Analysis: Irish Olympians are ditching clichéd, robotic, media-trained interviews in favour of showcasing confident, authentic personalities
When it comes to interviews, boxing champion Kellie Harrington's interview with RTÉ Sport after taking gold at the Paris Olympics ticked all the boxes. She thanked her coaches, her country and her community - and then she delivered a mic drop for the ages
An ecstatic Kelie Harrington gives a shout out to all her coaches on her way to collecting a second gold medal#RTESport #Paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 6, 2024
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You would need to have a heart made out of stone not to have an emotional reaction to Mona McSharry's interview after she claimed a historic medal earlier during the Games. The swimmer laughed and cried as she spoke to RTÉ reporter Paul O'Flynn, literally wiping away tears of joy as she put into words what her bronze medal meant.
"I was a little girl from a tiny village," the 23-year-old said in her interview, which went viral across social media. "I still am that little girl from Sligo and I was able to win a medal at the Olympics. So it just goes to show, you can do anything you set your mind to."
From RTÉ Sport, Mona McSharry wins Ireland's first medal at the Paris Games
Her performance marked Ireland’s first medal at the 2024 Games, quickly followed by Daniel Wiffen's sublime gold in the men’s 800m freestyle event. The swimmers are emblematic of an inspiring new wave of talented Irish Olympians who deliver world-class performances and authentically showcase their unique personalities.
McSharry’s post-race interview, where she eloquently described the joy she was experiencing, was as impressive and memorable as her outstanding display in the 100m breaststroke final. Wiffen’s ultra-confident interview was box-office too, showcasing the supreme levels of self-belief which led him to the gold medal and a new Olympic record. "What's my name? Daniel Wiffen, Olympic champion," he boldly declared.
From RTÉ Sport, Daniel Wiffen takes gold for Ireland at the Olympic Games
Irish sports fans may have noticed how much more open and candid many of the nation’s Olympians have been when talking to the media in recent years. Many now speak with a frank and steely determination to conquer their sports and openly declare their ambitions to set new world records and win Olympic gold medals.
Bucking the trend of the clichéd, boring, robotic sports interview, they are not afraid to be themselves in front of the camera and are not dissuaded from being confident about their desire to win medals and be the best in the world. With a host of European records to their names and a litany of recent medals around their necks, members of Team Ireland have had every reason to be confident in the build-up to Paris, where experts at Sports Illustrated predicted a record haul of Irish medals.
A notable difference in recent Olympics is how this new generation of Irish athletes now speak about themselves, coming across as more assured, ambitious and incredibly authentic in interviews, which often go viral. "I'm not coming away without a medal," Wiffen confidently stated ahead of the Olympics, before going on to deliver the goods with a historic gold for Ireland.
From RTÉ Sport, Kellie Harrington talks abour her quarter-final win over Angie Valdes Pana at Paris 2024
It is the fun nature of the Olympics that fans tune in to enjoy different sports which they are not experts in, whether that be swimming, rowing, or gymnastics. This places an added significance and importance on these television interviews with athletes before and after their events. Such interviews are an important gateway that builds a relationship between the public and an athlete who they might never have seen or even heard of before.
Whether on RTÉ, BBC or EuroSport, these TV interviews are especially pivotal in Olympic sports because they convey the significance of what we are watching. They highlight the human struggle and sacrifice of the athlete's journey and showcase the joy and despair of winning and losing. We may not be experts in the technicalities of badminton, canoeing or rhythmic gymnastics, but everyone can connect with an Olympic athlete by hearing their story and personality in their own words.
All top-level athletes receive a significant level of media training throughout their careers to manage these media duties. Yet this often has the detrimental effect of producing boring, robotic interviews where the name of the game is to say as little as possible and not cause controversy. Many sports stars stick to a script, keeping their answers as bland and safe as possible, in order to avoid any potential negative publicity.
From RTÉ Sport, interview with the O'Donovan brothers at Rio 2016
This is why so many of Ireland’s recent Olympians have been a breath of fresh air and why many of their post-event interviews have gone viral in recent years. From rowing stars Paul and Gary O'Donovan back at Rio 2016, to boxing champion Kellie Harrington in Tokyo, to McSharry and Wiffen in Paris, their post-event interviews are appointment viewing and capture the attention of the nation.
Indeed, when it comes to the Olympics, where we are not experts in all of the sports we watch, we often remember the emotional interviews more than the sporting event itself. Significantly more open, confident and honest, this new wave of Irish Olympians are defying conventional expectations to be overly subdued, excessively modest and self-effacing. The hackneyed caricature of the high-achieving athlete modestly playing down expectations for fear of being labelled arrogant still lingers heavily in Irish sport.
But it is increasingly being viewed as an old-fashioned trope in light of the new-found confidence and inspiring joy on display at recent Olympic Games by Irish athletes in their interviews. "I'm not going to lie… I’m not much of a cryer," Wiffen told RTÉ after the Irish national anthem was played on the loudspeakers at Paris’ La Défense Arena, "but I did shed a lot of tears there."
Openly confident, bold in their ambitions and delivering on their predictions with medals and records, a new wave of Irish Olympians are moving past the clichéd media-trained interviews to showcase their best selves on the world stage.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
