This week has been a very busy period for Irish athletes of all levels; on bank holiday Monday (June 4th) 40,395 ladies took to the streets of Dublin for the 30th Flora Women’s Mini Marathon (10km) on what was a bright Sunny day after an otherwise dull and wet weekend. The race is the biggest all-women’s event of its kind in the world and its is believed that around €137 million has been raised for charity since its inception in 1983. The race was won by Lynda Byrne, Dublin in a time of 33 mins and 29 seconds, which is great preparation for Lynda before she competes in this years Olympic Games in London. A big congratulations to Lynda and to all the other ladies who took part in this wonderful Irish sporting event.
In the same week, the Olympic torch was carried throughout Ireland, by sporting personalities and celebrities such as Sonia O’ Sullivan, Henry Shefflin, Paul McGrath, Ronnie Delaney, Michael Carruth, Wayne McCullough and of course Jedward. Currently we have 53 athletes who have qualified for the Games, so we hope all preparations are going according to plan for all our Irish hopefuls. We are looking forward to watching all of them in action!
The Irish Rugby Squad are currently in New Zealand preparing for a three-test series against the current World Champions. The squad contains a few new faces due to injuries sustained by players not travelling including the likes of Tommy Bowe, (Haematoma) and Paul O Connell (Knee), and other players such as Mike Ross (Hamstring), who is missing until perhaps next weekends test. Ireland have never beaten New Zealand in 24 previous attempts and this is an unwanted statistic which Brian O’ Driscoll’s men will be keen to erase.
On Sunday, Giovanni Trappatoni’s Irish football team commence their European Championship in Poland in perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated Irish sporting events of recent years. An extremely tricky tie is expected with the Croatians which will be followed with encounters with Italy and Spain. The Irish squad has a clean bill of health despite late scares from John O’ Shea (calf) and veteran Shay Given (knee), who has been tipped to be fit for Sunday. The Olé Olé’rs will be out in force, in good spirits, supporting the team for the championships so hopefully the boys in green will give us plenty to cheer about!
Everyone at The Physio Company wishes our sports-people the very best of luck in the coming days, hopefully results our way!! Keep a lookout for updates on our athletes participation in upcoming events!!