeing (3 qualified)
The slalom World Championships ended a successful 2023 for Ireland with 3 boats qualifying for Paris. Madison Corcoran's performances in the K1 European Champs was rewarded with the final quota after all nations who finished ahead of her qualified through the World Champs. In men's kayak event, Noel Hendrick finished 16th to qualify comfortably for what should be his first Olympics while his brother brother Robert qualified in the C1 class with another 16th placed finish. Liam Jegou has again been chosen by the selection panel for Paris though.
Cycling (7 qualified, including 2 teams)
Thanks to the sterling efforts of Ben Healy in the early season classics and then by Healy and Eddie Dunbar in the Giro d'Italia, Ireland finished 17th in the UCI world rankings for 2023, enough to qualify 2 men for the road race - and one of them can compete in the time trial. Healy earned 2163 of Ireland's total of 4015. Dunbar, Rory Townsend, Sam Bennett and Darren Rafferty were the next biggest contributors. The race route suits a punchy rider like Healy so he'll be looking for selection in Paris.
Ireland's women have never been more prominent in road racing than they are at the moment. We have only ever had one Olympic road race participant - Deirdre Murphy in 2000 - but as we ended the season ranked 33rd we've qualified one rider for Paris. Ireland were right on the qualification borderline for much of the season but a superb 3rd place for Mia Griffin in the last World Tour race in China vaulted Ireland up the rankings. The other 4 scoring riders this year were Megan Armitage, Lara Gillespie, Alice Sharp and Rachel Neylan. Neylan, who won silver at the 2012 world champs, swapped Australia for Ireland in the middle of this year and it looked at one stage like her points would be the difference between qualifying and not. In the end, Griffin and Sharpe's points won in China made qualification look easy.
Ben. Healy. Remember the name. 💚🤍🧡
An amazing ride by our Irishman who took second at the Amstel Gold Race and made it back to back podium finishes this week. He put on a show today with the greats in the sport. Watch out for our Irish powerhouse. 😤 pic.twitter.com/qN1ZW4NJjK— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) April 16, 2023
The women's track pursuit team qualified comfortably through the 2-year UCI Olympic ranking. A silver medal performance in the second last event - the Nations Cup in Hong Kong - ensured their top ten position with an event to spare. The team has settled on four after Tokyo Olympian Emily Kay retired this year and Kelly Murphy, Alice Sharpe, Mia Griffin and Lara Gillespie look set for Paris. By qualifying the team of four, Ireland can also compete in the 2-rider madison and the individual omnium event. Sharpe and Griffin are likely for the madison with Gillespie getting the nod for the omnium. She finished 4th at the recent European Championships and 3rd at the Nations Cup in Hong Kong. She won't be a favourite, but Lara will believe she can win our first ever cycling medal in Paris.
Diving
Former World Junior medalist Jake Passmore finished 17th in the 2024 World Championships and despite bowing out at the semi final stage, he's likely done enough to qualify for Paris. The diving quotas are tricky to be exact about as there is an overall limit on the number of divers at the games, as well as some divers competing in solo and synchro competitions. We'll likely have to wait until June for Jake's quota to be confirmed. Ciara McGing was 26th in Doha and could yet get a place in the 10m event. Clare Cryan came close to qualifying in 2023, but couldn't repeat that this year and will miss out.
Equestrian (7 - including 2 teams)
Our show jumping and eventing teams have already qualified for Paris thanks to their results in the 2022 World Championships, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. The show jumping team showed particular promise and were less than a fence away from a medal. They continued to show their medal potential with a silver at the recent European Championships. The eventing team finished 4th in Europe too. We received a reallocated spot in dressage with Anna Merveldt the highest ranked competitor in 2023.
Golf
Ireland will easily qualify 4 golfers for participation in Paris. The current spots would go to Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow - the same team from Tokyo. Seamus Power might be best placed to dislodge Lowry but qualification won't be in doubt for the men's team. If either Maguire or Meadow gets injured, we likely won't have another woman at the Games. While winning medals at golf is harder to predict than most sports, we should be in contention again in Paris. The rankings end in mid June 2024.
Gymnastics (1 qualified)
Rhys McClenaghan retained his World Championship on the pommel horse in October and in doing so qualified for the 2024 Olympics. The man from Bangor is established as a podium contender and next year will be the same. It won't be easy with several world class gymnasts all thinking they can win on the pommel, but Rhys will be in the mix and enters as a double world champion.
He's likely to be our only gymnast at the Olympics. Halle Hilton has an outside shot of getting a reallocated quota after her performance in the World Championships.
Hockey (16 - 1 team)
The women's team just missed out on qualification at the recent final qualification tournament but our men beat Korea 4-3 to grab the final spot available. Ireland has a young squad but for some it will be their second games after Rio 2016. Ireland are in Group B with Belgium, India, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. A top 4 finish is needed to qualify for the quarter finals.
Rowing (16 - 7 boats)
Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are the undoubted best in the world in their lightweight double sculls event and the Olympic Champions maintained their 100% record in major championships with another world title in September. They needed top 7 to qualify and it was never in doubt. They've been joined by their fellow "mighty lighties" as Aoife Casey/Mags Cremen qualified in a packed field in 7th position.
The women's openweight boats were all change for the World Champs with Olympic medalists Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh were 4th in the pairs event. Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde also finished 4th in the double sculls with both combination easily qualifying for Paris. The women's four, now with Olympic medal winners Lambe and Hegarty back in the boat won the last chance regatta and they're off to Paris.
The men's openweight boats went one place better than their female counterparts at the World Champs with Phil Doyle and Daire Lynch in the double scull, and youngster Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney in the pair, both winning bronze medals. They've qualified for Paris and now both combinations are in medal conversations. Rowing qualification is now complete.
Rugby Sevens (24 - 2 teams)
The women's team finished 5th in the World Series and with France being ahead of them, that was enough to qualify. A huge achievement for a squad that took a battering off the field this year. They can prepare fully for the Games now.
The men's team joined them with a thrilling win over GB in the final of the European Games. We'll have the full quota of 24 rugby players in Paris with both sides outside medal chances in the unpredictable world of sevens rugby.
Sailing (4 - 3 boats)
Finn Lynch won silver at the 2021 Worlds in the Laser (ILCA 7) event and while not at the same level in 2023, he did enough to qualify as the first Irish sailor through to Paris. Tokyo Olympians Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove qualified through the European Championships in November. Our brightest sailing talent may be Eve McMahon and she qualified after a 20th place finish in the 2024 World Championships in Argentina. We won't attempt to qualify in any other disciplines, so all eyes on the Games now.
Shooting
Aoife Gormally is ranked 29th in the World and will have a handful of events at which to qualify in 2024. Qualification for shooting is complicated with overspill between trap and skeet events, qualifying competitions and rankings all in play. There's 28 spots available though, and Aoife is in the mix. On the men's side Jack Fairclough has recently transferred from GB to Ireland with the express intent of qualifying for Paris. He's down the ranks at the moment but has had some terrific results in the past and could qualify in the skeet event. Derek Burnett finished 10th at the European Championships in Trap and may yet qualify for his 6th Olympics!
Swimming (9 qualified - 2 relay teams)
Daniel Wiffen confirmed his place among our brightest medal prospects winning two gold medals at the recent World Championships. Wiffen was 4th in both events last year and of those ahead of him in 2023, 2 missed the meeting with Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia - who won both golds in 2023 - miles off the pace. Wiffen's 1,500m time placed him 5th on the all time list and he's a live contender for the podium in Paris in both the 800m and the 1,500m. Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe have also qualified with McSharry consistently reaching finals in global competitions.
At the Irish Olympic qualifier in May, Danielle Hill achieved the stanadard in the 100m back and the 50m free. Tom Fannon also swam under the 50m standard meaning Ireland will definitely have 5 individuals at the Olympic in Paris. There are several swimmers with the Olympic Consideration Time and they're now waiting on an invitation that may or may not arrive.
Ireland have qualified 2 relay squads which allow for 4 additional "relay only" quotas. If we get any invitations, the relay only swimmers will be additional to this, but they must swim in the relays (i.e. they can't be there just to boost numbers). To further complicate things, it has emerged that Japan may not take it's women's 4x100m free relay spot, and Ireland is next in line. That would the 3 relay teams to bring 6 "relay only" individuals. We might be waiting a while to get the final numbers for swimming!
Taekwondo (1 qualified)
Taekwondo qualification is over and Tallaght's Jack Woolley is off to his second games. At -58kg, Jack was top seed in the recent European qualification tournament and thankfully won both his bouts to qualify. Several of the top seeds in the tournament were upset so it was no mean feat for Woolley who'll go into Paris knowing anything can happen in the topsy-turvy world of Taekwondo.
Weightlifting
Tham Nguyen made history with a bronze medal performance at the European Championships in 2023 and followed it up in 2024 with another two medals - this time including the overall third place.
Olympic qualification for weightlifting is very complicated. There are overall limits placed on national teams, further restrictions on those with a doping past (all the major nations effectively) and various other intricacies which mean we won't know the final quotas until just before the games but for the moment, Tammy won't make it. Only 2 Europeans look to have qualified at her weight, but with re-allocations etc, she might sneak in!
Other sports
We've qualified in Triathlon at every games since the sport was introduced but it's not looking likely for Paris. We didn't have a single entrant at the elite level for the recent World Championships. Sive Brassell is off the pace in the Modern Pentathlon rankings but she has until July to improve there.
We'll be keeping track on Olympic qualification right up until the games though, so you'll know if any bolters emerge!
