They only went and did it! Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are Olympic champions once again following victory in the men's lightweight double sculls final this morning.

It's a massive achievement for the Skibbereen pair, who will go down in the history books as some of Ireland's greatest-ever athletes.

Paul O'Donovan is now the only Irish person to medal at three separate Games – Silver in Rio, Gold in Tokyo and Gold again in Paris. History.

Fintan McCarthy becomes only the fifth Irish athlete to medal at two separate games.

On this episode of the Star Sport Podcast, Sports editor Kieran McCarthy and digital manager Dylan Mangan react to an amazing day for Skibbereen, West Cork, Ireland and beyond!

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SKIBBEREEN will have three rowers competing in Olympic finals on Friday morning after Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy and Aoife Casey – with Rochestown's Mags Cremen – all qualified after impressive performances in their semi-finals.

On today's podcast we look back on an exciting morning for West Cork, Cork and Ireland as Star Sports editor Kieran McCarthy reports from outside Skibbereen Rowing Club on the River Ilen, where it all began.

O'Donovan and McCarthy qualified in style, winning their semi-final ahead of second seeds Switzerland, and will be gunning for gold at 11.02am on Friday.

Casey and Cremen are also in contention now for a medal, with bronze a real possibility.

Exciting times in West Cork!

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SKIBBEREEN rowers are heading into one of the biggest weeks of their sporting career, as competition at the Olympics hots up.

All four rowers from West Cork were out in action on Sunday, with Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy dominating their heat to qualify straight into the men's lightweight double sculls semi-final on Wednesday morning.

We chat about their performance and confident demeanour as the pair look like they are in a great spot for the rest of the week.

The path to the final is not as straight-forward for Emily Hegarty and the Irish women's four who finished third in their heat, which means they need a repechage race to make a semi-final. Their repechage takes place on Tuesday morning at 10.30am.

Aoife Casey, alongside Rochestown woman Mags Cremen also finished third in their heat on Sunday, but were back out again early on Monday morning to win their repechage and set up a semi-final on Wednesday morning.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THERE are four rowers from West Cork heading to the Paris Olympics – Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty.

All four have come through Skibbereen Rowing Club, and all four are part of an Irish rowing team which is confident of bringing medals back from France later this summer.

On this week's podcast, Star Sport editor Kieran McCarthy previews the action which gets underway this Saturday – with all four West Cork rowers on the water on Sunday.

Aoife Casey will be out first in the heats of the lightweight women’s double sculls, which begin at 11.30am, followed by Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in the heats of the lightweight men’s double, starting at 12 noon. Emily Hegarty and the Irish women’s four will take to the water in their heat at 12.30pm.

It's an exciting time to be a West Cork sport fan, and we're incredibly excited for this year's Olympic Games!

Don't miss your free souvenir supplement and giant glossy poster in this week's Southern Star – out July 25th.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @kieranmcc_ss

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ALL roads lead to Croke Park on this week's Star Sport Podcast, as former Cork senior hurling manager John Meyler joins us to preview Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Clare.

Cork are hoping to get their hands on the Liam McCarthy Cup for the first time in 19 years, but have a formidable Clare side in their way, who are themselves looking to win for the first time since the epic 2013 final where they beat...Cork.

Meyler is feeling positive about the Rebels' chances this weekend, in what he thinks will be an extremely close and high-scoring game.

We have plenty of build-up to the big game on Sunday in this week's Southern Star, which is in shops and online via our ePaper now.

Cork's ladies footballers are also in action this weekend in their All-Ireland semi-final against Galway at 5pm on Saturday – a win would put Shane Ronayne's side into the final for the first time since 2020, with the teams left in this year's competition all relishing Dublin's absence at this stage.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

GOLEEN captain Padraig Reidy was in great form, along with his teammates, this week as they ended a long wait for the county confined junior B football title with a victory over Ballyphehane in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday.

The men from the West had lost four county finals in recent years and were determined not to let that number grow as they found the energy to get over the line in a banner day for the parish, beating the city side after extra time.

Reidy joins us on this week's podcast to chat about the win, what it means for Goleen and the strong mentality it took to put those previous losses behind us.

We're also looking back on Cork's brilliant win over Limerick in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final on Sunday. Star reporter Seán Holland was there as a fan and stood in Hill 16 to witness an incredible performance and well-earned win for the Rebels. He looks back on a great day out and talks about why Cork managed to get one over the Green Machine for the second time this year.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @seanholland_15

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FORMER Cork footballer and Star columnist John Hayes joins the podcast this week to talk about Cork's loss to Louth in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final at the weekend.

Hayes says he doesn't think he's 'ever been quite as annoyed' at a result as he was on Sunday, and breaks down where he thinks Cork went wrong, why they struggled to create chances against Louth's defensive system and what's next for manager John Cleary.

We also take a look back at Cork's five year plan, released in 2019. It's fair to say none of the goals have been achieved to date.

Elsewhere, five West Cork athletes and counting have been selected on Team Ireland for Olympic Games in Paris – Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Emily Hegarty, Aoife Casey and David Harte.

With more set to be announced, we look forward to a busy summer for West Cork sport!

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EUROPEAN silver medallist Phil Healy – the Ballineen Bullet – joins us on this week's podcast to chat about her incredible achievements at the European Championships in Rome.

Healy was part of the women's 4x400m team who thrilled the Irish crowd last week with a brilliant performance in the final, securing their silver medals with a new national record of 3:22:71.

The West Cork woman ran the third leg of the final and was an influential part of the team throughout the championships.

She joins us on the podcast to chat about intense racing, the support of the Irish crowd and how it felt when Sharlene Mawdsley crossed the line in second place.

We're also taking a look back at a mixed weekend for Cork GAA, and a whole lot more.

All this on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.