Hi °C | Lo °C FIVE Irish Olympians have moved into position to win medals, with the next four days set to decide our London 2012 destiny.
Over the next 96 hours, boxers Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlon, John Joe Nevin and Katie Taylor, along with Dublin sailor Annalise Murphy, are taking on the world's best for a place in Irish sporting history.
While success for our boxers may be tentatively expected, Murphy's heroics in the choppy Weymouth waters have captivated Irish fans and she looks destined to fight it out for gold in Monday's medal race for the Laser Radial class.
Second and tenth place finishes yesterday meant that she slipped into the silver medal position and trails former World Champion Evi Van Acker from Belgium.
Murphy (22) who sails out of Dun Laoghaire, said: "The first few days were brilliant but it's hard to keep that up."
Murphy's mother Cathy McAleavey, who represented Ireland in sailing at the Seoul Olympics, and the rest of the Dubliner's family have travelled to England to cheer her on.
Tough
After an anxious wait to finally begin his Olympic odyssey, Belfast boxer Michael Conlon scored a stunning 19-8 victory over Ghana's Duke Micah, leaving him just one victory away from a guaranteed medal.
"It was a tough fight with a lot of nerves building up all week and even trying to sleep at night wasn't easy," he said. "I've big expectations on my shoulders but I'm not trying to think about that."
Beijing bronze-medallist Paddy Barnes will he hoping to join Conlon, John Joe Nevin and Katie Taylor in Olympic quarter-finals when he takes on Thomas Essomba of the Cameroon today at 2.30pm.
Bray garda Adam Nolan was defeated last night by Russian boxer Andrey Zamkovoy.
hnews@herald.ie
