Ireland competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's twentieth appearance at the Summer Olympics.

Quick Facts Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics, IOC code ...

Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics
IOC code	IRL
NOC	Olympic Federation of Ireland
Website	olympics.ie
in London
Competitors	66 in 14 sports
Flag bearers	Katie Taylor (opening) Darren O'Neill (closing)
Medals Ranked 41st	Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze 4 Total 6
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Great Britain (1896–1920)

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The Olympic Council of Ireland sent a total of 66 athletes to the Games, 36 men and 30 women, to compete in 14 sports. The International Olympic Committee allowed athletes from Northern Ireland the option to compete at the Olympic Games for either Great Britain or Ireland. Medallists Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan were both born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and chose to compete for Team Ireland. Ireland had only a single competitor in the sprint canoeing, track cycling, equestrian dressage, judo, rowing and shooting events.

This was Ireland's most successful Olympics, winning a total of 6 medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze) in three sports: boxing, athletics and equestrian show jumping. Boxer Katie Taylor, who was Ireland's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, won Ireland's first Olympic gold medal in 16 years. Light flyweight boxer Paddy Barnes defended his bronze medal from Beijing, becoming the second Irish athlete in 80 years to win medals at two consecutive Olympics.^[1][2] For the first time since 1980, Ireland also won an Olympic medal in more than a single sport.

Katie Taylor's Olympic boxing success led to inaccurate coverage in the international media. While previewing her semi-final bout, The Daily Telegraph, a conservative English newspaper, incorrectly referred to Taylor as "British", prompting fierce criticism from other media outlets, and an apology from the Telegraph.^[5][6][7] Fairfax Media of Australia also issued an apology, after articles published in The Age, Brisbane Times and The Sydney Morning Herald were widely condemned as "lazy stereotyping" of the Irish. Irish Ambassador to Australia Noel White issued a formal complaint about the article's reliance on Guinness, whiskey and potatoes to make a story.^[5] USA Today was criticised after its article said: "Back home on the emerald-green isle, pints of Guinness flowed freely, perhaps enough to replenish the Irish Sea. The "punters" inside betting parlors [sic] wagered pounds [sic] as if they were bits of candy. It is not hyperbole to suggest that, when Taylor entered the ring, the weight of a prideful, scuffling nation rested on her muscular shoulders."^[5] Also, Australian commentator Russell Barwick provoked "fury"^[8] while on ESPN, comparing Team Ireland's independence from Team GB to Tasmanian athletes not performing for Australia.^[8]

The Irish team selection caused a number of controversies. In the women's marathon Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson and Caitriona Jennings were selected while Maria McCambridge, who had also run the 'A' qualifying standard missed out on selection, as only three athletes from a nation may compete in the event. Additionally the deadline for qualification for the marathon had been changed to allow Barbara Sanchez, who holds dual Irish and French citizenship, a chance to qualify.^[9] The team for the women's 4 × 400 metres relay was changed after Joanna Mills won an appeal of her exclusion on the grounds of having a faster time than Catriona Cuddihy who had initially been selected.^[10]

Irish athletes achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):^{[11][12] [13]}

Men

Track & road events

More information Athlete, Event ...

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Paul Hession	200 m	20.69	5	Did not advance
Ciarán O'Lionaird	1500 m	3:48.35	13	—		Did not advance
Alistair Cragg	5000 m	13:47.01	17	—		Did not advance
Mark Kenneally	Marathon	—				2:21:13	57
Robert Heffernan	20 km walk	—				1:20:18	9
Brendan Boyce	50 km walk	—				3:55:01	29
Colin Griffin		—				DSQ
Robert Heffernan		—				3:37:54 NR

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Women

Track & road events

Field events

Ireland qualified two badminton players for the Games. Scott Evans competed in the men's singles and Chloe Magee in the women's singles.; each made their second appearance at an Olympic Games.^[15]

More information Athlete, Event ...

Athlete	Event	Group stage			Elimination	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Scott Evans	Men's singles	Lin D (CHN) L 8–21 14–21	—	2	Did not advance
Chloe Magee	Women's singles	Hosny (EGY) W 21–17 21–6	Pi (FRA) L 21–16 18–21 14–21	2	Did not advance

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Ireland qualified boxers for the following events.

Men

More information Athlete, Event ...

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Paddy Barnes	Light flyweight	Bye	Essomba (CMR) W 15–10	Singh (IND) W 23–18	Zou (CHN) L 15–15+	Did not advance
Michael Conlan	Flyweight	Bye	Micah (GHA) W 19–8	Oubaali (FRA) W 22–18	Ramírez (CUB) L 10–20	Did not advance
John Joe Nevin	Bantamweight	Ceylan (DEN) W 21–6	Abutalipov (KAZ) W 15–10	Valdez (MEX) W 19–13	Álvarez (CUB) W 19–14	Campbell (GBR) L 11–14
Adam Nolan	Welterweight	Sánchez (ECU) W 14–8	Zamkovoy (RUS) L 9–18	Did not advance
Darren O'Neill	Middleweight	Akanji (NGR) W 15–6	Hartel (GER) L 12–19	Did not advance

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Women

More information Athlete, Event ...

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Katie Taylor	Lightweight	Bye	Jonas (GBR) W 26–15	Chorieva (TJK) W 17–9	Ochigava (RUS) W 10–8

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By rankings Ireland qualified one athlete in dressage, an eventing team and two athletes in jumping.

Show jumping

More information Athlete, Horse ...

Athlete	Horse	Event	Qualification								Final					Total
			Round 1		Round 2			Round 3			Round A		Round B
			Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank
Cian O'Connor	Blue Loyd	Individual	0	1 Q	8	8	31 Q	12	20	38 Q	0	1 Q	1	1	2 JO	1
Billy Twomey	Tinka		4	42 Q	8	12	56	Did not advance

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Ireland qualified a single gymnast for London; Kieran Behan, just the second Irish gymnast in history to qualify for the Olympics, competed in the artistic gymnastics discipline.^[16]

Ireland qualified 2 athletes.

Ireland qualified the following boats.

Women

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Ireland qualified 1 boat for each of the following events.

Men

Women

Open

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race;

Men

Irish swimmers achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):^[17][18]

Men

Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.

Women

Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.

Ireland qualified the following athletes.

• Ireland at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics