This was a busy week for us, both from a sporting perspective, but also as an organisation, with the launch of our Don’t Scroll By campaign, targeting online hate speech, a campaign that was led by our Athletes’ Commission and supported by the wider Olympic family, more below.
Below we have a number of updates from a variety of sport. As a reminder, the current status of Team Ireland with less than 150 days until the Tokyo Olympics is that we have 54 guaranteed athletes travelling to the Games, with many more sitting within qualification. This number has not changed in the last number of weeks.
The full details of the team can be found AT THIS LINK which is regularly updated.
OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND UPDATES
This week the OFI Athletes’ Commission launched the Don’t Scroll By Campaign which had a real call to action, asking everyone to play a role in eliminating hate speech online. On Tuesday we launched the campaign with a video which highlighted the message #DeleteBanReport. A booklet was distributed to sports explaining why it is important to celebrate and safeguard our athletes, inviting official sports channels around the country to adopt the same zero-tolerance approach. We also launched a Don’t Scroll By module on our Dare to Believe Schools Programme.
Last Friday the deadline for Tokyo media accreditation closed, with 34 confirmed journalists and photographers planning on attending the Tokyo Olympic Games. This number includes an OFI media team who will give a boost to the coverage that we will be able to provide to both the media, as well as keeping our own channels updated.
Looking ahead to 2032, Brisbane has been invited into a targeted dialogue with the view of hosting the Summer Olympic Games. READ MORE.
TOKYO UPDATES
A new Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee President has been appointed – Hashimoto Seiko is taking on the position as an experienced political figure, who is a former Chef de Mission, and the appointment was welcomed widely.
Below you will find an update from some of our National Federations.
Archery
Archery and Muaythai have been added to the programme for the European Games 2023 in Krakow-Malopolska. Read more HERE.
Athletics
Last weekend it was refreshing to have live athletics being streamed from the Sport Ireland Campus, with the Irish Life Health Elite Micro Meet at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena. On Day One amongst the highlights was the final of the men’s 800m, where Mark English broke his own National Record with 1:46.10, and Longford’s Cian McPhillips clocking a 6 second PB with 1:46.13.
Day two was just as exciting, with the women’s 800m race being the biggest discussion point – with four athletes claiming personal bests, and running inside the European Indoor Standard of 2:03.85, to add to the Sunday night Irish record of Síofra Cléirigh Buttner – with a time of 2:00.58.
Wednesday’s World Cup Tour in Madrid saw five athletes compete, with Nadia Power (800m) and Sarah Lavin (60mh) both finishing in an impressive third place.
Boxing
This week the Irish team are competing at the Strandja Multi-Nations, with two boxers moving into the semi-finals with medals guaranteed – tomorrow Brendan Irvine competes in the flyweight category, and Aoife O’Rourke in the middleweight category. All updates from the event can be found on the IABA social media accounts (twitter – @IABABOXING).
In Tokyo related news, the IOC Boxing Task Force has cancelled the World Qualifier in Paris in June, with those allocated spots being now distributed equally across four regions (Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe). The Task Force will be ranking athletes, which means that the best ranked boxer in each category and continent who hasn’t previously qualified will be awarded a spot. Ireland had been midway through the European qualifiers last March when the event was cancelled due to the pandemic, and where the only Irish athlete to qualify was Brendan Irvine. There will now be a wait before the ranking system is updated, and the European qualifiers are completed.
Experienced boxing referee Dermot McDermott has been given the nod to officiate at the Americas Olympic qualifier.
Cycling
Yesterday was a momentous day for Sam Bennett, when he claimed his 50th career win, after storming to victory in the bunch sprint on Stage 4 of the UAE Tour at Al Marjan Island.
Equestrian
Last weekend Wexford’s Bertram Allen and the Irish Sport Horse Castlefield Vegas took a superb victory in the three -star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA, continuing a good run of form.
Golf
This week the LPGA season restarts at the Gainbridge LPGA in Orlando, Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire got their first rounds underway yesterday.
Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy compete at the first World Golf Championship of 2021. The WGC Workday Championship began yesterday also in Florida at the Concession Golf Club.
Judo
It was a tough weekend for Ireland’s Ben Fletcher who suffered fractures to his tibia and fibula whilst competing at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam on Saturday. He had surgery during the week at the Cromwell Private Hospital in London, which went well. Ben’s extensive rehabilitation programme starts immediately, and he is already walking with the aid of crutches. At the moment Ben is sitting in a comfortable qualifying position in the Men’s -100kg, but will miss out on some key qualifying events. It will be a waiting game for him to see how other competitors improve, while he is sitting out. While currently sitting within ranking, qualification for Tokyo may be tight, but is not impossible given his status.
Rowing
Ireland’s newest World Champion is Alex Byrne, the young rower who won the World U23 Indoor Championships in a time of 5.55.3. The Cork rower is on the Irish heavyweight men’s squad, and is the younger brother of World Silver Medallist in the Men’s Double Scull, Ronan Byrne.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo Ireland’s Jack Woolley is currently at a pre-Olympic training camp in Belgrade, Serbia. Jack carded 2 well fought wins out of two in test matches this week, bringing his February test match total to 4-0. Next week Jack travels to Sofia, Bulgaria where World Taekwondo has its first World Ranking Open tournament since March 2020, the final event in 2020 was also the Sofia Open where the Tallaght native won gold.
BEIJING UPDATES
On the 4th February 2021 it was exactly one year to go until the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022, and for Team Ireland athletes targeting qualification, competition is underway across the sports. We caught up with Cross Country Skier Thomas Maloney Westgaard and Luge athlete Elsa Desmond last week, when they spoke about training and their plans with Cliona Foley. WATCH IT HERE.
Snow Sports
Last weekend, Ireland’s Cormac Comerford achieved a top result with a 23rd place finish in the Men’s Slalom at the Telepass FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021.
This weekend there is more action for Ireland, with all eyes on the Irish contingent who are competing in the Stora Enso FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, which will include the in form Thomas Maloney-Westgaard.
