THE WAIT IS OVER and the weight is off her shoulders – Chloe Magee has finally had her place at the 2016 Olympic Games confirmed.
The Raphoe badminton player knew she was in the qualified places, but it wasn’t until the publication of the BWF (Badminton World Federation) world rankings that Magee could be assured of a spot in Rio.
The 27-year-old had endured some agony and anxiety of late in the qualifying series, but she’s safe now and will make a little piece of history in Brazil.
Magee is already one of only two two-time Olympians from Donegal – the other being marathon runner Danny McDaid, from 1972 and 1976.
This summer, she’ll etch her name into the history books when she competes at her third Olympics having featured in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
[adrotate group=”46″]In late April, Magee defeated England’s Chloe Birch and Portugal’s Telma Santos at the European Badminton Championships in La Roche-sur-Yon, France.
Although beaten in the third round by Line Kjaersfeldt 21-11, 21-7, Magee had made safe her spot in Rio.
[adrotate group=”37″]The win over Santos elevated her way above the Portuguese in the BWF World Rankings – far enough to book a ticket to the Olympics.
38 players will compete in the women’s singles in Rio having edged out Estonia’s Kati Tolmoff, whom she defeated aged just 19 in Beijing, in doing so becoming the first Irish badminton player to win a game at the Olympics.
Jun Jae-young from Korea defeated Magee in the next round at the 2008 Games.
In 2012, Magee defeated Hadia Hosny 21-17 21-6 and took the first set against Pi Hongyan 21-16, but lost the next two 21-18, 21-14.
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