MEET PARALYMPIANS GOING FOR GLORY

With the aim of winning between eight and 10 medals, Ireland will have 35 athletes across nine different disciplines over the course of the next fortnight in Paris. Donnchadh Boyle profiles all the sportsmen and women heading for France

2024-08-27 -

PARA ARCHERY

KERRIE LEONARD

Age: 33 Hometown: Culmullen, Co Meath; Club: Blackheath Archers

Disability: Spinal Cord Injury Sport Class: Women’s Compound Open

Leonard has been representing Ireland in archery since 2012 with Paris set to be her second Paralympics after Tokyo where she finished ninth.

Paralysed after a fall from a tractor when shew asa child, she narrow ly missed on out Rio and won silver at the 2016 Europeans. She is coached by two-time Olympic archer Jim Conroy and holds a degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth and a masters in Marketing from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

PARA ATHLETICS

ORLA COMERFORD

Age: 26 Hometown: Dublin Club: Raheny Shamrocks Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class: T13

Comerford made her Paralympic debut in Rio qualifying for the 100m final while still a teenager. She won a pair of bronze medals in both the 100 and 200m at the Europeans in 2018. Looks to be in good form and ran her first (legal) sub 12 seconds, a PB of 11.90 in the 100m final at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium, a race won by sprint sensation Rhasidat Adeleke.

She has Stargardt’s disease, a degenerative condition that affects her central vision. She has a degree in Fine Art Media from the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and works part-time in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

GRETA STREIMIKYTE

Age: 28 Hometown: Dublin Club: UCD Athletics Club Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class: T13

Streimikyte has represented Ireland since 2016 – a year after she obtained her Irish passport – and this will be her third Paralympic Games.

Her family moved from Lithuania to Swords when she was 15 and she has won gold at the 2018 and 2021 European Championships and was fourth in the T13 1,500m final on her Paralympic debut in Rio. She later ran into fifth in Tokyo in very difficult race conditions.

Greta qualified for Paris 2024 Para Athletics World Championships with a time of 4:33.27, a new European record. Greta competes in T13 because she has retinopathy with only vision in her left eye. She works part-time with AIB and shares a house with Paralympic swim star Ellen Keane in Dublin.

MARY FITZGERALD

Age :24 Hometown: Kilkenny Club: Gowran AC Disability: Achondroplasia (Short Stature) Sport Class: F40

Fitzerald blew the doors off her PB at a competition in Loughborough in May, putting a huge 63cm on her personal best.

Kilkenny-based, she is now under the tutelage of respected shot put coach Paul Wilson, who has the likes of former Olympic champion Chase Jackson on his books. Heading for her second Paralympic Games, Fitzgerald has a degree in Occupational Therapy from UCG where she once shared a house with rowing star Paul O’Donovan.

SHAUNA BOCQUET

Age :20 Hometown: Craughwell, Co Galway Club: Craughwell Athletic Club Disability: Spina bifida Sport Class: T54 Bocquet made the Paralympic world step up and take notice when she posted three PBs over one weekend in June at the WPA Grand Prix in Switzerland pushing 11:07:20 in the 5k, 16.38 in the 100m and 3:17.22 in the 1,500m. She then went on to break her personal best in the 1,500m at the Daniela Jutzeier Memorial.

She only made her Irish debut last year ahead of what will be a special Paralympics for her family with her father hailing from France.

AARON SHORTEN

Age :21 Hometown: Castledermot, Co Kildare Club: St Laurence O’Toole’s Athletic Club, Carlow Disability: Intellectual Impairment Sport Class: T20

A prolific winner at under age level where Shorten picked up no fewer than 10 All-Ireland titles, he made his international debut at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championships. This will be his first Olympic Games.

PARA CYCLING

KATIE-GEORGE DUNLEVY

Age: 42 Hometown: Crawley, West Sussex, UK; Club: Donegal Bay Cycling Disability:Vision Impairment Sport Class: B2

Forming a formidable partnership with pilot Eve McCrystal, the pair have become medal machines. They won three golds and two silver medals across the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games as well as five gold medals at UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. Most recently, the pair won a bronze medal at the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships while Dunlevy has partnered with Linda Kelly on the road in 2023 and dominated at international events. A fourth Paralympic beckons and perhaps even more glory.

JOSEPHINE HEALION

Age :28 Hometown: Tullamore, Co Offaly Club: Tullamore Cycling and Touring Club Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class: B2

Another athlete heading for her first Paralympic Games, Healion and Linda Kelly won a bronze medal in the women’s tandem road race at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. Now often combined with pilots Eve McCrystal on the road and Kelly on the track.

RICHAEL TIMOTHY

Age :29 Hometown: Ballymoe, Co Galway Club: Spin the Bean Powered by Coffee/Castlerea Cycling Club Disability: Hemiplegia Sport Class :C3

Timothy was an Irish underage soccer international, where she played alongside Katie McCabe, before her career was ended by an acquired brain injury caused by treatment for a rare condition known as HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia) which affects veins and arteries, which left her with just 30pc power in her left leg.

She made her Irish debut in 2017 and Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 and has developed a happy knack of picking up medals. Her business, RT Fitness in Ballymoe, offers personal training, strength and conditioning and a recovery suite.

RONAN GRIMES

Age : 35 Hometown: Athenry, Co Galway Club: Orwell Wheelers Disability:

Left club foot Sport Class: MC4

One last hurrah at international competition for the decorated Grimes, who came to cycling while on work placement in Waterford.

Since then he has picked up a raft of medals in varying disciplines and has left no stone unturned by opting to go full-time in the run up to the Games. He will be a busy man in Paris but is perhaps best-placed to make an assault in the pursuit this time around.

DAMIEN VEREKER

Age: 44 Hometown: Kilmacow, Co Kilkenny Club: Comeragh Cycling Club Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class :B1

Vereker represented Ireland at the 2016 Paralympic Games before missing out on Toyko. Will tackle both road and track events with Mitchell McLaughlin

MARTIN GORDON Age : 39 Hometown: Sligo Club: Black Line Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class :B1

Barrister by day, bike man by night, Gordon is heading for his second Paralympics having placed fifth at the Men’s Time Trial. Now paired with Eoin Mullen, the duo finished in fifth at the 2023 World Championships in the Men’s Tandem Sprint.

EOIN MULLEN (PILOT)

Age :30 Hometown: Inis Mór, Co Galway Club: Black Line

With Martin Gordon, the duo have represented Ireland at UCI Paracycling World Championships. Paris will be his first Paralympic Games.

EVE McCRYSTAL (PILOT)

Age : 46 Hometown: Dundalk, Co Louth

Club: Bellurgan Wheelers

McCrystal is heading for her fourth Paralympic Games with a raft of medal wins in both Paralympic and Olympic events with Katie-George Dunlevy already under her belt. A member of An Garda Síochána, she operates on both road and the track.

MITCHELL McLAUGHLIN (PILOT)

Age:26 Hometown: Drumkeen, Co Donegal Club: Velo Revolution

A relative newcomer to the team, McLaughlin joined the Ireland Paracycling National Team in 2023 and is pilot to experienced rider Damien Vereker.

The pair compete in both track and road events and picked up a ninth place finish in the time trial at the 2023 UCI Paracycling Road World Championships. Paris will be his first Paralympic Games.

LINDA KELLY (PILOT)

Age : 30 Hometown: New Ross, Co Wexford Club: Spin the Bean – Powered by Coffee

Kelly rides on the road and track as pilot to both Dunlevy and Healion. On the road, Kelly won double gold at the 2023 UCI World Championships alongside Dunlevy as well as overall victory in the UCI Paracycling World Cup. In 2022, Kelly also won bronze at the UCI World Championships as pilot to Healion. Paris will be her first Paralympic Games.

PARA EQUESTRIAN

KATE KERR HORAN

Age : 31 Hometown: Tinahely, Co Wicklow Horse: Lykkedbo’s Don Akino Disability: Hemiplegia Sport Class: Grade III

Kerr Horan has a remarkable back story. When she was a toddler she was found unconscious in the family’s fields, possibly kicked by a horse. Her parents were told she might not walk again and she spent a year in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH).

She needed a tracheostomy (pieces of her ribs were inserted into her vocal chords) to help her breath until she was 11 and is weaker on her left side. Yet she recovered not only to ride but to compete in able-bodied and para-dressage.

An experienced campaigner, she had been with the Irish team since 2011 was

ninth in the World Equestrian Games in 2014 and finished eighth at the European Championships in 2017. She made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

She has a degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth, is a qualified riding instructor and helps her mother Pam run their family business, the Broomfield Equestrian Centre.

MICHAEL MURPHY

Age :27 Hometown: St Barnet, Mill Hill, West London Horse: Clever Boy Disability: Peripheral neuropathy Sport Class: Grade 1

Murphy was almost lost to Para equestrian after taking time away following the loss of his eldest brother James in a kayaking accident in New Zealand in 2015.

He was born in London with a rare progressive disorder called Dejerine Sottas (a peripheral neuropathy which lessens reflexes, sensation, muscle tone and motor control). He had a double spinal fusion when he was 14 and is a permanent wheelchair user.

He graduated with a biology degree from the University of Warwick last year and works as an environmental adviser for a large construction company in London. In 2012, Michael who has Irish grandparents, was a torch bearer on one of the relay legs for the London Olympics.

JESSICA McKENNA

Age :23 Hometown: Cork Horse: Davidoff 188 Disability: Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy Sport Class: Grade III

Belfast-born but Cork-reared, McKenna’s equine journey started as a form of physiotherapy but soon showed a talent and was drafted into Team Ireland. Came sixth in the European Championships and makes her Paralympic debut in Paris.

SARAH SLATTERY

Age :34 Hometown: Tynagh, Co Galway Horse: Savona Disability: Impaired muscle power and range of movement in left arm and hand Sport Class: Grade V Slatteryistothemanorbornwhenitcomes to horse sport as she is the daughter of renowned international show jumper Tom.

A childhood cancer survivor which left her with significant strength and mobility challenges, she has been finding form in the build up to Paris posting her best score in the Grand Prix B test in Waregem, Belgium. A mother to two daughters, she is also a trained beauty therapist.

PARA POWERLIFTING

BRITNEY ARENDSE

Age Hometown: Classification: Disability: Sport Class

:24 Mullagh, Co Cavan

Up to 79kg Spinal Cord Injury :PO

Born in South Africa before moving to Ireland at the age of five, Arendse was a basketballerbeforeturningtoPowerlifting.

A talented junior, she won bronze in the 67kg category with a 102kg lift at the WPP World Cup in Manchester in 2021.

PARA ROWING

KATIE O’BRIEN

Age :27 Hometown: Clarinbridge, Co Galway Club: Galway Rowing Club Disability: Spina bifida Sport Class: PR2

O’Brien’s introduction to Para rowing came at a ‘try sports’ day after London 2012. And after spending much of her childhood on crutches, she had developed remarkable upper body strength and ability in the boat.

In 2022, she won gold at the World Rowing Championships and set a new world record in the PR2 W1x. She will

compete in the PR2 Mixed Sculls and after qualifying the boat in 2023 with Steven McGowan she had endured an injury-hit build up and will row with Tiarnan O’Donnell in Paris. Her brother is former Connacht lock Seán O’Brien.

TIARNÁN O’DONNELL

Age : 26 Hometown: Limerick Club: Lee Rowing Club Disability: Right leg amputee Sport Class: PR2

A noted wheelchair basketball player who captained his country at U-23 level, O’Donnell has made rapid progress since his move to the boat.

In May, he won his first international medal at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland in the PR2 single sculls. He followed that up by winning his second medal, another silver, at the 2024 World Rowing Cup III in Poznan.

O’Donnell was diagnosed with a rare tumour called Fibro-Adipose Vascular Anomaly and was just the 16th person in the world diagnosed with this condition which eventually led to the amputation of his leg. The O’Brien-O’Donnell partnership has potential but they have struggled for time in the boat due to injury.

PARA SWIMMING

DEARBHAILE BRADY

Age: 17 Hometown: Feeny, Derry Club: Limavady Swim Club Disability: Hypochondroplasia (Short Stature) Sport

Class: S6, SB6, SM6

The youngest member of Team Ireland has been making rapid progress. She only represented Ireland for the first time at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester but struck a blow when winning bronze in Madeira at the 2024 European Championships for a first international podium.

ELLEN KEANE

Age :29 Hometown: Clontarf, Dublin Club: NAC Swim Club Disability: Left arm dysmelia Sport Class: S9, SB8, SM9

One of the most recognisable Para athletes in the country, Keane is on her final length as a international swimmer. In the build-up to the Games, she spoke about the struggle to maintain motivation, understandable when you consider she was Ireland’s youngest ever Paralympian aged just 13 in Beijing, and that Paris will be her fifth Games.

In that time she has won plenty of medals across all levels of competition including bronze in the SB8 100m breaststroke. In Tokyo, she bettered that, winning gold. She comes into the Games in good form as at her final Europeans this April, she won silver in the 100m Breaststroke. And who knows, she may yet add to her haul for what would be the perfect swansong.

BARRY McCLEMENTS

Age :22 Hometown: Newtownards, Co Down Club: Ards Swimming Club Disability: Right above knee amputation

Sport Class: S9, SB8, SM9

McClements is heading for his second Paralympic Games, having competed in Tokyo where he finished seventh in the 100m backstroke S9. However, injury might have derailed his Paris bid after his prosthetic came undone and he cracked his exposed femur last autumn.

McClements has developed a happy knack for picking up medals. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the S9 100m backstroke, becoming the first Northern Irish swimmer to medal at the Commonwealth Games. He won his first European medal at the 2024 Para Swimming European Championships in Madeira. He had his right leg amputated above the knee due to a rare birth defect called fibular hemimelia when he was 10-months-old.

RÓISÍN NÍ RÍAIN

Age: 19 Hometown: Drombanna, Co Limerick Club: Limerick Swim Club

Disability: Vision Impairment Sport Class: S13, SB13, SM13

Ní Ríain has certainly made a splash since her debut with Team Ireland. Her first major event was the European Championships in Madeira in May 2021 where she won a bronze medal in the S13 backstroke and also made five other finals. The Limerick native made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo where she competed in six events and qualified for five finals.

She is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m backstroke and also holds the World Record in the 200m backstroke, which she set in 2023. She also won a remarkable five medals (two gold, three silver and one bronze) at the Europeans this year.

She is studying for a degree in Science at the University of Limerick and there are high hopes she can get a talented swimming group off to strong start in the butterfly on day one of competition.

DEATEN REGISTE

Age :20 Hometown: Dungannon, Co Tyrone Club: Lisburn City Swimming Club Disability: Intellectual impairment Sport Class: S14, SB14, SM14

A powerful athlete, Registe is being thrown in at the deep end after only making his first major international performance at the Europeans in Madeira where he placed fourth in the 100m breaststroke final.

NICOLE TURNER

Age :21 Hometown: Portarlington, Co Laois Club: NAC Swim Club Disability: Hypochondroplasia (Short Stature) Sport Class: S6, SB6, SM6

Turner has a knack for turning it on for the Games. At her first in Rio in 2016, she competed in five events qualifying for the final in every one, setting personal best times in six out of her 10 races.

She won silver medal in the S6 50m butterfly final in Tokyo touching home in 36.30 seconds. It took a world record by her Chinese rival Yuyan Jiang to deny Turner the race win in their heat, and she finished second to the same woman in the final. A student at TUD, she has won medals at European and World levels and was the flag-bearer for Team Ireland at the Rio Paralympics closing ceremony.

PARA TABLE TENNIS

COLIN JUDGE

Age:29 Hometown: Blackrock, Co Dublin Club: UCD Table Tennis Club Disability: Three limbs dysmelia Sport Class: TT3

Judge might have turned his back on the sport after he was reclassified into a higher category in 2018, which saw him tumble down the world rankings. However, now on a career break from his work as an actuary with KPMG, he regrouped and is amongst the most consistent performers in his class and comes into Paris in good form, having taken silver in the Czech Open a couple of months ago. However, there is no room for slip-ups with Para table tennis working on a straight knockout format.

PARA TRIATHLON

CASSIE CAVA

Age : 32 Hometown: Shoreham-by-Sea, England Club: Steyning Athletics Club

Disability: Right below knee amputee, left club foot Sport Class: Grade PTS3

Once part of Britain’s Para snowboarding program, Cava switched to Ireland and triathlons and won bronze at the 2018 and 2019 World Triathlon Grand Finals. Arrives to Paris in good form having won in Swansea event in the World Triathlon Para Series in June.

JUDITH MacCOMBE

Age :29 Hometown: Claudy, Co Derry

Club: North West Tri Club Disability: Vision impairment Sport Class: PTVI 3

Making her Paralympic debut with her guide Eimear Nicholls. She took up triathlon just over five years ago and competed in the in the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Qualified for Paris 2024 ninth in the world rankings.

She is a twin sister of team-mate Chloe MacCombe. The sisters have a form of albinism which affects their vision.

EIMEAR NICHOLLS (GUIDE)

Age: 42 Hometown: Portstewart, Co Derry Club: Triangle Triathlon Club

She has enjoyed a successful professional triathlon career and is the current Irish Ironman record holder with a time of 8.56.51 (Ironman Barcelona 2015). Nicholls willcompeteinherfirstParalympicGames with Judith MacCombe.

CHLOE MacCOMBE

Age : 29 Hometown: Claudy, Co. Derry