Irish Olympic hero Daniel Wiffen missed the closing ceremony of the Games on Sunday after being “rushed to hospital” due to a bug.
Wiffen, who won gold and bronze at the Paris Games and is one of the north’s greatest ever Olympians, said in a social media post in the early hours of Monday that he was “incredibly disappointed” to miss out on being a flagbearer for the Irish team.
“Thanks everyone who reached out, I’m incredibly disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to be flag bearer last night,” Wiffen posted on X.
“Yesterday I rushed to hospital as I was very unwell with a bug that I am being treated for, and am feeling better now. I hope everyone enjoys the evening and I hope to be well enough to seeing everyone when we get home.”
The Magheralin man will receive a hero’s welcome in the village this week as he returns home, and also spoke on the social media site of achieving his childhood dream of winning Olympic gold.
“They say every child has a dream, to pursue the dream is in every child’s hands to make it a reality,” he said.
“I had the dream of becoming an Olympic Champion. I put the work in every day and I’m so happy to say that I have accomplished my childhood dream.
“However behind every child you have a support team of friends, family, coaches, teammates who encourage and help make your dream a reality.
“So I would firstly like to thank my parents who sacrificed their own lives to make my dream a reality. My best friends and teammates who supported and pushed me to achieve my dream.
“My coaches, especially Andi Manley, you created the journey and allowed me to push myself until I had achieved my dream.
“Now Paris 2024 is over and I head back to Ireland I can finally reflect and thank everyone for the support across the past weeks and I’m happy to say I’m bringing a Gold and Bronze home.”
