Latest news with #Irishwoman
Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Louise Quinn: 'Katie McCabe made everyone aware she was Irish. She did not let go of that flag'
For the best possible reason, Champions League winner Katie McCabe will belatedly link up with the Ireland squad today ahead of Friday's fixture in Turkey. Arsenal's celebrations, with the Irishwoman to the fore, have circulated worldwide since she played an integral role in dethroning favourites Barcelona in Saturday's final. From Lisbon back to London for the victory parade, the 29-year-old was granted special allowance by Ireland boss Carla Ward to revel in the glory. And how she has; her showreel of soundbites and videos from pitchside until the parade before 10,000 fans capturing the euphoria. Not since the Irish trio of Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy won the trophy for the Gunners in 2007 had an English team conquered Europe. It marks the pinnacle of McCabe's club career and she'll revert to more routine business when her flight lands in Istanbul. While all her Gunners teammates based on this continent have the Euros to plan for in July, consuming Ireland's itinerary for the second half of 2025 is mapping out a less arduous journey to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Nothing less than two victories against the bottom seeds on Friday and then group leaders Slovenia in Pairc Uí Chaoímh next Tuesday will redeem their Nations League winning prospects. That might not even be sufficient to steal top spot. McCabe's conversion to an attacking midfielder was one of the many experiments which backfired in the 4-0 drubbing by the Slovenians away in February. The presumption that another League B stroll beckoned dissolved that afternoon, confirming the team led by McCabe is struggling to remain among Europe's elite nations. The latest validation of her status as one of the English league's standouts should boost Ireland in their quest to rekindle the spirit of 2022, when they qualified for a first World Cup and performed admirably at the tournament the following summer in Australia. It didn't translate into international strides for the three previous Irish winners but teammate Louise Quinn, for one, believes the benefits for the country will be widespread. 'It was huge,' said Quinn yesterday, bursting with pride at seeing her pal draped in the tricolour. 'She made everyone aware that she was Irish. She did not let go of that flag. It is in every picture. 'It's just totally deserving. A picture tells a thousand words, starting with the three girls from 2007. And Katie has shown again what a young girl from Ireland can do.' Quinn was once a young girl but, approaching her 35th birthday next month, is in swansong mode. Arsenal was one of the destinations along her career, winning trophies with McCabe, but one final appearance and a 122nd cap awaits over the next week. Despite her retirement being announced by Birmingham City and the FAI, she asked to be considered for this final camp. Ward, her former club manager, was glad to oblige and the most likely scene for her farewell will be on Leeside. 'It's so hard to say when the decision was made,' Quinn said before training in the rain at Istanbul's Olympic Stadium. 'You think of certain times that come up, potentially after Euros if we'd qualified. 'Then I'm playing with Blues Birmingham. If we got promoted as well, potentially playing WSL, all these things, but we didn't. 'Even though the retirement thing came out, I'd probably just be like, 'Do you know what, let's put it on hold. Let's just wait!' US-based Denise O'Sullivan and Kyra Carusa will also report in late as Ireland look to avoid another hiccup against a Turkish side they laboured to a 1-0 win over in Ward's first match at the helm. Also part of the set-up this week is Ward's assistant Amber Whitely. She's waiting to discover if her caretaker stint as Liverpool manager is upgraded to permanent.
The Irish Sun
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Chantelle Cameron added to Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 as mouth-watering full Madison Square Garden card revealed
THE undercard of Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3 has been announced - with Chantelle Cameron among those added. Taylor, 38, will defend her undisputed super lightweight titles against Serrano on July 11 in the third fight between the two rivals. 2 Katie Taylor will face Amanda Serrano on July 11 Credit: Getty 2 Chantelle Cameron has been added to the card Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile It will serve as the main-event of an all-female card at Madison Square Garden, where the Irishwoman beat the Puerto Rican in 2022 in their first bout. The full undercard was revealed on Thursday, with The Brit - and fierce rival of And Cameron's first fight under Jake Paul's umbrella will be on that card as she faces Jessica Camara for the WBC interim super lightweight championship . Read More on Katie Taylor The 33-year-old won the WBC belt in July 2024, bouncing back from losing her undisputed titles at 140lbs to KT at the 3Arena in November 2023. Cameron said: 'To box at Madison Square Garden in "'Friday, July 11 is a huge night of female boxing from MVP and I'm honoured to be part of it.' Jessica 'The Cobra' Camara was an acclaimed amateur boxer before turning professional. Most read in Boxing The Canadian won titles at the 2014 United Golden Gloves, the 2015 Canadian Amateur Elite Championships, and the 2016 Brampton Cup before winning her pro debut in March 2017. She beat Heather Hardy in May 2021 before losing to Kali Reis in November 2021 for the WBA, IBO, and vacant WBO super lightweight titles. Katie Taylor accused of backing out of fight promise as Amanda Serrano wages war with bizarre dig Camara captured the WBA lightweight title in April 2024 by defeating the previously unbeaten Choi Hyun-mi in South Korea . She most recently fought to a technical draw against WBC and IBO lightweight champion Caroline Dubois. Camara said: 'Friday, July 11 is a historic night for women's boxing, and I'm grateful to be part of it. 'Sharing the ring with a champion like Chantelle Cameron is an honor. I'm locked in, focused, and ready to leave it all in the ring.' Added to the main card is Savannah Marshall, who signed with MVP on the same day as The Ring Magazine and IBF super middleweight world champion will take on WBO super middleweight holder Shadasia Green in a title unification bout. Marshall commented: 'Defending my IBF and Ring Magazine belt in a unification fight with Shadasia Green, on an all-women's card such as this, is a great way to start my new journey with MVP. 'There are so many great women on one show at the iconic Madison Square Garden, and I'm beaming that I can play my part in it. "Cannot wait for Friday, July 11th!' 'REALLY EXCITED' Green added: "'I am really excited about fighting Savannah Marshall, who has accomplished a lot in the sport. "We are two hard-punching world champions who will put everything on the line. 'I'm looking forward to putting on a great show, and I'm certain that Marshall will bring the best out of me on Friday, July 11.' Rounding out the card will be Ramla Ali vs Lila Furtado in an eight-round super bantamweight bout. Those bouts round out a blockbuster card that will be streamed live on Netflix . The streaming giant broadcast last November's second fight between Taylor and Serrano, which the Irishwoman once again won via decision. In the co-main event, reigning undisputed super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner will face undefeated WBA Interim world champion, Jennifer Miranda for the undisputed super featherweight championship. Elsewhere, unified super bantamweight champion Ellie Scotney will face WBC super bantamweight world champion Yamileth Mercado in a unified title fight at 122 lbs. On the preliminary card, reigning unified bantamweight world champion Dina Thorslund will take on IBF bantamweight world holder Shurretta Metcalf in a unification bout. Also on the preliminary card will be Tamm Thibeault vs WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF's #1 contender Mary Casamassa in an eight, three-minute round scrap.
Eyewitness News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Eyewitness News
Ireland back row wins player of the Six Nations by Wafer-thin margin
PARIS, FRANCE - Irish back row forward Aoife Wafer has been named best player of the 2025 women's Six Nations following a public vote, the competition's organising committee announced on Monday. The 22-year-old Irishwoman received 41% of the more than 18,500 votes cast, just 333 votes more than France lock and co-captain Manae Feleu, the committee said. England's Abby Dow, the tournament's top try scorer with six, and Scotland back rower Evie Gallagher were also in the running. "It's huge for me but also for our team," said Wafer in the press release. "It really shows how much we have done in the last two years and how much we are growing. This trophy is not just mine. It's for the team, it's for my family. It's more for them than it is for me." Wafer, who was in World Rugby's 2024 Team of the Year, finished the tournament as the equal second highest try-scorer with four and also made a remarkable 70 carries -- more than any other player. Ireland finished third in the championship behind England and France.
Extra.ie
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Olympic sprinter Sharlene Mawdsley hard launches relationship with GAA star
Sharlene Mawdsley beamed alongside Tipperary GAA star Michael Breen following the Premier county's win over Waterford during the weekend. Tipperary hosted Waterford at Semple Stadium on Sunday, winning on a score-line of 1-30 to 1-21. Among the 28,758 attendees was Olympic runner Sharlene Mawdsley who appeared to 'hard launch' her relationship with Tipperary corner-back, Michael Breen. The 26-year-old shared a picture alongside Michael to Instagram on Sunday evening, captioning the sweet snap: 'Tippin' on.' Friends and followers took to the comments delighted with the snap, with Michael cheekily commenting: 'Any tag nah?' before sharing the picture to his Instagram Story. 'This fan was following me around all day,' he teased. Among the 28,758 attendees was Olympic runner Sharlene Mawdsley who appeared to 'hard launch' her relationship with Tipperary corner-back, Michael Breen. Pic: Michael Breen via Sharlene Mawdsley/ Instagram Another person commented: 'Love the hard launch Sharlene,' while a third added: 'Awwwwwww shar about time.' Earlier this year, the Newport native was forced to bow out of the European Indoor Championships due to injury. Sharlene had been part of the mixed 4x400m team that raced in Apeldoorn but couldn't compete in the women's 400m race due to issues with her leg. In March, Sharlene confirmed that while she'll be out of action for awhile her injury doesn't appear to be anything too serious. Pic: INPHO/Tocko Mackic In March, Sharlene confirmed that while she'll be out of action for awhile her injury doesn't appear to be anything too serious. 'A little update as my DMs have been crazy (and lovely) asking about my leg,' she posted on Instagram, 'I was in for a scan on my hamstring yesterday. I'm blessed with the team I have around me. 'I have a small tear in my Tendon of biceps femoris (double Dutch to me). I am already starting my rehab program with my team and will hopefully be back running in the next couple of weeks.' The main goal for the Irishwoman awaits in September of this year when the World Athletics Championships comes to Tokyo. And by the time the 400m star recovers from her current injury setback, she will be in a prime position to get going as the outdoor athletics season begins once again.
Hindustan Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Will OpenAI ever make real money?
BEING SAM ALTMAN is a glamorous gig. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 the boss of its creator, OpenAI, has turned into a global business superstar. He is the darling of both the starch-collared Davos set and Silicon Valley's dishevelled techno-Utopians. He hangs out with everyone from Katy Perry to Donald Trump, whom he accompanied on a visit to Saudi Arabia this week. It would shock no one if by its next funding round his startup, currently worth $300bn, overtook SpaceX and ByteDance to become the world's most valuable unlisted firm. The AI wunderkind recently told the Financial Times that he has the 'coolest, most important job maybe in history'. No kidding. Being Sarah Friar is not nearly as fun. As OpenAI's chief financial officer, the Irishwoman has two main tasks. The first is to make sure that the numbers add up. The second is to persuade investors to part with the billions of dollars the firm needs in order to train and run ever cleverer artificial-intelligence (AI) models. Happily for Ms Friar, moneymen swept up in the AI mania need little persuading. They are falling over themselves to fund OpenAI. On May 13th SoftBank, a Japanese tech piggy-bank, said that its $30bn investment in the firm was unaffected by Openai's recent decision not to ditch its odd governance structure. A non-profit board will keep control of its for-profit arm. That is just as well, for going with the flow of investor enthusiasm leaves the CFO more time to tackle her other responsibility. And when it comes to charting a path to profits, the former Oxford University rower is paddling upstream. For OpenAI, as for any startup, making money involves a series of steps: attract and retain brainboxes, have them create something clever, turn that something into a marketable product, sell more and more of that product while minimising costs until cashflow turns positive. Despite defections, including of several co-founders, OpenAI remains a talent magnet. The cleverness of its tech is indisputable. Mr Altman's claim that the latest o3 model, with an enhanced ability to reason, displays 'genius-level intelligence' should be taken with a pinch of salt—but only a pinch. It is at the next stage that Ms Friar wades into problems. To see why, consider OpenAI's two more richly valued startup cousins. ByteDance's recommendation algorithm, which makes TikTok and its Chinese sister app the time sinks that they are, may be a bit more addictive than when it debuted in 2016. SpaceX's rockets are bigger, more reliable and cheaper than at its first successful launch in 2008. But neither underlying technology has dramatically changed; any additions are, like SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet, complementary. This stability has enabled both firms to build products and, in time, business models around them. Especially for ByteDance, these are lucrative. Last year the social-media titan turned a net profit of $33bn on sales of $155bn. The reason OpenAI will struggle to follow suit is precisely what excites its backers—the sheer pace of AI innovation. It would be one thing for advances to be frequent. The challenge for Ms Friar is that they also frequently upend her firm's economics. Some of the disruption comes from OpenAI's rivals. In January a Chinese startup called DeepSeek came out of nowhere with a model that was almost as clever as OpenAI's flagship but required many fewer power-hungry chips to train and use it. DeepSeek also made its code freely available to all and sundry, lowering barriers to entry into advanced model-making. This has eroded OpenAI's competitive advantage at the cutting edge, which it had maintained thanks to access to oodles of computing power courtesy of Microsoft, its big-tech partner. It also constrains its ability to keep raising prices for using its models, which can run to as much as $200 a month per licence. Competition is, of course, tech's Schumpeterian lifeblood. Nothing stops OpenAI from making its models more efficient, including by adopting some of DeepSeek's ideas. The trouble is that the economics are changing in more fundamental ways too. Compare o3 with GPT-4, the model that powered ChatGPT in 2023, and take energy use as a proxy for cost. OpenAI is cagey about its numbers. But according to estimates, for every $1 in training costs, GPT-4 would cost around $4 a year to run, based on OpenAI's current level of traffic. For o3, whose reasoning relies on more computing in the post-training 'inference' phase, the ratio could be as high as one to 100. Confounding variables These ballooning operating costs explain OpenAI's mounting losses. Despite tripling its sales to $3.7bn in 2024, it lost perhaps $5bn (excluding stock-based compensation). This year it expects revenue to triple again, to $13bn, and inference costs to grow at the same rate, to $6bn. A shifting cost structure also makes it hard to price products and plan budgets. A fixed subscription fee that made sense in the age of GPT-4 looks unviable for o3. You could try keeping subscriptions for older, dumber versions and add a variable usage fee for inference-heavy reasoning. But how many people will pay anything for an obsolete technology? And how long until the next model forces another complete rethink? Any projections for revenue and costs beyond the next few months rest on heroic assumptions. OpenAI's forecast of $125bn in sales and $12bn in cashflow in 2029 might as well be pulled out of a hat. Not because it is too rosy; because it feigns certitude. The same goes for its $300bn price tag: an ungodly sum by startup standards but a trifle next to the $1.4trn in shareholder value Microsoft has created since teaming up with OpenAi in late 2022. This gap may make it easier for Ms Friar to marshal more capital. Yet it also highlights the uncertainty around what her company is truly worth—and the scale of her bookkeeping challenge. Subscribers to The Economist can sign up to our Opinion newsletter, which brings together the best of our leaders, columns, guest essays and reader correspondence. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
