Olympics 2024: UCD alum Paul O’Donovan makes history with gold win in Paris
Posted 2 August, 2024
Irish rower and UCD alum Paul O’Donovan has won gold at the Paris Games, becoming the first ever Irish Olympian to win medals at three different Games.
The reigning champions in the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls, the Skibbereen native alongside teammate Fintan McCarthy powered to victory at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, easily edging out their Italian and Greek race rivals who competed for silver and bronze.
Paris 2024: "No-one believed we could do it coming into this competition." - Two-time Olympic gold medallists Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy speak after defending their Olympic title.(opens in a new window)#RTESport (opens in a new window)#Paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) (opens in a new window)August 2, 2024
Watch (opens in a new window)https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
Updates (opens in a new window)https://t.co/18WgncFAEe (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/icQYTpPgb5
Successfully defended their title to claim back-to-back golds, the Irish duo crossed the finish line with a time of 6:10:99. Italy took the silver medal, while Greece claimed bronze.
The win means O’Donovan, a graduate from the UCD School of Public Health Physiotherapy and Sports Science and a former UCD Ad Astra Elite Sports scholar, is the first Irish athlete ever to win medals at three Olympic Games, having won in Rio, Tokyo and now in Paris.
What. It. Means.
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) (opens in a new window)August 2, 2024
Fintan “it’s been a a privilege rowing with Paul and under coach Dominic for my whole rowing career.” (opens in a new window)#TeamIreland | (opens in a new window)#Paris2024 (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/ylgtGWVGYF
The win also means that O’Donovan and McCarthy have become the first Irish athletes to win golds at successive Games since Pat O’Callaghan in the men’s hammer throw at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics.
Ireland has currently now five medals at the Paris Games, and this latest gold medal is Ireland’s fifth rowing medal since the 2016 Games in Rio, which saw UCD graduate Eimear Lambe win Ireland's first medal of the Tokyo Olympics with a bronze for the Women’s Four at the Sea Forest Waterway.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
