BBC NI at the Olympics

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the North Paris Arena

Image source, Getty Images

Aidan Walsh is out of the Paris Olympics after a defeat by France's Makan Traore in the last-32 of the men's 71kg.

Four judges favoured the French fighter, while one official scored the fight as a draw.

When the result was announced, Walsh held his opponent's arm up in the air as Traore took in the acclaim of the home support, who had been raucous throughout the bout.

Walsh, 27, was awarded a cagey first round, in which both fighters had to be reminded to engage - much to the disgust of the French support.

Traore was the aggressor in the second round, but every attempt to set upon Walsh was met with a resilient counter punch. However, all but one judge favoured the French fighter.

Walsh was caught early in the final and deciding round as the decibels rose in the North Paris Arena.

The Irish fighter was then docked a point for holding, and that gave Traore the buffer he required as he unanimously took the final round.

Walsh was the only medallist from Northern Ireland at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago and returned to the ring for the Olympics after taking 14 months away from the sport to focus on his mental health.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist in Paris

Image source, Getty Images

Day one is in the books.

It's been a wet and wild opening to the Paris Olympics, both with the weather in Paris and the sports in which athletes from Northern Ireland have been competing.

Now, what does the second day of action have in store?

From rowing to boxing, let's take a look.

Aidan Walsh, the only athlete from Northern Ireland to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is back in action on Sunday morning at 10:32 BST.

Walsh, who qualified at the final attempt after taking 14 months away from the sport, faces home favourite Makan Traore in a difficult draw in the last-32 of the men's 71kg.

There are plenty of rowers from Northern Ireland in action on Sunday. Rebecca Shorten will compete in the women's four alongside double Olympic champion Helen Glover (11:30 BST), while Rebecca Edwards will also be aiming to escape the heats in the women's pair (9:30 BST).

Fermanagh duo Nathan Timoney and Ross Corrigan take to the water for Ireland in the men's pair at 10:00 BST.

After a successful start in the hockey, David Ames will lead GB against South Africa in their second group match while Ashleigh Orchard could feature as Ireland start their Women's Rugby Sevens campaign against Great Britain at 14:30 BST and South Africa (18:00 BST).

Don't forget, you can stay right up to date with how athletes from Northern Ireland with our rolling page.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the Bercy Arena

Team Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan has qualified for the final of the pommel horse after a strong qualification round at the Bercy Arena.

He posted the joint-highest score of the day with 15.200, and is safely through to the final next Saturday.

The 25-year-old joins Stephen Nedoroscik of the USA as the top qualifier, ahead of reigning champion Max Whitlock, who recorded 15.166.

McClenaghan had to wait until the fifth rotation before emerging for the pommel, but put in a confident routine with a difficulty score of 6.300 and execution of 8.900.

If qualifying scores were applied to the final and he finished level with Nedoroscik, McClenaghan would take gold due to a higher execution score.

GB gymnast Whitlock won gold in Tokyo three years ago as an error in the final led to McClenaghan finishing in seventh place.

The 25-year-old bounced back to win back-to-back gold medals at the World Championship in 2022 and 2023, and will look to add an Olympic medal to his collection when he returns to the Bercy Arena on Saturday.

McClenaghan is one of three world champions from Northern Ireland to compete at the Games in Paris.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland rugby sevens finished sixth in the Olympics after a 7-17 defeat against New Zealand in their placing play-off.

In a rematch of the final pool game in which New Zealand edged Ireland 14-12, Leroy Carter scored a try on three minutes to give the All Blacks the lead.

Ireland replied just before half-time with Chay Mullins evading the challenge of Carter and racing through on the left-hand side to touch down.

Mark Roche was accurate with the conversion to give James Topping's side the lead at the break.

However, New Zealand roared back in the second half with Brady Rush restoring their lead, darting through a gap to register their second try, although Akuila Rokolisoa missed the conversion.

Moses Leo extended their advantage by darting down inside the posts as New Zealand claimed fifth place.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland rugby sevens produced a late fightback to beat USA 17-14 in a dramatic placing play-off semi-final.

They were 14-7 down with just 50 seconds to go but late tries from Zac Ward and Terry Kennedy secured the win.

James Topping's side will now play New Zealand, who beat Argentina 17-12 after extra-time at 17:30 BST today in the 5th/6th place play-off.

Ireland, who were looking to bounce back from their quarter-final defeat against Fiji, which ended their medal hopes, went ahead early through Hugo Lennox.

He raced clear after collecting a pass from Sean Cribbin and then nailed the conversion.

USA, who lost to Australia in their quarter-final, drew level on the stroke of half-time with Aaron Cummings scoring a try in the corner and Steve Tomison converting from range.

They then edged ahead as Perry Baker touched down two minutes before the end with Tomison again accurate from the tee.

Ireland kept pushing with Ward powering over to bring them within touching distance of USA, but Mark Roche missed the conversion.

They managed to recover possession from the restart and with just one second remaining Kennedy held off a challenge and crossed to seal the victory.

Image source, Getty Images

Coleraine rower Hannah Scott has reached the final of the women's quadruple sculls event as part of the Team GB boat.

Scott and fellow crew members Georgina Brayshaw, Lola Anderson and Lauren Henry comfortably booked their place in Wednesday's final by taking victory in the second heat in a time of 6:13.35 at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre.

That time proved enough to see off the challenge of Germany (6:15.28) and Netherlands (6:17.12) and was the fastest recorded in Saturday's heats.

Scott is hoping to replicate her gold medal success at the 2023 World Championships.

Image source, Getty Images

Susie Berry from Banbridge, riding Wellfields Lincoln, has made a good start to the eventing at Versailles.

Her score of 33.00 in the dressage sees Berry sit in 13th position with half the field still to go.

Sarah Ennis was the first Team Ireland rider in action and posted a score of 38.00 with Austin O’Connor still to come.

It’s still early stages and Ireland are tied for fifth in the team event.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at Yves-de-Manoir Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

On the main pitch this morning Team GB had an impressive 4-0 win over Spain in Pool B.

The squad is captained by Cookstown’s David Ames who is playing in his third and final Olympics.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at the Yves-de-Manoir Stadium

Image source, Inpho

Ireland have lost 2-0 to Belgium in their opening game of Pool A.

The defending champions scored a goal in each half from Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx.

Ireland started well and were comfortable in possession but struggled to create many dangerous circle penetrations.

Irish goalkeeper Davy Harte was in world class form with a number of big saves that kept his side in the game.

“I think we started well and I think we were comfortable and settled into the game, but at the end of the day, I don't think we made enough chances,” said Irish captain Sean Murray.

”I think we need to be a little bit more direct in the next game to look at where we can try and find little areas around the circle, around the final third, and create a few more chances.

“We defended well, Davy had a fantastic game but we needed to created more chances.”

Many of the Irish players, including Murray, were making their Olympic debuts.

”It's been a long, long journey and it's always going to be a very special day with your friends and family over, maybe a few nerves, of course, it's only natural, but also just ready to compete and show what we can do on the world stage and the pinnacle of hockey.”

Ireland’s next game is against Australia on Monday,

“We've done our homework on each team and with Australia again, it's about going out and fixing little things. I think we have to be a little bit more direct and hopefully get a few goals.”

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the La Defense Arena

Ireland have finished in eighth place in their heat for the Women's 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympics.

Danielle Hill brought Ireland to the changeover in seventh position before 16-year-old Grace Davison made her Olympic debut before she has even received her GCSE results.

Davison maintained seventh and Erin Riordan and Victoria Catterson brought the relay team home.

The team finished with a time for 3:42.67 and miss out on progression.

Earlier, Ellen Walshe was sixth in her heat in the women’s 100m butterfly heats and does not progress

Image source, Getty

Team Ireland rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch have comfortably won their heat on Saturday morning to advance to the semi-finals of the men's double sculls.

The pair will take part in the semi-finals on Tuesday at 10:10 BST.

The duo's heat time of 6:13.24 was the fastest recorded in the morning heats, with the Netherlands boat second quickest on 6:14.31and then Spain on 6:16.17.

Banbridge man Doyle is competing in his second Olympics, having participated in Tokyo three years ago.

Doyle and Lynch qualified for the Paris Games as they took bronze at the World Championships in Belgrade in September 2023.

The Ireland women’s double sculls crew of Alison Bergin and Zoe Hyde finished third in their heat to also progress to Tuesday morning's semi-finals.

Their time of 6:52.61 saw them come home behind heat winners France (6:48.89) and Australia (6:49.21).

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at Yves-de-Manoir Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

It‘s lashing down in Paris for the first full day of competition.

The hockey is getting underway at the Yves-de-Manoir Stadium in the north west suburb of Colombes.

Ireland’s men take on the defending Olympic champions Belgium in Pool A at 0930 BST.

This is the site of the 1924 Olympic Stadium so you feel touched by history that this is the place were Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won their gold medals in the 100m and 400m respectively.

Their story was chronicled in the 1981 Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire, incidentally the first film I ever went to see in the cinema.

It also saw Ireland parade at the opening ceremony as an independent nation for the first time.

Back to the hockey and Ireland beat Belgium twice recently in the FIH Pro League.

Can they do it again?

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist in Paris

Image source, BBC Sport

After arriving in Paris today, you can immediately sense the buzz around the city. Paris is more than ready...despite the weather.

The streets are lined with the vibrant colours of different nationalities, including some Brazilian fans dancing up the street and a crowd of Americans giving shouts of 'USA, USA, USA!' which are echoing off the historic Paris buildings.

The first people I bumped into was the family of Dean Clancy, who is the first of 10 Irish boxers in the ring.

Given he is fighting tomorrow he won't be at the ceremony, but his family are looking forward to tonight's festivities before heading to watch Dean in action tomorrow.

Boxing is the most successful sport in Ireland's history and more medals are expected to come during these Games.

You can follow the opening ceremony here.

Image source, Getty Images

Shane Lowry and Sarah Lavin have been chosen as Team Ireland's flagbearers at the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Golfer Lowry and track athlete Lavin will lead their team out at Friday evening's ceremony (18:30 BST), which takes place along a stretch of the River Seine.

"It's surreal and the greatest honour I've ever been given," said hurdles runner Lavin, who competed at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

"I'm so grateful to those who have trusted me and put me in this position. It's emotional as well. There are a lot of people you are representing.

"I'm deeply touched and just so excited to get out there."

Lowry, who also competed in Tokyo, said: "It's a huge honour for me and my family. Anybody who knows me knows how much I love Ireland and how much I love playing for my country.

"I always wear the Irish flag with pride and to get to do something like this is something I'll remember forever."

Diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover, who will compete alongside Belfast's Rebecca Shorten, have been selected as the flag bearers for Team GB.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist at the Stade de France

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland head coach James Topping was left frustrated with errors that cost his side a place in the Olympic semi-finals after a 19-15 defeat by Fiji in the last eight.

They had led the back-to-back gold medallists by 15-7 in the second half but would let slip their second two-score advantage of the day after an earlier pool-stage defeat to New Zealand.

“You make mistakes against those guys and they're going to score," Topping told BBC Sport NI after the defeat.

“Any time that ball is on the ground or it's loose, they've got the ability to pick it up and score. And they did that there against us.

“We were two scores ahead, but you can't control the game against those guys, you can't just think, I'll try and just hold out.

“You've got to keep pressing the whole time, and with us trying to do that, we're likely to make errors,” explained Topping.

The head coach would not be drawn on video evidence that appeared to show a knock-on in the build up to Fiji's third try.

The incident was not referred to the video match official.

“If you looked back at it and made a comment about all the decisions then there would be a lot of different results, so we’ve got to catch that kick-off and make it very simple.

“If it’s a knock-on then, well maybe that’s something to take a look at and see because that’s what decides the game and at the end of the day there is a lot of hope and aspirations on players shoulders.

“And we’d like to get the right result at the end of the day. I wasn’t close enough to see it but from my point of view, we should have caught the kick-off.”

Ireland's hopes of a first Olympic medal in rugby sevens are over following a 19-15 defeat to Fiji in the quarter-finals at the Stade de France.

James Topping's side had led the back-to-back gold medallists by 15-7 in the second half but would let slip their second two-score advantage of the day after an earlier pool-stage defeat to New Zealand.

In what was Ireland's first quarter-final at this level, Fiji had the game's first score within the first minute of the contest.

Iosefo Baleiwairiki fended off the tackle of Niall Comerford to make the key break and finished off the try despite a spirited chase from Chay Mullins.

It was Mullins who would drag Ireland back into the game, scoring a double before half-time to put his side ahead at the break despite both tries going unconverted.

His second felt especially timely, coming just before the interval and from an attack where Ireland had looked to be drifting towards the touchline before Mullins took on Gavin Mullin's pass and burst through the tackle to score.

In the second half, Zac Ward, who has been in excellent form in Paris, put Ireland eight points ahead with an opportunistic finish down the blindside of a ruck after his own strong carry had advanced his side to within a metre of the whitewash.

Image source, Inpho

But the same missed tackles that plagued Ireland against New Zealand earlier on Thursday started to creep back into their game and Selestino Ravutaumada shrugged off defenders too easily before sending Waisea Nacuqu over for the try to bring Fiji back into things.

When Ireland made a mess of the restart, after 15s star Hugo Keenan was caught underneath the high ball, Terio Tamani capitalised for what proved to be the winning score.

Fijian indiscipline would allow Ireland a last opportunity to snatch victory but, into the fourth minute of added time, a knock-on would end their challenge and medal ambitions.

Image source, Getty Images

Aidan Walsh, the only athlete from Northern Ireland to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, will face France's Mankan Traore in his last-32 bout in Paris.

The Belfast welterweight earned bronze in the delayed Games but injured his ankle celebrating and was unable to fight in his semi-final.

His sister Michaela, who is also embarking on her second Games, will face Bulgarian Svetlana Staneva in the last-16, having received a bye in the last-32 of the women's 57kg.

In what is his Olympic debut, Jude Gallagher, 22, has also received a bye in the last-32 and will fight Carlo Paalam of the Philippines in the last-16.

Reigning women's 60kg champion Kellie Harrington, who is seeded third, awaits the winner of the last-32 meeting of Italy's Alessia Mesiano and Gizem Ozer of Turkey.

Daina Moorehouse has a bye in the last-32 of the women's flyweight and will fight France's Wassila Lkhadriri in the last-16, while Jennifer Lehane also advances straight to the same stage of the women's 54kg against Yuan Chang of China.

In the women's 75kg, Aoife O'Rourke has been handed a last-16 bout with Poland's Elzbieta Wojcik.

Women's welterweight Grainne Walsh has been paired with Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary in the last-32, while heavyweight Jack Marley meets Poland's Mateusz Bereznicki in the last-16.

Men's lightweight Dean Clancy has been drawn against Obada Alkasbeh in the last-32.