Olympics 2024: Record number of UCD sports stars to fly the flag for Team Ireland in Paris

Posted 17 July, 2024

_{At the 2024 Paris Games, four current UCD students will compete, undergradautes Ad Astra Academy fellows Eve McMahon and Nicola Tuthill and for the Ireland’s Women's 7, postgraduate students Claire Boles and Emily Lane Credit: Sportsfile}

Twenty-seven UCD sporting students and alumni athletes have been officially selected as part of Team Ireland to compete at the (opens in a new window)2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

This is the largest ever cohort of University College Dublin sports stars to compete at the Olympics.

Nearly two dozen of these Olympians are past and current UCD Ad Astra Academy Elite Sports Scholars or recipients of UCD Sport scholarships.

Competing across a range of events including cycling, hockey, rowing, rugby, track and field, sailing, and swimming, the athletes will begin their Olympic journey by sailing down the river Seine on the 26 July as part of the Games’ Opening Ceremony.

_{UCD Athletics alum Ciara Mageean, Luke McCann, Sarah Lavin, Mark English, and Sarah Healy will all be in action in Paris Credit: Sportsfile}

“We are very proud of all our UCD students and alumni who are travelling to Paris with Team Ireland to compete in the 2024 Olympics,” said UCD President (opens in a new window)Professor Orla Feely.

“You are truly wonderful role models for our students and our entire community.”

“Your skill, dedication, practice, and focus have brought you to the pinnacle of your sport.”

“UCD students, faculty and staff are behind you and cheering you on every step of the way. Táimid an-bhródúil asaibh,” added President Feely.

Celebrate UCD's Olympic & Paralympic legacy

At the 2024 Games, four current UCD students will compete – undergraduates and Ad Astra Academy fellows sailing ace Eve McMahon, who recently won her second world title, and hammer thrower Nicola Tuthill, who took silver at the European Throwing Cup and gold at the National Senior Track and Field Championships.

Targeting Olympic medals with Ireland’s Women's 7s squad will be UCD postgraduate students Claire Boles and Emily Lane.

Alongside these students, UCD will see 23 alumni compete across the three weeks in France, many of whom previously represented the University during their studies including Olympic gold medallist Paul O'Donovan, Olympic bronze medallist Eimear Lambe, and four-time European Athletics Championship medallist Ciara Mageean.

The UCD Olympians for Paris 2024

_{Current UCD students competing in Paris, Eve McMahon, Claire Boles, Emily Lane and Nicola Tuthill  Credit: Sportsfile}

“As Director of the UCD Ad Astra Academy I am thrilled to see so many of our current and alumni elite sports stars selected for the 2024 Olympics in Paris,” said (opens in a new window)Professor Barbara Dooley, Director of Ad Astra Academy.

“Through membership of the Ad Astra Elite Sports Academy, students competing to international standards are encouraged and supported to develop their sporting talent, whilst pursuing their degree. Through mentoring and innovative supports, these exceptional sport stars can reach for the stars, reflected in our motto Ad Astra.”

_{Swimmers Darragh Greene and Erin Riordan, Cyclist Lara Gillespie, and 2020 Olympic medal winners in rowing Paul O'Donovan and Eimear Lambe are all UCD graduates Credit: Sportsfile}

Dominic O’Keeffe, Director Of Student Services And Facilities, added: "Everyone at UCD Sport extends our best wishes to our current and former student-athletes representing Team Ireland at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.”

"It is inspiring to see the continuous development of world-class sporting facilities and professional coaching staff at UCD bringing about such representation. Your dedication and years of preparation have led you to this moment. We are all supporting you from Belfield. Make your mark and give it your all.”

At the 2020 Games in Japan, 24 UCD alumni and students flew the flag for Ireland, of whom 20 were past or then current UCD Ad Astra Academy scholars.

It was UCD graduate Eimear Lambe who won Ireland's first medal of the Games, with a bronze for the Women’s Four in rowing. Her podium finish was a first for Irish female rowers as the team was only the second ever female crew from Ireland to reach an Olympic final.

_{UCD has eleven alum and current students filling out Team Ireland's Rugby 7 squads, including Lucy Rock and Harry McNulty Credit: Sportsfile}

Also making history in Tokyo was UCD alumnus Paul O’Donovan, with the Skibbereen native becoming the first Irish rower, alongside teammate Fintan McCarthy, to win Olympic gold in rowing.

For the 2024 Paralympic Games in August, UCD is currently represented by alumnus Colin Judge among the 17 athletes so far announced by Team Ireland.

_{As part of the Irish Hockey team in Paris, UCD will be represented by graduates Ben Johnson, Benjamin Walker, Jeremy Duncan, and Shane O'Donoghue Credit: Sportsfile}

The 27 UCD sporting students and alumni athletes selected to represent Team Ireland in Paris will be doing so as (opens in a new window)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 that have competed in the Olympics or Paralympic Games since Ireland’s first Olympics in 1924.

By:  David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Tadhg O'Leary, UCD Sport)

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie