Tokyo on hold

Three Galway sports’ people had set their sights on competing at this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, but now those dreams have been put on hold after the the postponement of the Games until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Stephen Glennon catches up with eventer Cathal Daniels, rower Katie O’Brien and boxer Kieran Molloy to discover the impact on them. He also talks to World Championships’ gold medalist Olive Loughnane who says the Olympic organisers were left with no other choice.

HAVING looked forward for so long to making his debut at the Olympic Games this summer, Galway’s Cathal Daniels says he has put the disappointment of the year-long postponement aside and notes: “there are bigger things to be worrying about than competitions”.

There is not a facet of sport and life that the current Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t touched and, as the death toll in the country continues to rise, Daniels captures the nation’s mood. “What I’m seeing is how big this coronavirus is and how much it has and is going to affect everybody. So, there are bigger things to be worrying about than competitions.”

A native of Kylebrack, Loughrea, Daniels was seen as one of Ireland’s genuine medal contenders in Tokyo this summer, having climbed up into the top ten world rankings in eventing (dressage, show jumping and cross country) in 2019.

With no competitions likely to be run for some months (at least), the 23-year-old, who is based in The Curragh, Kildare, says the best he can do is make the most of his time by working on his – and his horses – weaknesses.

“The best way you could look at it is that there is now more time to prepare. It (postponement) is unfortunate, though, because I was quite ready to go. Everything was lining up quite good – the horse’s form was very good – and we would have been in quite a strong position. So, we just need to hold that for next year.”

Although Daniels draws from a string of horses, it was his partnership with Rioghan Rua, owned by Margaret and Frank Kinsella, that yielded the best results in 2019, winning the CCIU 4*L at Bramham International and taking individual bronze at the European Eventing Championships. It was Ireland’s first senior European eventing medal since 1995.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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