JORDANSTOWN’S US-based Stephanie Meadow will join her close friend Leona Maguire and major winners Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on the Ireland golf team who are set to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. It’s the same foursome that competed in Tokyo 2020 and will be Stephanie’s third Olympic Games.
The golf tournament takes place in Le Golf National, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, near Versailles to the southwest of Paris. Le Golf National is considered amongst the most beautiful golf sites in the world and is owned by the French Golf Federation. Out of its two 18-hole courses, ‘L’Albatros’ stands out as the most competitive and complex, and has hosted major international competitions, including the Ryder Cup in 2018.
Team Ireland’s golfers are some of the best in the world. In Tokyo, McIlroy came agonisingly close to bronze, finishing fourth, and the Offaly’s Lowry is going to Paris with podium ambitions.
“My first experience in Tokyo was amazing and it feeds you with the hunger of wanting to do it again and to come back and give it a better shot this time. A lot of what I’ve talked about and done this year has been geared towards the Olympics in Paris. I have always said that I’d love to bring a medal back to Ireland, and that’s my number one goal. It’s great to be going back there with Rory, too,” Lowry said.
Last weekend Leona Maguire became the first Irish player to win the Ladies European Tour event after a fantastic eagle in the 18th hole at the Aramco Team Series. The Cavan player, along with Stephanie Meadow, are heading into their third Olympics.
Maguire said: “It’s a huge honour to be selected for my third Olympics. There are not a lot of people who can say that they have been to three Olympic Games. Anytime you get to represent your country is a huge honour, and to do it at an Olympic Games, there’s no bigger honour. As golfers we don’t get to be part of a team very often, so it is special to be part of a team heading to Paris.
“Me and Steph have known each other a lifetime now, it seems, and it is our third Olympics together. It’s been quite the journey over the last, almost 20 years, at this point. It is nice to see growth in each other’s games and lives, and nice to be able to share this together.”
Olympic Federation of Ireland Chef de Mission for Paris 2024, Gavin Noble said: “Our golf team is hugely exciting, with each of the players capable of doing something big out there in Paris. This particular team gave us so much to cheer about in Tokyo, and we are really looking forward to working with Neil Manchip and the team on supporting them in Le Golf National.”
Neil Manchip, High Performance Director with Golf Ireland, added: “With a couple of weeks to go the excitement is building for the Paris games. Team Ireland golf is in great shape and very much looking forward to the challenges that await at Le Golf National.”
Leona Maguire
