'She's magic!' - Athlone businessman hails Olympic hero niece

Mona McSharry has captured the hearts of the nation this week with her Olympic bronze medal swim, but none are more proud than her family.

Mona is the niece of Athlone businessman Ray McSharry, who was in Paris to show his support.

“It was unbelievably emotional,” Ray said. “We're all incredibly proud of her. She's such a great little athlete, and she put in so much effort. She's magic!”

Mona won her bronze medal, Ireland's first medal of the 2024 Olympics, with a time of 1:05.59 in the 100m breaststroke, securing third place by one hundredth of a second.

“It came down to literally a fingertip,” Ray explained. “She said to me a year ago that sometimes it's all down to that fingertip.”

Huge celebrations ensued when Mona finished the race, and the McSharry family was able to get down from their seats to the edge of the swimming pool to congratulate her.

“There's 10 or 12 of us here supporting her, her family, her aunts, her uncles. There were lots of happy tears, emotional tears. Mona was just tying to take it all in.”

Mona will be back in action today (Wednesday) in the 200m breaststroke heats, but she had a well-earned rest day before that!