BBC NI at the Olympics

Image source, Getty Images/Inpho

Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire both produced their best rounds of the week by some distance on the final day on the Women's Olympic golf but the damage had long been done by the Team Ireland duo in relation to their medal hopes.

Meadow carded a closing two-under-par 70 which left in 39th place on six over par at Le Golf National.

After her horrible 83 on Friday which included quadruple and triple bogeys in successive holes on the back nine, it was revealed that Maguire has been suffering with 'flu symptoms all week which offered an explanation for the Cavan woman's struggles which began with opening rounds of 78 and 79.

The Europe Solheim Cup star regrouped with a 71 on Saturday but was unable to improve her position in the field as she was last of the 59 finishers on 23 over par, with Finland's Noora Komulainen having withdrawn.

Maguire mixed four birdies with three bogeys in her closing round.

Meadow, who had shot previous rounds of 78, 74 and 72, carded five birdies and three bogeys as she played her closing six holes in two under by picking up shots at the 14th and 17th.

New Zealand's former world number one Lydia Ko took the gold medal after a closing 71 left her on 10 under.

Ko and Switzerland's Morgane Metraux led the field on nine under going into the final day but the Swiss player dropped five shots in her opening seven holes which included a triple bogey seven at the seventh and eventually signed for a 79 which left him in a share of 18th place on two under.

Germany's Esther Henseleit finished on eight under to take the silver medal with China's Janet Lin Xiyn earning bronze a further stroke back.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist in Paris

Image source, Inpho

The Ireland women’s 4x400m relay team ran strongly to claim an automatic place in Saturday night’s final at the Olympic Games.

Without Rhasidat Adeleke, because of her individual 400m final on Friday, the quartet were led off by Sophie Becker who handed to Phil Healy with a healthy lead.

Healy held on well and gave the baton to Kelly McGrory who kept the lead until the final 100m but still got the baton to Sharlene Mawdsley in a good position.

Mawdsley, who has turned herself into a superb final leg runner, bided her time before passing Canada in the home straight to finish third behind Jamaica and the Netherlands.

Adeleke is expected to come in for the final.

Mark English missed out on the men’s 800m final after finishing sixth in a tough semi-final that included the event favourite Djamel Sedjati from Algeria.

English took the race on with 200m to go but hadn’t the speed or strength to claim one of the top two places needed to qualify as he faded in the closing stages posting a time of 1:45.97.

Sarah Lavin bowed out of the women’s 100m hurdles at the semi-final stage.

The Irish record holder ran 12.69 to finish in sixth place.

Image source, Getty Images

Team Ireland's Kate O'Connor has completed her first Olympic heptathlon in 14th place after a strong final day in Paris.

After entering the second and final day of competition in 19th position, O'Connor put in a strong performance to move up five spots at the Stade de France.

In the opening session on Friday, the 23-year-old had a solid long jump before she was third overall in the javelin.

She finished sixth in her heat in the closing 800m to finish on a score of 6167, which was just outside her Irish record.

O'Connor, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist with Northern Ireland in 2022, was competing in her first Olympics.

Putting it down to pre-race nerves, she made a slow start on Thursday in the 100m hurdles but responded with a strong high jump.

O'Connor put in solid displays in the shot put and 200 metres on Thursday, and her strong final day saw her finish 113 points off the top 10.

Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed a silver medal after a thrilling final sprint with gold medallist Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium.

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist in Paris

Image source, Getty Images

Belfast’s Alice Sharpe and Lara Gillespie, representing Team Ireland, finished 11th in the final of the women’s madison.

Raced over 120 laps of the National Velodrome at Saint-Quentin, a distance of 30km, there was a relentless pace set from the start by Great Britain, Netherlands and Italy amongst others.

With a sprint every ten laps for points, twelve in all, the gold was claimed by Italy when they stole a lap on the rest of the field.

Great Britain took silver and the Netherlands the bronze.

Sharpe and Gillespie scored three points but couldn’t compete at the front end of the race.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist in Paris

Image source, Getty Images/Inpho

Time has passed as quickly as Daniel Wiffen in a pool over 800 metres, but day 14 of the Paris Olympics is upon us.

From a Team Ireland perspective, two big names are in action in the River Seine and the Stade de France on Friday as Wiffen and Rhasidat Adeleke conclude their Games.

Fresh off the back of his gold and bronze medals at La Defense Arena, Wiffen is back in action for a third and final time as he swims in an event he has never competed in before - the open water 10km marathon.

Wiffen has said a big motivation for taking on the challenge is the opportunity to swim in the River Seine, and he's joked that he would be as surprised as anyone if he could medal.

However, given the way the Games have gone so far, who knows what could happen?

It's an early start if you want to tune in as the race gets underway at 06:30 BST and takes roughly two hours to complete.

Later on Friday, Adeleke has a shot at a medal in the 400 metres final at 19:00 BST in Paris.

She was fastest in her heat and second in her semi-final, as the 21-year-old became the first Irish athlete to qualify for a sprint final at the Olympics.

Kate O'Connor concludes her heptathlon campaign on Friday, while Mark English goes in the 800m semi-finals.

O'Connor sits 19th overall after the opening day and will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800m on Friday.

Last, but by no means least, Alice Sharpe and Laura Gillespie will race in the women's Madison final at the Velodrome at 17:09 BST, while Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire compete in the penultimate round of the women's golf at Le National.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the Stade de France

Image source, Getty Images

Team Ireland's Kate O'Connor is 19th overall after the opening four events of the Heptathlon at the Paris Olympics.

The 23-year-old was 19th after the 100 metre hurdles and high jump in the morning session.

In the evening session, O'Connor was eighth in Group B and 14th overall in the shot put, and finished the opening day by finishing fourth in her heat in the 200 metres, and 19th overall.

O'Connor, a silver medallist for Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, is making her debut at the Olympics and is the last athlete from Northern Ireland to compete in Paris.

"I think I was just a little bit like a rabbit caught in headlights [in the hurdles]," O'Connor told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm really proud of myself of how I managed to pick it up in the high jump.

"I left everything out there so I don't think I could have asked for much more of myself."

She got off to a difficult start as she posted the slowest time in the 100 metre hurdles in 14.08 seconds.

However, she responded in style in the high jump and ranked first in Group A as she set a season's best height of 1.77 metres.

Her opening event of the evening session saw her record a score of 13.79 metres, which saw her place 14th overall and eighth in her group.

After struggling in the morning sprint, O'Connor put in a solid performance in the 200 metres as she finished with a season's best time of 24.77 seconds.

That time left her 19th overall in both the 200m and overall standings as the the other two heats all ran faster times.

Her first Olympic campaign will come to a close on Friday in the long jump, javelin and 800m.