[Updated and final 14 July 2021]
Some Irish teams/athletes have been qualified for the Tokyo Summer Olympics since 2018 while others only qualified in the weeks leading up to the games. Team Ireland is now set and with a final quota number of 116, it is by far the biggest Irish team ever to travel to an Olympics beating the 78 that travelled to Atlanta. Previous to Tokyo, the most sports we competed in was 14 while we are represented in 19 different sports in 2021. Without further ado, here's Team Ireland.
Irish athletes/teams qualified for Tokyo Olympics
Athletics - 25 (inc one relay)
To most casual sports fans, track and field is still the blue-riband sport of the games.
Ireland has earned six medals with Ron Delaney's win in the 1,500m in 1956 being the last of our gold medal winning runners.
- Phil Healy - 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay
- Nadia Power - 800m
- Siofra Cleirigh Buttner - 800m
- Louise Shanahan - 800m
- Ciara Mageean - 1,500m
- Sarah Healy - 1,500m
- Sarah Lavin - 100m hurdles
- Michelle Finn - 3,000m steeplechase
- Eilish Flanagan - 3,000m steeplechase
- Leon Reid - 200m
- Marcus Lawler - 200m
- Mark English - 800m
- Andrew Coscoran - 1,500m
- Tom Barr - 400m hurdles
- Fionnuala McCormack - marathon
- Aoife Cooke - marathon
- Paul Pollock - marathon
- Kevin Seaward - marathon
- Stephen Scullion - marathon
- David Kenny - 20k walk
- Alex Wright - 50k walk (also qualified in 20k but can't compete in both)
- Brendan Boyce - 50k walk
- Chris O'Donnell - Mixed 4 x 400m relay
- Cillian Greene - Mixed 4x400m relay
- Robert McDonnell - Mixed 4x400m relay
- Sophie Becker - Mixed 4x400m relay
- Cliodhna Manning - Mixed 4x400m relay
While Phil Healy seems a lock for one of the 4 relay spots, the remainder of the team will be decided nearer the event. For statistical purposes, one man and one woman relay runner listed aren't counted in the 25 as they're officially alternates.
Badminton - 1
- Nhat Nguyen (Men's singles)
Nhat was the 26th qualifier based on his world ranking over the past two years. The young Dubliner is the second Irish man to compete in the men's singles event after Scott Evans in 2008-2016.
Boxing - 7
- Brendan Irvine (52kg Fly)
- Kurt Walker (57kg Feather)
- Michaela Walsh (57kg Feather)
- Kellie Harrington (60kg Light)
- Aidan Walsh (69kg Welter)
- Aoife O'Rourke (75kg Middle)
- Emmet Brennan (81kg Light heavy)
Kurt Walker has been confirmed as a qualifier through the rankings at featherweight. The team of 7 will be the second largest boxing team since qualifying was introduced. Kellie Harrington will be number one seed in Tokyo with Michaela Walsh seeded 4th.
Canoeing/kayaking - 1
- Liam Jegou - C1 Slalom
Qualifying is now finished in canoeing with French-based Jegou an outside bet for a medal. Robert Hendrick won the quota with his performance at the 2020 European Championship.
Cycling - Road - 3
- Nicholas Roche (Road Race & Time Trial)
- Eddie Dunbar (Road Race)
- Dan Martin (Road Race)
The route is quite hilly so suits the 3 lads are selected rather than sprinter Sam Bennett. This is a fourth Olympic selection for Roche, third for Martin with Cork's Eddie Dunbar making his debut.
Cycling - Track - 4 (inc 2 teams)
- Emily Kay (Madison & Omnium)
- Shannon McCurley (Madison)
- Felix English (Madison & Omnium)
- Mark Downey (Madison)
With both madison crews qualifying, Ireland will have it's largest track cycling team since qualification began. Lydia Gurley and Fintan Ryan will travel as reserves.
Diving - 2
- Tanya Watson - 10m platform
- Oliver Dingley - 3m platform
Tanya was hailed as the first women to qualify to represent Ireland in diving with her performance in the World Cup event in Tokyo in May on the official FINA website, but it took nearly 6 weeks for that to be confirmed. There was controversy with Oliver's place too. The original qualifying document said the top 18 at the World Cup would qualify but that contradicted the overall number allowed. Oliver was one of nine divers effected, with FINA eventually admitted all nine.
Equestrian - 7 (inc 2 teams)
We have qualified the maximum 3 riders in Eventing as a result of winning silver at the 2018 World Equestrian Games. They'll compete as individuals and as a team.
- Cathal Daniels with Rioghan Rua
- Sarah Ennis with Horseware Woodcourt Garrison
- Sam Watson with Tullabeg Flamenco
Our showjumping team finally qualified at their last chance in the 2019 FEI Nations Cup Final. It is the first time Ireland has qualified a show jumping team since 2004.
- Bertram Allen with Pacino Amiro
- Darragh Kenny with VDL Cartello
- Cian O’Connor with Kilkenny
In 2019 Ireland qualified a full team in Dressage for the first time ever. Unfortunately the decision was made in June to withdraw the team as there were not enough qualified riders to compete. Kate Dwyer is pregnant while the brilliant Judy Reynolds has had to retire her world class horse Vancouver. Ireland asked for an individual quota to replace this and this was granted.
- Heike Holstein with Sambuca
Golf - 4
- Rory McIlroy
- Shane Lowry
- Leona Maguire
- Stephanie Meadow
Maguire and Meadow travel to their second Olympics with Maguire in fine form on the LPGA Tour. McIlroy and Lowry pulled out of the Rio games over the Zika virus but both have been confirmed for Tokyo.
Gymnastics - 2
- Rhys McClenaghan (Pommel)
- Megan Ryan (All round)
Although young Rhys has qualified for the all round, his focus will be on the pommel. After gold at the 2018 Europeans and bronze at the 2019 World Championships, he will be expecting a medal in Tokyo if he's fully fit. Megan Ryan was first reserve on the women's side after her 2019 World Championship performances and with North Korea pulling out, she got the call.
Hockey - 16
The Irish women's team has qualified for Tokyo 2020. It will be the first time we have been represented in the traditional team sports by women. Ireland will play Britain, Germany, Netherlands, India and South Africa in the groups. The squad of 16 was named on the 21st of June.
- Ayeisha McFerran (GK), Chloe Watkins, Hannah Matthews, Sarah Torrans, Nicci Daly, Roisin Upton, Hannah McLoughlin, Deirdre Duke, Katie Mullan, Shirley McCay, Sarah Hawkshaw, Lena Tice, Naomi Carroll, Lizzie Holden, Sarah McAuley, Anna O’Flanagan
Michelle Carey, Zara Malseed and goalkeeper Liz Murphy have been named as travelling reserves.
Judo - 2
- Megan Fletcher (70kg - middle weight)
- Ben Fletcher (100kg - half heavy weight)
The Fletcher siblings moved from the GB set up just after Ben represented GB at the 2016 Rio Olympics and they've both qualified through individual rankings. Ben's early form had seen him in the top 10 and despite a recent broken leg, he's remained in the quota position. Megan confirmed hers with an excellent 5th at the recent World Championship.
Modern Pentathlon - 1
- Natalya Coyle
Natalya will be hoping for her third top 10 placing in the Olympics in Tokyo. Arthur Lannigan O'Keefe was in a qualifying position but a succession of injuries have ended his season and he won't compete.
Rowing - 13 (inc 6 boats)
- Women's Single sculls (W1x) - Sanita Puspure
- Women's pair (W2-) - Monika Dukarska, Aileen Crowley
- Men's double sculls (M2x) - Ronan Byrne, Philip Doyle
- Men's lightweight double sculls (LM2x) - Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy
- Women's four (W4-) - Emily Hegarty, Fiona Murtagh, Eimear Lambe, Aifric Keogh
- Women's lightweight double sculls (LW2x) - Aoife Casey, Margaret Cremen
No surprises with the selections with the rowers who qualified the boats getting the nods. O'Donovan and McCarthy will be disappointed with anything less than gold. Puspure will want a medal but the delay to the games may have cost her gold. The men's double and the women's four are both medal contenders.
Rugby sevens - 12
- Jordan Conroy, Billy Dardis, Ian Fitzpatrick, Foster Horan, Jack Kelly, Terry Kennedy, Adam Leavy, Hugo Lennox, Harry McNulty, Gavin Mullin, Greg O’Shea, Mark Roche, Bryan Mollen (reserve)
The men's team beat France in the final world qualifying tournament to become the first Irish rugby team to qualify for an Olympic tournament. Ireland is still behind the other top tier rugby nations when it comes to Sevens but this is a huge step forward.
Sailing - 3 (2 boats)
Ireland has qualified two boats for the sailing competition at Tokyo 2020.
- Annalise Murphy - Laser Radial
- Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove - 49er
Although Aisling Keller earned the quota, Annalise Murphy has been selected for the event. Annalise, of course, won the silver medal in Rio. Former World Junior champions Dickson & Waddilove earned the last European quota in Lanzarote in April with a superb performance.
Shooting - 1
- Derek Burnett - Men's Trap
Ireland received a re-allocated spot in men's trap thanks to Derek Burnett's world class MQS (qualifying score) of 121. Burnett travels to his record-equalling 5th Olympics. He finished 9th in Athens.
Swimming - 9 (plus 1 relays)
Nine Irish swimmers have been selected for the Olympics. Our biggest ever team includes a men's 4x200m freestyle relay.
- Shane Ryan - 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay
- Darragh Greene - 100m, 200m breaststroke
- Mona McSharry - 100m, 200m breaststroke
- Daniel Wiffen - 800m, 1,500m freestyle
- Danielle Hill - 100m backstroke, 50m freestyle
- Ellen Walshe - 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly
- Brendan Hyland - 200m butterfly, 4x200m freestyle relay
- Finn McGeever - 4x200m freestyle relay
- Jack McMillan - 4x200m freestyle relay
FINA had initially invited Ireland to submit a team for the 4x100m medley relay team too but that was rescinded with Greece's team being hundreds of a second ahead of Ireland. Brendan Hyland received an invitation based on his "B" standard. That allowed Ireland to enter the relay as only 2 relay-only swimmers are allowed.
Taekwondo - 1
- Jack Woolley - -58kg
Tallaght's Jack Woolley qualified to be Ireland's first ever Taekwondo representative by virtue of his top 7 World Ranking at the end of 2019.
Triathlon - 2
- Carolyn Hayes
- Russell White
A relative newcomer to the sport, Hayes qualified comfortably with a series of excellent results late in the campaign. White had been in place for a quota for much of the elongated qualifying campaign, only to believe he had been overtaken after the final event. With not enough triathletes eligible for the tripartite invitations, a spot freed up and White is off to Tokyo.
The near miss
Weightlifting
Sean Browne is Ireland's top weightlifter and he ended up 15th in the Olympic rankings at his weight. Weightlifting qualification is incredibly complicated with nations being restricted to only 4 quotas per gender. When further restrictions are placed on certain countries due to sustained doping, they can drop fairly far down the list. As Ireland has not qualified anybody, we were in line to receive a reallocated quota but the IWF issued a tripartite invitation to Oman instead.
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Ireland has now qualified representatives in 19 sports, 5 more than our previous highest number (14 in 2012). We've also qualified (well) over 100 athletes for the first time. In fact we hadn't even reached 80 before this year. Even without the teams in hockey and rugby, this would be our biggest team ever.
