Mayo village prepares to celebrate Team Ireland shot-putter Eric Favors
By Caoimhín Rowland
From Ireland's Titanic Village to the Olympic Village, the US-born shot-putter is raring to represent his ancestral homeland in Paris tomorrow.
The village of Lahardane in north Mayo is brimming with excitement as one of their own, Eric Favors, prepares to compete in the shot put at the Paris Olympics on Friday evening.
This marks the first time in over thirty years that Ireland will have a competitor in this event at the Olympics.
Eric Favors, who has dominated Irish shot put in recent years, is set to participate in the qualifying rounds on Friday, August 3, at 7:10 p.m. Favors, who has won three senior national titles since 2019 and set a new Irish national record, proudly represents Ireland through his Irish-American heritage.
Born and raised in Rockland, New York, Eric's connection to Ireland runs deep, thanks to his grandmother, Margaret Kerr.
Favors, speaking to the Connaught Telegraph said, “My grand-uncle, Sonny Mahon still lives and manages the family farm back in Knockfarnaught, Lahardane with his family.”
Favors returns to visit his relations regularly but for now, he has all of his sights set on representing not just his ancestral village, but Team Ireland as a whole.
His journey to shot put began as a strength-building exercise for high school football, but his natural talent quickly shone through.
Favors won state championships in his senior year and secured a scholarship to the University of Carolina, where he continued to excel.
In 2018, influenced by his coach Paddy McGrath, a former Irish Olympian, Favors declared his intention to represent Ireland.
He debut for Ireland at the World Student Games in 2019 and has since represented his club, Raheny Shamrocks, in numerous competitions.
Despite setbacks due to COVID-19 and injuries, 2022 saw Eric return to the international stage, and he began 2023 with another Irish title and a new national record.
This year, he continued to make strides, breaking his own national record with a throw of 20.93m and narrowly missing the final round at the European Championships in Rome.
Training in Pennsylvannia and Dublin, Favors also has a YouTube channel where he is documenting his 11 days in the Olympic Village in Paris.
From the shores of Lough Conn and at the butt of Nephin, they will all be tuning into witness history as one of Lahardane’s proud descendants represents Ireland on the international stage tomorrow (Friday) at 7.10 p.m.