Thirty UCD sporting students and alumni athletes were selected as part of Team Ireland to compete at 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, representing the largest ever cohort of UCD sports stars to compete at the Olympics.
Four of the UCD Olympians are current UCD Students and nearly two dozen of the group were past and current UCD Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholars or recipients of UCD Sport scholarships. Competing across a range of events including cycling, hockey, rowing, rugby, equestrian, track and field, sailing, and swimming, the athletes began their Olympic journey by sailing down the river Seine on 26 July as part of the Games’ Opening Ceremony. Many UCD alumni who competed in Paris had previously represented the University during their studies including Olympic gold medallist Paul O’Donovan and Olympic bronze medallist Eimear Lambe.
ROWING
UCD alumnus and former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Paul O’Donovan (Physiotherapy 2017) and Fintan McCarthy won a gold medal in the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls final. The reigning champions from Cork successfully defended their title to claim back-to-back golds, crossing the fi nish line with a time of 6:10:99.
Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar and Bronze medal winner at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Eimear Lambe (International Commerce 2019) competed alongside Rowing Ireland teammates Imogen Magner, Natalie Long and Emily Hegarty in the Women’s 4 to achieve overall 7th place, having gained 3rd in the heat and 4th in the repechage.
SAILING
Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar and sailing ace Eve McMahon, a student of Commerce International, and winner of a second world title, placed 13th in the Laser Radial on 108 points.
CYCLING – TRACK
Lara Gillespie (Health & Performance Science 2022), a former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar, helped Team Ireland leave Paris 2024 on a high note with a 10th overall place finish in the gruelling Omnium event. Gillespie’s individual performance capped a brilliant Olympic debut as she was also part of the Irish team that finished 9th in the Team Pursuit and 11th in the Madison.
CYCLING – ROAD
Megan Armitage (Civil Law 2021) made a strong Olympic debut to finish 35th in cycling’s gruelling 158km Women’s Road Race, and would have placed much higher if her progress had not been impeded by another rider going down as the race re-entered the city with 50km to go, forcing her to stop. Armitage is only the second Irish woman to contest the Olympic road race and the first to finish it in 4:06.58, seven minutes and 35 seconds behind the winner.
MEN’S HOCKEY
While Ireland Men’s Hockey did not progress out of the pool stages, they recorded a brilliant comeback victory over New Zealand to finish their Paris 2024 campaign, as goals from UCD alumni Ben Walker (Commerce 2021) and former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Jeremy Duncan (Physiotherapy 2016) sealed a 2-1 win over the Black Sticks. Fellow team members former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Shane O’Donoghue (Sports & Exercise Management 2014), Ben Johnson (Social Science, Geography and Geology 2023), and Jamie Carr (Law with Economics 2019) helped the team to their first win of the Games and a 5th place finish in Pool B.
ATHLETICS
There was disappointment for 2024 UCD Alumni Award winner and former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Ciara Mageean (Physiotherapy 2017) as injury forced her out of the Olympics 1,500m. The European champion had been suffering with chronic pain from an achilles injury in the run-in to the Games. Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Sarah Healy (Law 2023) competed in the 1,500m and was 4th in the repechage. Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Luke McCann (MSc Engineering 2023) came 8th in his 1,500m heat and 7th in the repechage.
Mark English (Medicine 2019), former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar, comfortably qualified for the 800m semi-final in Paris, coming 2nd in his heat, but there was disappointment for him in the semi-finals where he finished 6th. Competing for Ireland in the 100m Hurdles, former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Sarah Lavin (Physiotherapy 2018) placed 2nd in her 100m hurdles heat and 6th in the semi-final.
EQUESTRIAN
Aoife Clark (Maths and Classics 2002) was placed 9th overall in team Eventing.
HAMMER
Science student and Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Nicola Tuthill, who had taken silver at the European Throwing Cup and gold at the National Senior Track and Field, finished 16th in her hammer heat.
RUGBY SEVENS
Ireland’s Sevens squads got tough draws for the Paris Olympics with the Men’s squad facing New Zealand, South Africa and Japan, and the women taking on Australia, Great Britain and South Africa in pool stages. The Men’s Sevens squad included UCD alumni Niall Comerford (Commerce 2023), former UCD Sport Scholar Hugo Keenan (Commerce 2018), Terry Kennedy (Commerce 2018), Gavin Mullin (Business & Law 2021), former UCD Sport Scholar Harry McNulty (BSc Food Science 2017) and Bryan Mollen (Economics 2020). The Men’s Sevens team achieved 6th place overall, beating South Africa, Japan and USA but losing to New Zealand and Fiji.
UCD graduates and current postgraduate students, former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Emily Lane and Graduate Sport Scholarship recipient Claire Boles were part of the Ireland Women’s Rugby Sevens squad whose Olympic debut ended with an 8th place finish. The team lost to Great Britain in the 7th place play-off. There were three UCD alumni on the team: team captain former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Lucy Mulhall Rock (HDip Mathematical Studies 2020, Science 2018), former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar and Graduate Sport Scholar Eve Higgins (BA 2021, MSc Criminology & Criminal Justice 2023), and Megan Burns (Physiotherapy 2022).
SWIMMING
Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Erin Riordan (Science 2021) featured along with Victoria Catterson, Grace Davison and Danielle Hill in the Women’s 400m Freestyle Relay, placing 8th in their heat, and 16th overall. Former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar Darragh Greene (Dip Sports Management 2018) represented Ireland in the Breaststroke leg of the 4 x 100m Medley Relay along with Shane Ryan (Freestyle), Conor Ferguson (Backstroke) and Max McCusker (Butterfly) and broke the Irish Men’s Medley Relay record in 3.3.81. They placed 6th in their heat, and 15th overall.
PARALYMPICS
As UCD Connections Alumni Magazine 2024 goes to press, August 29 will mark the beginning of competition for Team Ireland at the Paralympic Games, with four UCD alumni on the 35-strong cohort representing Ireland: Para Table Tennis, Class 3: former Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholar and Tokyo Paralympian Colin Judge (Science Actuarial & Finance Studies 2017). Para Rowing, Mixed Double Sculls: Katie O’Brien (Veterinary Medicine 2020) with teammate Tiarnan O’Donnell. Para Archery, Individual Compound Open: Tokyo Paralympian Kerrie Leonard (MSc Marketing 2019). Para Cycling, Track: Martin Gordon (ProfCert in Compliance 2019).
CELEBRATING UCD’S OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC LEGACY
The 34 UCD sporting students and alumni athletes selected to represent Team Ireland in Paris Olympics 2024 and Paralympics 2024 did so as Ireland marks 100 years of participation at the Olympic Games.
For the centenary celebrations, UCD Sport, in association with sports historian Dr Tom Hunt, has compiled a list of some 85 UCD graduates who have competed in the Olympics or Paralympic Games since Ireland’s first Olympics in 1924.
To read the list, visit www.ucd.ie/sport/ucdsolympicparalympiclegacy