Mona McSharry has missed out on a place in the Final of the 200m Breaststroke at the Paris Olympics.
McSharry, who won bronze in the 100m Breaststroke Final on Monday night, finished sixth in her Semi-Final in a time of 2:24.48 to finish 11th overall.
McSharry has one more event to come — she will compete in the heats of the women’s 4x100m Medley Relay on Saturday morning.
“Right now, I’m just upset. All I know is the time and it wasn’t fast enough so it’s hard to do more than that right now. Definitely upset,” McSharry said moments after the Semi-Final. “I was definitely hoping for another Final.
McSharry had finished third in her heat in 2:23.98 which is her third fastest time ever over this distance.
“I was excited. I think I was a little bit more fatigued, low on energy this morning so I was kind of hoping that tonight would be better. I rested up well and relaxed and tried to use as little energy as possible during the day.
“I’m probably being greedy now,” McSharry laughed. “Being so upset considering I did win a medal two nights ago and I know that for some people they really only have one shot. But I know I’m so much better than that race that I put together and I was hoping that it would be a little bit faster.”
McSharry was the first Irish Olympian since Sonia O’Sullivan at the 2000 Sydney Olympics — where O’Sullivan ran the 10,000m after winning silver in the 5,000m — to compete in a second individual event at an Olympics.
And it’s been an intense few days since her historic night on Monday. It was around 4.30am on Tuesday morning before she finally got into her bed in the Olympic village but her mind was still racing. Winning an Olympic bronze medal and standing on the podium were not easy moments to shake.
“Honestly, the mind was more tired than the body. It’s just been a lot and yesterday was just a chill day for me. I was trying my best not to expend too much energy mentally and this morning I was definitely a bit quiet. But I think I’m always like that going into a 200m.”