Olympics
In her column this morning Sonia O'Sullivan speaks of the high standards expected from Katie Taylor in the build-up to the Olympics. Despite securing a bronze medal at last week's World Championships, the feeling was one of disappointment even though the Bray boxer ensured she would get the chance to defend her title of Olympic champion.
“You would have thought it was a mere formality for an Olympic champion to qualify, especially for a boxer still on top of her game. Part of the problem is that boxing is one of those sports that aren’t so clear-cut when it comes to determining the winner. Instead, the result is placed in the subjective view of the judges, what they deem to be a winning result. Even when the result was scrutinised afterwards it didn’t seem to add up. Estelle Mossely won on a split decision, and with that Katie was left wondering how she lost, while her opponent’s arm was being raised in the air,” she writes.
Meanwhile Mary Hannigan speaks to triathlete Aileen Reid about overcoming illness to take her place at the Olympics this year.
“That’s what makes it all very scary, it’s just a once-every-four-years thing. In the world series races you can have a bad one, but you can make up for it next time. At the Olympics, you get one chance. So, yeah, it’s a mixture of excitement and nerves as we get closer. But so long as I can say I got everything out of myself on the day, I will be proud of whatever position I finish in.”
Soccer
As the build-up to Euro 2016 continues, Roy Keane has let loose on a few players he felt underperformed in the final friendly match against Belarus on Tuesday.
The Ireland assistant singled out Aiden McGeady as someone who needs to improve and said that he “wanted to kill” some of the players on Tuesday.
“It would probably have been no good winning 4-0 last night,” he says, “with everyone thinking we’re a decent team and then going over there and coming unstuck. It was a good reality check for everyone; that’s what football does to you,” Keane said.
One of the more surprising inclusions – despite the fact that he’s probably Ireland’s most in-form goalkeeper – was Keiren Westwood.
The 31-year-old had been somewhat frozen out by Martin O'Neill before being included in the final 23 ahead of David Forde. O'Neill has made comments in the past about Westwood pulling out of a number of squads. But the goalkeeper addressed that yesterday.
“It’s not like I’m fully fit and I’ve gone ‘nah, that’s not for me’. The only reason I wouldn’t be in the squad is because I was injured. If you are injured you are injured, and there is not much you can do about it.
“Sheffield Wednesday pay the wages, don’t they? So I am their player. So they are saying ‘you’re carrying injuries here, what’s going on? You can’t go’ and this, that and the other. So I am caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Meanwhile, Marcel Desailly was in Dublin yesterday to speak ahead of this month's finals in France – the first the country has hosted since Desailly won the tournament with his home country in 2000.
The 48-year-old was reluctant to give much away when it came to the racism claims currently rocking the French camp, however.
“It is a big blow for Didier. There is no racism in football. When you are a coach you want your best player. Maybe when you are eight, nine, 10 the coach can be influenced by the social level of the parents to put their kids into the team because the competition is not there. But once you reach a decent level from 15, even 13, the best are playing. No matter the colour, the origin, whatever, you put your best players in the team,” Desailly said following Karim Benzema’s claims that he had been excluded from the squad on ethnic grounds.
Golf
Rory McIlroy has had his concerns about Zika virus eased ahead of the Olympics. The world number three – who is due to represent Ireland in Rio – received vaccinations last week and says he feels a lot more comfortable at the prospect of travelling to Brazil on the back of medical advice.
“I had two dead shoulders for about four days last week because I got my shots and whatever I needed to get for going down there,” McIlroy said yesterday ahead of the Memorial Tournament.
Also in golf news, Donald Trump has been characteristically outspoken about the fact that the WGC-Cadillac Championship has been moved from his golf course in Miami to...Mexico.
They’re moving it to Mexico City which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance. But they’re moving it to Mexico City. And I’m saying, you know: ‘What’s going on here?’ It is so sad when you look at what’s going on with our country,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
Boxing
Both Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan have welcomed the decision to allow professional boxers compete at the Games. It is doubtful how many will take the chance to fight in Rio but yesterday the AIBA formally ratified a change to their statutes to allow it.
GAA
In his GAA Statistics column this week, Eamon Donoghue looks at what Tadhg de Burca is doing so right that William Egan is doing so wrong.
Meanwhile, ticket sales for Dublin's first football championship match on the road in 10 years have been slow to move the masses so far.
Over 10,000 tickets are still available for the clash against Laois at Nowlan Park this Saturday.
But if you're one of those Dubs braving a trip down the country, fear not. We have the survival guide you need, provided by Second Captains' Ciarán Murphy.
