8 minute read
Ulster Rambles
BY DAVID MACCONNELL
IT IS NORMAL AT THIS TIME OF YEAR THAT I RAVE ON ABOUT THE MANY BRAVE, COURAGEOUS, HEROIC, EMOTIONAL, PASSIONATE STORIES OF SPORT AT THE OLYMPICS. I DIVED INTO THIS PROJECT WITH MUCHO GUSTO AND ENTHUSIASM BUT SUCH IS THE NATURE OF ULSTER THAT I WAS UNABLE TO FATHOM THE INTRICACIES OF HOW AND WHY SOME ATHLETES REPRESENTED GREAT BRITAIN AND SOME REPRESENTED IRELAND. PERHAPS I WILL LEAVE THAT ASPECT ALONE... FOR THE PRESENT... BUT I WILL GET BACK TO IT.
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A total of 31 athletes from Northern Ireland made their way to Tokyo for the highly anticipated 2020 Olympic Games which of course were held in August 2021. Ireland’s women’s hockey team - captained by Coleraine’s Katie Mullan - started with a 2-0 win over South Africa. The squad – which had more Northern Ireland players than any other event at the Tokyo Games – broke barriers by becoming the first Irish hockey team to qualify for the Olympics. Representing N.I. on the 16-player panel were Ayeisha McFerran, Shirley McCay and Lizzie Holden, with Zara Malseed travelling as a reserve. Meanwhile, David Ames and Ian Sloan bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the men’s hockey with the G.B. team, losing 3-1 to India and missing out on a medal place. Banbridge’s Russell White finished 48th in the men’s triathlon while Craigavon’s Kirsty Hegarty finished 16th in the women’s trap shooting: whatever that was. Obviously Channel 7 did not show it or maybe I just managed to miss it! Belfast archer Patrick Huston finished 25th in the round of 64 in the men’s individual event and placed eighth in the mixed team event with Sarah Bettles. Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy just missed out on a bronze medal at the third sudden-death hole of a seven-way play-off for third place. The Holywood golfer began the final round tied for fifth on 11-under, three shots behind Zander Schauffele – who ended up winning gold – and only one stroke outside the medals. Jordanstown’s Stephanie Meadow ended four shots outside of the medal places after firing a five-under-par final round of 66 to finish seventh in the women’s golf. Team Ireland’s Olympic reputation is built on boxing success and four Northern Ireland boxers were selected for the squad. Despite Aidan Walsh’s despair at having to withdraw with an ankle injury he sustained celebrating victory in his bronze medal fight, he returns to Belfast as the city’s ninth Olympic medallist.
The 23-year-old welterweight also paid tribute to his sister Michaela Walsh, who had her own Olympic dream ended with a loss to Italy’s Irma Testa. He said he would “cut the medal in half and give her half of it”. Very sporting of him! Belfast flyweight and Team Ireland boxing captain Brendan Irvine also suffered defeat on day three. Lisburn featherweight Kurt Walker missed out on a bronze medal by a razor-thin split decision to the USA’s Duke Ragan, who has been fighting in the professional ranks for much of the last year. Newtownards gymnast Rhys McClenaghan missed out on a medal with a seventh place finish in the final of the men’s pommel horse. In 2018, McClenaghan won Commonwealth and European gold, as well as a World Championship bronze medal in 2019 (I did cover his story at the time
in this column of our great little mag). He was seeking to become the first Irish gymnast to earn Olympic gold. In swimming, Daniel Wiffen broke his own Irish record with a 1500m freestyle win, finishing in a time of 15:07:69 and coming 20th overall. It wasn’t enough to qualify the 20-year-old for the final, but it was another impressive result for the Magheralin man, who also broke the Irish national record for the 800m freestyle, clocking a personal best time of 7:51:65 which placed him 14th. Bangor’s Jack McMillan led the Ireland men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team to eighth place in their semi-final. They finished 14th overall in the event, and are the first Irish men’s team to race at the Olympics, as well as the first Irish swimming relay team to compete at the Games since 1972.
Top left: Boxers Kellie Harrington and Brendan Irvine fly the flag for Ireland at the opening ceremony. Image: www.independent.ie Above: A delighted Aidan Walsh displays his bronze medal with sister Michaela Sprinter Leon Reid made his Olympic debut in the 200m and the Commonwealth bronze medallist progressed to the semi-finals, where he finished seventh with a time of 20.54 after a strong run to qualify from his heat. Northern Ireland’s final competitors in action were Paul Pollock, Kevin Seaward and Stephen Scullion in the men’s marathon. Seaward finished 58th in a time of 2:21:45 with Pollock 71st after running 2:27:48 while Scullion dropped out around the 20km mark as he and a number of runners struggled in the hot conditions. In rowing, Rebecca Shorten competed for Team GB in the women’s four. She missed out on bronze by just over a second and came a full five seconds behind the Australian boat, who won gold in 6:15.37 – an Olympic best time. Coleraine-born Hannah Scott was part of G.B.’s women quadruple sculls crew which placed seventh overall and Aughnacloy’s Rebecca Edwards came fifth with the G.B. women’s eight in the repechage. There would be many heroic, passionate and emotional stories with all these competitors, just like the Australian stories that were covered so well by Channel 7. They can all now look forward to Paris in three years with hope and anticipation. Rugby sevens was of course part of the games this time around. It reminded me of someone from my old school who attended Queens University and played for Ulster and Ireland while still being the scrum half for the University second team. His name was and still is Roger Young. The reason for this incongruous selection was the fact that the first scrum half (Billy White) was also the place kicker for the team and presumably they had no other reliable kicker. Roger won 26 caps for Ireland between 1965 and 1971 and it is 53 years since he was called into the British and Irish Lions side for a series deciding third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. It was a star-studded side for the third of four Tests – Mike Gibson at flyhalf, (called out half in those days) Gerald Davies at outside centre, Tom Kiernan, Maurice Richards and Keith Savage in the back three while up front, the pack included John Pullin, Willie John McBride and Jim Telfer. It may be a different era in so many ways from today’s Lions tour, but Young, who was a 25-year-old dental student at Queen’s University in Belfast at the time, shared the same anxious moments as Warren Gatland’s side no doubt felt, ahead of the recent decider which by the way they lost 19 – 16, with a
penalty in the last 5 minutes deciding the outcome of the series. I was on the executive committee of the Students Union at this time and the team was heavily criticised for the tour where apartheid was prevalent. The final deciding factor was quote ‘how could we condemn it if we had not been over there to appreciate and understand the problem.’ Thankfully, that comment ended the discussion. At the time we were all involved with the Civil Rights Marches which encouraged plenty of discussions! Roger had fallen in love with Cape Town and decided to return two years later with the intention of working as a dentist for two years. He never left the place and has now been a South African citizen for the last 50 years. He did give up rugby however as he found the amount asked to insure his hands (to practice dentistry) was more than he could comfortably afford. Of course the problems in Northern Ireland had an influence on his decision to stay in South Africa – the grocery shop of his wife’s father was blown up by an IRA bomb intended for a police station. As for living in the apartheid regime, when he set up his dental practice in the suburbs of Cape Town, he says he became the first dentist in South Africa to employ a black receptionist. “You did what you could. I lost a few patients, but not many. Thankfully we are all together now.” He now runs a guesthouse in the beautiful West Cape coastal resort of Langebaan, but apparently he returned to Cape Town recently, where his adventure began, to watch the third Test with his extended family. Most of them will be cheering for the Springboks, but not Young. His Lion heart still beats strong. “I would love the Lions to win,’ he was quoted as saying, “but we need to run more with the ball. It is what the Lions have always done.” If you are interested in rugby well you know how close it was. They did manage quite a few runs but as the aficionados all know the game has changed a lot since Roger sent out those beautiful long passes. Lastly, returning to the Olympics, after twenty seconds thought, who would play for G.B. and who would play for Ireland. Let’s leave that and roll on to Paris in three year; much closer than Tokyo. I hope we perform well.
Above: Roger Young in his heyday. Image: www.telegraph.co.uk/
May your God go with them and you.
Musical Entertainer / Teacher
David MacConnell
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