BBC NI at the Olympics

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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.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Paris Olympics

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Ireland's Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy retained their Olympic men's lightweight double sculls title after winning gold in Paris.

With the Irish support travelling to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in their numbers, O'Donovan and McCarthy delivered a dominant showing on the outskirts of Paris as they backed up their gold medal from Tokyo three years ago.

Both rowers hoisted their arms in the air as they reached the pontoon after the race, as the chants of 'Ole, Ole, Ole' rang out.

They finished with a time of 6:10.99, with Italy (6:13.33) and Greece (6:13.44) taking silver and bronze.

"There's not many that thought we could do it before the regatta but we had some belief," O'Donovan told BBC Sport NI.

"We trained very hard and put in solid performances all week. The crowd was full of tricolours and Irish supporters and we needed that to get us over the line."

In a fast start, the Irish crew were third after 500 metres as Italy and Greece tried to pull away from the rest of the field.

Using their experience, Ireland were second at the halfway point of the race, and O'Donovan and McCarthy hit the front for the first time with 750 metres remaining.

They opened up half a boat length lead with 500m remaining, and hit top gear in the closing stages to win by a clear margin ahead of the Italians and Greece, who won bronze.

"It felt like Skibbereen," said a smiling McCarthy in reference to the strong Irish support.

"There were so many supporters and we can't thank them enough, it really gave us a boost."

On top of their two Olympic gold medals, the first of which came in Tokyo, McCarthy and O'Donovan are also three-time world champions and two-time European champions as a crew.

O'Donovan also won Olympic silver in Rio in 2016 and a world gold with his brother, Gary, and the 31-year-old also has two single sculls world championship titles to his name.

He is also the first Irish Olympian to win a medal a three consecutive Olympics, an achievement he says is a "fluke more than anything".

After their latest win, O'Donovan and McCarthy have cemented their place as two of the greatest Irish Olympians in history.

Their triumph is Ireland's second gold medal of the Games after swimmer Daniel Wiffen won the 800m freestyle on Tuesday.

Swimmer Mona McSharry and rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch have also won bronze, while reigning Olympic champion Kellie Harrington is guaranteed a medal after reaching the boxing semi-finals.

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Team Ireland's Ellen Walshe has booked her spot in the 200m individual medley semi-finals after finishing sixth in her heat on Friday.

The 22-year-old from Dublin was 15th fastest overall and will compete for a place in the final on Friday evening (20:34 BST).

In athletics, three Team Ireland athletes will have to go through the repechage round if they are to progress in the 1500m.

Cathal Doyle (9th), Luke McCann (8th) and Andrew Coscoran (15th) all missed out on an automatic spot in the semi-finals but have another chance to qualify on Saturday (18:15 BST).

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Paris Olympics

Image source, Inpho

Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney finished in sixth place in the men's pair final to bring their debut Olympics to a close.

Just like in the semi-final, the Team Ireland crew went out hard in the early stages and ran third after the opening 500 metres.

The Fermanagh duo had slipped to fifth at the halfway mark of the race and were still firmly in medal contention. However, they dropped back in the closing stages and had to settle for sixth place.

The race was won by Croatian brothers Martin and Valentin Sinkovic, who beat Team GB's Ollie Wynn-Griffiths and Tom George to gold in a thrilling finish with a time of 6:23.66, with Switzerland taking bronze.

Corrigan and Timoney crossed the line in sixth place in 6:30.49 to cap a strong first Olympic for the pair, who began rowing together when at school at Portora Royal Grammar School in Enniskillen.

Earlier at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Team GB's Rebecca Edwards finished in sixth place in the B Final for the women's pair alongside Chloe Brew.

Ireland's Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen finished fifth in the women's lightweight double sculls final, which was won by Great Britain, with Ireland's Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh second in the B Final behind winners Spain.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist in Paris

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It's hard to believe we are a week into the Paris Olympics already - and what a start it has been!

There has been medal success (and lots of it), drama and even the odd tear shed - and we're only halfway through.

After the medal rush for athletes from Northern Ireland, there are more chances for glory on Friday before a big weekend.

Let's take a look at what is happening.

Fermanagh duo of Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney made it to the final of the men's pair in rowing for Ireland but a medal was out of reach as they finished sixth. Croatia took gold with Team GB in second and Switzerland picking up bronze.

Team Ireland boats are in two other finals on Friday with defending Olympic champions Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in the lightweight double sculls final (11:02 BST) and Aoife Casey and Margaret Cremen in the women’s double sculls final (11:22 BST).

It's been a disappointing Games for Ireland's boxers and Michaela Walsh is the last one to take to the ring.

Walsh takes on Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria in the featherweight division at 14:45 BST.

Ireland are competing in the team showjumping final at the Palace of Versailles, with Derry's Daniel Coyle, Cian O'Connor and Shane Sweetnam all in action from 14:00 BST.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry started their bids for Olympic gold on Thursday and return to Le National for the second round.

Lowry tees off at 8:44 BST before McIlroy begins his second round at 11:06.

Ireland have a chance of a medal too in the sailing with Robert Dickinson and Sean Waddilove competing in the men's skiff (from 11:13 BST).

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Irish fighters Jack Marley and Daina Moorehouse were beaten in their OIympic Games bouts at Nord Arena on Thursday night.

Marley was just one fight away from a medal as he lost 4-1 to Tajikistan's Davlat Boltaev in the quarter-finals of the men's 92kg.

The 21-year-old Dubliner trailed from the first round against the skilful Boltaev, who stayed in front to earn at least a bronze medal.

Marley progressed to the last-eight stage by defeating Mateusz Bereznicki of Poland on a split decision.

Moorehead suffered a controversial defeat to France's Wassila Lkhadiri in her women's flyweight fight.

The judges awarded victory to Lkhadiri on a 4-1 split decision but Moorehead felt it was not a true reflection of the contest.

"I don't know what they're judging by - I still think I am a better boxer than her," the 22-year-old from Bray told RTE Sport.

"I tried my best. I knew getting in I was going to be booed, I didn't let any of that faze me. I don't know what to say."

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Tom Fannon has missed out on a place in the 50m freestyle final at the Olympic Games despite setting an Irish record time of 21.74.

The 26-year-old, who was making his Olympics debut, finished fourth in his semi-final and 10th overall.

Fannon was just 0.05 seconds away from securing a spot in the final at La Defense Arena.

He finished strongly but fell just short of progressing as one of the eight quickest swimmers.

It was a second Irish record for Fannon on Thursday after clocking 21.79 to win his morning heat.

His semi-final was won by Jordan Crooks of the Cayman Islands in 21.54 and he was followed in by American Caeleb Dressel and France's Maxime Grousset.

Fannon switched allegience to Ireland three years after competing for England in the Commonwealth Games.

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Paris 2024 Olympics leaderboard, round one

-8 Matsuyama (Jpn); -6 Schauffele (US); -5 Niemann (Chi), Grillo (Arg), Kim (Kor)

Selected others: -4 Fleetwood (GB), Scheffler (US), Straka (Aut), Rahm (Spa); -3 McIlroy (Ire), Aberg (Swe); level Lowry (Ire); +2 Fitzpatrick (GB)

Full leaderboard

Rory McIlroy is two shots outside the medal positions after a three-under 68 in the opening round of the Olympic men's golf event in Paris.

McIlroy carded five birdies and an eagle but his progress was hampered by four bogeys, including one on the 18th hole to leave him in a tie for 15th.

The Team Ireland golfer is five shots adrift of leader Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who recorded eight birdies in a bogey-free round of 63 to lead at Le Golf National.

Defending champion Xander Schauffele, who recently became the first player to win The Open and US PGA Championship in the same year since McIlroy in 2014, is second, two shots behind Matsuyama.

American Schauffele and Spain's Jon Rahm were among the late finishers in a round that was temporarily suspended because of the threat of lightning.

Chile's Joaquin Niemann, Argentina's Emiliano Grillo and South Korea's Tom Kim are tied for third after rounds of 66.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood and Rahm were among those a further shot off the pace.

McIlroy's Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry could only manage a level-par 71 as his three bogeys included a dropped shot at the last following the first lightning delay.

After bogeying the par-three second, McIlroy recovered to reach the turn in three under after birdies on the third and fifth were followed by an eagle three at the ninth.

Bogeys on the 10th and 12th dropped him back to one under and while three successive birdies from the 13th put him on four under, his round ended on a frustrating note as he took five at the closing hole following three putts.

McIlroy missed out on a bronze medal in a play-off on his Olympic debut in Tokyo.

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Rory McIlroy described his Olympic experience in Paris as "much better" than his debut in Tokyo with a 68 leaving him two shots outside a medal position after day one of the men's golf event.

"Tokyo was a ghost town," said McIlroy after a three-under-par round which left him five shots behind leader Hideki Matsuyama.

But while he has ground to make up on Japan's 2021 Masters winner and second-placed Open champion Xander Schauffele, who hit a 65, McIlroy is only two behind Chile's Joaquin Niemann, Argentina's Emiliano Grillo and South Korea's Tom Kim who share third place.

McIlroy's round contained five birdies and an eagle at the ninth but also four dropped shots including a three-putt bogey at the last.

"A bit up and down which is to be expected. I didn't do a whole lot between The Open and here. Some good. Some not so good," added the world number three.

The Team Ireland player described the atmosphere around Le Golf National as "awesome".

"Unbelievable. It was surprising," he said. "With so many events going on spread all across the city, for people to venture out here and to watch us play, it was a really cool atmosphere to play in."

McIlroy believes this week is "important" in determining where the Olympics sit in golf's "hierarchy" after the 2016 and 2020 events were affected by the Zika and Covid viruses respectively.

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Ireland men's team are out of contention for place in the Olympic hockey quarter-finals after a 2-1 defeat by Argentina on Thursday.

Mark Tumilty's side lost their opening three Pool B games and needed to beat Argentina to keep their hopes alive.

Argentina moved in front on 17 minutes at Stade Yves du Manoir when Tomas Domene found the net from a penalty corner.

Ireland hit back to level 10 minutes later as Lee Cole sent his superb dragflick into the top corner.

But the celebrations were short-lived with Argentina restoring their lead just a minute later.

It came from another penalty corner with Maico Casella Schuth making it 2-1 to the South American side.

Both teams created openings before Ireland were rewarded a 45th-minute penalty stroke, but Cole was denied by goalkeeper Tomas Santiago.

Ireland won a series of penalty corners in the final quarter but failed to convert as Argentina held on to clinch a quarter-final spot.

They will face New Zealand in their final pool match on Friday at 16:00 BST.

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Derry's Daniel Coyle produced an error-free round as Team Ireland qualified for the team showjumping final in Paris.

Riding on Legacy, the 30-year-old incurred no jump or timing penalties in his round with the team posting nine penalties in total to finish sixth.

Shane Sweetnam and Cian O'Connor are the other team members competing for Ireland in the competition.

Germany finished in top position after three penalty-free rounds with USA second and Team GB in third.

The final takes place on Friday at 13:00 BST.