Topics: Rory Mcilroy, Golf, Olympics
Rory McIlroy is representing Ireland rather than Team GB at the Paris Olympics and the former world No.1 golfer has explained why he made that choice.
The 35-year-old Northern Irishman is with Team Ireland, having made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal after finishing fourth on that occasion.
McIlroy has four golf majors to his name, including the 2011 US Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and the 2014 PGA Championship.
McIlroy is currently taking part again in the Olympic men's competition, and was two shots outside the medal positions following the first day of action.
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McIlroy is currently on the second day of action out of four in the Olympic golf tournament - but like in Tokyo, he is playing for Ireland rather than Great Britain.
Heading into the Games, McIlroy explained why he has opted again to play for Ireland like he did three years ago, after skipping being involved altogether in Rio 2016 when golf returned as a sport to the Olympics.
And it ultimately comes down to a choice he made during his amateur career, which he has continued to honour, where he represented Ireland as a youngster and has chosen to keep playing for.
It follows an agreement between the Olympic Federation of Ireland and the British Olympic Association which enables athletes who hail from Northern Ireland to be able to choose which nation they want to represent.
Speaking to The Guardian before the Olympics started to explain his decision, McIlroy said: "I had a sense of resentment towards the Olympics because I had always tried to stay so neutral and it presented me with this option of; what are you going to do?
"I had to get over that. All of my amateur career I played for Ireland. I was very proud to play for Ireland. So why would I do anything differently as a professional?
"It would be incredibly special for me as an individual to have a gold medal.
"In the wider context of how people would see me and what it would do for my legacy or career? I don’t know. I would be unbelievably proud to get any medal in Paris.
"A gold medal would be one of the proudest moments of my career."
