Tag Archives: Rio

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 …