Fiona Doyle will get a second chance of Olympic success when she takes to the pool on Wednesday evening.
Having missed out on a semi-final in her favoured 100m breaststroke event, Doyle will compete in the 200m breaststroke heats midweek.
1:07.58 for Fiona @Fionamdoyle in the 100m Breaststroke Heats in #Swimming Hard luck Fiona! #TeamIreland pic.twitter.com/bZWi2yPSD7
— Team Ireland (@olympiccouncil) August 7, 2016
The Limerick swimmer just missed out on reaching the next stage on Sunday, finishing .26 seconds behind the top-16 that progressed to the semi-final stage.
And Doyle could not hold back the tears when she was interviewed by RTÉ Sport after her heat in Rio.
Fiona Doyle tells @OFlynnPaul that she is “devastated” after her disappointing 100m breaststroke heat #rterio2016 https://t.co/kpUZyo4EOd
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2016
Doyle’s heat was won by Russia’s Yulia Efimova, a swimmer who was only allowed to compete at the last minute by international swimming body FINA.
Efimova was suspended for 16 months in 2013 after testing positive for anabolic steroids and also tested positive this year for newly banned substance meldonium.
Initially banned from the Rio Games, Efimova was given permission by FINA when they were notified of her successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Efimova’s victory was booed by the crowd in attendance and Doyle doesn’t think it’s fair that she was allowed to compete.
“Cheaters are cheaters,” Doyle told the Irish Times. “It’s like FINA keep going back on their word, and the IOC keep going back on their word.
“FINA caved in to Putin, and that’s just not fair on the rest of the athletes who are clean. Who are you supposed to trust now? They have signs all over the village saying we are a clean sport, and it’s not. And I just don’t think that’s fair.”
