Gary and Paul O'Donovan Take Olympic Silver For Ireland

Ireland’s Olympics came alive in dramatic style today, with the Cork brothers Gary and Paul O’Donovan taking Ireland’s first ever medal in rowing.

And it wasn’t just any old medal. The Skibbereen boys battled impressively right to the end with the French duo Pierre Houin and Jeremy Azou, who snatched the gold at the death. Ireland took silver, in magnificent style.

And, of course, the boys reacted to the success in a manner that will go down as one of the finest interviews we've ever seen.

"Mick Conlan said he'd box the head off us if we didn't get the gold" #rterio2016 https://t.co/LGELc2W2PP

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 12, 2016

Sadly there was no joy for Sinead Lynch and Claire Lamb in the women’s lightweight sculls, as they finished sixth.

The O’Donovan’s medal-winning performancewas a much needed boost for the Irish Olympic cause, following an inglorious opening week, which saw a number of fancied boxing contenders – including Paddy Barnes and Joe Ward – bow out early. Indeed, with Michael O’Reilly having decided not to contest the pre-Olympics positive test for using a banned substance, and leaving the Olympic village under a cloud, until yesterday it had seemed that Ireland’s boxing hopes were in tatters.

However, the Welterweight from Ballymena, Stephen Donnelly began the process of putting things back on track with a superb win over Tuvshinbat Byambyn of Mongolia.

There was good news on the track as well, on the first day of the athletics programme. with Mark English qualifying for the semi-final in the 800 metres. English finished third, in what was an impressive run. Among those eliminated today was the silver medallist at the London Olympics, Nijel Amos of Botswana.

But today belongs to the O'Donovan brothers. The shteak and shpuds will taste all the better tonight...