After her spick and span display in Monday’s opening fight, Kellie Harrington is back in the ring today and a repeat performance will, all going well, guarantee her a medal. She fights Colombia’s Angie Valdes, who was the silver medal-winner at last year’s Pan-American Games and is clearly no slouch. So nothing is guaranteed.
But Harrington looked so in control during her unanimous points win over Italy’s Alessia Mesiano 48 hours ago – repeatedly changing stance to unsettle her opponent and picking her shots with devastating rigour. A win today and she will become the first Irish woman in history to win medals at more than one Olympics. Achieve that, and she can get to work on the colour.
It’s a big day too for Jude Gallagher and Aoife O’Rourke, as they make their Olympic debuts in the ring. Gallagher has the tougher assignment, as the Tyrone fighter will be facing the flyweight silver medalist from Tokyo, Carlo Paalam of the Philippines. O’Rourke is up against a Polish opponent in Elzbieta Wojcik, who she beat in the semi-final of last year’s European Games. It will feel like a huge let-down if she doesn’t beat her again.
Down in Marseille sailors Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove lie second going into closing stages of Skiff racing. The north Dublin pair had a solid day on Tuesday, passing New Zealand but being passed themselves by Spain. They have three races today before Thursday’s medal race - if they can consolidate their position, they have a genuine chance of bringing home silverware.
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Elsewhere, it’s a hugely significant morning in rowing, with four Irish crews involved in semi-finals. They got here with varying degrees of difficulty – from the matchless ease of gold medal favourites Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy to the knuckle-down repechage victory nailed by Mags Cremen and Aoife Casey on Monday. Expectations are high – but they’ve all got to go and do it.
It’s a fair bet that the biggest task facing any Irish athlete today is going to be the first one.
Nhat Nguyen has had a brilliant Olympics so far, coming through a stone-cold epic on Saturday night to win his first match and easily dispatching Prince Dahal of Nepal on Monday. His final pool match is a different challenge altogether – Viktor Axelsen is the defending Olympic champion, the world number two and one of the most decorated players in the game. Barring a huge shock, it’s likely to be the end of the road for Nguyen.
Oh, and there’s the small matter of Mona McSharry’s return to the pool, first this morning and then, all going well, this evening. She goes in her heat of the 200m breaststroke at 10 o’clock.
Worth a Watch
Nothing will make you try to awkwardly bond with your sullen teenager during the Olympics quicker than the Freestyle BMX, which has its men’s and women’s finals this afternoon.
This is the one where kids on bikes do somersaults and 360-degree spins over a course that looks like a load of upturned bits of blue Lego. Some people get a little antsy at its inclusion in the Games, dismissing it as a mindless attempt at attracting the yoof. Ignore those people – it’s enormous fun. The women’s final is at 12.10 this afternoon, the men’s at 1.44pm.
Irish In Action: Wednesday, July 31st
From 8.20am: Nhat Nguyen v Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) (Badminton Men’s Singles, final pool match)
9.34am: Ross Corrigan, Nathan Timoney (Men’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final)
9.54am: Fiona Murtagh, Aifric Keogh (Women’s Rowing, coxless pair semi-final)
10.00am: Mona McSharry (Swimming, 200m breaststroke heats)
10.14am: Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy (Men’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final)
10.34am: Margaret Cremen, Aoife Casey (Women’s Rowing, lightweight double sculls semi-final)
From 1.00pm: Rachel Darragh v Carolina Marin (Badminton, Women’s Singles, pool match)
1.50pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 10)
2.30pm: Jude Gallagher v Carlo Paalam (Philippines) (Men’s Boxing, 57kg round of 16)
2.45pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 11)
3.37pm: Robert Dixon and Seán Waddilove (Sailing, Skiff, Race 12)
4:54pm: Kellie Harrington v Angie Valdez (Colombia) (Women’s Boxing, 60kg quarter-final)
7.45pm: Mona McSharry (Swimming, 200m breaststroke semi-final)
8.52pm: Aoife O’Rourke v Elzbieta Wojcik (Poland) (Women’s Boxing, 75kg round of 16)
