Mona McSharry ended Ireland's 28-year wait for an Olympic swimming medal with a thrilling performance to claim the bronze in Paris.
The Sligo woman had impressed en route to the final and charactersitically surged late in the Women's 100m Breastroke Final to pinch third place and make history for Ireland.
The former world junior champion put in a time of 1:05.59 to land a place on the podium behind South Africa's Tatjana Smith and China's Qianting Tang.
Celebrations in Grange as Mona McSharry secures Olympic bronze in the women's 100m breaststroke #RTESport #Paris2024
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📺Watch https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ pic.twitter.com/rcsbCsY679— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2024
It was a remarkable effort that prompted brilliant scenes of celebration in her town of Grange in Sligo and a scross the rest of the nation.
McSharry cut a jubilant figure herself as she took her rightful place on the podium to a big ovation from the crowd in La Defense Arena.
"Unbelievable!
"There was a moment on the podium where I started tearing up and it was like 'Oh sh*t! This is really happening!'.
"It is unbelievable. It has been a lot of hard work and there has always been a little bit of doubt. Do I really belong on the top? This proves it!"
Mona McSharry overcame mid-race issue to win bronze medal
McSharry explained that her performance could have been better had she not encountered an issue as soon as she dove into the pool.
The 23-year-old's goggle filled up with water as soon as she dove into the pool but she powered through the setback to put in her remarkable medal-winning display.
"The most important takeaway for everyone watching was that it was not a perfect race," McSharry explained.
"I jumped in and my goggle filled up with what and I was like 'Crap! Well we are going to keep going!'"
"I pushed until the end and could see the Chinese girl beside and knew I had to dig deep.
"I am so proud of myself and all the people who supported me, to be able to come out with this performance."
Incredible stuff.
It is a huge achievement for McSharry, who had thought about giving up the sport altogether back in 2022.
