Editorial: Olympic hero Hannah Scott deserving of freedom award
It was a joy to see one of Northern Ireland’s Olympian golds get the freedom of her home borough at the weekend.
The honour was conferred on Hannah Scott MBE by Causeway Coast and Glens council on Saturday.
Hannah, 26, won gold in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls as part of Team GB at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris – making her only the second woman from NI to secure Olympic gold, after Lady Mary Peters, a victor from Munich in 1972. How fitting to see the much-loved Dame Mary at Saturday’s event in Coleraine.
Granting freedom to Hannah was recognition for a rower whose triumph was part of perhaps the most stunning collective sporting achievement ever in NI: at those 2024 games six athletes from the province won seven medals. In addition to Hannah, they were: Rhys McClenaghan of Newtownards (aged 25, gold, pommel horse); Daniel Wiffen of Magheralin, Co Armagh (23, gold in 800m freestyle, bronze in 1500m); Jack McMillan of Belfast (24, gold, swimmer); Philip Doyle of Banbridge (31, bronze, double sculls) and Rebecca Shorten of Belfast (30, silver, rower).
NI’s medal haul was better pro rata than Team Ireland or Team GB when you consider the relative populations of the UK and Republic of Ireland (some of our heroes competed for one team, some for the other). In fact, per capita, NI had one of the most remarkable tallies of anywhere on earth.
Sadly, this was not marked at the time by an event such as an open-topped bus tour through Belfast (something Mary Peters herself enjoyed in 1972, despite winning her gold at the height of the Troubles). There was, happily, a belated celebration at the SSE Arena that October.
Meanwhile, as Owen Polley writes opposite, Rory McIlroy has been cementing his record as one of the best golfers ever. What a time for Northern Ireland sport!