Who are we sending to the Olympics?

snubbleste

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants.
Before it was Sonia dis, Rob dat, Caitríona, Katie etc.
Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

eamonnq

Jedward

Bottleopener

snubbleste wrote: »

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants.
Before it was Sonia dis, Rob dat, Caitríona, Katie etc.
Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

If you want to follow Irish people who have qualified for the Olympics, this thread has a great amount of information: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056783559&page=101

LightsStillOn

We don't have world class athletes who can take part and win medals in the Olympics, for the most part, because the funding system over here compared to most other countries is a joke.

Dodge

http://www.balls.ie/athletics/the-updated-list-of-every-irish-athlete-qualified-for-2016-olympics/312332

All there. 69 qualified so far. Still months away. Loads of TV sport for you to get worked up about before then

DEFTLEFTHAND

RTE do a programme every week called Road to Rio where they profile some of the athletes on the team.

I'd say it's up on their player.

DEFTLEFTHAND

LightsStillOn wrote: »

We don't have world class athletes who can take part and win medals in the Olympics, for the most part, because the funding system over here compared to most other countries is a joke.

Plus we've a tiny pool to pick from compared to other nations.

beach_walker

Calm down OP, Euros first!

Christy42

There are also plenty of spots left. Katie hasn't qualified yet but will be expected to be there. I know of a few other sports where there are a load of qualifying competitions left. Always find it weird that you can find out about such a big thing (going to the olympics) just a month or two before you step on the plane!

Badly Drunk Boy

snubbleste wrote: »

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants.
Before it was Sonia dis, Rob dat, Caitríona, Katie etc.
Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

There has been an ad on the telly for the past month or two. I haven't paid much attention to it but it shows various sportspeople doing various sports with the odd "I'm bringing back gold for Ireland!" type soundbites.

Why would Brazil not having English as the first language be an issue? The Olympics have been in non-anglophone countries before. It even started in one!

MarcoAntonio23

The Kinahans are sending over a team for the 25m rapid-fire pistol class

snubbleste

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Why would Brazil not having English as the first language be an issue? The Olympics have been in non-anglophone countries before. It even started in one!

Well the Us, Uk, Oz Olympics were more heavily promoted in Ireland than the ones in Greece, China etc.

Tabnabs

Tidey...

http://briancarlinphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/BrienTidey_Rio2016_Photo-BrianCarlin.jpg

JustShon

eamonnq wrote: »

Jedward

I heard Dustin will represent us in the boxing.

JPNelsforearm

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Plus we've a tiny pool to pick from compared to other nations.

I'd say its more a national aversion to success, eg Michelle DeBruin and her treatment by the establishment, says all you need about priorities, its certainly not about success, thus they get the coverage and mainstream attention they deserve, as in, very little.

snubbleste

beach_walker wrote: »

Calm down OP, Euros first!

But I'm not interested in twenty two grown men chasing a wee ball around a field..

beach_walker

snubbleste wrote: »

But I'm not interested in twenty two grown men chasing a wee ball around a field..

Well just think of it as a warm-up for the live pharmaceutical trials competition then.

Dr Crayfish

Who was that boat woman who nearly won gold in the last one? O'Brien was it? Hopefully she's in this one too

snubbleste

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

Who was that boat woman who nearly won gold in the last one? O'Brien was it? Hopefully she's in this one too

Sally O'Brien

Mint Sauce

snubbleste wrote: »

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants.
Before it was Sonia dis, Rob dat, Caitríona, Katie etc.
Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

Erm, our mostly highly profiled Olympian in recent years Katie Taylor, asuming on a good run in The Worlds, one of the top Golfers in the world Rory McIlroy has declared himself , plus one or two swimmers currently competing well in The Europeans in London, and thats just a few off the top of my head.

BoJack Horseman

snubbleste wrote: »

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants

What efforts did you make to find out?

Riskymove

snubbleste wrote: »

Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

I think Rory McIllroy and Shane Lowry as Golf Team will probably be considered high profile

Barnes, Conlan in Boxing

Most likely Katie Taylor too

moleyv

Our horses are trying to keep a low profile, avoiding dark alleys, cocktail bars and glamour models navels.

Christy42

snubbleste wrote: »

Well the Us, Uk, Oz Olympics were more heavily promoted in Ireland than the ones in Greece, China etc.

I know for Oz and London (Sonia and Katie) we had much better chances of golds than in the others. Unsure about 96 though. I guess we had Michelle though I can't remember if we expected her to get a medal at that point or if we had already figured she had taken everything in the local pharmacy at that stage. London is also right next to us as well which helps build hype.

snubbleste

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

What efforts did you make to find out?

I started a thread in AH.

Donald Trump

snubbleste wrote: »

The Olympics are only 11 weeks away, yet I know of no Irish participants.
Before it was Sonia dis, Rob dat, Caitríona, Katie etc.
Are there no high profile sports people left in Ireland? Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

I know how you feel.

This morning I woke up wondering, for some reason, what the capital of Bahrain is. I decided against goolgling it and instead chose to come on here and give out about the fact that I've never seen it in the papers. Not that I read papers mind you

Is it because they don't speak English? Maybe it's an anti-Arab thing. Either way, it's your fault that I was not aware of it.

Agent Smyth

beach_walker wrote: »

Well just think of it as a warm-up for the live pharmaceutical trials competition then.

I like that, I like that a lot, I think I'll be quoting that a few times this summer

snubbleste

Donald Trump wrote: »

I know how you feel.
This morning I woke up wondering, for some reason, what the capital of Bahrain is. I decided against goolgling it and instead chose to come on here and give out about the fact that I've never seen it in the papers. Not that I read papers mind you
Is it because they don't speak English? Maybe it's an anti-Arab thing. Either way, it's society's fault that I was not aware of it.

I knew the capital of Bahrain was Manama. :cool:

Donald Trump

snubbleste wrote: »

I knew the capital of Bahrain was Manama. :cool:

And yet you never told me!

JustShon

Donald Trump wrote: »

And yet you never told me!

You should've started a thread about.

Incidentally, don't you have a wall to be building?

snubbleste

Normally it's hyped up to a year in advance with heavy promotion from sponsors and all the usual flag waving from rté.
Yet, I've seen or heard very little, except see a promotion on coca-cola bottles.

snubbleste

Donald Trump wrote: »

And yet you never told me!

But I was not next to you when you woke up.

Scorpion Sting

snubbleste wrote: »

Sally O'Brien

And the way she might look at ya.

Tabnabs

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

Who was that boat woman who nearly won gold in the last one? O'Brien was it? Hopefully she's in this one too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalise_Murphy

She's back again.

Dr Crayfish

Tabnabs wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalise_Murphy

She's back again.

That's the one. My hero. I hope she does well this time, I remember following her online, tracking a little dinghy via a satellite, looking forward to doing the same this year.

maudgonner

snubbleste wrote: »

I knew the capital of Bahrain was Manama. :cool:

Manama? Nah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTXyXuqfBLA

(You can all commence hating me now. Or, ya know, continue)

Maireadio

snubbleste wrote: »

Why is there so little publicity, marketing etc? Is it because Brazil is a non-english speaking country?

Huh? Why would that matter? Lots of Olympic Games are held in non-English speaking countries. Atlanta, Sydney and London have been the only English-speaking locations of the last 30 years.

Mint Sauce

snubbleste wrote: »

Normally it's hyped up to a year in advance with heavy promotion from sponsors and all the usual flag waving from rté.
Yet, I've seen or heard very little, except see a promotion on coca-cola bottles.

Was/Is it? Maybe London was becuase it was so close amd local, and to an extent, Greece, due to the significance of it. But I dont recall crazy hype for previous ones ther than maybe Barcelona.

Maireadio

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Plus we've a tiny pool to pick from compared to other nations.

Even so, sport just isn't nurtured here like in other countries. If you're from a rural location, a lot of sports aren't open to you outside of team sports. I would have loved to do tennis and gymnastics as a childer but not a hope in the rural west of Ireland, at least where I was.

So, yes, we have a low population but some kids' potential will never be discovered because the facilities and expertise aren't there. I bet other low population countries fare better than we do.

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

I'd say its more a national aversion to success

Such a crock of shít.

Maireadio

Christy42 wrote: »

I know for Oz and London (Sonia and Katie) we had much better chances of golds than in the others. Unsure about 96 though.

Sonia was our big gold medal hope for '96 going into the Olympics. She was at her peak and I think it was assumed it was a formality. I remember when Michelle won her golds and it moved to the track and field events, it was thought we might leave the Olympics with five or six golds.

Unfortunately, Sonia was unlucky enough to fall ill with a stomach bug. I think she would have got gold that year otherwise. Awful for the country, but more awful for her, to be honest. How frustrating that must have been for her. All that training for nothing.

JPNelsforearm

Maireadio wrote: »

Such a crock of shít.

Tell me when Michelle DeBruin is lauded for her achievements and pathetic losers who wallow in failure like Paul Kimmage are put out to pasture. There is an acceptance of failure in Irish athletics, and sport in general, moralists waiting to pounce on any successful athlete, and given a platform to expound upon their moralism, indoctrinating ordinary people into believing success is tainted.

Christy42

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Tell me when Michelle DeBruin is lauded for her achievements and pathetic losers who wallow in failure like Paul Kimmage are put out to pasture. There is an acceptance of failure in Irish athletics, and sport in general, moralists waiting to pounce on any successful athlete, and given a platform to expound upon their moralism, indoctrinating ordinary people into believing success is tainted.

Success is fine (see Katie Taylor, a load of soccer players who have done well for themselves, Sonia O'Sullivan, a host of our Rugby players, I know many were delighted for Heffernan after he got his medal belatedly and you can probably think of more).

On the other hand cheating is tainted. Success without being a horrific cheat is good- cheating bad.

Maireadio

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Tell me when Michelle DeBruin is lauded for her achievements and pathetic losers who wallow in failure like Paul Kimmage are put out to pasture.

For months after her win, I heard the Beatles song 'Michelle' played on radio stations more times than I care to remember. The country was delirious with happiness over it, at least at the time.

And I distinctly recall a panel member of some show or other on RTÉ a few months after the Olympics being rounded on by the audience and other panel members for suggesting that her wins were a bit suspect. As for why she is no longer lauded, well, I don't really want to open that can of worms but I don't think that's really a smoking gun that shows that people here have an "aversion to success". Personally, I felt disappointed when I realised that maybe Michelle Smyth's wins might not be what they seemed. I wasn't happy.

Meanwhile, Sonia was (rightfully) always spoke of as a huge talent in the Irish media. I rarely heard a negative thing said about her. And she continues to be spoke of very well and it is recognised both in Ireland and the UK that she was a world class athlete.

I also remember the huge excitement surrounding Katie Taylor's and Michael Carruth's wins.

So yes, your contention is a crock of shít.

kfallon

Is Jimmy Magee going for RTE?

DEFTLEFTHAND

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Tell me when Michelle DeBruin is lauded for her achievements and pathetic losers who wallow in failure like Paul Kimmage are put out to pasture. There is an acceptance of failure in Irish athletics, and sport in general, moralists waiting to pounce on any successful athlete, and given a platform to expound upon their moralism, indoctrinating ordinary people into believing success is tainted.

More of a celebration of mediocrity in some cases than an acceptance of failure imo.

I don't think I've ever respected any athlete more than Paddy Barnes in 2008 when said to the interviewer after his semi final defeat that he'd rather throw the bronze into the Lagan when he got home, it's a loser medal, he came for the gold.

That's a brilliant attitude to have in competitive sport, a killer instinct. Keep pushing until you're the best.

JPNelsforearm

Maireadio wrote: »

For months after her win, I heard the Beatles song 'Michelle' played on radio stations more times than I care to remember. The country was delirious with happiness over it, at least at the time.

And I distinctly recall a panel member of some show or other on RTÉ a few months after the Olympics being rounded on by the audience and other panel members for suggesting that her wins were a bit suspect. As for why she is no longer lauded, well, I don't really want to open that can of worms but I don't think that's really a smoking gun that shows that people here have an "aversion to success". Personally, I felt disappointed when I realised that maybe Michelle Smyth's wins might not be what they seemed. I wasn't happy.

Meanwhile, Sonia was (rightfully) always spoke of as a huge talent in the Irish media. I rarely heard a negative thing said about her. And she continues to be spoke of very well and it is recognised both in Ireland and the UK that she was a world class athlete.

I also remember the huge excitement surrounding Katie Taylor's and Michael Carruth's wins.

So yes, your contention is a crock of shít.

Has Kimmage not been banging on about doping in Irish rugby during one of our most successful periods? Trying in vain to chop down successful athletes. Michelle DeBruin is one of Irelands greatest athletes, winning is all that matters the fact she isnt lauded today says to me that winning is not prioritised with the Irish Sports Council, they are happy for participation awards. Olympic sports will never be relevant until the athletes themselves realise that, as other nations do, eg the Jamaican sprint team.

Christy42

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Has Kimmage not been banging on about doping in Irish rugby during one of our most successful periods? Trying in vain to chop down successful athletes. Michelle DeBruin is one of Irelands greatest athletes, winning is all that matters the fact she isnt lauded today says to me that winning is not prioritised with the Irish Sports Council, they are happy for participation awards. Olympic sports will never be relevant until the athletes themselves realise that, as other nations do, eg the Jamaican sprint team.

Has he? I don't think anyone has listened to that as they are generally considered heroes.

What is the point in winning if you cheat? Sure there are monetary benefits for the athlete in question but what is the point in a country encouraging it?

No one thinks the Soviets produced any athletes of merit in spite of all the records they still hold. Likewise look at the sheer amount of medals Russia recently lost.

What exactly is your claim and evidence against the Jamaican sprint team?

jamesbere

maudgonner wrote: »

Manama? Nah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTXyXuqfBLA

(You can all commence hating me now. Or, ya know, continue)

That should've been our Eurovision entry

metaoblivia

Ireland qualified a female gymnast for the first time, Ellis O'Reilly. Kiernan Behan qualified in men's gymnastics again and he has an outside shot at making floor finals.

Maireadio

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Has Kimmage not been banging on about doping in Irish rugby during one of our most successful periods? Trying in vain to chop down successful athletes. Michelle DeBruin is one of Irelands greatest athletes, winning is all that matters the fact she isnt lauded today says to me that winning is not prioritised with the Irish Sports Council, they are happy for participation awards. Olympic sports will never be relevant until the athletes themselves realise that, as other nations do, eg the Jamaican sprint team.

You've mentioned the same person in two posts. That's one person. He's a sports journalist but not the only one. And I have no idea how that translates to "Irish people have an aversion to success".

This is clearly something you like to soapbox about so there's point replying further with you about it, especially as you're not making much sense.

SEPT 23 1989

kfallon wrote: »

Is Jimmy Magee going for RTE?

he is being thawed out as we speak