Tag Archives: Olympics

Confirmation last week that the re-arranged Olympic Games will go ahead in Tokyo this summer has provided a timely boost to Ennis swimmer Rory McEvoy, he spoke to Ronan Judge. 22-year-old Rory McEvoy is at the start of an intensive block of training at the Sports Ireland campus in Dublin as he bids to to book a place on the plane to Japan.  The postponed Irish Olympic Trials are just around the corner and after the uncertainty of the last 12 months, McEvoy is fully focused on the task at hand. After a welcome visit home to see family at Christmas, McEvoy is back in the pool with fellow members of Swim Ireland’s high performance unit as Olympic preparations step up a notch. “Since we came back last week, it’s full steam ahead for the next two weeks. I’m based in Dublin and training out of the Sports Ireland campus in Blanchardstown. We’re in the thick of one of the …

OLYMPIAN Pat McDonald is being warmly remembered in his native Doonbeg, 100 years after he earned a place in the annals of sporting history, by winning a second gold medal. The Amsterdam Olympics of 1920 saw him reach the pinnacle of a long and illustrious sporting career. At over 40 years of age, when he took part in the world games in Holland, Pat McDonald still holds the honour of being the oldest Olympic track and field champion. Against rivals half his age, the towering 6’ 4’’ West Clare man was capable of throwing a weight of 56 pounds a distance of 11.26 metres, considerably further than his younger competitors. Former teacher Joe Hurley has a huge interest in Pat McDonald’s achievements and legacy, and has researched the story in great detail. The path the young Clare man followed was a well-worn one that took him from the rural west coast to the bustling and brash metropolis of New York, …

LAST week, Ennis Triathlon Club hosted triathlon Olympian Bryan Keane, who participated in a club training day and launched the club’s 2017 race event calendar, consisting of a duathlon on Sunday, March 26 and the iTri Triathlon on July 22. Bryan Keane represented Ireland in the triathlon at the Rio Olympics in 2016 after making a comeback from a potentially career-ending injury he suffered when he was knocked from his bike while out training. Following two years of rehabilitation, Keane came back to his best and became the first Irish man to stand on a World Cup podium. He has risen up the rankings throughout the past number of seasons and qualified for the Rio Olympics along with the world’s top 50 triathletes. Bryan also represented Ireland in cycling and running in his early career. The focus of the training day and event launch was to provide an insight into the philosophy of multi-sport training for the club members, who …

OLYMPIC rowers Paul and Gary O’Donovan, who won the hearts of the world after their historic silver medal win in Rio, have been described as “pure messers” by their Clare uncle. However Mike Doab, the brother of their mother Trisha, insists that despite the post race banter, the boys are very serious when it comes to their sport. Both Paul and Gary, from Skibereen, made headlines all over the world with their hilarious post-race interviews, including describing their tactics with the now immortal words of “close the eyes and pull like a dog”. The pair are the grandsons of John Doab from Connolly Villas with their uncle Mike well-known locally, having run a butchers in Clarecastle. Mike said the family are thrilled with Paul and Gary’s medal-winning ways. “They did a fabulous job, we’re all very proud of them and I can’t wait to see them.” He added, “They are pure messers, they always were. But, honest to God, for …

WELL-KNOWN West Clare horse breeder, Tommy Fitzpatrick will be glued to his television screen as the Olympics unfold in Rio this weekend. Tommy, from Henry Street in Kilrush, will be keeping his fingers crossed for a fairytale ending, as a horse that passed through his hands, The Duke of Cavan, will be going for glory in eventing for Japan. Tommy sold the bay gelding, by Courage out of the dam Dysert Girl, as a yearling to Vincie Meaney of Cranny. Meaney, in turn, broke in the horse and sold him on as a four year-old at the Cavan Horse Sales to Natalie Stevens from Lelant, near St Ives, in England. Now a 10-year-old, amongst his achievements was winning the Two Star Tattersall event in Ireland; he then jumped a double clear in the Three Star event at Blenheim. His success eventually led to him being sold in 2015 to the Japanese equestrian squad, which is based in Germany. Owner, Yoshiaki …

FOLLOWING confirmation at the weekend that she has been awarded a full-time contract with the Irish Rugby 7s side, 23-year-old Kilmihil girl, Eimear Considine, has taken a step closer to participating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. An Irish and PE teacher in Glasnevin, Considine has been playing senior football for Clare since she was 16 and has also represented the county senior camogie team for several years. “You’d never even imagine, that you might be in the Olympics,” she told The Clare Champion this week. Considine had not played rugby before and, incredibly, she was approached to try out via a message on LinkedIn, which she almost missed completely. “I have never played rugby. I’d heard of a lot of people who have transferred over to it and I always wanted to try it but I didn’t know how to go about it. I got a message on LinkedIn, which I only joined because we were …

This week, Enistymon CBS students started working with Sky Sports ambassador Thomas Barr, who is hoping to represent Ireland in the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing later this year and at the Olympics in Rio in 2016. The Barr family, who are from Ferrybank in Waterford, could have double representation in Rio if Thomas’s sister Jesse also makes it. Jesse is already an Olympian, having represented Ireland at the London Olympics in the 400m hurdles. Thomas, who is studying for a Masters in Sports Performance at UL, will seek to help the Ennistymon pupils in sporting and academic terms during his visits to the school. “We’re using sport as a model. We do this thing called the Six Keys To Success. We go through all of the different attributes of an athlete and what it takes to get to the top. You can apply that to anywhere in life, no matter what you’re doing. It could …