From Haughey to Fowler to Kos, a green tint all over the global stage in Paris
After Men’s His Kos Backstroke Wire In Defense Hubert At Hungary’s Medal Arena Byrne/pa The Winning Paris With Final Photo: Peter La The 200m Gold
The Irish really do get everywhere. If last year’s Rugby World Cup was a peak in terms of sheer numbers at any one sporting event then this summer’s Olympic Games proved again just how wide and disparate the green tint is on the global stage.
The loudest cheer that wasn’t French at the Stade de France last Friday was the roar that greeted Rhasidat Adeleke. Roland Garros reverberated to accents from Dolphin’s Barn to Dingle three days before as Kellie Harrington doubled down on history.
Seven medals and 19 top-ten finishes both stand as records, but there was Irish influence layered into other stories besides. The very spread and depth of Irish roots abroad mitigate against an exhaustive list but visible and half-hidden strands were littered through the French capital.
Hubert Kos, Hungary’s 100m backstroke champion, basically dedicated 25% of his success to Ireland through his Cork-born dad Nickos. He waxed lyrical to the Irish Examiner about Christmases in Cork, Tayto crisps and trips to Smyth’s toy stores.
There is always the risk of playing the green card too often. Of inserting ourselves into stories where we shouldn’t really be listed in the credits. Consider that almost 10% of Americans claim some form of Irish heritage and the fact they had close to 600 athletes here.
That’s 50-something threads that could be pulled on all too easily.
Or take Canada’s Lucia Stafford. The 1500m runner from London, Ontario was a serious Irish dancer growing up but any familial roots – and there are some – stem from a more distant limb of the family tree.
Others lean more on the old country.
Where better to start there than with Siobhan Bernadette Haughey, the grand-niece of our former Taoiseach and daughter to an Irish father, who added two bronze medals to the pair of silvers she won for Hong Kong in the 100m and 200m freestyle in Tokyo?
Mary Fowler, the Australian soccer player, has a father who was born in Ireland and could have played for the Republic. So could her teammate at these Games, Katrina Corry, who has dual citizenship. Genealogists would have a field day here.
Mark Kinsella played 48 times for the Republic of Ireland. His son Liam represented the Boys in Green at U21 level, and his daughter Alice performed for Team GB’s women’s gymnastics team at the Bercy Arena, finishing fourth.
Jade O’Dowda, whose brother Callum plays for the Republic, came tenth for GB in the heptathlon.
Nick Calathes, the American-born Greek basketball player, has an Irish-American mother. The Malaysian golfer Gavin Green has both Irish and Portuguese blood. Nepalese swimmer Duana Lama’s mum, Mary, hails from Cork.
Take a peek into a different corner of these Games and you just never know what you might find. Like David Durack, son of the legendary Clare hurler Seamus Durack. The 31-year old is caddie to Swiss golfer Morgane Métraux who posted a top-20 finish at Le Golf National.
Irish coaches have been taking their sermons abroad for decades now. Br Colm O’Connell’s decades in Kenya are well-documented. Edwin Kurgat and the USA’s Leonard Korir, both of whom ran in Paris, are among the latest from that stable.
Ray Flynn, still the holder of the Irish mile record 42 years after setting it, is manager to Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr and Yared Nugusa. They finished in the three podium places in that epic 1500m final. David Reid, from Northern Ireland, is head athletics coach for relays with Australia.
On it goes.
John Coghlan, a former trainer with the Meath senior footballers, played a part in two medals in the one event, with Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn taking silver and bronze respectively in the 100m hurdles.
“For me it was the biggest challenge of my life because I left my parents and all my family and friends to train with an Irish coach in America,” said Samba-Mayela. “It was the first time I was living without my parents and, yeah, I had to adapt to everything.”
Coghlan could have probably voiced similar words. So could Finbarr Kirwan. A former high-performance director at home with Sport Ireland, he has long since made his home in America where he is now Chief of Olympic Sport. The boss man.
Billy Walsh’s work with the USA’s boxers continued with just the one bronze from their eight qualifiers – Zaur Antia will know how he feels - while Eddie Bolger managed the same imprint on the podium despite having only two German fighters in the ring.
Upping sticks is always a risk but there were athletes at these 2024 Games who made an even bigger, burn-the-boats, decision by changing allegiances. Most of those made the switch over from Team Ireland to Team GB.
Saskia Tidey had represented Ireland in the Rio Games in the 49er FX, but the lack of a suitable partner in that class prompted her move to GB. She sailed in Tokyo, and in Marseille more recently where she finished 16th in the women’s skiff.
Jack McMillan is another dual-nation Olympian having swam for Ireland in the 4x200m freestyle in Japan three years ago where the team finished 14th. The Belfast man, now aged 24, won gold with GB in the same event here.
David Ames played hockey over 60 times for Ireland before transferring to England and Team GB. He has made twice as many appearances again between those two and has three Olympic Games under his belt from Rio through to Paris.
Spare a thought, though, for Sinead Diver, the 47-year old Mayo runner who posted a brilliant tenth-place finish in the women’s marathon in Tokyo but had to pull out of Sunday’s run from Paris to Versailles after little more than four minutes.
Bilateral cramping in both quadriceps, said team officials and medical staff. So, whether it was medals, mid-table finishes or heartbreaking experiences, the wider ‘Irish’ experience couldn’t help but mirror the story that unfolded for Team Ireland itself.
There are universal truths at every Olympics.