The 2020 Summer Olympics will take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 24th to August 9th. Ireland have currently got representatives qualified for seven different Olympic sports. To make sure that you don’t miss any Irish athletes in Tokyo 2020, we are going to present a list of all Irish athletes qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Athletics
Fionnuala McCormack smashed her previous marathon best (2:30:38) to finish fifth in Chicago in 2:26:47 and secured Tokyo Olympics qualification. Goes number 2 on Irish all-time list
Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) produced the performance of her career to finish tenth in a red-hot women’s 1500m final a new personal best of 4:00.15 at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha and will be in Tokyo in 2020
Canoeing
Ireland finished in one of the top eleven places at the 2019 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. As a result, they have qualified one canoeist in the C-1 class for the 2020 Olympic Games. Liam Jegou will represent Ireland in the C-1 class canoe slalom in Tokyo.
Jegou narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the Canoe Slalom World Cup this past summer. The Clare native was off the mark required to earn a place in the final by just 2.4 seconds. His impressive performances will allow him to go on to represent Ireland in Tokyo 2020.
Equestrian
Irish Equestrians will be plentiful in Tokyo 2020. Ireland have qualified a squad in all three equestrian disciplines. An Irish team will compete in the team dressage, team eventing, and team jumping competitions.
Tokyo 2020 will mark the first time in history that Ireland will enter a dressage team into the Olympics. Anna Merveldt, Judy Reynolds, Heike Holstein, and Kate Dwyer achieved this feat in this past summer’s European Championships.
Gymnastics
One gymnast will represent Ireland in the 2020 Olympic Games. Rhys McClenaghan will represent Ireland in the Artistic Gymnast competition. The talented 20-year-old will compete in the pommel horse event in Tokyo.
McClenaghan may be one of Ireland’s most promising athletes at the 2020 Olympic Games. The County Down native won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 European Championships. He defeated the reigning Olympic champion Max Whitlock to earn these gold medals.
McClenaghan has one of the most inspirational stories of Ireland’s 2020 Olympic athletes. After winning gold at the Commonwealth Games, he was incredibly forced to train himself in his back garden, after his coach was made redundant in June 2018. McClenaghan moved to Dublin after being offered funding by Gymnastics Ireland. He will be aiming for gold in Tokyo 2020.
Modern Pentathlon
One athlete will represent Ireland in the modern pentathlon event at Tokyo 2020. Natalya Coyle will represent Ireland in her third consecutive Olympics in 2020. Coyle secured her qualification at the 2019 European Championships, finishing in eighth place.
Coyle will be entering her third Olympic Games as an experienced, seasoned competitor. This experience will have readied her for the challenge ahead. We expect Coyle to be one of Ireland’s biggest medal hopes at next year’s Olympic Games.
Rowing
Ireland will be represented in four rowing events in Tokyo 2020. Ireland won two medals in the 2016 Olympic Games. One of Ireland’s two silver medals was won in the men’s lightweight double sculls rowing event.
Ireland will compete in this event once again in 2020. 2016 silver medalist Paul O’Donovan, along with Fintan McCarthy qualified for the Olympics in the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Meanwhile, the pairing of Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne qualified Ireland for the open weight men’s double sculls event.
Sanita Puspure won gold at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. She will represent Ireland in the women’s single sculls event in Tokyo. Aileen Crowley and Monika Dukarska qualified Ireland for the women’s pair event in next summer’s Olympics.
Sailing
Ireland’s other silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games came in the women’s laser radial competition. Ireland will compete in this competition once again in next summer’s Olympic Games.
Aisling Keller earned Ireland their boat in the women’s laser radial competition at this past summer’s laser radial World Championships. She will hope to replicate Annalise Murphy’s 2016 performance in next summer’s competition.
Swimming
Two Irish swimmers have qualified for next summer’s Olympic Games. Darragh Greene will compete in two swimming events at next summer’s Olympics. He will represent Ireland in both the men’s 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
Meanwhile, Shane Ryan will represent Ireland in the 100m backstroke in Tokyo. Ryan took home the bronze medal from the 2018 World Championships in the 50m backstroke competition. He will hope to bring his A-game to the 2020 Olympics to secure a medal for Ireland.
