ROWERS Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch have secured another medal for Ireland at the Paris Olympics today.
The pair came third in the final of the men’s double sculls this morning – securing their place on the podium and another bronze medal for Ireland.
Their win marks the fourth medal won for the nation, after swimmer Mona McSharry claimed bronze in the women’s breaststroke final, fellow swimmer Daniel Wiffen claimed gold in the men’s freestyle final, and boxer Kellie Harrington secured at least a bronze as her competition campaign continues.
Philip Doyle, left, and Daire Lynch of Team Ireland celebrate after winning bronze in the men's double scullsIreland has won three Olympic rowing medals in previous competitions – including a gold and a bronze in Tokyo and a silver in Rio.
Doyle and Lynch claimed their place in Irish sporting history in a final which saw the favoured Dutch crew beaten into second place by a brilliant performance from the Romanian double who took the race to the field to claim gold.
The Irish pair outsprinted the Americans to claim their coveted bronze medal.
Speaking after the medal ceremony, Tipperary man Lynch, who is competing at his first Olympics, said: “It’s tough, it’s an Olympic final, anything can happen.
Ireland came third in the final at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris“We know the Romanians were dangerous, like they scraped through the semi-final, realistically they shouldn’t have got through that semi-final and we knew they’d be dangerous because they’re very very good, they won the Europeans by eight seconds I think so they were going to be a big threat coming into this,” he added.
“We were posting fastest times, heat and semi and obviously then you’re a bit disappointed when you get bronze but I genuinely don’t think there’s anything else we could have done there so we have to be happy with it.
“It’ll sink in fairly soon once we get time to relax a bit.”
Doyle and Lynch received their bronze medals in Paris todayDoyle, a qualified Doctor from Banbridge, who has taken time off from his hospital job in Cork to attend the Olympics, added: “I went to bed last night thinking we might win the thing to be honest, but to be honest to come away with an Olympic medal you can never be disappointed.
“I made a little mistake there at the end; bit of a neck injury seized up on me in the last 100 metres but it’s because we pushed the body to the limit; it shows that you’re at the limit and luckily we had enough work done that we could recover and then come across the line.”
He added: “Phenomenal day, phenomenal course, a great experience!”
The 31-year-old took up rowing in 2014 while studying medicine in Queens University and combined it with work as a doctor during the global pandemic.
Clonmel native Lynch, who is 26, is a recent Economics graduate from Yale University.
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