Walsh defeated Mauritian Merven Clair to progress to the semi-finals of the Men’s Welterweight boxing tournament at the Olympic games.

Four judges had him down as the winner, securing a medal for him, but the Monkstown boxer had to withdraw from his semi-final bout after injuring himself while celebrating.

The Team Ireland member was due to fight Team GB’s Pat McCormack, who ended up taking home the silver medal in the division.

However, the 24-year-old is over the moon with his bronze medal and said: “To be honest, it still just all seems surreal.

“Usually I’m out in the crowd supporting other people, but to be standing on the side is crazy.

“I just feel lucky and extremely grateful. Everyone on the team deserves to be here as well with a medal.

“But first and foremost I’m an Olympian along with my sister alongside a great team. Everything else is a bonus.”

Walsh noted that he feels extremely lucky to be able to be in this position – a bronze medallist after his first Olympics.

The fighter is excited to get back to Monkstown and see the support group that helped him get to such a position.

The most important part of the Olympic journey for Walsh was sharing it with one person from that group – his sister Michaela Walsh, also an Olympian.

Michaela was a huge supporter of all the Team Ireland boxers after her exit from the Women’s Featherweight tournament at the round of 16.

“It’s great to have someone like that. Someone who [is my] best friend and [have] grown up together.”

Now, he looks forward to putting his feet up and not having to worry about such a strict diet.

His post-Olympics mindset follows the same pattern that Kellie Harrington’s does as the pair look to make the most of their time off.

Aidan will return to his caravan with his girlfriend and eat whatever he wants after spending so long focused on Tokyo – he added that sweets weren’t available to him in Japan.

“I’m going to go to the caravan with my girlfriend in Carnlough and just take it easy – have a bit of Chinese, a tin of Coke and lots of chocolates, lots of sweets and just pig out.”

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Harrington defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Fereira by unanimous decision to earn Team Ireland’s second gold medal at Tokyo 2020 and conclude a fantastic run for the 2018 World Amateur Lightweight Champion.

The boxer has not been able to take in her achievement due to sleepless nights after her win and the increase in media attention compared to her World Championship victory.

“I think it will take for me to realize what’s actually going on, it will take me a couple of weeks, to not be around the team, to not be in that environment, to actually realize what has happened, and what I have achieved,” said the Olympic gold medallist.

A large amount of her family and friends greeted Kellie when she returned from New Delhi with gold in 2018 following her win over Olympic semi-final opponent Sudaporn Seesondee.

However, there was a smaller group waiting for her at the airport because of the restrictions in place and a large media presence wanting to hear from her as soon as she touched down.

The media have had a huge interest in Harrington since her victory and the fighter did not get back to her room in Tokyo until 9 pm JST on the day of the fight because of a press conference and an RTÉ interview.

“This is the first time speaking to me Ma and Da [since the win] because I haven’t been ringing people or anything like that because I’m just so exhausted.”

The only person she spoke to before returning home was her partner, Mandy Loughlin, via Bernard Dunne’s phone for only ten minutes.

Harrington hopes to relax for the coming weeks after being on a strict diet since she began preparing for the Olympics.

She is also thinking about getting a replica medal made as the original one already has a scratch on it.

However, Harrington did not seem too bothered about the scratch and the boxer is excited to watch some television, listen to the radio and eat whatever she wants over the coming days.

“I just want to sit down on me sofa, watch some telly, or not watch telly – listen to the radio…It’s gonna be brilliant to just eat whatever I want.”

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Shannon McCurley’s early crash brought an end to any hopes that Team Ireland had for the 30-kilometre race held at the Izu Velodrome in Tokyo.

The crash, one of several in the race, involved the European Championships silver medalist and Italian Elisa Balsamo who collided with each other just minutes into the race.

Team Ireland lost two laps as a result with their cyclists focused on clawing back at the gap that had opened up.

However, it became too much for them to counteract and the team withdrew from the race without scoring any points in the sprints.

Team Ireland had to settle for a share of 13th place in the final standings as a result of this.

Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald took gold for Great Britain in the race after a dominant display in the sprints.

Kenny’s fifth Olympic gold in three Olympic games makes her the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history.

The track cyclist moves clear of Charlotte Dujardin as the British female with the most gold medals.

She joins Bradley Wiggins and rower Steve Redgrave in joint-second on the country’s all-time list, only one gold medal behind her husband Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy.

Kenny and Archibald won 10 of the 12 sprints to finish on 78 points with Denmark taking silver on 35 points and the Russian Olympic Committee in bronze on 26 points.

The British duo asserted their dominance on their competitors from the start with a run of three straight sprint wins to kick off proceedings.

The reigning world champions, the Netherlands, failed to mount a serious challenge against Team GB as the side ran away with the gold medal victory.

Next up on the track cycling schedule is the Men’s Madison at 8:55 am on Saturday, August 7th in which Team Ireland cyclists Mark Downey and Felix English will compete.

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Stephanie Meadow finished on a high after a rough start to go three-under-par for the day and seven-under across 54 holes.

Leona Maguire posted two 35’s across both sets of nine holes to finish the day on five-under.

Meadow expanded upon her round two form with a strong finish enough to maintain her chase of the medal positions.

The Northern Irish golfer struggled initially with a bogey on the second hole and did not correct it until hole 6.

A second birdie on hole 8 looked to set Meadow on her way but another bogey left her waiting until the back nine to mount her charge up the leaderboard.

A birdie on the 13th hole was left unaccompanied by anything but par until the final two holes where the Team Ireland golfer added two more to finish strongly and sit joint-10th.

Maguire finished on a lesser total for the day but her round was packed with action as she fluctuated throughout the 18 holes.

The Cavan native came out of the blocks like a bull in a china shop with two birdies in the first two holes.

Two further birdies on holes seven and eight moved her to four-under across the tournament and the golfer looked set to build on that.

However, a disastrous ninth hole killed her momentum after a shot went into the trees and she struggled to recover from it.

Maguire ended up posting a triple-bogey on the par-4 hole after the fiasco which brought her back down to Earth.

She never recovered from it until it was too late – a birdie on the penultimate hole to move under par – bringing an end to what should have been a fantastic day for the Team Ireland golfer.

Maguire’s final round will begin at 11:18 pm on Friday night at the same time as Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela and Sanna Nuutinen of Finland.

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Coyle goes into day two lying in joint third position on the overall leaderboard with a total of 238 points.

Over the course of 17 rounds, the athletes competed in one-minute bouts against each other, with the total victories and defeats resulting in points that are accumulated and contribute to the overall total – Coyle’s final points reflect a total of 23 victories/12 defeats.

The Meath athlete took to the piste in confident style, immediately moving towards the top of the leaderboard, maintaining her place in consistent fashion throughout the bouts, with a really strong showing in the first half of the competition.

Keeping her composure over the course of the session, Coyle said that she enjoyed her competition opener.

“It was really good,” Coyle said. “I don’t even know the results yet, I don’t think I’ll look, because Pentathlon is one out of five. I know it started off really well, and I just feel really happy. I’m really glad to have done all the training and my coaches justice, so I’m really happy with that anyway.”

Coyle started strong and kept the pressure on throughout the round.

For the first time the fencing event was held on a different day to the remaining swim, horse ride, and laser run, something she took advantage of: “I was very pumped the whole way through there.

“Normally I try to conserve some energy, but we have more time, so I was pretty excited for each hit. It’s a long time where there’s a lot of mental energy expended. I think it’s three hours, but it flies by, I can’t believe it’s over.”

Fencing is a discipline that Coyle has done specific work on over the past few years, and that work was evident with today’s performance.

“I was really lucky in the Team Ireland holding camp in Fukuroi that I could bring some good fencers, and I think it showed out there in the piste today, it definitely helped.

“It’s the Olympics, the pinnacle of every sport, so you’re pretty much up for every fight.

“I think the big thing is to not ride every loss and normally say don’t ride the highs, but I think I rode them pretty well in the arena. Normally I try to stay calm in between rounds and just let it out on the piste.”

Tomorrow, Coyle will contest the 200m Freestyle Swimming, Fencing Bonus Round, Show Jumping and the Laser Run, and the athlete with the highest number of points at the end of all disciplines is deemed the winner.

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Maguire shot four-under-par to improve her overall total to that amount and get within five strokes of a medal.

Her Team Ireland teammate Stephanie Meadow is also on four-under and is tied with Maguire for 11th.

Maguire’s hole one bogey was soothed by four quick-fire birdies on the front nine to shoot the Cavan golfer up the leaderboard.

Her front nine of 33 was matched by a back nine of 34 that included two additional birdies and a bogey.

She credited her opportunity creation for her score, something she struggled with on day one.

“I played a lot better today and gave myself a lot more chances,” said Maguire. “I didn’t get off to the best of starts but I chipped in on 4 and I kind of feel like that turned the day for me.

“I then went on and had 3 birdies in a row on 6, 7 and 8 which was nice. It felt like I played quite solid today.

“There were a few putts that, had they gone in, it would have completely changed the day, but it was nice to finish with a birdie on 18 to head into tomorrow.”

Upon finishing her round, Maguire was also delighted to hear of boxer Kellie Harrington securing her place in the gold medal fight to take place this coming Sunday.

“What Kellie is doing is incredible,” Maguire said. “She was one of the first people I met when I got into the village last week.

“I’d love to see her win a gold medal, she really deserves it. It’s great to see the community and people at home rallying around her. I’m fortunate where I’m from it’s the same as well.

“If we can finish off this week on a high note and she can go win a gold medal on Sunday, that would be great.”

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He followed in the footsteps of his father Seamus who competed at the 1984 LA Games.

The gruelling four-event Omnium was the first event on Downey’s race schedule at the Games, as he also teams up with Felix English on Saturday for their preferred event, the Madison, which is raced over 50-kilometers or 200-laps.

After four rounds – the Scratch Race, Tempo Race, Elimination Race and Points Race – Downey finished in 17^th position with a haul of 18 points.

Downey started with a 16^th place finish in the Scratch race, which is a classic first-across-the-line race over 15km for men. Five riders gained a lap on the field, while Downey sprinted with a large bunch all fighting for places.

There was disappointment for Downey in the Tempo race though, as he was pipped for a point mid-way through the race.

The all-out effort saw him drop the wheel and lose a lap along with Andreas Mueller of Austria and David Maree of South Africa.

That resulted in a 20-point deduction which put Downey in 19^th place. The Elimination race followed, which sees the last rider to cross the line at each intermediate sprint eliminated.

Selections are made every two laps, and with speeds averaging 55kph, Downey suffered an early elimination finishing 19^th.

With Downey out of contention going into the Points Race it was a case of keeping out of trouble and keeping the legs fresh for Team Ireland’s target event on Saturday, and he climbed the overall rankings to finish 17^th overall.

Speaking after the race Downey said: “Yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect… I’m an athlete, I like to compete, but look it’s my first Omnium at this level. I threw the kitchen sink at it. It’s not a banging result, it is what it is.”

“We got this race off the back of the Madison, so I’m looking forward to going again with Felix. He’s super motivated back in the hotel so I’m not too disappointed with the result. The level we know is really, really high here so I can’t be too disappointed, and we’ll move forward again.”

Team Ireland track cycling head coach and 2012 Olympian Martyn Irvine added: “Not the race we wanted but it shows we haven’t focused on it in preparation and training. Given the year that’s in it, we were just happy to get a start on the race. It has set us up to build from here, the level has raised, it’s amazing to see what people have actually done through Covid.”

“We have shifted our focus to the main event of this week for us, the last two years we have focused on the Men’s Madison and that’s the main goal on our side.”

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The Team Ireland member ran close to his personal best, coming across the line with a time of 3:35.84 in 10th, just outside his best time of 3:35.66.

The Balbriggan athlete posted the second-fastest time of his career, and with just the top 5 advancing to the final (plus two time-qualifiers), his Olympic Games finishes with a 20^th place ranking overall.

A quick opening lap set the tone of the race, with the Irishman needing to have his wits about him from the gun to stay in contention.

Coscoran stayed connected to the race throughout, sitting at the back of the main pack and hoping to produce a fast final 100m like in his heat, but ultimately those ahead of him held on.

Noting the fast early pace and his plan for the race, Coscoran said: “A 56-second flat first lap will take the steam out of you fairly quickly…The plan was to stay connected to the pack. No matter where the pack was…in the heats, I let a little bit of a gap open so the plan was to not let that happen.”

Proud of his two races in his Olympic Games debut he added; “It was a good race, it was good for me. The heats was probably the best race of my life, and then that was the best race of my life…I think I did better than what I was expected to do and I think that’s because of all the race experience I’ve had in the entire season”.

The second semi-final was won in an Olympic record by Abel Kipsang of Kenya, and a time qualifier position would have required an Irish record or three-second PB from the Irishman.

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Kenny crossed the line in a time of 1:26.54 to seal an impressive Olympic debut in the Japanese capital city.

The racewalker finished one second ahead of his closest opponent, Jose Oswaldo Calel of Guatemala, and was under six minutes behind the winner, Italian Massimo Stano.

The 22-year-old’s result comes less than a month after he picked up silver at the European U-23 Championships.

Kenny finished that race with a time of 1:25.50 to earn the silver medal in Tallinn at the beginning of July.

The Kerryman is also a two-time national champion in the sport, following in the footsteps of his coach, world champion and Team Ireland Olympic bronze medalist Rob Heffernan.

The Olympians have put similar times at the same age and the five-time Olympian also earned a late-twenties finish in his first Olympic Games in Sydney.

Heffernan has gone on record to say that the rising star in race walking is “better than [he] was at that age.”

The Farranfore-Maine Valley athlete has added to an already fantastic season and is expected to move up the world rankings, where he currently resides in 92nd.

To add to his silver medal in Tallinn and the impressive Olympic debut, Kenny has achieved his personal best in the 20km race walk this year.

A strong performance in Dudince, Slovakia in the middle of March saw David Kenny clock a time of 1:23.06.

His selection for the Olympics complimented the achievements he has managed in his career so far and the performance only does so further.

The man who got him into racewalking, Michael O’Connor, was impressed with his performance and gave his thoughts to Radio Kerry.

“Given the conditions, he put up a mighty performance altogether,” O’Connor exclaimed. “A British fella there, Tom Bosworth, he’d be the white hope really of the British – he was 25th, David was 29th – and he was really expected to do pretty well.

“And I think that puts it into context for a young fella. There was seven of them around 22 years of age…it was a mighty performance altogether.”

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