First Offaly Olympic competitor enters the fray tomorrow

Jordan Conroy will be the first of the five Offaly Olympians to experience action in Paris when the Irish Men's Rugby Sevens begin their tournament tomorrow, Wednesday.

Conroy is part of the Irish Men's Rugby Sevens squad, which begin with a Pool A clash with South Africa on Wednesday afternoon (4.30pm), followed by a game against Japan on Wednesday night (8pm)

The group stage concludes with a game against New Zealand on Thursday at 3.30pm. Twelve teams are taking part across three groups of four, with the top 8 ranked sides reaching the quarter finals. The medals will be decided on Saturday.

The other Offaly competitors are Megan Burns (Women's Rugby Sevens), Gráinne Walsh (Boxing), Shane Lowry (Golf) and Megan Armitage (Road Cycling).

Overall, Team Ireland is comprised of 64 female athletes and 69 male athletes.

In terms of geographical breakdown, the counties with the largest representation are Dublin (34 athletes), Cork (16 athletes), and Down (14 athletes). Only two counties are missing from the list – Westmeath and Leitrim.

History will be made, this year, by marathon runner Fionnuala McCormack when she becomes Ireland’s first female athlete to compete in five Olympic Games. Equestrian athletes Cian O’Connor and Austin O’Connor will become four-time Olympians.

There will be seven three-time Olympians including Olympic Champion Paul O’Donovan. Thomas Barr, Ciara Mageean Mark English (all athletics), Leona Maguire, Stephanie Meadow (both golfers) and Shane Ryan (swimming) complete the list.

The youngest team member is Grace Davison (swimming), at 16 years old, while the oldest is soon-to-be four-time Olympian Austin O’Connor (eventing).

There are plenty of family connections within the team – Sophie O’Sullivan (athletics), is the daughter of Olympic medallist Sonia O’Sullivan. Rachael Darragh (badminton) is the niece of three-time Olympian Chloe Magee, and Leona Maguire is the cousin of Ross Corrigan (rowing). Siblings Aidan and Michaela Walsh (boxing) are both competing once more, and track athletes Jodie and Luke McCann.