Ireland won its first medal of the Olympic Games in Tokyo when the women's four claimed bronze in rowing on Wednesday.
The crew of Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh and Emily Hegarty finished strongly to claim what is Ireland's 33rd ever Olympic medal. They are also the first Irish women to win an Olympic rowing medal.
Ireland finished behind gold medallists Australia and silver medallists Netherlands.
The four had a moderate start to the race, sitting in fourth after 500m and fifth after 1000m, at which point they were four seconds behind leaders Australia.
Ireland's first medal at the Olympics came in the Women's Four as Emily Hegarty, Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe and Fiona Murtagh won bronze.#olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport
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By 1500m, they have moved back up to fourth and were closing in on Great Britain in third. Over the final 500m, they overhauled the British crew.
Ireland finished the race in 6:20.46, just over five seconds behind Australia.
This crew won had previously won silver at the 2021 European Rowing Championships in Italy. They went on to qualify the boat for Tokyo at the final Olympic qualification regatta in May.
Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
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