# Ireland at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Ireland competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China. It was the 19th Summer Games that Ireland contested as a nation under the Olympic Council of Ireland.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
| Silver | Kenny Egan | Boxing | Light heavyweight |
| Bronze | Darren Sutherland | Boxing | Middleweight |
| Bronze | Paddy Barnes | Boxing | Light flyweight |

## Athletics

16 Irish athletes qualified for 17 different Olympic events in 2008.

### Key

* Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
* Q = Qualified for the next round
* q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
* NR = National record
* N/A = Round not applicable for the event
* Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Paul Hession | 200 m | 20.59 | 3 Q | 20.32 | 1 Q | 20.38 | 5 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| David Gillick | 400 m | 45.83 | 4 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Thomas Chamney | 800 m | 1:47.66 | 5 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Alistair Cragg | 1500 m | 3:44.90 | 8 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Alistair Cragg | 5000 m | 13:38.57 | 6 q | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |
| Martin Fagan | Marathon | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |
| Robert Heffernan | 20 km walk | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1:20:36 | 8 |
| Jamie Costin | 50 km walk | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4:15:16 | 44 |
| Colin Griffin | 50 km walk | — | — | — | — | — | — | DSQ | DSQ |

### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Joanne Cuddihy | 400 m | 53.32 | 6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Derval O'Rourke | 100 m hurdles | 13.22 | 6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Michelle Carey | 400 m hurdles | 57.99 | 7 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Fionnuala Britton | 3000 m steeplechase | 9:43.57 | 10 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Roisin McGettigan | 3000 m steeplechase | 9:28.92 | 2 Q | — | — | 9:55.89 | 14 |
| Pauline Curley | Marathon | — | — | — | — | 2:47:16 | 63 |
| Olive Loughnane | 20 km walk | — | — | — | — | 1:27:45 | 7 |

### Field events

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position | Distance | Position |
| Eileen O'Keeffe | Hammer throw | 67.66 | 23 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Badminton

| Athlete | Event | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Scott Evans | Men's singles | Zwiebler (GER) L 18–21, 21–18, 19–21 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Chloe Magee | Women's singles | Tolmoff (EST) W 18–21, 21–18, 21–19 | Jun J-y (KOR) L 12–21, 13–21 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Boxing

Ireland qualified five boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament. Barnes became the first when he qualified at the World Championships. Nevin was the second, qualifying at the first European qualifying event. Joyce, Sutherland, and Egan brought the number to five at the 2nd European tournament.
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Paddy Barnes | Light flyweight | Bye | Meza (ECU) W 14–8 | Maszczyk (POL) W 11–5 | Zou (CHN) L 0–15 | Did not advance | |
| John Joe Nevin | Bantamweight | Ourradi (ALG) W 9–4 | Badar-Uugan (MGL) L 2–9 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| John Joe Joyce | Light welterweight | Káté (HUN) W 9–5 | Díaz (DOM) L 11–11$^+$ | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Darren Sutherland | Middleweight | Bye | Kassel (ALG) W RSC | Blanco (VEN) W 11–1 | DeGale (GBR) L 3–10 | Did not advance | |
| Kenny Egan | Light heavyweight | Jackson (ISV) W 22–2 | Muzaffer (TUR) W 10–2 | Silva (BRA) W 8–0 | Jeffries (GBR) W 10–3 | Zhang Xp (CHN) L 7–11 | |

## Canoeing

Ireland qualified one competitor in slalom canoeing. Eoin Rheinisch qualified an Irish boat in slalom kayak event after finishing seventeenth in the 2007 World Championships. Ireland did not have any competitors in the flatwater events.

### Slalom

| Athlete | Event | Preliminary | Preliminary | Preliminary | Preliminary | Preliminary | Preliminary | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Rank | Run 2 | Rank | Total | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Total | Rank |
| Eoin Rheinisch | Men's K-1 | 88.52 | 18 | 87.81 | 12 | 176.33 | 15 Q | 88.85 | 10 Q | 88.06 | 4 | 176.91 | 4 |

## Cycling

Ireland qualified two places for the road race based on UCI rankings. Robin Seymour qualified for his third men's cross country race in the mountain biking. On 18 June 2008, the Olympic Council of Ireland announced that David O'Loughlin had secured a place for the men's individual pursuit in track cycling. Initially, the UCI released a list of qualifiers which did not include O'Loughlin.

### Road

| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Philip Deignan | Men's road race | 6:39:42 | 81 |
| Nicolas Roche | Men's road race | 6:34:26 | 64 |

### Track
#### Pursuit

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Opponent Results | Rank | Opponent Results | Rank |
| David O'Loughlin | Men's individual pursuit | 4:26.102 | 11 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Mountain biking

| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Robin Seymour | Men's cross-country | Did not finish | Did not finish |

## Equestrian
### Eventing

Although Ireland did not qualify for the team event in the 2008 Olympics, as a result of having 5 individual riding spots qualify, they were automatically entered into the team event.
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Dressage | Dressage | Cross-country | Cross-country | Cross-country | Jumping | Jumping | Jumping | Jumping | Jumping | Jumping | Total | Total |
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Dressage | Dressage | Cross-country | Cross-country | Cross-country | Qualifier | Qualifier | Qualifier | Final | Final | Final | | | Total | Total |
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Penalties | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Rank |
| Geoffrey Curran | Kilkishen | Individual | 61.70 # | 59 | 30.40 | 92.10 | 39 | 2.00 | 94.10 | 33 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 94.10 | 32 |
| Niall Griffin | Lorgaine | Individual | 50.60 | 35 | 46.40 | 97.00 # | 41 | 12.00 | 109.00 # | 39 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 109.00 | 38 |
| Louise Lyons | Watership Down | Individual | 57.40 | 55 | 28.40 | 85.80 | 35 | 9.00 | 94.80 | 34 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 94.80 | 33 |
| Austin O'Connor | Hobby Du Mee | Individual | 52.80 | 42 | 34.40 | 87.20 | 36 | 0.00 | 87.20 | 27 Q | 0.00 | 87.20 | 21 | 87.20 | 21 |
| Patricia Ryan | Fernhill Clover Mist | Individual | 78.70 # | 68 | 34.80 | 113.50 # | 47 | 13.00 | 126.50 # | 44 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 126.50 | 43 |
| Geoffrey Curran Niall Griffin Louise Lyons Austin O'Connor Patricia Ryan | See above | Team | 160.80 | 10 | 104.30 | 265.10 | 8 | 11.00 | 276.10 | 8 | — | — | — | 276.10 | 8 |
# – Indicates that points do not count in team total

### Show jumping

As a result of Jessica Kürten's world ranking, Ireland earned one individual place in show jumping at the 2008 games. As Kürten opted not to ride in the Olympics, the place was awarded to Denis Lynch.
Lynch and his mount Lantinus progressed to the finals stage. However, along with riders and horses from four other finalists, Lynch was suspended from taking part in the final, following a positive test for a banned substance.
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Total | Total |
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round A | Round A | Round B | Round B | Round B | | | Total | Total |
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Penalties | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Rank | Penalties | Total | Rank | Penalties | Rank |
| Denis Lynch | Lantinus | Individual | 1 | =14 | 1 | 2 | 4 Q | 6 | 8 | 8 Q | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew |

## Fencing

Ireland qualified one berth in sabre fencing. Siobhan Byrne secured her place in the Olympics by winning silver at the qualifying tournament in Istanbul in April.

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Siobhan Byrne | Individual sabre | Więckowska (POL) L 8–15 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Rowing

Ireland qualified with two boats for the rowing events. The men's coxless four qualified for the Olympics by finishing tenth at the 2007 World Championships. The men's lightweight coxless four team also granted their berth by finishing second at the last Olympic qualifying regatta in Poznań in June 2008 to complete the team line-up.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Repechage | Repechage | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Sean Casey Jonno Devlin Cormac Folan Sean O'Neill | Four | 6:02.85 | 3 SA/B | Bye | Bye | 5:58.14 | 6 FB | 6:07.97 | 10 |
| Richard Archibald Paul Griffin Cathal Moynihan Gearoid Towey* | Lightweight four | 5:52.32 | 4 R | 6:21.81 | 1 SA/B | 6:13.85 | 4 FB | 6:06.02 | 10 |
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
* In the non-medal final, Gearoid Towey had to withdraw due to illness, and was replaced by substitute Richard Coakley. (A spate of illness circulated in the regatta field during the heats and finals, to the extent Germany's lightweight men's four had to withdraw entirely from the semifinal after three crew-members were affected.)

## Sailing
### Men

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Net points | Final rank |
| Athlete | Event | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | M* | Net points | Final rank |
| Philip Lawton Gerald Owens | 470 | 22 | 1 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 24 | EL | 129 | 16 |
| Stephen Milne Peter O'Leary | Star | 6 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 12 | EL | 91 | 13 |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Net points | Final rank |
| Athlete | Event | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | M* | Net points | Final rank |
| Ciara Peelo | Laser Radial | 23 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 25 | 18 | 10 | CAN | EL | 127 | 23 |

### Open

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Net points | Final rank |
| Athlete | Event | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | M* | Net points | Final rank |
| Tim Goodbody | Finn | 22 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 15 | CAN | CAN | EL | 112 | 21 |
M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled

## Shooting
### Men

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Derek Burnett | Trap | 110 | 29 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Swimming
### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Andrew Bree | 100 m breaststroke | 1:01.76 NR | 30 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Andrew Bree | 200 m breaststroke | 2:10.91 NR | 12 Q | 2:10.16 NR | 11 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Andrew Bree | 200 m individual medley | DNS | DNS | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Aisling Cooney | 100 m backstroke | 1:02.50 | 31 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Melanie Nocher | 200 m freestyle | 2:04.29 | 43 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Melanie Nocher | 200 m backstroke | 2:12.29 NR | 20 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
Qualifiers for the latter rounds of all events are decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats. There was controversy during the selection of Irish Athletes, when an Irish man from Derry named Patthew Movey qualified, but the Irish Olympic committee forbid him from competing. Citing potential embarrassment

## Triathlon

Connor Farrell became Ireland's first ever Olympic qualifier for the Triathlon after finishing in fifteenth place at the 2008 World Championships, and thereby earning his enough ranking points.
| Athlete | Event | Swim (1.5 km) | Trans 1 | Bike (40 km) | Trans 2 | Run (10 km) | Total Time | Rank |
| Connor Farrell | Men's | 20:17 | 0:32 | 1:06:03 | 0:28 | 39:09 | 2:06:29.36 | 37 |