Success at last!!! and more tomorrow?

Finally, Ireland have secured their first medals of these games and they came in the form of boxers Paddy Barnes and Kenny Egan.

Paddy Barnes was the first boxer in the ring today and has secured at least a bronze medal after beating Lukasz Maszczyk 11-5 in the light-flyweight quarter-final. The 21-year-old from Belfast came out on top in a scrappy contest, frustrating the Polish fighter and cleverly picking his shots. After the even first round, Barnes took control and the victory was never in doubt as he was just too quick, smart and accurate for the pole to handle.
Paddy has now secured a fight with Shiming Zou from China on Friday for a place in the gold medal match. The world champion beat Barnes 22-8 in November of last year and the Irishman will be a big outsider, but after today's showing he will be full of confidence. Barnes admitted: 'My aim coming here was just to get a fight, to compete at the Olympics. I've achieved that. I've got a medal now and gone beyond my achievements, he also admitted that the fight was the most nervous he has ever been and it's great to see that he can handle the pressure.

Kenny Egan guaranteed Ireland's second bronze medal after beating Washington Silva in a one-sided contest in the Light-Heavyweight division. Egan started the fight strongly and was never troubled by the Brazilian who barely touched Egan and it showed on the scorecard as Silva failed to register a single point in the entire contest. Kenny's punches were well timed and could be seen clearly as he battered the Brazilian.

Egan has only conceded four points in his three bouts and has scored a very impressive forty. Egan also looks very confident in his ability and showed this in showing off to the camera after the fight which is great to see in an Irish athlete. He will face Britain's Tony Jefferies in the semi-final and all of Ireland will be anticipating this one eagerly.

Paul Hession came fifth in his semi-final of the men's 200m, with a time of 20.38, not enough to take him through to the final. Despite not reaching the final, Hession has performed brilliantly and Ireland should be extremely proud to have a sprinter of his calibre who has proved to be in the top 10 over this distance and the fastest white man in the world. Hession still has many years left and he looks like he is capable of getting even better.

In Sailing, Peter O'Leary & Stephen Milne were not in action in the Star class as conditions dictated that their races were not able to go ahead. The duo were to compete in two races but they have now been rescheduled for tomorrow, in addition to the final race. The top ten boats form the Opening Series can compete in the final medal race, which is scheduled for Thursday.
Currently the Irish Star sailors are 14th overall, just eight points off Italy in 10th place and are naturally eager to count all three races tomorrow.

Also in action tomorrow, is the ever impressive boxer Darren Sutherland, who also will be fighting for a guaranteed bronze medal tomorrow at 13:01 GMT. Sutherland faces Alfonso Blanco Parra of Venezuela in the quarter-final, it will not be an easy contest and Parra may be a slight favorite but Darren has bombs in his fists and if he works well and defends well, the rest should take care of itself and we may well be celebrating another medal.

Two Irish Track and Field athletes are also in action tomorrow.

Alastair Cragg takes part in the heats of his specialist event, the 5000 metres at 13:15. Cragg should reach the final if he repeats the form he has shown this season but after that it will be impossible for Cragg to get a medal in an East African dominated event and he will merely be looking to finish in the top 10 if possible.

Thomas Chamney is one of my favorite athletes, he is a real character and has quite a cult following after a comedic online training diary he did while at University in the US. Chamney has only made the Olympics on a B standard but looks to be near to peaking at the right time. Chamney races in the 800 metres at 12:00 and getting through the heats is Tom's goal but a PB is needed if he is to do so.