Ireland Olympic success ‘the stuff of dreams’ as athletes welcomed home
More than 20,000 cheering fans welcomed Ireland’s Olympic team home after its most successful medal haul ever on Monday.
Most of the Irish athletes who won medals attended the celebratory event on Dublin’s O’Connell Street, together with most of the other athletes who had competed.
Thousands of family members and fans carried flags and homemade signs as they tried to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.
Girls wore white bows in their hair – a nod to sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke – and parents hoisted children onto their shoulders to give them a view of the stage.
A total of 64 women and 69 men represented Team Ireland across 14 sports at the Paris games, winning four gold medals and three bronze.
Daniel Wiffen, 23, won gold in the men’s 800m final and also took a bronze in the men’s 1500m final.
Rhys McClenaghan, 25 and from Co Down, won gold in the pommel horse final.
Three athletes retained their Olympic titles from the Tokyo games: Skibbereen rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in the men’s lightweight double sculls; and Dubliner Kellie Harrington in the women’s 60kg boxing event.
Mona McSharry, from Co Sligo, won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke, while rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch also won bronze medals.
Speaking to thousands of supporters at the event, Harrington described the support of her home country as “just fantastic”.
She said: “This is absolutely amazing for absolutely every one of the athletes here on Team Ireland who give their everything day in, day out. To have the support of this nation for all of us, from the bottom of every one of our hearts, it really does mean the world to us.
“That’s whether we win, we lose, we draw, to have you all there to pick us up, to dust us off and to help us go again. That’s what matters, so thank you.”
Fans wearing Ireland jerseys and other green clothing shouted and cheered as the athletes took to the stage.
Asked if she can comprehend the impact on the nation, Harrington said: “This is sport. We forget about absolutely everything and we just do what we have to do in sport.
“We’re a small nation but we’re a mighty nation, and we’ll fight and we’ll keep on fighting. That’s the way we are. That’s why we are who we are.”
Harrington added: “It hasn’t actually sunk in yet, but it’s the stuff of dreams to be honest with you.”
Responding to a shout of “one more year” amid speculation she could take another Olympic gold, the boxer said: “I’m done.”
Harrington’s parents were among the families who gathered outside the iconic GPO building draped in tricolour flags.
Children held signs celebrating Harrington’s second gold medal and one girl was seen holding a “I heart Mona” banner to celebrate swimmer McSharry’s bronze medal.
Others sat in windowsills and looked out from above rooftops to catch a glimpse at the celebration.
McCarthy said his Olympic journey was “surreal”, adding: “I just trained really hard and managed to get two of these (gold medals).”
He teased that he and his gold medal partner Paul O’Donovan could join Lynch and Doyle for a four-man rowing event at the 2028 Olympics.
Wiffen, the 800m freestyle swimming champion who also won a bronze medal in the 1500m race, said: “I definitely felt the whole country backing me going into it.”
He predicted that he and his twin brother Nathan would win gold and silver in the same event at the 2028 games in Los Angeles, before leading the crowd in singing “Ole, ole, ole, ole”.
McSharry described her participation as a “dream come true”, adding: “All the hard work paid off and I got to experience something so magical.”
The Olympians expressed gratitude to the fans with McClenaghan stating: “Thanks everybody for coming out and supporting Team Ireland, it’s amazing to see you all here.”
The gymnast further reflected on his success following disappointment in the previous Olympic Games held in 2021: “One tiny error can send you landing on your head – and that’s what makes the sport exciting to me.
“It can happen to anybody at any time. It happened to me in Tokyo, and I’m glad it didn’t happen to me this time and we get to walk away as Olympic champions.”
Ireland’s premier said the entire country has been cheering on Irish Olympians, who had “lit a flame in all of the young people right across Ireland”.
Speaking on the stage, the Taoiseach said there were many young people who now believed they could take part in sport and win medals.
“What we will now do is invest in sport further and further and further, because we believe in these athletes and that’s going to be the legacy from the Paris games,” he said.
Mr Harris also said “very little work” had been done in the country during the Paris Games and people had gone “hoarse” from cheering on Irish athletes.
“I’m so delighted about today, that the athletes and their families who’ve been away in Paris are getting to see what it’s like because up until now, they’ve been somewhat in the Olympic bubble.
“But they’re back here today realising that this whole country – 5.6 million of us – have been cheering them on.
“We’ve been hoarse from cheering them on, and today we got a chance to say one amazing thing to them: ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
Minister for Sport Catherine Martin said: “Team Ireland has made the nation so proud, our most successful team ever at an Olympic Games.”
She added: “This fantastic achievement also demonstrates the value of the continued and sustained investment into our sporting system.”
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