AN independent review by the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) into the 2024 Paris Olympic Games found the prevailing view was that it was the best prepared Team Ireland for any Olympiad to date.

Team Ireland fielded the largest team in its history, with 136 athletes across 16 sports. This was Ireland’s most successful Summer Olympics ever, achieving seven medals, breaking their previous record medal haul of six from London 2012.

The review, carried out by Teneo, consulted with 55 stakeholders from athletes and NGB performance staff to Sport Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and members of the OFI staff and board. The review reflected on a positive Games, which demonstrated that the partnership approach that was adopted across the Irish sports system was central to the success of Team Ireland in Paris.

Teneo completed over 29 hours of one-to-one interviews with 39 OFI stakeholders, created three review surveys and facilitated an athlete focus group with six Paris Olympians. The OFI were highly praised by all in terms of planning, preparation, communication, and execution in its role as NOC.

Ireland spent $94 million on the cycle. The cost per athlete (134 in total) was $761,000, a 52% increase from Tokyo.

Funding worries

There is a strong sense among OFI stakeholders following Team Ireland’s performance in Paris that Ireland should be ambitious with performance and experience goals for LA 2028. “The Sport Ireland High Performance Strategy medal target of eight to 10 medals for LA 2028 requires early injection of additional funding to sports. This has not materialised post-Paris and is a real concern going into 2025,” the review stated. The cost per medal at Paris was $10.1 million.

The review also outlined that Ireland was overly reliant, compared to peer nations, on a small number of medal-producing sports. Increased investment is required to provide a greater spread of sports capable of podium finishes. “The lack of any significant increase in Government funding in year one of the cycle is a concern.”

It is also acknowledged that the potential cost of the Games in LA 2028 will be an order of magnitude greater and therefore will require significantly more funding to maintain the momentum and standards of delivery from the Paris Games.

Horse Sport Ireland has engaged Blue Lake Consultancy to undertake an internal review of the performance at the Paris Olympic Games, aimed at providing HSI with detailed recommendations to inform strategic plans for the LA Games.