Ireland’s golden girls Ellen Walshe and Kate O’Connor both made a triumphant return to Dublin Airport on Monday after their stunning performances in their respective European championships last week.
Walshe, who claimed gold in both the 200m and 400m Individual Medley at the European Aquatics Championship in Paris, said that she was shocked by the reception that was waiting for her in the arrivals hall.
‘I am shocked, absolutely shocked,’ said the Templeogue native. ‘Coming through the door, it just hit me, and I was really shocked at hearing everyone cheering.’
‘It was a very special week and it is definitely going to be one for me to remember and the Irish team. I am delighted to be home. Thanks to everyone, it has been a dream,’ said Walshe, whose medal haul in Paris was added to by Mona McSharry, who claimed a silver and two bronze in the breaststroke.
Swim Ireland high performance director Andy Reid says that Walshe’s heroics in Paris were the culmination of more than 12 years of hard work.
And that will now continue as the swimmers look towards the world championships in Budapest next July and the world short-course championships in Beijing the following September, all building towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
European heptathlon champion O’Connor was also in shock at the numbers who had come out to cheer her on. ‘I don’t think I could ever get used to this. It’s a little bit different now coming back with a gold medal around my neck.
‘I think that this one is probably the most special that I’ve experienced so far,’ said the 25-year-old, who has won European and Commonwealth golds within a few weeks of each other.
‘I really wanted to come home with the gold this time because I felt like I put in the work and was capable of it, but I had to fight so hard during that competition, from start to finish. I’m just delighted I got the job done.’
O’Connor was one of four Irish athletes who got on the podium in Birmingham, with Mark English taking gold in the 800m, Rhasidat Adeleke taking silver in the 200m, while Andrew Coscoran bravely took a brilliant bronze in the 1500m.
While O’Connor’s season is now over, English and Adeleke still have Golden League meetings, starting with Lausanne this coming Friday, with the hope of getting to the lucrative Diamond League final in Brussels at the start of next month.
Viewing figures released by RTE yesterday confirmed how popular both European championships were with the Irish public last week.
The combined Championships reached a television audience of nearly 1.7 million viewers across RTÉ2 & RTÉ2+1, while there have been more than 800,000 streams on RTÉ Player (645,000 streams for the athletics and 193,000 streams for the swimming) as the medals piled up for Irish competitors.
