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World of Sport

08th Jun 2024

Viewers fume after being unable to watch historic Irish relay gold medal

Callum Boyle

RTÉ didn’t show the historic moment

Irish supporters were denied the chance to watch history after Ireland were crowned gold medal winners of the mixed 4x400m relay at the European Athletics championship.

A team consisting of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley were able to beat Belgium and claim a historic gold medal, breaking a national record by crossing the line in a time of 3:09.92 to put the icing on the cake.

Despite the historic achievement there was anger towards RTÉ, who decided not to broadcast the competitions live, pledging to show the events on iPlayer.

Instead of the fantastic feat the rugby game between Munster and Ospreys was shown while during the race they aired Ferrari vs Ford.

Plenty of fans voiced their anger underneath RTÉ’s post congratulating the quartet.

“European Athletics were scheduled to be on RTE 2 right now. I turned the TV on to watch the final only to find rugby was on instead. I missed a big moment in Irish sporting history because Muster were playing a game of rugby. I am furious,” vented one user on X.

Another commented: Fantastic stuff not showing it & showing a meaningless rugby game, congratulations.

“Yep. Thanks for showing the live athletics and our gold winning performance. NOT. !! DISGRACEFUL,” exclaimed a third.

Meanwhile, a fourth said: “RTÉ are a disgrace for not showing this.”

Thankfully today’s races will be shown live on RTÉ 2.

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