OlympicIRL

I love it

Hmm, I think this is the first team title since then, at least I can't think of any other. We did however win the last ever A1GP World championships which was the most awesome motor sports competition ever We barely even compete in many team sports (volleyball, handball, water polo are basically non-existent for us or close enough and only just recently we started entering some national teams in basketball). Only thing that matters here when it boils down to it is Gaelic sports unfortunately. It sucks everything in.

I can't put it into words but this feels so amazing. I have so many bitter experiences as an Ireland fan and not just in equestrian (but especially in equestrian) and I really needed a night like this for so long to lift the spirits. Just great!!!

I had a mini stroke coming up to each and every fence

Cian O'Connor, what can I say but wow!! Always delivering when we need it most and the pressure is at its maximum. The whole team were amazing tonight!! Finally a good day!!!! Good Luck was indeed a good luck charm

OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!! What just happened!!! Wowwwwwww!!!! Yessssss

Another step closer..... this is too much for the nerves!!

Fingers and toes and everything else crossed!!

Great day for our small team of 2 riders at the world junior track cycling championships.... silver for Xeno Young in the individual pursuit and bronze for JB Murphy in the points race

It's weird seeing Daniel Martin competing for Romania and in a pool

And the bad luck goes on forever

Swiftly followed by our second ever world junior swimming medal with bronze for Mona

It's silver for Conor!! Our first ever world junior medal in swimming

Arthur made it through, hopefully he can do something nice in the final. A lot will depend on the fencing, hopefully he won't have too much ground to make up after it.

Mona and Conor into the finals and with chances for medals Our mixed medley relay team also 5th into the final

I remember the 1999 one too but we could see nothing because the sky was just a dense blanket of the thickest clouds you could imagine. In fact, it was already very dark because of the lack of sun due to the cloud cover But a couple of years ago there was a 97% solar eclipse here (the time it was total in Faroe Islands) and the cloud just cleared in time and we were treated to a lovely sight

And sadly we are coming back . Let's see how low we can set the bar in 2018

And yet you are still 70 penalties less than Ireland..... just shows how dreadful we are becoming now in cross country in the last 2 years (more if I'm honest).

May the force be with you

Thanks in advance for the incoming jinx

Great, finally something to cheer about But is she a team member?

Well looks like this confirms it, cross-country has now become our biggest weakness..... small improvements on dressage but massive failures now in cross-country which was the area we traditionally gained a tonne of ground on the rest of the teams.

Judy Reynolds withdrew due to a small injury for JP (Vancouver K) during training. Oh well

Celtic through for sure now

Yes our team is really not the kind of one I'd have hoped we would have but we can only do the best with what we have available. We always have a lot of depth with dozens of combinations able to slot into a national team, but there simply is just not enough top quality combinations in our ranks. I don't think this is a huge chasm to breach this gap but it requires planning and ambition nonetheless. And while it is a fantastic news story that Jonty gets to keep Art, that situation of selling on the best Irish horses continues to hamper our chances or making progress. There should be a high performance fund available with a long-term strategy of keeping some of our best horses in Irish "hands". This is recommended time and time again by bodies doing post-mortems and analysis of our sports (such as the post-Olympic reviews) but it seems like these suggestions are simply thrown into the dustbin and re-drawn up again and again each cycle (not just talking about equestrian now)