Massive run by Rhasidat. The time is still hugely impressive, big wind or no big wind but it is the margin she beat some big names in that race which was most impressive including the amazing start she had. I cannot wait to see her race over the lap now. I think she will take a big chunk out of her 200m NR too when she gets a chance

Not to overhype things this far out but Rhasidat’s wind assisted 10.84 100m beating Dina Asher Smith and Julien Alfred is really exciting and bodes well for speed over the 400. Here’s hoping the endurance is there too

I was doing some calculating a few months back and it became obvious the men's double badminton pair never really had a shot at qualifying even though they were showing in a qualifying spot. The reason being that many pairs from other nations had not yet competed in enough events to gather points and it was clear that over the course of the next few months they would move clearly ahead. I am a bit worried too about our rowing and boxing teams, neither seem to be hitting the Olympic year in ideal form. For rowing, I am sure just like last year they will improve greatly in the coming months, but I was secretly hoping we could see some major breakthroughs and push for another gold from another crew outside of the lightweight men's double. It can all still come together of course, I think as fans we are just looking for those signs that this summer will be a good one. The boxing team, since Rio 2016 I go into each Olympics expecting absolutely nothing and anything is a bonus. But still the start to this year has not been good at all. Anything can still happen in Paris though, good or bad but it's unlikely we will get a haul of boxing medals.

Not much to disagree with by the the last two posters. I too have started to get a tad concerned. Not just with the games but actual qualification. I think we will do well to get one more qualifier and I’d be really happy with two. I am still not so sure about the women’s 4 in rowing and it’s unlikely any other boat is a contender. Rachel Darragh is now outside a qualification spot in Badminton. Only last October she seemed a certainty and the men’s doubles were in a quota spot too. There will be no qualifiers in Pentathlon, Tristhlon or Judo. Still an outside chance of a shooter qualifying. We really a few swimmers to at least hit the B standard at least or we may have to decline a relay quota. I just think that this Spring has been a bit underwhelming as regards qualifiers.

Yeah thats true, we definitely have a lot more in with a shout of medals than before which on a curve over time should increase medals won. Even last Olympics we were unlucky in a number of events (Natalya Coyle getting a donkey, Rhys slipping in the pommel final, Rory losing on play-off, first show-jumpers horse losing a shoe in team event and Cian O'Connor with a single time penalty if I remember, Sanita becoming ill) and still came out with 4 medals which in previous games would have been a great haul for Ireland. I think we have a lot of exciting prospects, just don't want to get too carried away with expectations as I've suffered too much heartbreak watching Olympics over the years. Thankfully we are long past the days when we were basically depending on Sonia. Would be class if we could get an early medal for a change to really kick-start some momentum as it definitely feeds through teams

I never thought the likes of Marley or Clancy were medal contenders to be fair. Now once you’re in the Olympics, you can get an Aidan Walsh type draw and medal, but I’ve always said that most needed a good draw to have any chance. Harrington remains the only one of the current squad who has won a world championship medal at an Olympic weight, and that tells a story. There aren’t many who’ve got out of the prelims Aoife O’Rourke has been unlucky with draws in her two previous global events, but she’ll be a strong medal contender. Two from boxing would be a great return As would 4/5 overall considering we’ve only earned more than 3 four times in our history. O’Donovan & McCarthy remain the only Irish entrants where I’d be shocked if they didn’t win a medal. Everyone else is either a contender we hope improves (Wiffen, Adeleke, the rowing pairs/doubles) or in a sport where one second can change everything (boxers, McClenaghan) The great part is that unlike most years we do have about 12-15 (you can add sailing, Lara Gillespie, Ben Healy, rugby team, the equestrian teams etc) who are contenders, even if outside shots. The more of those you have, the more medals you’ll win over time

I'm starting to get worried regards our boxers to be honest, the performances at what is ultimately a poor quality European Championships by many of our already qualified boxers have been poor. Jack Marley beaten by a Belgian fighter (!), Michael Walsh beaten in first round, Dean Clancy unable to get among medals and Harrington beaten after struggling in quarter final. O'Rourke only one that seems to be performing and seems best medal prospect for Paris. The last qualification tournament was pretty poor too with only one qualifier, and not confident we'll do much better at the next one, especially with it being on away ground in Asia. I think Jude Gallagher is a definite medal prospect but its a very tough division and a lot depends on draw and judging. Not overly confident about the rowing situation either, seems a lot of disruption due to injury/illness. Women's Pair only boat that really seemed to perform well at first World Cup regatta, mens double sculls did OK but will need to push on to threaten medals. I feel the lightweight double will be tested a lot more this year than before, the Swiss were an emerging crew last year and will be better this year too. I think talk of 7 medals is fanciful at best, difficult to see where the medals will come from in other sports, of course Daniel Wiffen will be in the mix, and Rhys McClenaghan, but like Tokyo it only takes a split second for it all to go wrong. Showjumping and golf are completely on the day sports, and generally Ireland are not blessed with luck in the Olympics. I think we need to temper expectations a bit to be honest. Obviously I'd love if we went out and won 10 medals but I've been following Ireland in Olympics for too long to allow expectations build too much. If we win 4-5 medals I think its a successful Games for us.

She scraped by in the earlier round too but Serbia are doing remarkably well at their home event. That might be a factor

Defeat for Harrington in the European Boxing Championships yesterday. By a boxer that has also qualified for Paris. Should we be concerned?

Not ideal of course but that’s a relief to hear it’s a minor issue.

Confirmed by Fintan that he’s not 100%. Same with Aoife Casey. I’m told it’s not serious and there’s no worries for the rest of the season

No lightweight doubles. Presume an injury/illness to Fintan. Paul still down for the heavyweight singles

Ah yeah was thinking it must be something like that! Makes sense

The continental qualifier is only open to nations that qualified 0 or 1 boat at the World Championships. Ireland qualified 6 boats there so we aren’t eligible to compete.

Why don't Ireland ever enter the European qualification regatta? Is it a case of 'If they can't do it via final qualifier then they're not good enough?'

Rowing team for the European champs Lightweight double Paul O’Donovan/Fintan McCarthy lightweight single Jake McCarthy openweight single Paul O’Donovan (!) lightweight single Mags Cremen Openweight double Zoe Hyde/Alison Bergin Aoife Casey isn’t fit. Hyde was injured for World Cup 1 so they’re in here It’ll be interesting to see if POD does the heavyweight single and the LW double…

Gracenote medal predictions for Ireland Gold McCarthy/O’Donovan McClenaghan Silver Kelly Harrington Cian O’Connor Wiffen 800m Bronze Rory McIlroy Wiffen 1500m

So far today in the rowing finals; Keogh/Murtagh silver behind the Dutch. They looked OK so probably still in the top 4/5 but without Australia and Romania we won’t know if they’re likely to contend for a medal yet Doyle/Lynch went off very slow but had an insane finish to grab bronze. They’ll need to be more consistent to challenge in Paris The women’s four were miles off two GB boats and finished in 4th as the Dutch eased away. Still a good regatta for them though and I’m more confident they’ll qualify now Timoney/Corrigan win the B final and let’s hope the illness/injury is behind them

Squad announcement for world athletics relays Our big names all there on the women’s sides including Adeleke, Mawdsley, Healy and Becker. Interestingly Becker only listed as reserve for the mixed. The men include Tom Barr, Cillin Greene and Jack Raftery. Stalwart of the mixed team Chris O’Donnell is only listed as a travelling reserve No Men’s team so we have 4 men and 7 women travelling.

Konan Pazzaia looked great in the M1x 4th fastest time overall and half a length down on the world silver medallist. If he can replicate that form through the regatta he will get picked over Colsh for FOQR and would be in contention to qualify. I probably wouldn't read that much into a heat result though and he does need to produce that form 3 more times this weekend. Brian Colsh didn't look very good at all despite being IRL1, maybe despite his physique the single just doesn't suit him, 3rd in his heat left him a little at the mercy of quarter finals draw but he seems to have gotten away with it although will need a better row this afternoon than he produced this morning just to make the semis. The Men's four did not look good at all and Germany, Switzerland, and Italy none of whom have qualified for the Olympics all looked great and were beating the Dutch and the Brits (First time the Brits have lost all Olympic cycle I think.). The one saving grace for the four is A. look new combination, Ronan Byrne new to sweep and B. terrible start and didn't lose that much time down the middle of the course but ye need to be beating Denmark and Ukraine tomorrow if they want any hope of qualifying for the Olympics. I know they are young and all but surely this four should be producing better results than it is. Lets see how they go tomorrow. The men's pair apparently had quite a disrupted preparation with illness and injury so being off the pace of the British/ Swiss is not a disaster but they have a bit of work still to do just to make the final here, they should though. Wouldn't be at all worried about the double being well beaten by Italy, that was true early last year as well. Yeah women's boats all looked great. Maybe Sanita ending her career with an Olympic medal is still on the cards (probably a bit premature but). Only other thing I would mention is Canada opted to not field a women's four at FOQR and Germany who were 11th last year seem to be going for the eight so like its basically gauranteed to be us and Denmark that qualify. Poland is now the biggest threat but they are not a big one and if we can stay ahead of Denmark that won't even matter. But ye I would be thinking about the four in terms of can it get to being competitive in an Olympic final and not worrying much at all whether it will qualify.

Good start for new women's four in Varese. Sanita won her heat too. Men's side didn't look as strong but they don't have to peak until July

If she does end up going to Paris with GB and beating Kellie Harrington, questions will be asked of the IABA allowing it

I also think her behaviour has been incredibly disrespectful to Grainne Walsh

I suppose she will turn pro as 4 years is a long time to wait with no guarantees, even if she is Irish no. 1 something as simple as a hand injury in training could ruin it all again. Then factor in that she has only so many years to make money so she needs to make hay while the sun shines. If she does get the switch to Team GB and meals in Paris it could significantly up her earning potential in the pro ranks, Eddie Hearn would be all over her like a rash. I feel very bad for her and kind of understand what she's doing but I would tend to agree with Dodge in that I wouldn't like to see her selected for GB, especially if she ended up with the potential to scupper Irish medal chances.

If this is how she feels about the Olympics, Why turn pro? Fair enough, this how I should feel but for some reason its not. I just hope it doesn't work out.