Paris 2024 Olympics: Medal rush not too hot to handle as bad omens left at the cemetery gates
An unforgettable two weeks at the centre of world sport in the summer as Ireland's Olympians captured the hearts of their supporters in the French capital and at home
Staying in an apartment close to the famous Père Lachaise cemetery for the duration of the Paris Olympics might not have been the greatest omen.
The headline was a handy one if a record-breaking team of 133 athletes across 18 sports failed to deliver: 'The City of Light was a graveyard to Ireland's medal dreams'.
Nor was the fact that, after day two of the Games, my colleague Dave Coughlan and I couldn't get into our flat after returning from the action. Another headline came to mind if it all went pear-shaped: 'Why did Ireland's medals bid fly off the handle?'
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Thankfully, the apartment was on the ground floor and, while not quite on Rhys McClenaghan's level in terms of artistic merit, we did manage to manoeuvre ourselves out of a window and onto Rue Alexandre Dumas until the door was fixed.
Each and every arrival and departure proved less graceful than the next. It was unfair of me to leave Dave to deal with a dodgy locksmith while I moseyed around the corner to a local bar to meet two old school friends who, as luck would have it, were staying nearby.
But we were just grateful that none of the neighbours called the Police Nationale to arrest two Dubs attempting to start their day's work.
And, really, we were blessed to cover such a remarkable Games - that medal-laden first week in particular that propelled Ireland to the heady heights of 19th in the medal table with four golds and three bronze.
Paris 2024 gripped the nation back home and flashed by in a blur of celebration to those who were there for a day or a night or a week or a fortnight.
Spending in the Olympic cycle went up from €3.3m for Tokyo to €4.7m for Paris and so expectations were higher, too. Four medals were earned in Tokyo and, as the Olympic Federation geared up for the centenary of Ireland's first ever participation as a nation state in the Paris Games in 1924, the target was to claim five to seven from 12 to 14 medal opportunities.
On that level this Olympics goes down as a big success. Behind the numbers are people and the good vibes just grew and grew from that memorable night of July 29, when Mona McSharry claimed Ireland's first medal in the swimming pool in 28 years.
The Sligo woman collected the 100m Breaststroke bronze medal after getting the touch by 0.1 second. It was the start of the medal rush, a breathless - and breathtaking - process to witness.
The City of Light proved a wondrous backdrop to it all. Key events for Irish athletes took place within hours of each other but thanks to Paris' marvellous transport system, it was possible to get to almost everything that needed to be covered.
Even better, city chiefs provided those reporting on the Games with free transport for the duration - a godsend because of how frequently the Metro and RER trains were required to get from venue to venue, and to and from our Rue Alexandre Dumas base in the early mornings and late nights.
The following evening it was back to La Arena to see if Daniel Wiffen would back up his grand pronouncement that he would win Olympic gold.
He did so, and not even in his favourite event. We haven't seen anyone like Wiffen before in terms of his confident predictions of success but he delivered in the 800m Freestyle before, two days later, taking bronze in the 1500m.
Yet he'll say his favourite moment was doing the Open Swim in the Seine before he headed off on an extended and fully deserved holiday break.
The following morning, August 1, delivered another bronze, this time out at the serene Vaires-sur-Marne setting for Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch in the double sculls - Ireland's first ever rowing Olympic medallists.
Lynch had given up his work in the US to move home to pursue his Olympics dream after he was the boat's reserve in Tokyo. Doyle, meanwhile, had sacrificed so much for go to Tokyo as a favourite to medal but it all went wrong - and three years on he had again put his medical career on hold to pursue his dream. He dedicated his success to his late father, Eamonn.
Almost 24 hours later it was Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy's turn and, despite O'Donovan's claim that the Irish duo were underdogs - no-one believed him - they made it back to back golds in the last-ever lightweight pair final.
Their future in the sport will henceforth lie in heavyweight (or open weight) competition, and thus in a less certain environment.
But it was also another historic day for O'Donovan, the first Irish sportsperson to win a medal in three Olympics - he also won silver with his brother Gary in Rio. It's an achievement that makes him a sporting great in this country, right up there among the elite of the elite.
Saturday, August 3 had long been pencilled in as McClenaghan's date with destiny, his three years of honed-in preparation fuelled by his Tokyo heartbreak.
To the Bercy Arena, then, in the 12th arrondissement and despite the tension that was palpable within the venue, McClenaghan produced the magnificent pommel horse routine that he had honed and perfected in the years following Tokyo. Gold was his just reward.
Wiffen's bronze followed just over 24 hours later to bring the curtain down on a first week that rushed by. It would be - shock, horror - two days before Team Ireland were celebrating a seventh medal.
While all that good news was happening the 10-strong boxing team had suffered a string of disappointments at the Arena Paris Nord, close to Charles de Gaulle airport, and with eight opening bout exits in the ring.
Kellie Harrington arrived in Paris on a mission to end her international career by winning back to back Olympic golds after a difficult build-up, she delivered in classy fashion on the spectacular Roland Garros stage before leading her ecstatic friends, family and fans in a rendition of 'Grace'.
She won't be back for LA '28. The danger is that boxing won't be, either, but hope remains that a way will be found to make it happen.
Week Two always looked tougher in terms of podium chasing and so it proved, though Rhasidat Adeleke thrilled on the track in finishing fourth in the individual 400m final and with the 4x400m women's relay team on the penultimate day of the Games.
Adeleke will be back, more ready and even hungrier to achieve. But we'll always have Paris.
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