IRELAND experienced the good, the bad and the ugly of the Olympics.
Rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch claimed Ireland’s fourth medal of the Paris Games when they took bronze in the Men’s Double Sculls.
That got the day off to a good start but there was a bad ending when boxer Jack Marley missed out on a medal when he lost his quarter-final clash to the elusive Davlat Boltaev.
And, in between, Marley’s teammate Daina Moorehouse was on the end of an ugly decision when judges scored her as the loser to France’s Wassila Lkhadri.
Doyle helped make up for a disappointing Tokyo Games – when he and Ronan Byrne finished last in their semi-final – by crossing the line third behind Romania and Holland.
Doyle beamed: “I’ve always used that word redemption over the last few years.”
Their success came despite Lynch having felt unwell all week. He said: “I kept being told it was in my head but it wasn’t. This was the best I’ve felt so I thought we were going to have a good one.”
MARLEY HEARTACHE
Marley could have secured himself at least a bronze last night but Boltaev proved too difficult to pin down with four of the five judges awarding the Tajikistan native the fight.
Marley said: “He was elusive but I thought I out-punched him. I thought I gave it socks. I gave it my all at least. That’s the least you can do in this sport.
“I said before I came out here that I’m going to take in as much of the Olympic Games as I can without it affecting my performance
“After this I can take in the full experience of the Olympic Games and I can be up in those stands shouting on Kellie Harrington and Michaela Walsh just as much as I’d like to be cheered on.”
The heavyweight picked up a cut over his right eye in the second round and said: “I don’t know what it was. He didn’t get nicked anyway.
“It must have been off a shoulder or an elbow or something like that. It made me go a bit blurry in the second round so I tried to up the pace and keep him busy and then I got it cleaned up.”
Walsh – who is in the ring tomorrow – and Harrington are the only Irish fighters let standing.
Marley had watched a decision go against Moorehouse and said: “As much as I wanted punch the screen, I couldn’t really. I had to keep my own focus, I had a mission to do and I had to put the blinders on.”
A shot at another medal for Ireland was put on hold with the Men’s Skiff Medal Race twice abandoned before being rescheduled for today. Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove lie in second.
Only one of Eve McMahon’s dinghy races was completed, in which she came eighth. Two of Finn Lynch’s dinghy races proceeded and he finished ninth and 25th to lie 16th overall.