We’re only a few days in but Ireland’s Paralympians are competing excellently on the world stage.
The Paralympics got underway earlier this week and Team Ireland have already set new personal bests, national records, multiple finals and a gold medal victory.
Yesterday saw the tricolour raised in Tokyo as Ellen Keane was presented with the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke. The Dubliner secured her place in the final after her fastest swim in the heat. She then defeated one of New Zealand’s most decorated Paralympians, Sophie Pascoe, in the nail-biting final.
Beyond securing the gold, it’s been an absolutely incredible Paralympic Games for Team Ireland – and we’re only a few days in.
This morning, Limerick swimmer Róisín Ni Riain set her second personal best in two days in the S13 400m final as she finished in fifth place – an impressive feat for any athlete, let alone a 16 year-old.
Later, Greta Streimikyte easily secured her place in the 1,500m final (T13) by coming second in her heat.
Meanwhile in Paracycling, Ronan Grimes set a new personal best and just narrowly missed out on bronze in the C4 4000m individual pursuit. Joining Grimes in the velodrome was Richael Timothy who set two personal bests in her track events and is ready to compete again.
In the Grade V Individual Test, Tasmin Addison and her horse Fahrenheit scored an impressive 66.405 and Kate Kerr Horan scored 66.470 in the Grade III Test Final. In dressage, meanwhile, Rosemary Gaffney finished in 15th place with a score of 65.390.
In the Paracycling team event, Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal completed a personal best and set a new national record.
Elsewhere in the Para Archery Women’s Individual Compound Open, Kerrie Leonard shot a season best of 657, finishing in 18th place.
This article, however, is by no means exhaustive. It fails to truly do justice to the achievements of Team Ireland as a whole, and with several events still to come, plenty more are on the way.
