The wait is almost over for Galway’s Olympic hopefuls who will take to the world stage in the coming days in the hope of taking a podium position in Paris – for county and country.

Among them are Galway’s rowing heroines of the Tokyo games, Aifric Keogh from Aill an Phréacháin in Na Forbacha and Fiona Murtagh from Gortachalla in Moycullen.

The Galway duo made history in 2021 when they won bronze medals for Ireland in the women’s fours final in Japan alongside Eimear Lambe and Emily Hegarty

Keogh and Murtagh will compete in the women’s pairs this time around and have been tipped in many quarters for a podium finish.

Their first outing will be on Sunday when their heats get underway at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Ballinasloe woman Béibhinn Parsons will be representing Galway as part of the Ireland rugby sevens women’s team who will also be out on Sunday.

It’ll be a historic moment as Parsons and her teammates line out against Great Britain in their opening game as the first Irish women’s sevens team to qualify for the Olympic games.

Swimmer Tom Fannon is another one-to-watch for Galwegians. Competing in the 50m freestyle, the UK-born swimmer who competed in the Commonwealth games for England before making the switch to Ireland, has a Galway-born granddad.

A member of the Laser Club based at Leisureland in Salthill, Fannon’s first outing will be Thursday week, August 1.

Another local interest is Galway Corinthians player, Chay Mullins, who is part of the men’s rugby sevens team whose campaign got underway yesterday (Wednesday) against South Africa.

Mullins, who was born in the UK and has Irish grandparents, was part of the Grand Slam-winning Irish U20s team in 2022 and recently signed a pro contract with Connacht.

Caption: Going for a double…Tokyo heros Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh aiming for more medal success in Paris.

Get full coverage of Galway’s Olympic hopefuls in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.