Cosmo Kramer

Looks like only Shane and Leona managed to make it to the announcement photoshoot for whatever reason.

Yes that would work fine I think.

Could potentially just use the schedule thread you have set up to begin with and see how that goes. There may not be sufficient people posting to warrant multiple threads.

Ideal. With the qualification process all but finished I don't know if that's the best place to take the discussion going forward or whether separate threads will be set up for the various sports?

Probably one for a new thread on the games itself once started but I have spent a little bit of time this morning looking at the schedule from an Irish perspective. With a team of 132 it is pleasingly stacked, especially for the first nine days (it does thin out significantly after the middle weekend). I don't see one day that stands out in particular, but the stretch from Thursday 1st August to Sunday 4th August looks like a whole lot of fun with multiple Irish medal chances across rowing, boxing, showjumping, cycling, gymnastics, golf, swimming and possibly athletics during those four days. By the night of the 4th we'll already likely have a reasonable idea whether these are going to be considered a successful games for Ireland or not, even allowing for the athletics and other events to follow after that.

Hard to know with Naser, I don't think she'll be at the level needed having hardly run in recent years. On current form the medals look like they will be carved up between the other three, but you never know for sure I guess. Bring it on!

Great run from Adeleke, obviously none of the other genuine medal contenders for Paris were in the race, but shill she's running exactly the kind of times you'd want her to be running at this point. Regarding Mageean, I'm genuinely delighted she went out and got her European gold medal a few weeks ago. She's way off it right now and I can't see her contending in Paris. But looking at the times others are running, obviously Kipyegon and now Jessica Hull too, along with a number of others, even if Mageean was at her best I wouldn't see her winning an Olympic medal. On current form she may well not make the final - there's likely an issue there we haven't been told about.

Mawdsley confirmed yesterday that she intends to run every race she can at the Olympics. Which is good because we need her for both relay heats. We likely wouldn't have won the women's 400m medal at the Euros had she not come in as a late replacement in the heat as we'd likely has missed out on the final without her. Hopefully she doesn't find herself in the individual repechage race as she could end up running seven races in that case. It does however mean that a few of the named 400m runners most likely won't make it to the track at all. Outside of the obvious four women, probably only one more (Cadden?) will actually run a race, filling in for Adeleke in the women's 400m relay heat, as Becker will likely fill her place in the mixed.

I'm slightly confused in terms of how they've listed them but presumably there's a reason. Raftery is listed as a travelling reserve but on the face of it he probably has more chance of actually making an appearance in a race than Rachel McCann, even though she's not listed as a reserve. He would only need one person to drop out, whereas she would need a few to. On a separate note Harrison has fallen down the pecking order quite a bit in the last 12 months.

Most likely yes, I wouldn't read too much into the amount of runners named, they were always going to fill up any vacant spots they had. It doesn't mean they'll all run in heats, but the ones that do run always talk about the assistance they get from the wider team so good to have them there and competing for any opening that might come their way. I think Adeleke will definitely run the women's relay final if we're in it and she's fit. No reason not to at that point as the individual has been an gone by then. The big question is whether she'd run the mixed final if we get through. I think Mawdsley will run everything as the relays are her only medal shots and probably her only shots at a final too. We'll need her badly in the two relay heats as Adeleke definitely won't be running those.

Are we now past the point at which there could be any further surprise selections in sports we haven't qualified in yet - I'm thinking the likes of weightlifting and shooting?

Interesting interview with Wiffen in the Irish Times where he explains that his performances in Italy came at the end of a heavy training block. He's targeting the 1500 as his main medal opportunity, but also considering swimming the 400 and the 10k open water in addition to his two main events.

Agree, though I think 🇯🇲 will have it the hardest having competed in the NCAA this year. We saw the impact that had on Adeleke last year, she was well below her best by the time the Worlds came around. A shame that Barr and Becker have a nervous wait for individual places. But definitely different knowing they'll be in the relays. Certainly Becker will be anyway and would have to think Barr will be also. Much different to missing the Olympics entirely.

Miller-Uibo out of the individual 400m with an injury. McLaughlin not running it, Bol not running it, Miller-Uibo not running it. Huge chance now.

Ah, he must have changed it then. The archive version still says Shannon Sweeney.

Have to hope that Wiffen is in a heavy training block. Though he has a history of trying out different tactics in races as well, so it could have been something like that. Or he could just be struggling for form, but hopefully not. I see Gracenote has upped our medal count to *nine* medals - three boxing, three rowing, one swimming, one gymnastics and one golf, including golds for the lightweight rowers and McClenaghan. Though, if Ian O'Riordan's report is correct, they have given us a medal for a boxer who hasn't even qualified! Safe to say I'd still be happy with six and one gold.

Absolute nonsense from Swim Ireland again. Something like this was inevitable as soon as they announced their stupidly limited selection criteria. When will Irish sporting bodies ever learn, we had it with Diver in athletics and lost her as a result, now it's happening repeatedly in swimming, where we're not exactly flush with talent. Keep it simple - if you're Irish and you run, swim or achieve whatever target you need to get to the Olympics before the international cutoff date, you get to go. In the very rare case where we qualify more competitors than we're allowed to enter you need some kind of selection criteria, but otherwise just leave it be.

OlympicIRL - a very good summation of Ireland's position there. I have us coming in around the six medal mark also. Could be as low as three if things go very badly, or as high as 10 if we finally have the games where everything clicks into place which I feel we are due at this point. But six seems the more likely midpoint that we'll likely end up close to. As an aside I do slightly worry that people who don't follow Olympic sport in Ireland will have unrealistic expectations for our athletics team after the past week. They've seen all the European medals and assume that will follow through to the Olympics. But, as we know, the most likely medal outcome for us in athletics remains 0 or 1.

Gold for Ireland in the Men's Double Sculls (Lynch/Doyle) at World Cup III this morning. A lot of Olympic crews are skipping this event so I'll leave it to someone more clued in than me on rowing to predict where that leaves this boat ahead of Paris. But possibly they might be our best bet for a second rowing medal after O'Donovan/McCarthy.

Encouraging interview with Rhasidat's coach in the Examiner today. Wasn't happy with her individual 400 in Rome and thinks there's a lot more in the tank. Undecided yet on the mixed relay but it's clear it will be his decision.

Hopefully. But athletics at the top end is a very individual sport. She'll get three goes at the individual 400 in the Olympics in her career. Maybe four if she's very lucky. Sometimes you have to be selfish to give yourself every chance to fulfil your own career goals. An an individual medal is a bigger achievement than a relay one. I hope she does do the mixed final if we're in it, as it's probably the better medal shot of the two relays. But I guess I'm already bracing myself for the reality that she might pass on it and be fully within her rights to do so.

Cathal Dennehy this morning laying the seeds for her to skip the mixed relay completely, which would be a shame. Was running the mixed relay this week the reason she didn't beat Kaczmarek in the individual 400? Possibly.

Yes, no possibility of Rhasidat running the women's relay heat. We can qualify without her though as long as all of Healy,Becker and Mawdsley are available. In that regard it's better from a wider Irish point of view if Mawdsley doesn't make the individual final - she'd only be an outside shot for it in any case. We should also be able to qualify for the mixed final without Adeleke so there may be an agreement for her to sit out that heat also to help her individual chances. That would still mean her running five 400s in eight days, though the individual heats on the 5th should be a relative stroll for her. For Mawdsley it's looking like six races in nine days, or the nightmare scenario of seven in nine if she ends up in the individual repechage.

I think those two are huge talents and definitely rivals for Adeleke longer term. But I suspect they'll be massively disadvantaged this year by their NCAA schedule. Having run exceptional times at the NCAA finals.in Eugene it will be very difficult for them to peak again for Paris. But looking longer term the 400m field looks absolutely stacked in future years.

So, where are we on Rhasidat's Olympic medal hopes after another PB tonight? Three from four for the medals out of Adeleke, Kaczmarek, Miller-Uibo and Paulino - or is there a bolter to come from somewhere that can run 49 flat? Would be concerned she might just get squeezed out by the other three but all to play for at this stage.