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Tokyo 2020: Athletes will put on their own medals

As we edge closer and closer to the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony, more rules and restrictions are being put on the games. 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Thomas Bach announced yesterday that there would be new regulations around the medal ceremonies.

It had already been announced weeks ago that athletes would have to wear masks on the podiums. Now, they will also have to place their medals around their own necks.

President Bach announced this measure as another way to limit the spread of Covid19 in Tokyo.

At past Olympic Games, medals were normally presented by an IOC member or a representative of the given sport.

At a press conference in Tokyo, the president said:

“The medals will not be given around the neck. They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself.”

This is one of the first restrictions to be put on athletes while in the stadium or taking part in an event.

It was already announced that the limited crowd, that all live in Japan, will be told not to shout or look for autographs. Some events will have no spectators at all or only VIP members that include sponsors and sports representatives.

“There will be no shake hands and there will be no hugs there during the ceremony,” added president Bach.

How will this affect the Irish athletes in Tokyo?

Although these restrictions will make an odd spectacle of the Olympics, Team Ireland psychologist Jessie Barr believes that many of these restrictions will not affect the athletes.

“Most athletes are used to competing in pretty quiet stadiums until they get to major championships anyway so it won’t be that big of a step.

“From a mindset point of view, it is a big area of preparation. I don’t think it will have the negative impact on everyone that we think it might,” Barr said in an interview last month.

Olympic Games Schedule and Information

When do the Olympics start in 2021

  • Start date: Friday, July 23
  • Opening ceremony time: 12pm Irish Time

How to watch the opening ceremony in Ireland

  • TV Channel: RTÉ

The Tokyo Olympic Games will be airing on Irish screens throughout the summer, kicking off ifs live coverage with the opening ceremony on July 23rd beginning at 12pm Irish time. The coverage will begin on Friday, July 23rd 2021 and will end on Sunday, 8th August 2021.

Where are the 2021 Olympics?

The 2021 Olympic Games are being in Tokyo, Japan. After being awarded the bid for the opportunity to host the games. Originally intended to occur in 2020 starting the 24th of July to the 9th August, the games were cancelled from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The official cost to host the games is reported to be an estimated $15.4 billion. Although, the Japanese government has stated it may cost twice as much depending on costs.

Venue’s and Events

They are over 42 venue’s spread across Japan that will be used by numerous different sports. Here is the complete list for each venue and what sport will take place there.

Venue Events
Olympic Stadium Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Track & Field, Soccer
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table Tennis
Yoyogi National Stadium Handball
Nippon Budokan Judo, Karate
Tokyo International Forum Weightlifting
Kokugikan Arena Boxing
Equestrian Park Equestrian
Musashino Forest Sport Plaza Badminton, Pentathlon
Tokyo Stadium Soccer, Pentathlon, Rugby
Ariake Arena Indoor Volleyball
Ariake Gymnastics Centre Gymnastics
Ariake Urban Sports Park Cycling, BMX Racing/Freestyle, Skateboarding
Ariake Tennis Park Tennis
Odaiba Marine Park Marathon Swimming, Triathlon
Shiokaze Park Beach Volleyball
Aomi Urban Sports Park 3-on-3 Basketball, Sport Climbing
Oi Hockey Stadium Field Hockey
Sea Forest Cross-Country Course Equestrian — Eventing, Cross Country
Sea Forest Waterway Canoe Sprint, Rowing
Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre Canoe Slalom
Yumenoshima Park Archery Field Archery
Tokyo Aquatics Centre Swimming, Artistic Swimming, Diving
Tatsumi Water Polo Centre Water Polo
Asaka Shooting Range Shooting
Musashinonomori Park Cycling Road
Sapporo Odori Park Marathon, Race Walking
Makuhari Messe Hall Fencing, Taekwondo, Wrestling
Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach Surfing
Saitama Super Arena Basketball
Kasumigaseki Country Club Golf
Enoshima Yacht Harbour Sailing
Izu Velodrome and MTB Course Cyling Track, Mountain Bike
Fuji International Speedway Cycling Road
Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium Baseball, Softball
Yokohama Baseball Stadium Baseball, Softball
Sapporo Dome Soccer
Miyagi Stadium Soccer
Ibaraki Kashima Stadium Soccer
Saitama Stadium Soccer
International Stadium Yokohama Soccer

 

Tokyo Olympics Schedule 2021

Here is a list of the full schedule of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and Events taking place.

Each sport will have its own separate time frame, and will carry on throughout the Games.

Sport Date Venue
Opening Ceremony July 23, 2021 Tokyo Stadium
Archery July 23-31, 2021 Yumenoshima Park Archery Field
Artistic Gymnastics July 24 – August 3, 2021 Arlake Gymnastics Centre
Artistic Swimming August 2-7, 2021 Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Athletics July 30 – August 8, 2021 Tokyo Stadium & Sapporo Odori Park
Badminton July 24 – August 2, 2021 Musashino Forest Sport Plaza
Baseball/Softball July 21 – August 7, 2021 Fukushima & Yokohama
Basketball July 25 – August 8, 2021 Aomi Urban Sports Park & Saitama Super Arena
Beach Volleyball July 24 – August 7, 2021 Shiokaze Park
Boxing July 24 – August 8, 2021 Kokugikan Arena
Canoe Slalom July 25-30, 2021 Kasai Caneo Slalom Centre
Canoe Sprint August 2-7, 2021 Sea Forest Waterway
Cycling BMX July 29 – August 1, 2021 Arlake Urban Sports Park
Cycling Road July 24-28, 2021 Musashinonomori Park & Fuji International Speedway
Cycling Track August 2-8, 2021 Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka
Diving July 25 – August 7, 2021 Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Equestrian July 24 – August 7, 2021 Equestrian Park & Sea Forest Cross-Country Course
Fencing July 24 – August 1, 2021 Makuhari Messe Hall
Football July 21 – August 7, 2021 Tokyo Stadium, Sapporo Dome, Miyagi Stadium, Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, Saitama Stadium & International Stadium Yokohama
Golf July 29 – August 7, 2021 Kasumigaseki Country Club
Handball July 24 – August 8, 2021 Yoyogi National Stadium
Hockey July 24 – August 6, 2021 Oi Hockey Stadium
Judo July 24-31, 2021 Nippon Budokan
Karate August 5-7, 2021 Nippon Budokan
Marathon Swimming August 4-5, 2021 Odaiba Marine Park
Modern Pentathlon August 5-7, 2021 Musashino Forest Sport Plaza & Tokyo Stadium
Rhythmic Gymnastics August 6-8, 2021 Arlake Gymnastics Centre
Rowing July 23-30, 2021 Sea Forest Waterway
Rugby Sevens July 26-31, 2021 Tokyo Stadium
Sailing July 25 – August 4, 2021 Enoshima Yacht Harbour
Shooting July 24 – August 2, 2021 Asaka Shooting Range
Skateboarding July 24 – August 5, 2021 Arlake Urban Sports Park
Sport Climbing August 3-6, 2021 Aomi Urban Sports Park
Surfing July 25 – August 1, 2021 Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, Chiba
Swimming July 24 – August 1, 2021 Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Table Tennis July 24 – August 6, 2021 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
Taekwondo July 24-27, 2021 Makuhari Messe Hall
Tennis July 24 – August 1, 2021 Arlake Tennis Park
Trampoline Gymnastics July 30-31, 2021 Arlake Gymnastics Centre
Triathlon July 26-31, 2021 Odaiba Marine Park
Volleyball July 24 – August 8, 2021 Arlake Arena
Water Polo July 24 – August 8, 2021 Tatsumi Water Polo Centre
Weightlifitng July 24 – August 4, 2021 Tokyo International Forum
Wrestling August 1-7, 2021 Makuhari Messe Hall
Closing Ceremony August 8, 2021 Tokyo Olympic Stadium

AIL 2021/22 Fixtures Confirmed

Fixtures have been confirmed for the upcoming 2021/22 Energia All-Ireland League (AIL) season.

The action will get underway with a full round of the Women’s All-Ireland League on Saturday, September 25th.

The men’s league will return a week later on October 2nd, with all 50 men’s sides starting their season that weekend.

The default kick-off times for men’s games will be 2:30 pm on Saturdays and 5 pm on Saturdays for women’s games but can be adjusted based on the agreed preference of participating teams.

Speaking about the release of fixtures, IRFU Competitions Manager Kevin Beggs said: “We are delighted to announce firm fixtures for all 60 participating teams in the Energia All-Ireland League for the 2021/22 season.

“For clubs and their supporters, it means a lot to have dates to put in the diary and the chance to get back pitchside and enjoy the very best that club rugby has to offer.”

The full list of fixtures is available to view on https://www.irishrugby.ie/energiaail.

Briggs said that the fixture list is balanced to meet the needs of clubs across the upcoming season.

The IRFU Competitions Manager also stated that clubs will play localised games in preparation for the league’s openers.

“It will be preceded by localised matches in September to whet the appetite for the All-Ireland action to come.”

Women’s All-Ireland League

Two new sides will join the women’s ranks for the 2021/22 season – Ballincollig and Wicklow – and both will have home advantage in Round One.

Ballincollig will welcome Suttonians to Tanner Park while Wicklow will play host to Old Belvedere.

Defending Champions Railway Union will meet 2019 runners up UL Bohemian on October 23rd, two and a half years after they met in the last Women’s AIL final.

A nine-game regular women’s season will conclude on December 11th with a one-off modified format beginning on January 15th 2022.

A Top 4 Round-Robin will lead into semi-finals and a final to determine the 2021/22 Energia Women’s All-Ireland League Champions.

The bottom six sides will also be put into a round-robin system separate from the top four and will compete for a one-off trophy following play-offs.

Dates for the Energia Women’s All-Ireland League playoffs are subject to confirmation to avoid any clashes with the as-yet-to-be announced fixtures for the 2022 Women’s Six Nations Championship Fixtures.

The ring-fencing of all 10 participating teams will be retained as planned for the next two seasons as the IRFU continue to support the development and long-term sustainability of participating teams.

The Energia Women’s All-Ireland Cup will also return this season with details to be announced in due course.

Men’s AIL

In the Men’s AIL, there will be an 18-game regular season that will run up until April 9th 2022 and a final set for Sunday, May 1st 2022.

This move was made after a majority of clubs voted to return to the previous format of the Men’s AIL.

Cork Constitution are the last winners of the Men’s Energia AIL and kick off the defence of their 2018/19 title away to Garryowen.

By the time we get to our Energia All-Ireland League finals in May 2022, it will have been three years since those prestigious trophies were last lifted. It’s building up to be a very special season indeed.”

The Open: Darren Clarke Excited To Be Back At Sandwich

2011 Champion Golfer of the Year Darren Clarke has said that he is excited to be back at the Royal St. George’s Golf Course in Sandwich, where he won The Open 10 years ago.

It is the first time that The Open has been held at the venue since the Antrim golfer’s win and the second time it will be the final men’s major of the season in recent history.

Speaking at a press conference for The Open on Wednesday, he feels that it is special to return to the place where he won.

“It’s great to come back to any golf course where you’ve played well on and won but to come back to an Open venue where you’ve played well on and won is even more special,” said Clarke.

The 52-year-old sees it as a privilege to be able to return to the Royal St. George as the last person to win the tournament there.

He won the Claret Jug in 2011 at his 20th attempt, having come close before when he came third in the 2001 Open.

The win was a childhood dream of Clarke’s, who sees the win as the best moment of his career.

He was an outsider in 2011 and praised the history of the course, which has seen shock wins in the Open throughout its existence as a tournament venue.

Clarke talked of his approach to the weekend 10 years ago, a weekend which he felt changed his mindset.

“I was ready to step across the line and win the biggest and best tournament in the world and the one I had always wanted to win.”

He noted that there are differences this week when compared to the Open Championship week in 2011.

The wind direction is different and the 18-hole course is a lot softer than it was during the last Open weekend at Sandwich.

Clarke said that these factors change the way the links course will be played this weekend.

“There won’t be so much chasing the greens, more flying them in there.”

The Open takes place from Thursday, July 15th to Sunday, July 18th with coverage of the tournament exclusively on Sky Sports The Open.

All Irish tee times for the first two rounds of the tournament are available here.

Champions Cup 2021/22 Draw Update

The 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup draw will be held on Wednesday, July 21st at 12:00 pm.

The draw will be staged in Lausanne, Switzerland where the tournament’s governing body, the EPCR’s headquarters are.

It will be streamed live on HeinekenChampionsCup.com and will include the winners of the three domestic leagues involved in the competition – Top 14 and Champions Cup holders Stade Toulousain, Gallagher Premiership winners Harlequins and Pro14 winners Leinster.

The draw will consist of eight teams from the three leagues mentioned above, as it did last season.

The teams who have qualified from the three leagues will be listed from one to eight for the draw, with number one being the champions.

The clubs will first be placed into four tiers based on their rankings, before being drawn into two pools of 12 – Pool A and Pool B.

Clubs from the same league in the same tier will not be drawn into the same pool.

Tier 1 will have numbers one and two on the qualifiers in it with Tier 2 having numbers three and four.

Tier 3 will have numbers five and six while Tier 4 will have numbers seven and eight.

The Tier 1 and the Tier 4 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, will play one another home and away during the pool stage.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 sides that are in the same pool but not from the same domestic league will do the same.

For example, Champions Cup and Top 14 double winners, Stade Toulousain, will be in Tier 1 and drawn against either Bath Rugby or Wasps, and against either Cardiff Rugby or Glasgow Warriors from Tier 4.

Similarly, Bristol Bears in Tier 2 will be drawn against either Pro14 qualifiers Scarlets or Ospreys, and against either ASM Clermont Auvergne or Stade Francais from Tier 3.

Once the draw is concluded, clubs will know their pool stage opponents and EPCR will begin work on the fixture schedule with an announcement of exact dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage following as soon as practicable.

The 2021/22 tournament will be played over nine weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage starting in December when Stade Toulousain begin the defence of their title.

The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of a Round of 16 on a home and away basis, quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final in Marseille on 28 May 2022.

2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup qualifiers

Gallagher Premiership: 1 Harlequins, 2 Exeter Chiefs, 3 Bristol Bears, 4 Sale Sharks, 5 Northampton Saints, 6 Leicester Tigers, 7 Bath Rugby, 8 Wasps
Guinness PRO14: 1 Leinster Rugby, 2 Munster Rugby, 3 Ulster Rugby, 4 Connacht Rugby, 5 Scarlets, 6 Ospreys, 7 Cardiff Rugby, 8 Glasgow Warriors
TOP 14: 1 Stade Toulousain, 2 Stade Rochelais, 3 Racing 92, 4 Union Bordeaux-Bègles, 5 ASM Clermont Auvergne, 6 Stade Français Paris, 7 Castres Olympique, 8 Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Pool Draw tiers

Tier 1: Harlequins, Exeter Chiefs, Leinster Rugby, Munster Rugby, Stade Toulousain, Stade Rochelais
Tier 2: Bristol Bears, Sale Sharks, Ulster Rugby, Connacht Rugby, Racing 92, Union Bordeaux-Bègles
Tier 3: Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers, Scarlets, Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Stade Français Paris
Tier 4: Bath Rugby, Wasps, Cardiff Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Castres Olympique, Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Munster Hurling: How To Get Tickets

Tipperary and Limerick will contest the 2021 Munster Senior Hurling Championship (Munster SHC) Final on Sunday, July 18th at 4:15 pm.

The Munster SHC climax will be held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and 7,000 spectators will be allowed to attend.

But how can you become one of the 7,000 to watch either Tipperary or Limerick lift the Mick Mackey Cup this weekend?

Tipperary will receive an allocation of 2,500 with 2,000 of these Stand at €40 each and 500 Terrace at €25 each.

The Tipperary County Board will give an allocation of tickets to every club in the county based on a points system that credits clubs with members fully registered in Croke Park.

Clubs in Tipperary will receive Stand tickets for this weekend’s showdown.

It is understood that the Limerick County Board will follow a similar model and allocate tickets to each club in the county.

Caherline GAA in Limerick will give their tickets to members via a draw.

There will be no public sale of Munster SHC final tickets unless clubs fail to sell their allocation of tickets.

Paudie Clifford Voted Footballer Of The Week

Kerry’s Paudie Clifford has been voted GAA.ie Footballer of the Week after a fantastic performance against 2020 Munster Senior Football Championship winners Tipperary in the provincial semi-final.

The forward received 5,923 votes from the public, over 1,000 more than Tyrone’s Darren McCurry and Mayo’s Ryan O’Donoghue.

The older brother of fellow inter-county star David Clifford made his first start for Kerry earlier this year and has performed brilliantly so far in 2021.

His performance against Davy Power’s Tipperary continued this trend with the Fossa native leading the Kerry attack to an impressive 1-19 (22) to 1-8 (11) victory.

He controlled Kerry’s attacking tempo with 34 possessions underlining his importance as a playmaker in the final third, the most in the Kerry side.

His work allowed his brother David and Killian Spillane to shine, with the former grabbing a goal on the day to help Kerry gain control of the tie.

Sean O’Shea also benefitted from the East Kerry forward’s movement in the final third as he moved into scoring positions because of it.

Paudie’s point is the icing on the cake for a spectacular performance that earned him the Man of the Match award and solidified Kerry as one of the top sides in GAA this year.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Clifford acknowledged the strength of Ronan McCarthy’s Cork side, who beat them in last year’s Munster semi-final.

“These two games are going to give us a good template to go on but, obviously, we’re going to have to lift it another bit for Cork.”

Kerry will play Cork in the 2021 Munster Senior Football Championship Final, a repeat of the 2019 final which saw the Kingdom edge a tight game.

Cork will want to go one step further than they have been able to go in the past nine

The final will be held on Sunday, July 25th at 4 pm in Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.

Eric Lowndes leaves Dublin panel

Seven-time All-Ireland winner Eric Lowndes has left the Dublin senior panel for the upcoming season.

The St Peregrine’s corner-back made his senior debut for the Dubs in 2014, during their 2014 Allianz League win.

The 27-year-old has been on the fringes of snatching a starting place, but due to Dublin’s great depth, he has struggled for game time under former manager Jim Gavin and more recently under current manager Dessie Farrell.

Lowndes has featured in all of Dublin’s league games this season, playing four and adding another league title to his already glistering senior career, sharing the crown with Kerry.

His departure from the panel was said to have been made clear to the Dublin management team after their Leinster opening victory over Wexford.

However, the defender has not made a championship appearance since last season’s Leinster senior football final against rivals Meath, coming off the bench.

His last championship start goes back even further, with his last inclusion in the starting 15 being against Tyrone back in 2019 in a Super 8 tie in Omagh.

Part of the Dublin minor side that captured the All-Ireland in 2012, alongside the likes of current senior players Jack McCaffrey and Ciarán Kilkenny, Lowndes also was a respected hurler for his county, winning two Leinster Minor titles back to back from 2011 to 2012.

This news will be a blow to Dessie Farrell and his side, as many of Dublin’s go-to defenders are set for late fitness tests against Meath in Sunday’s Leinster semi-final.

Alongside Lowndes, the team from the capital have seen senior departures from Cian O’Sullivan, Paddy Andrews, Michael Darragh MacAuley and reports of goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton still up in the air, the level of insecurity within the Dublin panel is yet to be put to rest by Farrell and his backroom staff.

 

 

Limerick prepared for new penalty rule and fullback Mike Casey injured

Limerick manager John Kiely has reviewed the new penalty rule with his team ahead of clash with Tipperary. Speaking to Michael Moynihan of the Irish Examiner, he also said that full-back Mike Casey will miss the Munster final

The hurling world has been very confused since a controversial moment in the Munster Senior hurling semi-final between Tipperary and Clare.

At a pivotal moment in last week’s game, Clare’s Aidan McCarthy slide tackled Tippman Jake Morris near the side-line of the 21-yard line. The new rule allows the referee to use their own opinion to decide the severity of a foul near the goals.

The referee that day, James Owens believed that it was a clear goal-scoring chance and awarded Tipperary a penalty while the Clare defender was sin-binned.

This view incensed many viewers and pundits who thought there were enough Clare defenders back to stop a goal. The Limerick boss Kiely agrees with this view after he was at the game in the Gaelic Grounds.

He has decided that the best way to deal with the rule is to prepare his side so that the same incident will not happen to them.

“I think all our cards have been marked at this stage, and nothing will be a surprise to us going forward. I think we’ll have to be careful and not be inviting trouble on ourselves. Hopefully, that’ll be the case,” Kiely said to the Examiner.

 

Former Limerick hurler Shane Dowling spoke on the incident as well and he believes that there should be more assistance for referees in these cases.

Although the implementation of a VAR-like system would have its critics, Dowling thinks it would really help referees in this very high-paced sport.

“Referees are going to make mistakes but if they have that bit of help it will take that extra pressure off them and ensure that any big calls that are going to be made will be made in the right way,” he said while speaking to BoyleSports’s Leon Blanche.

Mike Casey injury

The Munster Hurling final between Tipperary and Limerick will throw-in at 16:15 on Sunday, 18th July in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Limerick’s sole injury is to full-back, Mike Casey. The hurler recently recovered from an ACL injury but has received a different injury to the same knee.

Although the injury is not as serious as first believed, he will still miss out on the final on Sunday.

Connacht Final to take place in Croke Park

The Connacht Final between Mayo and Galway will now take place in Croke Park to accommodate more fans.

Sunday week’s Connacht SFC final was due to take place at Elvery’s MacHale Park, with Mayo having home advantage.

Now, the reigning Connacht champions have given up home advantage for their clash with their long-time rivals.

Connacht GAA has decided to avail the decision for extra capacity.

It means over 18,000 supporters of Mayo and Galway followers will be able to watch the game in the capital.

Mayo’s win over Leitrim in the Connacht SFC semi-final held in Castlebar had a 3,000 seater capacity.

After announcing the change of venue, Connacht Council said;

“Following a meeting of the Connacht GAA Management Committee (Tuesday) evening, the decision has been taken to stage the Connacht Senior Football Final between Mayo and Galway on Sunday the 25th July in Croke Park.

“Due to current Covid restrictions, had the game been held in Elvery’s MacHale Park the crowd would only have been 3,600 so the game has been moved to Croke Park to accommodate 18,000 supporters on the day.”

The news comes as a surprise for many, with this being the first time that a Connacht football final will be played outside the province of Connacht.

After 8,000 supporters were able to attend last Saturday’s two Leinster Hurling Championship semi-finals at Croke Park, the biggest crowd in Ireland since COVID-19.

The return of an extra 10,000 fans gives hope for later games when the All-Ireland series comes around in the coming weeks.

The fixture change has been confirmed by Connacht GAA for a 1:30 start on Sunday afternoon.

Mayo defeated both Leitrim and Sligo in their last outings, hammering both in one-sided affairs to book their place in Sunday week’s decider. While Galway overcame Roscommon in Dr Hyde Park in their semi-final.

 

 

 

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