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Road to Tokyo 2020 - Irish Olympic News

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Comments

  • #32
    highbury1913
    Closed Accounts Posts: 103 ✭✭highbury1913


    The Irish were 9th out of 10 in the 4 X 100m medley relay. A bit of controversy about the changeover with Haas and whether he went too early. Looks like they are still in going by the results too far. I hope so because we would be deprived of a great battle with Great Britain. It's also a chance for Dressel to get a 7th gold.

    Tonight's final evening session should be a great one to end it. Hosszu in the 400 IM to get another gold in the front of the home crowd, King against Efimova once again in the 50m BS with both coming off quick times in their semis. I wouldn't rule out a possible WR here. And then the 1500m for men also.

    I'd never thought I would say this before this championship but Ledecky could have serious competition by the next Olympics in Li Bingjie. I did a bit of research on this. Ledecky was 15 for her 2012 Olympic gold in a then American Record of 8:14.63. Contrast this now with Li Bingjie at 15 coming 2nd in 8:15.46 which is an Asian record. Then take Li Bingjie's bronze in the 400m in a time of 4:03.25. Ledecky in the US trials in 2012 came 3rd in the 400m in 4:05.00 which was the fastest time ever by a 15 year old American.

    Definitely one to watch and will be interesting to see how she progresses in the lead up to the Olympics.


  • #33
    walshb
    Registered Users Posts: 54,549 ✭✭✭✭walshb


    Super final day in Budapest. As expected the U.S. dominated the medley relays..

    Star of the championships for me was Caleb Dressel.

    He came so close to one of swimming's toughest records, Phelp's 100 fly record from Rome 2009..He will break it soon..

    Sjostrom a close second, with two WRs in the freestyle events..

    Oh, and a great end to Camille Lacourt's career. His 3rd straight WC gold on 50 back..


  • #34
    flynng
    Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭flynng


    What week it has been for Irish sport. Team gold and individual bronze for Cian O' Connor(he has a great record in big Championships) at the European Equestrian Games in Sweden. A truly fantastic team result as Bertran Allen forced to retire after second Round forcing the remaining three members scores to automatically count.Flawless jumping to be honest!

    Gold too for Shane Ryan and Mona McSharry at the Universiade Games in South Korea in their respective swimming events.

    11th place finish in the Men's Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Cairo and as I write Nathalya Coyle lying second in the Women's.

    Nicholas Roche in third place in the General Classification for the Vuelta in Spain too at the moment.

    A great week overall for Olympic related sports.


  • #35
    Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,144 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    Coyle finished 14th

    Shane Ryan's result was good for him but won't have any effect on Rio

    Conor Ferguson and Mona McSharry are the real deal though. For reference her time would have been top 10 in the last Olympic and World Championship semi finals. Would have been 6th in the olympic final (different circumstances etc)

    She'll be 20 in Tokyo and if she continues to progress could be a real contender


  • #36
    flynng
    Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭flynng


    The Universiade Games are in Taipei and not South Korea as previously mentioned. Also should have mentioned the Men's and Women's Hockey teams maintaining Division 1A status in the European Championships. The Men were particularly misfortunate not to make the Semi-Finals. It was really important that both teams maintained their status in the top Division. Well done to both squads!


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  • #37
    Oldira
    Registered Users Posts: 357 ✭✭Oldira


    Dodge wrote: »
    Coyle finished 14th

    Shane Ryan's result was good for him but won't have any effect on Rio

    Conor Ferguson and Mona McSharry are the real deal though. For reference her time would have been top 10 in the last Olympic and World Championship semi finals. Would have been 6th in the olympic final (different circumstances etc)

    She'll be 20 in Tokyo and if she continues to progress could be a real contender


    Coyle was second going into the last (combined) event so I would say she is disappointed with how she finished. Lanigan O'Keefe had a disasterous fencing competition winning only 11 of his 33 bouts. If he had won around 20 he would have got Gold. Both of these are definitely live contenders for Tokyo.


  • #38
    Chivito550
    Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    Dodge wrote: »
    Coyle finished 14th

    Shane Ryan's result was good for him but won't have any effect on Rio

    Conor Ferguson and Mona McSharry are the real deal though. For reference her time would have been top 10 in the last Olympic and World Championship semi finals. Would have been 6th in the olympic final (different circumstances etc)

    She'll be 20 in Tokyo and if she continues to progress could be a real contender

    We've been here before with Grainne Murphy and Ciara Mageean. Outstanding junior success often doesn't lead to top level senior success. In fact very few make that transition from world class junior to world class senior. Many develop at different stages too, so many who weren't great as juniors can leapfrop those who were.

    Again in athletics, we are seeing people pinning their hopes on a bunch of very talented juniors (after a summer of great success for our female sprinters among others), creating ridiculous unnecessary pressure to perform as soon as they hit the senior ranks. It's a problem in Irish sport. We have such little success, that we get overexcited about success at junior level and start bigging up the talent.

    No point in blowing up this girl and thinking she'll be a contender in Tokyo. If she is come 2020, then brilliant. But she's just as likely to be injured, burnt out, underperforming, didn't develop further after 17, as she is to be in medal contention. In fact, if history is anything to go by, the former scenarios are far more likely.


  • #39
    Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,144 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    Except none of those won world junior titles. I know Mageean won silver but there is a track record of swimming junior champions moving on. It is a better indicator than the European level success of McMahon and Murphy etc

    And of course loads can happen. If any Irish swimmer is to medal at senior level it'll be almost a miracle


  • #40
    catchup
    Registered Users Posts: 101 ✭✭catchup


    The lead man in the French crew that beat the O’Donovan brothers in the Rio Olympic Rowing Regatta has just announced his retirement.
    Makes the boys from Skib most people’s favorites heading towards Tokyo.


  • #41
    Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,144 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    catchup wrote: »
    The lead man in the French crew that beat the O’Donovan brothers in the Rio Olympic Rowing Regatta has just announced his retirement.
    Makes the boys from Skib most people’s favorites heading towards Tokyo.

    I wouldn’t say they’re favourites but it’s a big help. Azou is only 28 so I wouldn’t rule out a comeback


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  • #42
    catchup
    Registered Users Posts: 101 ✭✭catchup


    Following the recent World Rowing Championship Regatta Ireland has 3 world champions. Paul O’Donovan in the Lightweight Single Sculls, and Mark O’Donivan and Shane O’Driscoll in the Lightweight Pair. All from Skibbereen. Sanita Puspure, our Openweight Single Sculler, finished 4th in the A Final.

    Rowing is shaping up to be a top Irish sport in Tokyo.


  • #43
    catchup
    Registered Users Posts: 101 ✭✭catchup


    Dodge wrote: »
    I wouldn’t say they’re favourites but it’s a big help. Azou is only 28 so I wouldn’t rule out a comeback

    I said most people’s favoritesðŸ‘. The field is tightening up and they couldn’t compete at the Worlds due to Gary O’Donovan missing weeks of training in the run up to the Worlds so it’s difficult to know how they would have finished. But based on performance through the year they should have been in the medals.


  • #44
    Chivito550
    Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    catchup wrote: »
    Following the recent World Rowing Championship Regatta Ireland has 3 world champions. Paul O’Donovan in the Lightweight Single Sculls, and Mark O’Donivan and Shane O’Driscoll in the Lightweight Pair. All from Skibbereen. Sanita Puspure, our Openweight Single Sculler, finished 4th in the A Final.

    Rowing is shaping up to be a top Irish sport in Tokyo.

    None of those were in Olympic events though. Had Gary been fit they would have won a medal in the LM2X, so we are unlucky there. I think a medal of any colour in an Olympic discipline at Worlds tops a gold in non Olympic categories, particularly in lightweight sweep rowing, which now has no Olympic events.

    In fact after Tokyo, there's a real worry that lightweight will be off the Olympic programme completely, and then we'll be in trouble, as we don't tend to produce many good heavyweights.

    As for Tokyo, there's only 2 lightweight events, the LM2X and LW2X, so for Mark and Shane to make Tokyo, they'll have to change to sculling and try de-seat Gary and Paul, or else put on about 10-15kg and go heavyweight. The loss of the LM4- is a killer for their chances of getting to Tokyo.


  • #45
    catchup
    Registered Users Posts: 101 ✭✭catchup


    Chivito550 wrote: »
    None of those were in Olympic events though. Had Gary been fit they would have won a medal in the LM2X, so we are unlucky there. I think a medal of any colour in an Olympic discipline at Worlds tops a gold in non Olympic categories, particularly in lightweight sweep rowing, which now has no Olympic events.

    In fact after Tokyo, there's a real worry that lightweight will be off the Olympic programme completely, and then we'll be in trouble, as we don't tend to produce many good heavyweights.

    As for Tokyo, there's only 2 lightweight events, the LM2X and LW2X, so for Mark and Shane to make Tokyo, they'll have to change to sculling and try de-seat Gary and Paul, or else put on about 10-15kg and go heavyweight. The loss of the LM4- is a killer for their chances of getting to Tokyo.

    Yep. You’re right about the events being non Olympic. It was bad luck on Gary being out of action because they would have won a medal in the LM2x which is an Olympic event. I’d put money that Lightweight rowing will be gone after Tokyo. But Rowing Ireland know that and the HP people are working on developing a pathway for openweight rowers, particularly women where we will have a better chance of finding good candidates.


  • #46
    Chivito550
    Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    catchup wrote: »
    Yep. You’re right about the events being non Olympic. It was bad luck on Gary being out of action because they would have won a medal in the LM2x which is an Olympic event. I’d put money that Lightweight rowing will be gone after Tokyo. But Rowing Ireland know that and the HP people are working on developing a pathway for openweight rowers, particularly women where we will have a better chance of finding good candidates.

    What will happen to Gary and Paul post Tokyo though, if lightweight does indeed get scrapped?


  • #47
    Skid X
    Registered Users Posts: 21,444 ✭✭✭✭Skid X


    Story here that Joe Ward's nemesis Julio Cesar La Cruz (who has beaten him three times in the World Championships) might be moving up in weight, which might make life slightly easier for Ward


    http://www.irish-boxing.com/joe-ward-receives-cuban-boost/


  • #48
    Dan man
    Registered Users Posts: 3,076 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dan man


    Rio 2016 Olympian Benjamin Fletcher celebrated his first tournament as an Irish judoka by claiming gold at the IJF World Grand Prix in Tunis last weekend.
    The victory was a first-ever World Tour gold medal won by an Irish judoka.
    Benjamin, who is 25 years old, represented Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Olympics and won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in 2011.
    On his way to gold in Tunis he defeated the African champion in the semi finals before dispatching the 2014 junior world bronze medalist from Russia in the final.
    Here's hoping Benjamin can make it to Tokyo 2020!


  • #49
    Chivito550
    Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    Annalise Murphy is changing to the 49er class for Tokyo. There's one of our medal chances gone now.

    Seems like she wants a new challenge, rather than the pressure of trying to match or better her Rio performance in the Laser Radial.


  • #50
    Dodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,144 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    Chivito550 wrote: »
    Annalise Murphy is changing to the 49er class for Tokyo. There's one of our medal chances gone now.

    Seems like she wants a new challenge, rather than the pressure of trying to match or better her Rio performance in the Laser Radial.

    As long as she beats Saskia Tidey...


  • #51
    Oldira
    Registered Users Posts: 357 ✭✭Oldira


    First actual qualification places were awarded this week at the World Sailing Championships. This is te main qualification event for Tokyo and sadly no Irish boat qualified and in fact none came near qualifying. Will take a big effort and some luck to qualify any boat this cycle. I know Annalise Murphy did not take part as she and Katie Tingle are training and will go all out in 2019 but it still is a disappointment that our mens Laser and 49er finished so far down the field.


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  • #52
    metaoblivia
    Registered Users Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭metaoblivia


    With his performances at Commonwealths and the European championships this year - winning both events on pommels and beating reigning World and Olympic champ Max Whitlock both times - Rhys McClenaghan has got to be considered a good prospect for Tokyo 2020.

    Qualifying for gymnastics is complicated, and Rhys won't get there via team. Ireland would have to send a full team to the 2018 worlds in order to try and qualify for the 2019 worlds, and they aren't doing that. He likely won't get there by competing the all-around either (he has yet to compete AA at a major event as a senior), so his best shots are:

    1. Winning the Event World Cup circuit on pommels. These competitions will begin in November 2018 and will end in March 2020. Rhys would have to attend enough of these competitions and win/finish well to be considered the overall winner. He has already won two World Cup titles in the past year, which won't count, but bodes well for him.
    2. Finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd on pommels at the 2019 World Championships.

    He could also try qualifying as an AA individual by placing in the top 12 men who aren't part of a qualifying team at the 2019 Worlds or by finishing top 2 all around at a continental championships. This will likely not happen. He could also hope Ireland qualifies as one of the three countries who gets an AA berth via the 4 AA World Cup competitions, but this is also highly unlikely.


  • #53
    Oldira
    Registered Users Posts: 357 ✭✭Oldira


    metaoblivia wrote: »
    With his performances at Commonwealths and the European championships this year - winning both events on pommels and beating reigning World and Olympic champ Max Whitlock both times - Rhys McClenaghan has got to be considered a good prospect for Tokyo 2020.

    Qualifying for gymnastics is complicated, and Rhys won't get there via team. Ireland would have to send a full team to the 2018 worlds in order to try and qualify for the 2019 worlds, and they aren't doing that. He likely won't get there by competing the all-around either (he has yet to compete AA at a major event as a senior), so his best shots are:

    1. Winning the Event World Cup circuit on pommels. These competitions will begin in November 2018 and will end in March 2020. Rhys would have to attend enough of these competitions and win/finish well to be considered the overall winner. He has already won two World Cup titles in the past year, which won't count, but bodes well for him.
    2. Finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd on pommels at the 2019 World Championships.

    He could also try qualifying as an AA individual by placing in the top 12 men who aren't part of a qualifying team at the 2019 Worlds or by finishing top 2 all around at a continental championships. This will likely not happen. He could also hope Ireland qualifies as one of the three countries who gets an AA berth via the 4 AA World Cup competitions, but this is also highly unlikely.


    I see that teams have been reduced from 5 to 4 as well. Does this mean that if Rhys finished 4th at next years worlds but the three ahead of him were from countries that had already qualified teams he would qualify? Or can NOCs qualify a team AND seperate individuals for the appartus? Trting to read the guidelines and its not too clear.


  • #54
    metaoblivia
    Registered Users Posts: 2,256 ✭✭✭metaoblivia


    Oldira wrote: »
    I see that teams have been reduced from 5 to 4 as well. Does this mean that if Rhys finished 4th at next years worlds but the three ahead of him were from countries that had already qualified teams he would qualify? Or can NOCs qualify a team AND seperate individuals for the appartus? Trting to read the guidelines and its not too clear.

    Yes, he could finish 4th and still qualify if the top three finishers are from nations that qualify as a team. This is different from previous years where he would have to have qualified to event finals and finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd full stop. That's why they've reduced the number of AA gymnasts from non qualified teams who get to go to Tokyo, to accommodate the event specialists from non qualified teams. Rhys finished 14th at Worlds last year. He had 6 guys in front of him who came from teams that will not qualify for the Olympics. He competed a lower level of difficulty back then, but he will still have to go all out since pommels is an event that several smaller countries specialize in. And he can't fall or have a major mistake, obviously. Also, say two Slovenians beat him in the pommels qualification (Slovenia will not make it as a team), finishing 4th and 5th and Kristian Berki of Hungary is back and finishes in the top 3 (Hungary will also not qualify a team). Berki and the two Slovenians would qualify and Rhys would be out of luck.

    The 2019 qualifications process is the quickest way to Tokyo for an event specialist and you can bet countries will be going all out for those spots in qualifying.


  • #55
    Skid X
    Registered Users Posts: 21,444 ✭✭✭✭Skid X


    Team Silver for Ireland and Individual Silver for Padraig McCarthy at the Eventing World Championships today

    http://www.the42.ie/team-ireland-eventing-silver-4240645-Sep2018/

    That also qualifies the Ireland team for Tokyo 2020


  • #56
    Oldira
    Registered Users Posts: 357 ✭✭Oldira


    Skid X wrote: »
    Team Silver for Ireland and Individual Silver for Padraig McCarthy at the Eventing World Championships today

    http://www.the42.ie/team-ireland-eventing-silver-4240645-Sep2018/

    That also qualifies the Ireland team for Tokyo 2020

    At last Team Ireland is off the mark. Eventing teams now reduced to Three for the Olympics which is makes the competition more of a lottery. One lame horse etc and the team is gone.

    Two Gold and Three silver in World Championships (incl hockey) in Olympic events is very positive for this cycle. But its a long long way to Tokyo.


  • #57
    Oldira
    Registered Users Posts: 357 ✭✭Oldira


    Just had a look at the 2016 Rio tread and at this date there was already 32 pages. Only 4 for Tokyo. Have a lot of people ost interest in this Olympic cycle? Lads like Dan the Man, Dodge etc seem to have disappeared.


  • #58
    Skid X
    Registered Users Posts: 21,444 ✭✭✭✭Skid X


    Oldira wrote: »
    Just had a look at the 2016 Rio tread and at this date there was already 32 pages. Only 4 for Tokyo. Have a lot of people ost interest in this Olympic cycle? Lads like Dan the Man, Dodge etc seem to have disappeared.

    Yeah, the numbers on the site in general have fallen and this thread has suffered from the loss of some excellent posters.

    Hopefully things will pick up as we move closer to Tokyo.


  • #59
    Chivito550
    Registered Users Posts: 7,694 ✭✭✭Chivito550


    Oldira wrote: »
    Just had a look at the 2016 Rio tread and at this date there was already 32 pages. Only 4 for Tokyo. Have a lot of people ost interest in this Olympic cycle? Lads like Dan the Man, Dodge etc seem to have disappeared.

    No loss of interest in the Olympics. More just a reflection of the death of message boards.

    This general sports forum is terrible too. It's just a Ben Dunne gym advert section really. Nobody would ever think to look here.

    An Olympic sports forum would be nice. Like there was nowhere obvious on this site where one would discus the World Rowing Championships for example.


  • #60
    The Lost Sheep
    Registered Users Posts: 14,967 ✭✭✭✭The Lost Sheep


    Chivito550 wrote: »
    No loss of interest in the Olympics. More just a reflection of the death of message boards.

    This general sports forum is terrible too. It's just a Ben Dunne gym advert section really. Nobody would ever think to look here.

    An Olympic sports forum would be nice. Like there was nowhere obvious on this site where one would discus the World Rowing Championships for example.
    An Olympic sports forum wouldnt really work bar the time of the Olympics. The individual sports will simply be discussed in the respective sports forum.
    General sports forum isnt fantastic and dont see how it'll change.


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  • #61
    Imhof Tank
    Registered Users Posts: 2,122 ✭✭✭Imhof Tank


    The Lost Sheep wrote: »
    An Olympic sports forum wouldnt really work bar the time of the Olympics. The individual sports will simply be discussed in the respective sports forum.
    General sports forum isnt fantastic and dont see how it'll change.

    Plenty of Olympic sports don't have dedicated forums eg rowing, modern pentathlon etc


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