\u201cLooking at her there on the track: she\u2019s like Wonder Woman, she\u2019s like the perfect human,\u201d as Rob Heffernan put it after O\u2019Connor wrapped up her heptathlon triumph in that 800m. <\/p>\n
This, incidentally, is where we risk antagonising those willing to be incarcerated rather than pay their TV licence fee and the inbox being stuffed with three abusive emails, but: RT\u00c9<\/a> deserve a nod. There, said it. <\/p>\n Not least presenter Paul O\u2019Flynn who had to seamlessly hop from the swimming to the athletics and back again and never once was discombobulated enough to tell us \u201cEllen Walshe<\/a> and Mark English<\/a> are up next for Ireland in the pole vault\u201d or ask Derval O\u2019Rourke if she preferred the backstroke or butterfly back in the day.<\/p>\n And Greg Allen and David Gillick could probably tell you the inside leg measurements of the Montenegrin high jumper\u2019s plumber\u2019s postman, the pair leaving you so informed you could actually hear yourself hollering at the television during the shot put: \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, Kate, tidy up your twisting torque.\u201d<\/p>\n And Gillick remains the warmest of interviewers. It\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll ever hear him say to an Irish athlete: \u201cI\u2019ve seen more pace from a sloth \u2013 might it be time to retire?\u201d, but that\u2019s okay. Sonia O\u2019Sullivan might, though. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens when you take the superstars out,\u201d she said of Andrew Coscoran<\/a> winning bronze in the 1,500m. Rob was aghast. \u201cThere were enough stars in it.\u201d Delicious. <\/p>\n Inevitably, communications are incoming \u2013 and in block capital letters with excessive punctuation \u2013 along the lines of: \u201cWhat about the RT\u00c9 commentators awarding a swimming bronze in a semi-final and not spotting an Irish bronze in the athletics?\u201d<\/p>\n These things did indeed happen, but, come \u2019ere, if you want to fixate on brain-freeze nano-seconds rather than hours of excellence then fill yer boots. <\/p>\n Nick O\u2019Hare, meanwhile, came to the swimming armed with a crystal ball. \u201cI think Ellen\u2019s going to get a medal here,\u201d he said before Walshe took on the 200m individual medley. \u201cDon\u2019t get panicked if she is behind after 100m.\u201d<\/p>\n Seventh after 50m. Panic. Sixth after 100m. Ooh. Fourth after 150m. Hello? First after 200m. Oh, Lord. Gold number two, there won\u2019t be a cow milked in Templeogue, Dublin, until January. \u201cI don\u2019t even know. I\u2019m just so shocked,\u201d Walshe told RT\u00c9, which was nothing to the state of stupefaction the audience had been left in by this torrent of medals. <\/p>\n And Coscoran gave us another in that 1,500m. We removed our gaze from the fella in the closing stages to focus on the medal contenders, concluding that a top-eight finish for the boy from Balbriggan, Co Dublin, wasn\u2019t bad going at all. Then? Not since Roy Keane flattened Alf-Inge Haaland almost 30 years ago have we seen an Irish kick quite like it. <\/p>\n \u201cAh man, some craic,\u201d he said to Gillick, the smiley head on him resulting in this house being left without a dry eye. Few in Irish sport have worked harder for their day in the sun. <\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5AN4XD6T6VFWJBIQJ2ENKMLKKU.jpg\")
Andrew Coscoran celebrates winning bronze on Saturday in the men’s 1,500m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/INPHO <\/p>\n![\"Ellen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ECGWVXWKZJFMJAGDXQSL3HMJHE.jpg\")
Ellen Walshe in the women\u2019s 200m butterfly semi-final at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris on Saturday. Photograph: Giorgio Scala\/INPHO <\/p>\n