Golfers Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow were the first Irish athletes in action in Tokyo on Day 12 of the Olympics.
With diving and equestrian events also lined up today, we have the latest below.
Diving
Diver Tanya Watson made history in Tokyo today, as she became the first Irish female diver to compete at the Olympic Games.
A strong performance from the 19-year-old saw her qualify for the semi-finals of the women’s 10-metre platform, in 16th position with 289.4 points.
Tomorrow’s semi-final will see the top 18 scores from today’s 30 divers compete, with the top 12 from there contesting the final on Thursday.
Watson performed consistently across the five dives, and said she felt “great” after her Olympic debut.
“I feel great, and just excited to go out there again and do my dives and get through again tomorrow,” she said.
“My first dive was pretty good for me, everything was consistent, so all my dives were on the head. But I just need to work on tomorrow – my entries, there was some splash there which I would like to get rid of. My first, second, third, fourth, fifth dives, they were all consistent. So I’m really, really happy with that.
“My plan into the semi-finals is that I personally want to enjoy it again. I did really good diving today, so I’m really excited to find that again. Also tomorrow, I want to work on my entries into the water.”
Tanya Watson, Ireland's first female Olympic diver, finishes the 10m Platform preliminaries with 289.40 points.
There are 27 divers left to go in this final round. Then we find out if she will dive in tomorrow's semi-finals 🙈#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 @swimireland pic.twitter.com/vhx6cUaPgG
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021
Golf
Round one of the women's individual stroke play began today with Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow representing Team Ireland at Kasumigaseki County Club.
Close of play saw Maguire tied for 22nd on level par, while Stephanie Meadow carded a 1-over par 72 and is tied 36th.
Opening with 3 pars, Maguire carded a bogey on the par 3 4th, but bounced back well with a birdie on the 5th.
On her back 9, she posted two bogeys and two birdies, one of which came at the 17th when she held a 20-foot putt down the sloping green.
“It was mixed,” said Maguire of her round. “I probably didn’t give myself as many chances as I would have liked and didn’t quite have my irons dialled in, not that there was that many of them, it was mostly hybrids and woods into the greens but it was just slightly off I would say today.
“I holed a few nice putts to save pars and that. Just a little bit of fine-tuning I think this afternoon and be ready to go again tomorrow.”
An opening round of 71 (LVL) for @leona_maguire in Kasumigaseki this morning. She's currently sitting tied for 22nd ⛳#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 @GolfIreland_ pic.twitter.com/tldMntWsUC
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021
With a later tee-time than Maguire and in the peak of the afternoon heat, Meadow relied on her short game, saving par on two occasions on the front nine.
Some loose iron shots led to two bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes and Meadow slipped to 3-over par. However, birdies on the 16th and 17th put her right back in the mix.
“I’m happy enough to make 2 birdies coming in, it makes a big difference,” she said. “I wasn’t overly impressed with how my irons were today, but that’s okay, we’ll figure it out on the range and be ready to go again tomorrow.
“3-over is a lot to come back from, 1-over is not so bad. I think it was just so hot out there I was trying to stay 1-shot at a time so I was just trying to grind through it, get finished and be okay when done. I think I had some good birdie opportunities and hit some good putt, so it was nice to see them go in.”
2 birdies in her last 3 holes and @stephmeadow20 fights back 💪
She finishes on +1 for her round ⛳#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 @GolfIreland_ pic.twitter.com/demnI5Mmnj
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021
Equestrian
Three Irish show jumpers are now in the individual final, which kicked off at 11am Irish time.
Darragh Kenny qualified in second-place overall and the Offaly man will benefit from being among the last out today.
Bertram Allen and 2012 medallist Cian O'Connor also came through the qualifiers yesterday without incurring a single fault.
