OlympicIRL

Ademola in his first attempt in the long jump final and he makes another Irish junior record 7.83m

This is generally my feeling anytime I post on here…. one more counter argument and I would have given up and just do what I do best, watch sport

The thing is though unlike water polo or hockey, cricket is hugely popular in some countries… England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, South Africa, across the Caribbean and although not the biggest sport in New Zealand by any means I assume it’s one of the top sports there. I didn’t even mention countries like Afghanistan where it is huge as well. And I’m Irish so my knowledge of cricket is not great so others can probably advocate the point better. Water polo and hockey don’t carry the same appeal even in most of the nations that do well in those sports (there are exceptions I know and hockey is huge in India I know that too). Like I say it’s all about perspective. I myself prefer hockey and water polo than cricket and I would selfishly want them in the Olympics ahead of cricket because I like them more. But I don’t see how cricket has less of a place in the Games as those 2 sports. It’s funny how I am arguing in favour of a sport like cricket that I never really followed nor is it particularly a sport I want to in the Olympics but just being objective. If I was to choose and didn’t have to care what others thought, I’d include bowls, darts and snooker as I love them

Yes cricket has way more relevance around the world than hockey or water polo. I mean hockey isn’t even popular in most of the countries who actually do well in it and that’s a small number to begin with. Whether you want it in or out is a personal preference but you can’t say it’s any less deserving than hockey or water polo.

Big crowds on a Tuesday morning session for athletics at the Commonwealths…. this is how it should be . Eugene being referred to as track town is a joke when you look at this.

13th place for Dean Casey in the men's 5000m final, top European finisher.

If I was to rank those in terms of my preference for inclusion, here's how it would look: 1. Baseball / Softball - as someone who never really cared much about these sports at the Games, I really enjoyed watching them in the days leading up to the Tokyo Opening Ceremony and made sure to catch up with highlights in the remaining days when other sports took over. Would love to see it back even if there are not enough teams in the competition. 2. Squash - I've always liked squash and would love to see it get its chance at the Olympics. I don't think it will be particularly popular but I still think it deserves to be there. 3. Lacrosse - I don't know much about this sport but have watched a couple of games and I liked it more than some of the current team sports at the Games, so why not 4. Cricket - I'm not a huge fan of cricket to be honest but it would be cool to see this at the Olympics. However, no rained off matches please... that drives me nuts when matches are just declared as draws even when no action has taken place . Don't think this would be a problem in LA though 5. Kickboxing - I'm not really bothered about having another combat sport but since Ireland compete in this sport, for my own personal reasons I am putting it at number 5 6. Breaking - I reserve the right to revisit this opinion after I have watched some breaking as I honestly don't have any clue about what this looks like as a sport. I don't imagine it will appeal much to me, but I would hold my judgement at least until I have seen it a couple of times. 7. Flag football - I have no idea what this is so it ends up in this position until I have reason to change my mind 8. Karate - I didn't enjoy this much at the last Olympics and I'm not the biggest fan of combat sports anyway so this doesn't appeal to me... just a personal preference. 9. Motorsport - no thank you. These are just my thoughts, not trying to advocate for anything so don't come at me for my opinions

And he made it through as 4th best qualifier

7.76m for Reece Ademola in the men's long jump qualifying.... a new Irish junior record and should be enough to make it to the final. Maybe we can have a field event athlete in Paris 2024

4 medals for Ireland is a good haul. Hope some of these can break into the senior squads in the coming seasons.

His best event is still to come, 800m free and he will surely medal there after making the world final this summer. He swam 2 Irish records in the 400 today so it’s a promising sign! He should be up there in the 1500 as well.

Duran Duran Ordinary World…. one of my favourite songs ever

Is Lenny Kravitz from Bahamas?

Not sure but I remember they did this before but not sure if they always do it.

Thanks! I am still learning this sport including the arrows on the website

Seems like coverage of this event is being streamed on Planet Canoe Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/PlanetCanoe Here is the stream from this morning's action. Not the best camera angles to say the least but still it's better than nothing:

Seems like "only" 20 nations took part in the end

Ireland were 5th in the Men's Team Canoe final

If you needed a sign of just how far the English women's football team has come on in recent years, there is no better indication that this. A Scottish fan traveling to an England game to cheer them on..... To cheer on Sweden of course: @Grassmarket is this you?

Oh has shin-kicking declined in popularity in recent times?

4-0 to England…. is football coming home?

I can see a priest there, presumably to bless the bridge. Well it’s better than having Thomas Bach

Yes I am old enough to remember, I watched it live on TV with my family in the small hours of the morning. It was the first Olympics I followed as a kid.

No boxing finals on the last day of the Games.... last time that happened was LA 1984 Olympics. Time to read through the schedule in detail to see what day Ireland might win their first medal..... as always, not an easy task.... like finding a needle in a haystack

Insane time.... 12.12!