BBC NI at the Olympics

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Team Ireland athlete Cathal Doyle advanced to Sunday's men's 1500m semi-finals by winning heat one of the repechage round on Saturday evening.

Doyle produced a surge in the final 300m to come home first in a time of 3:34.92.

France's Azeddine Habz [3:35.10] and Ossama Meslek of Italy [3:35.32] finished second and third in the heat to also also progress to the next stage.

Luke McCann bowed out however after taking seventh in 3:36.50.

Irish record holder Andrew Coscoran also failed to make the semi-finals as the Dubliner came in 12th in repechage heat two.

Italy's Federico Riva won that heat in 3:32.84, followed by Canada's Charles Philibert- Thiboutot [3:33.53] and Great Britain's George Mills [3:33.56].

Rhys McClenaghan says his Olympic Games gold medal in the pommel horse is reward for a lifetime of work.

The 25-year-old from Newtownards completed gymnastics' 'Grand Slam' after winning gold for Ireland with a stunning routine in Paris.

Read more here

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Newtownards gymnast Rhys McClenaghan says Olympic gold is a "dream come true" after his disappointment in Tokyo.

Three years ago, the 25-year-old was among the favourites for a medal but slipped from the pommel horse and ultimately finished seventh in what was his Olympic debut.

At his second Games in Paris, the Team Ireland gymnast produced a sensational routine, taking gold with a personal best score of 15.533 ahead of Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov and the USA's Stephen Nedoroscik.

"I knew it was possible," he told BBC Sport of topping the podium.

"I knew it was possible back in Tokyo as well but it didn't happen. This was the comeback I needed and it happened.

"A dream come true. I can't believe I've done it on this day."

McClenaghan's is the sixth medal by an athlete from Northern Ireland in Paris and he joins rower Hannah Scott and swimmers Daniel Wiffen and Jack McMillan in claiming gold.

Prior to these Games, athletes from Northern Ireland had won three gold medals in Olympic history.

Even after reaching the pinnacle of his sport, McClenaghan added his natural inclination was to think of what he could have done better.

"There's always room for improvement," he said.

"I want to go back into the gym right now and work on the improvements but my coach won't let me, probably.

"That's okay. I think he's right in this situation, we need to celebrate our Olympic title."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Bercy Arena

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Rhys McClenaghan has completed gymnastics' 'Grand Slam' after winning pommel horse gold at the Paris Olympics with a stunning routine.

The fourth to perform his routine, the Team Ireland gymnast was flawless as his score of 15.533 edged Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov by just 0.100.

The USA's Stephen Nedoroscik was third with 15.200.

Team GB's Max Whitlock, who went second, scored a 15.200, just 0.333 down on McClenaghan and had to settle for fourth place.

After a flawless run, McClenaghan's coach Luke Carson had his head on his hands just before the dismount.

When the Newtownards gymnast landed it, both let out a huge roar and there was an emotional embrace between the pair.

There was a nervous wait as the remaining four gymnasts took to the pommel horse, with Nedoroscik going closest while backed by the vocal USA support who had just witnessed Simone Biles win gold in the women's vault final.

McClenaghan becomes the fourth athlete from Northern Ireland to win a gold medal at these Olympics.

The 25-year-old joins swimmer Daniel Wiffen and GB's Hannah Scott in converting their world titles into Olympic gold.

Jack McMillan also won a gold medal after helping Team GB to first place in the 4x200m freestyle.

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Rory McIlroy fired a third round of five-under-par 66 at Le Golf National on Saturday to lie in tied sixth place on 10 under in the men's Olympic golf competition.

The world number three posted a bogey-free round to stay in contention for a medal, four shots behind the joint leaders.

McIlroy recorded birdies at the first, third, ninth, 11th and 14th holes during his round.

His fellow Team Ireland competitor Shane Lowry also carded a 66 to improve to five under for the competition, which finishes on Sunday.

Spain's Jon Rahm and American Xander Schauffele lead on 14 under after round three, with England's Tommy Fleetwood third on 13 under.

Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard and Hideki Matsuyama from Japan are tied for fourth on 11 under.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at the Paris La Defense Arena

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Both of Team Ireland’s 4x100m medley relay squads set new national records in the heats on the penultimate day of action in the pool.

The men’s squad of Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene, Max McCuster and Shane Ryan finished 11th overall in a time of 3:33.81, breaking the previous figures of 3:34.62.

The women’s quartet of Danielle Hill, bronze medallist from the individual 100m breaststroke Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and 16-year-old Grace Davison also finished in 11th place, setting a new Irish record of 4:00.12 and smashing the previous best of 4:01.75.

The men were led off by Larne’s Conor Ferguson, who after eight years of getting so close to becoming an Olympian, finally did so on the backstroke leg.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” he said afterwards.

”I was a bit disappointed with my own swim but the team swam great and it’s nice to set a new record although I think we could have made that final.”

Hill, meanwhile, swam her third quickest time ever in the heats of the 50m freestyle of 25.02 to finish 21st overall.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at the Paris La Défense Arena

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Daniel Wiffen’s quest to become a double gold medallist at the Paris Olympics is gaining momentum.

He even surprised himself with how fast he went in the 1500m freestyle heats, posting a time of 14:40.34, over two seconds quicker that Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri.

The two men battled each other in the 800m freestyle final on Tuesday with Wiffen taking gold and Paltrinieri the bronze.

”I don't think I put a hard stroke in at all,” said Wiffen.

“It was a very fast time to be fair I thought I went around 14.45 and to go 14.40 now I mean that's pretty pretty good for the heats, fastest I've ever been and it's a top five time for me so I'm pretty happy with that.”

Wiffen will go into Sunday’s final as favourite and he‘s using the motivation of breaking the world record held by Sun Yang of 14:31.02 set at the 2012 Olympics in London as part of his preparations.

“I'd love to become a double Olympic champion but I think it's not going to be easy. It's kind of hard because my goal for this meet was to win an Olympic gold and I've already done it so I've had to think of new ways to keep motivated.

“I know I said previously that I wanted to have a crack at the Sun Yang record and you know I'm gonna have a try and if I get it I get it but if I don't I don't, but I reckon to win the gold I'm gonna need to go on the world record.”

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist in Paris

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There has been a little more Northern Ireland success on the final day of rowing at Vaires-sur-Marne.

London 2012 silver medallist Richard Chambers from Coleraine has coached the Great Britain women’s eight to a bronze medal.

Chambers, who has taken time away from his coaching job at Leander Rowing Club in London in order to be part of the Olympic coaching team, has helped GB to only the second medal in the history of the event following on from a silver in Rio, eight years ago.

The rowing regatta in Paris ends with a gold for Hannah Scott, silver for Rebecca Shorten and bronze for Philip Doyle and now the coaching success for Chambers.

Quite a week for Northern Ireland rowers.

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Belfast's Olympic gold medallist Jack McMillan took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to his late mother as he and team mate Kieran Bird received their medals.

The pair swam for Team GB as they qualified through the 4 x 200m relay heats on Tuesday but were not selected to win in the final.

Only the four swimmers that took place in the final - Tom Dean, Matt Richard, Duncan Scott and James Guy - appeared on top of the podium but McMillan and Bird were rewarded for their participation in the heats with gold medals.

"What a special moment," McMillan posted on social media., external

"Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my career, I appreciate it.

"It’s been a challenging journey to get to this point, with transitioning nation, to better my career and my mum passing last year, I knew I had to give my everything and be resilient, both in and out of the pool."

McMillan previously swam for Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics before switching to Team GB in 2022.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Paris Olympics

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In Daniel Wiffen and Hannah Scott, two of the three world champions from Northern Ireland have delivered in Paris.

Now it's the turn of Rhys McClenaghan to go for Olympic gold.

The 25-year-old qualified for the pommel horse final in first position for Team Ireland, just ahead of GB's Max Whitlock and Stephen Nedoroscik of the USA.

Can he deliver on the Olympic stage? We'll find out from 16:15 BST at the Bercy Arena.

Speaking of champions, Olympic 800m freestyle winner Wiffen returns to the pool as he goes in the heats of the 1500m - which he also won at the World Championships in Doha in February.

His heat takes place and 11:05 BST, if successful, the final is on Sunday at 17:37 BST.

Danielle Hill is also in action at the La Defense Arena in the heats of the 50m freestyle at 10:19 BST, with a potential semi-final at 19:40 BST.

In addition, Hill will be part of Ireland's 4x100m medley relay heats at 11:52 BST when she races alongside fellow Northern Irishwoman Grace Davison, Ellen Walshe and 100m breaststroke bronze medallist Mona McSharry.

Ards swimmer Davison, at 16, will be making her Olympic debut as she swims the closing freestyle leg.

Also in the morning session (11:40 BST), Conor Ferguson will race the breaststroke leg in the men's 4x100m medley relay as he swims in an Ireland quartet alongside Shane Ryan, Max McCusker and Darragh Greene.

Dublin boxer Kellie Harrington is already guaranteed a medal ahead of her lightweight semi-final with Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira.

Harrington, who also won gold in Tokyo three years ago, takes to the ring at 21:08 BST.

Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy (11:44 BST tee time) and Shane Lowry (9:55 BST) are both in golf action for the penultimate round at Le National.

Team Ireland also have two cyclists - Ben Healy and Ryan Mullen - competing for gold in the men's road race from 10:00 BST with Cathal Doyle, Luke McCann and Andrew Coscoran hoping to make it through to the 1500m semi-finals in athletics. All three will compete in a newly formed repechage round from 18:15 BST.

Other Ireland interest on Saturday sees Eve McMahon and Finn Lynch compete in the sailing while Madison Corcoran, Noel Henderick and Liam Jegou go in the men's kayak.

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European Championships gold medallists Ireland failed to qualify for the 4x400m mixed relay final at the Olympic Games as the absence of individual medal hope Rhasidat Adeleke proved too much of a handicap.

Like the majority of athletes targeting medals in the individual 400m events, Adeleke, 21, opted to miss the mixed relay in order to conserve energy and fitness.

Sophie Becker, who will also race in the individual 400m, was her replacement but the Irish quartet struggled as they clocked a time of 3:12.67 to finish fifth.

That wasn't enough to clinch one of the two one of the non-automatic qualifier spots.

The Irish quartet's time was nearly three seconds slower than their European Championship winning mark of 3:09.92 as Great Britain won the semi-final in 3:10.61.

Becker, who ran leg two, was joined in the quartet by Chris O'Donnell, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley, who competed alongside Adeleke in the European Championships final in Rome.

European Championships bronze and silver medallists the Netherlands (3:10.81) and Italy (3:11.59) clinched the other two automatic qualifying spots alongside Great Britain.

In the opening semi-final, the USA quartet set a new world record of 3:07.41 to mark themselves out as strong favourites to clinch the gold medal on Saturday evening.

France (3:10.60) and Belgium (3:10.60) were the other automatic qualifiers from heat one which also produced the two non-automatic qualifiers in Jamaica (3:11.06) and Poland (3:11.43).

On her Olympic debut, Ireland's Jodie McCann finished 20th in her 5,000m semi-final in 15:55.08 with only the top eight securing qualification as she was over 34 seconds slower than her personal best.

Irish shot putter Eric Favours missed out on a final place in his event as a throw of 19.02m - 1.91m shy of his national record set earlier this year - left him 27th of the 31 competitors. A throw of 20.81m would have secured qualification.

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Ireland's men ended their Olympic hockey campaign on a high note as they produced an heroic defensive display to defeat New Zealand 2-1 in Paris.

The Kiwis forced 15 penalty corners but Joseph Morrison's fifth-minute goal was the only time they beat magnificent Ireland goalkeeper David Harte.

After Morrison's early goal, Benjamin Walker levelled for the Irish after 13 minutes.

The sides remained level at half-time but Jeremy Duncan put the Irish ahead a minute into the third quarter.

Lee Cole and Michael Robson had chances to extend Ireland's lead but they Irish had to defend stoutly thereafter as Harte continued his heroics and Duncan also made a couple of crucial blocks to deny New Zealand penalty corners.

After losing their opening three games, Ireland's hopes of securing a quarter-finals spot were ended in Thursday's 2-1 defeat by Argentina.

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Another untidy round left Rory McIlroy six shots back at the halfway stage of the Olympic men's golf event at Le Golf National.

The Team Ireland player, who missed out on a bronze medal in a play-off in Tokyo three years ago, carded an eagle, four birdies, two bogeys and a double in a two-under 69.

It leaves him on five-under and with work to do to catch leaders Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Xander Schauffele (United States).

After an opening 68, McIlroy started promisingly as he eagled the par-five third after hitting the flagstick with his approach before a birdie on the fifth.

However, he bookended a birdie on the ninth with bogeys and did not pick up another shot until the par-three 16th.

His hopes of making up further ground on the pacesetters were dashed by a double-bogey six on the 17th, although he finished in style as a stunning approach to the last set up a closing birdie.

McIlroy's fellow Team Ireland competitor Shane Lowry is five shots further back after carding a second consecutive 71 that included two birdies and two bogeys.

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy hail the support of the Irish fans in Paris as they retain their Olympic rowing lightweight double sculls title.

O'Donovan became the first Irish athlete to win medals at three successive Olympics with him winning silver alongside brother Gary at the 2016 Rio Games.

"It felt like Skibbereen. It was amazing," said McCarthy of the Irish support.

O'Donovan added: "Not many thought we could do before the regatta", as he went to describe his run of Olympic success as "more of a fluke than anything else".

Read more here.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the North Paris Arena

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Michaela Walsh says she "doesn't know" what will come next for her in boxing after exiting the Paris Olympics.

The Belfast featherweight was defeated by Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria in the last-16.

The 31-year-old was competitive throughout the bout but the judges went in favour of the experienced Staneva in all three rounds.

"I'll come back and sit with my team and see what there is," Walsh told BBC Sport NI.

"But for now I'll just enjoy the rest of the village."

Four judges awarded the first round to the Bulgarian, who then unanimously claimed the next two rounds as Walsh admitted she had to "try and chase it back".

Walsh said she wished her opponent the best for the rest of the tournament but said she disagreed with the unanimous verdict.

"She is a brilliant opponent and I knew it was going to be a very tough fight, but that's what the judges went for unfortunately.

"I feel good. I'm happy enough with my own performance.

"I don't think the scores read what the fight was. Unanimous - I think it was closer than that.

"But at the end of the day, I'm not a judge and I wish her all the best. I hope she can go on and get a medal."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the North Paris Arena

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Michaela Walsh has been knocked out of the Paris Olympics after a unanimous decision defeat by Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria in the featherweight division.

In her first bout of the Games, Walsh looked to attack in a cagey first round but was unable to land scoring punches on the European champion from Bulgaria.

The second round again went the way of Staneva after the Belfast fighter fell on the canvas after tripping on the Bulgarian's leg.

Knowing she needed a stoppage in the final round, Walsh threw everything she had at the favourite, but was unable to progress.

Walsh's defeat means that Kellie Harrington is the last boxer from Ireland left in the Olympics.

The reigning lightweight champion will fight Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil on Saturday as she looks to win back-to-back Olympic titles.

Friday's result also means that eight of the 10 Irish boxers in Paris have exited the Games after their first bout, including Michaela's brother, Aidan, and Jude Gallagher.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at Versailles

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Ireland’s showjumping team missed out on a medal in the Olympic Games final at Versailles as they finished seventh despite a clear round from Ardmore’s Daniel Coyle.

Shane Sweetnam, on board Jame Kann Cruz, led the Irish team off an he was looking good until knocking down a pole on the last fence.

A single time penalty gave him a total of five faults.

But a near faultless display from Coyle following on from a clear round in the qualifier on Thursday, vaulted Ireland up to fourth place after two riders and in the hunt for the medals with only one fence separating the top five countries.

However the London 2012 individual bronze medallist, Cian O’Connor, couldn’t provide the clear round needed to put the pressure on the top three.

Riding Maurice, he had two fences down and a time penalty for a score of nine faults, leaving the Irish total on 14.

Great Britain took gold ahead of the USA and France.

”It was nerve-racking, I guess. Actually, maybe I was even more nervous yesterday, but Shane had an unlucky fault on the last, and that can happen,” explained Coyle.

”It's horse error and human error sometimes. Thankfully, I was able to put on a good performance.”

Coyle will now look ahead to the individual competition next week, buoyed by the performance of Legacy in tough, hot condiitions.

”So far it's a dream come true to jump double clear at the Olympics, to be going into individuals at this point.

“Thankfully, we get a few days now to rest up, me and her, and hopefully get a full night's sleep for a change.”

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Ireland's 1500m men's hopefuls all failed to earn direct progression to the semi-finals as the track athletics action got under way in Paris.

With only the top six securing semi-finals spots, Luke McCann was the best Irish finisher as he was eighth in heat two after leaving himself with too much to do despite producing a fast finish to cross the line in 3:35.73.

Those ahead of McCann included Kenya's 2020 silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, US champion Cole Hocker and young Dutch talent Niels Laros.

Earlier, Olympic debutant Cathal Doyle finished ninth in his heat in 3:37.82 as Great Britain's world champion Josh Kerr looked hugely impressive in taking victory in 3:35.83.

Doyle got caught in traffic on a number of occasions in the heat and was unable to move into the top six on the home straight despite producing a strong closing sprint.

Irish record holder Andrew Coscoran produced a very disappointing run as he finished 15th and last in 3:42.07 after becoming detached from the leaders on the penultimate lap.

Defending champion Jakob Ingebrigsten, beaten by Kerr at last year's World Championships, eased into the semi-finals by finishing third in Coscoran's heat.

The Irish trio will have another opportunity to reach the semi-finals when they compete in the repechage on Saturday evening under the new Olympic format.

In Friday's evening session, Ireland will go in the mixed 4x400m relay heats with Rhasidat Adeleke not expected to run as she builds up to her medal challenge in the individual 400m.

Adeleke is set to be replaced by Sophie Becker with Thomas Barr, Chris O'Donnell and Sharlene Mawdsley the other members of the quartet after helping the Irish win gold at the European Championships in June.

Luke McCann's sister Jodie will compete in the women's 5,000m heats with Eric Favours involved in shot put qualification.

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While finding it hard to mask their disappointment, Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney said they will learn from an impressive Olympic debut after finishing sixth (6:30.49) in Friday's men's pair final in Paris.

The Team Ireland rowers impressed in their semi-final but were unable to force their way on to the podium in a final won by Croatia.

But Corrigan (25) and Timoney (24) have time on their side and that was not lost on the Enniskillen pair as they prepare to target a second Olympic appearance at Los Angeles in 2028.

"We weren't able to replicate the semi-finals. We've had unwavering belief in this competition and we won't let it go right now," said Timoney.

"We're both quite young and we'll carry it over into the next cycle and we won't give up but it's a tough pill to swallow but we won't dwell on it either. We'll take a few lessons from it. Today wasn't the day but it won't be the last day."

"It's no small feat to make an Olympic final," said Corrigan.

"If we talked to ourselves a few months ago, between injury and illness, we would have been happy to make a final.

"We hold ourselves to a high standard, the whole team does. We're at a point with Irish rowing that we do hold ourselves to high standards and we're not happy if we don't get medals, but at the same time there are positives from this.

"It's a life lesson. We'll keep pushing, we're not satisfied but it'll pay off down the line. We're not finished, that's the main thing."

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Ireland sailors Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove narrowly missed out on a medal in the men's skiff competition at the Olympics as they finished fourth overall.

The duo were sitting in second place going into Friday's medal race in Marseille but failed to recover from being penalised for jumping the start as they missed out on a bronze medal by just three points when finishing ninth and last.

Dickson and Waddilove were sent back to the start line along with the Polish and Croatian boats as the other medal contenders continued.

Despite hanging on to the bronze medal position for a time during the race, the Irish pair eventually dropped to fourth spot as USA snatched bronze by taking fourth place.

A seventh place in the medal race would have secured the Irish the bronze medal.

Spain secured the gold medal by winning the medal race with New Zealand taking silver.

The medal race had to be abandoned twice on Thursday because of low winds and poor sailing conditions in the south of France.