#Rowing: Paul and Gary O'Donovan lifted Ireland into a second Olympic final at Rio de Janeiro today. The men from Lisheen near Skibbereen finished third in their semi-final of the lightweight double sculls. France and the United States set the early pace, with Britain third and Ireland in fourth. The O'Donovans took a marginal lead over Britain at half way and then hunted down the leaders. France held on to take first ahead of the United States, who had just over a half a second over Ireland.
South Africa won the second semi-final, pushing Norway in to second. Poland won a battle for third with Italy. The winning time - six minutes 38.01 seconds - was over three seconds slower than that in Ireland's semi-final.
Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro (Irish interest; selected results)
Men
Lightweight Double Sculls - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final)
Semi-Final One: 1 France 6:34.43, 2 United States 6:35.19, Ireland (G O'Donovan, P O'Donovan) 6:35.70; 4 Britain 6:38.76, 5 Germany 6:59.28, 6 China 7:01.49.
Semi-Final Two: 1 South Africa 6:38.010, 2 Norway 6:38.65, 3 Poland 6:40.23.
Women
Lightweight Double Sculls - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final)
Semi-Final One: 1 South Africa 7:19.09, 2 New Zealand 7:19.27, 3 China 7:20.94.
Semi-Final Two: 1 Netherlands 7:13.93, 2 Canada 7:16.35, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Lynch) 7:18.24; 4 Denmark 7:20.29, 5 United States 7:22.78, 6 Germany 7:33.21.
