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Gold medal joy for Dunlevy and McCrystal; FAI reach agreement on equal pay

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Eve McCrystal and Katie George Dunlevy celebrate as they cross the finishing line. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Eve McCrystal and Katie George Dunlevy celebrate as they cross the finishing line. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Tue Aug 31 2021 - 07:59

There was more gold medal joy for Team Ireland on day seven at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The tandem duo of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal came out on top in the B time trial for their second podium finish of these Games. In sweltering heat and drenching humidity Gary O'Reilly earlier won a bronze for Ireland in the men's H5 time trial at the Fuji International Speedway. Richael Timothy finished in 14th place in the C1-3 time trial, finding the circuit to be a gruelling opponent. At the Olympic Stadium, Orla Comerford battled through injury to compete in the heats of the T13 100m. You can keep up to date with all of the latest from Tokyo here.

Republic of Ireland men's internationals have reduced their match fees from €2,500 to an undisclosed sum to secure equal pay with their female counterparts. Bohemians goalkeeper James Talbot has been called into the Republic of Ireland squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia. Stephen Kenny's squad have assembled in Faro for Wednesday night's game against Portugal at the Estadio Algarve. Norwich City's young striker Adam Idah is motivated by the prospect of being picked up by Rúben Dias or the ageless Pepe: "when you're the underdog, it motivates you that bit more because you know what people on the outside are thinking."

In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Kevin McStay asks did Kerry expect Tyrone to line up as they had in Killarney? Reflecting on last weekend's All-Ireland football semi-final he writes: "They must have known they would be playing against a mass Tyrone defensive formation. And yet they repeatedly tried to force the ball through that cover - with the result that they coughed up 35 turnovers through which they conceded a staggering 2-9. That's the story of the game."

Meanwhile, Andy Murray fell just short of a monumental win at the US Open - he was leading Stefanos Tsitsipas, the in-form third seed, by two sets to one before the Greek claimed the final two sets of their first round match in New York (2-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4).