Konnichiwa From Tokyo

BY EMMETT BOWEN

AS A FAMOUS IRISH BAND THIN LIZZY SANG: “THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN”. YES, I’M TALKING ABOUT THE TWO CORK BOYS. IRISH OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS PAUL O’DONOVAN AND FINTAN McCARTY IN MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS JUST TOUCHED DOWN BACK HOME IN IRELAND.

The two lads have not had it easy in rowing but have a long-proven record of not giving up, ever. Both of the lads grew up in Ireland in the south west part of County Cork. Fintan is from the small town of Skibbereen and Paul is from the town of Lisheen near Skibbereen. Paul O’Donovan’s records are: • Bronze medal in the men’s lightweight single sculls in the under 23 world champions; • Silver medals in the men’s lightweight double sculls in 2017 and 2018 in European championships with a silver medal in Rio 2016 Olympics; • Gold medals in lightweight double scull at the European

Championships in 2016 and 2021, World Championships in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and his newest achievement of Gold at the Tokyo 2020 games. Fintan McCarty’s records are: • Bronze medal at the2020 European Championships in lightweight single sculls; • Gold medals at the 2019 World Championships in lightweight single scull, European championships 2021 lightweight double sculls and now the Tokyo 2020 Olympics lightweight double scull. Fintan McCarty and Paul O’Donovan started their winning partnership in 2019 winning gold in the lightweight double scull at the World Rowing championships. Then in 2021, they again won gold in the lightweight double scull at the European Rowing championships. Their greatest achievement to date however, is winning gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the men’s lightweight double scull. They also broke the world record time of 6:05:22 in their semifinals, prior to winning the gold medal in Tokyo.

I was privileged to be given the opportunity to speak with the men and to congratulate them on their historic achievement. My takeaway moment was their advice for those who may wish to follow them in dreams of winning Olympic gold. “You have to have a strong belief that anything is possible with a lot of hard work. Enjoy the journey and don’t be in a hurry to do amazing things straight away”. They also expressed how grateful they are for the support they received from all those back home and the Irish community from all corners of the world. Another highlight of the Paralympics I was honored to be a part of, was welcoming Team Ireland to Japan. As you are watching the Paralympics which are currently on television, some of you may be thinking, “Did Team Ireland get a warm welcome from their host city of Narita in Chiba prefecture and the Irish Community in Japan?” and the answers is yes, they did. If the city name sounds familiar to some of the readers, it’s because it is also home to Narita International Airport, which I sure some of you have flown into or departed from, and is located about one hour from central Tokyo. Ireland has had athletes at every Summer Paralympics since it started in 1960. They have won 66 gold, 66 silver and 94 bronze medals which is a total of 226 medals. The only time Ireland has not won any medals at the games is here in Tokyo back in 1964. With this year’s Team Ireland Paralympians, I’m sure they will reflect on history and expect to perform much better. It has been a long journey for the Irish Paralympic team on the road to Tokyo Paralympics 2020, with many ups and downs including the pandemic to contend with along the way. Sunday August 15th I was honored as the chairperson of Irish Network Japan and Irish NPO (I will do an article about our organization and the great work that we do in the near future) to give an official welcome speech to the Irish athletes at the Welcoming Ireland’s Paralympic Team and Irish Japan Chamber of Commerce (IJCC) and Narita City zoom event. The special guest speakers at the zoom event were as follows: • Neasa Russell (Chef de mission for Paralympics Ireland) • Team Ireland Paralympians • Irish Ambassador Paul Kavanagh • Narita City Mayor and Vice Mayor of Narita City • INJ chairperson Emmett Bowen • IJCC President Yoshihiro Tsuchiya as well as the President of

Opposite left: Ireland rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan celebrate after winning the men’s lightweight double sculls at the Sea Forest Waterway during the Tokyo 2020

Olympic Games. Image: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images Left: The cartoony Miraitowa is the official mascot of the Tokyo Olympics

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Japan Gaelic Athletic Association (Japan GAA) and the chairperson of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann

Japan (CCÉ). In my speech I said: “It’s with great honor as the chairperson of the Irish Network Japan to say to the athletes Fáilte go Tóiceo! In Gaelic it means welcome to Tokyo. “You have all worked incredibly hard and sacrificed so much to be here. Enjoy the moment and know that the Irish community here in Japan and around the world are cheering you all on! Wishing you all a very successful game and go Ireland!” There was also a great live Irish music session with a mix of Japanese and Irish musicians. The event finished with the Irish Paralympians thanking everyone for welcoming them to Japan and their fundraising efforts. The IJCC and Narita City put on a fabulous event and what a great way to kick off run up to the Paralympics. Team Ireland still need your help. If you can, please follow Team Ireland at paralympics.ie and donate what you can. Enjoy the games and GO Ireland! That’s all for now here in Tokyo Japan. Sayonara till next time. Believe in yourself and anything is possible.

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