Only two former Irish athletes competed at the Rio Games on Thursday, as the sisters Hurley came back to the fencing strip in an attempt to bounce back from their performance in the individual epee and claim a medal in the team portion of the meet.
Instead, the sisters were unable to repeat their bronze medal effort from 2012 and left empty-handed after finishing fifth overall. Romania, China and Russia claimed the gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
Not that it’s any consolation for U.S. fans, but the Americans did lose in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions in Romania and were actually just barely edged, 24-23.