Search Results for 'the Olympics'

Robert Grace

He brightens up our early morning misery with his hit Gift Grub performances on Today FM, and now Mario Rosenstock is all set for a new Irish tour with an Athlone date scheduled for November.

Sporting events produce more than their fair share of elation and disappointment - and few could not be moved by the tears of defeat shed by Katie Taylor this week and empathise with the anger of Michael Conlon when decisions went against them in the boxing ring in Rio. It has prompted widespread accusations of corruption at an Olympic Games that has been marred with issues since winning the bid in 2009.

Castlebar swimmer, Nicholas Quinn's Olympic hopes came to an end on Tuesday evening in the pool in Rio in agonising fashion. The University of Edinburgh student missed out on a place in the semifinal of the 200m breaststroke by 0.41 of a second. Quinn finished in a time of 2:11.67, his fastest morning swim ever and second fastest 200m breaststroke swim to date. He needed a time of 2:11.24, equal to his personal best in the heat which would have seen him through to the semifinal. Quinn had gone into the Olympics ranked 27th in the world and finished in 19th place in the games.

Eight years on from Mayo's last Olympian, cyclist David O'Loughlin who raced in the 4km Pursuit event in Beijing and 20 years on from Ballina's Deirdre Gallagher's 23rd place finish in the 10k race walk in Atlanta 1996, Mayo's newest Olympian will dive into action tomorrow afternoon.

We tend to look at Olympic Games through the glass prism of the rose-tinted glasses. I remember seeing my first colour TV while watching the athletics at the Munich Olympics. It was the era of the flares, the locks. It was a rare look at events that happened somewhere else across the world and we were watching it. Remember these were days not long after the wonderment of the moon landings. Our brains were sponges for saturation of colour, of exoticism. The only live events on television were All-Ireland semis and finals, the FA cup finals, the European Cup finals and the Eurovision.

In a room filled to capacity, with almost 2,000 budding culinary writers and publishers in attendance, Galway author Michael O’Meara sits on the edge of his seat and thinks.

A backlog of overdue passport applications has forced the Department of Foreign Affairs to temporarily increase its workforce in an attempt to clear the applications awaiting approval.

An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, laid the foundation stone for the new swimming pool complex and outdoor education centre in Castlebar at Lough Lannagh on Monday afternoon. The Taoiseach said that this was a "great day" for Castlebar, and after he laid the stone he praised Castlebar swimmer Nicholas Quinn who is preparing to represent Ireland at the Olympics in Rio and said he hoped to see more Castlebar athletes following in his footsteps.

With the Olympics Games in Rio only months away, Galway sports fans will have the chance to spend an entertaining evening in the company of two of the legendary figures of Irish athletics.