Three time Olympian and European Games bronze
medallist Chloe Magee has been announced as the flagbearer for the opening
ceremony of the European Games in Minsk next month. Ireland’s leading female
badminton player for over ten years will lead Team Ireland into the Dinamo
Stadium on the 21 June for the second edition of the event.
Magee will be competing in the mixed doubles in
Minsk, partnering with her brother Sam, with whom she won a bronze at the
European Championships in 2017. The Magee family, from Raphoe in Donegal are a
dominant force in Irish and international badminton with her brother Joshua
Magee competing in the men’s doubles in Minsk with Paul Reynolds, and her niece
Rachael Darragh competing in the women’s singles.
Accepting the honour Magee said,
“It’s a great honour to be leading Team Ireland in
the opening ceremony at the European Games and thank you for selecting me to do
this. I am very proud to have represented Ireland in three Olympic Games and am
particularly honoured to be carrying the flag in Minsk, having great memories
of winning bronze in the first ever European Games in 2015.”
The Flagbearer Announcement was made by Fiona
Muldoon, CEO of FBD Insurance at a media event which ran in conjunction with a
team preparation day for Team Ireland, attended by Team Ireland sponsors,
partners and athletes.
The European Games in Minsk will see over 4000
athletes from 50 countries compete across 200 events. Sixty-five Irish athletes
across nine sports will be competing in Minsk, with five sports confirmed
as part of the Tokyo 2020 Qualification process; archery, athletics, badminton,
cycling road, judo and shooting.
Team Ireland will field teams in Archery, Athletics,
Badminton, Boxing, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Judo and Shooting.
TEAM IRELAND
Archery
Maeve Reidy (Recurve)
Athletics (15)
Men (7)
Nelvin Appiah-Konadu (High Jump), Brandon Arrey (4 x
400m), Stephen Gaffney (100m),
Conall Kirk (Pursuit), Andrew Mellon (4 x 400m),
Gerard O’Donnell (110m H), Paul White
(Pursuit).
Women (8)
Grace Casey (Javelin), Ciara Deely (4 x 400m),
Sinead Denny (4 x 400m),
Victoria Harris (Pursuit Race), Sarah Lavin (100m
Hurdles), Sophie Meredith (Long Jump), Amy O’Donoghue (Pursuit Race), Niamh
Whelan (100m),
*Reserves (6): Paul
Byrne, Luke Lennon-Ford, Kelly McGrory, Catherine McManus, Lily-Ann O’Hora,
Rolus Olusa
Badminton (6)
Singles (2)
Rachael Darragh (Singles), Nhat Nguyen (Singles),
Doubles (4)
Chloe Magee (Mixed Doubles), Samuel Magee (Mixed
Doubles),
Joshua Magee (Men’s Doubles), Paul Reynolds (Men’s
Doubles).
Boxing (13)
Men (9)
Anthony Browne (Men’s Heavy -91kg), Regan Daly
(Men’s Light Fly -49kg), Dean Gardiner (Men’s Super Heavy +91kg), Brendan
Irvine (Men’s Fly -52kg), James McGivern (Men’s Light Welter -69kg), Kieran Molloy (Men’s Welter -69kg), Michael
Nevin (Men’s Middle -75kg),
Kurt Walker (Men’s Bantam -56kg), Joseph Ward (Men’s
Light Heavy -81kg).
Women (4)
Kellie Harrington (Women’s Light -60kg), Aoife O’Rourke (Women’s Middle -75kg), Grainne
Walsh (Women’s Welter -69kg), Michaela Walsh (Women’s Feather -57kg).
Canoe Sprint (2)
Jenny Egan (Women’s K1 200, 500, 5000), Ronan Foley
(Men’s K1 200, 500, 5000)
Cycling (16)
Road Men (5)
Mark Downey, Conor Dunne, Robert Jon McCarthy, Ryan
Mullen, Michael O’Loughlin
Road Women (1)
Alice Sharpe
Track Men (5)
Mark Downey, Felix English, JB Murphy, Marc Potts,
Fintan Ryan
Track Women (6)
Lydia Boylan, Mia Griffin, Lydia Gurley, Shannon McCurley, Robyn Stewart, Orla Walsh
Gymnastics (2)
Emma
Slevin (Women’s All-Around), Adam Steele (Men’s
All-Around)
Judo
Nathon Burns (Men’s Half-light weight -66kg), Ben
Fletcher (Men’s Half-heavy weight -100kg), Megan Fletcher (Women’s Middle
weight -70kg)
Shooting
Aoife Gormally (Women’s Shotgun Trap)
