Two weeks after the curtain falls on the Paris Olympics, the Paralympic Games will commence on the banks of the river Seine on 28th August.
As always, a high-calibre contingent of Irish Paralympian athletes will represent the Emerald Isle at the summer event, eager to continue our country’s proud medal-winning traditions.
Indeed, as our athletes so often do, Ireland have punched above their weight with knockout precision at the Paralympics and have competed at all but one edition of the games since its inception in Rome back in 1960.
Over the past 64 years, Irish representatives have collected an incredible 229 Paralympic medals, and at the last games in Tokyo (2021), Ellen Keane, Jason Smyth, Katie-George Dunlevy, Nicole Turner and Gary O’Reilly became the nation’s latest history makers when they brought home a combined four gold, two silver and one bronze.
Below, we’ve profiled the Irish Paralympians dreaming of making the podium in Paris in 2024.
PARA ATHLETICS
Orla Comerford
Event: Women’s 100m
Classification: T13
Dubliner Orla Comerford will compete at her third Paralympic games this year having represented Ireland in Rio and Tokyo. The 100m sprinter ran a sub-12-second time for the first time earlier this year, so she heads to Paris in great form. The 26-year-old failed to make the final in Tokyo, though she stands a good chance of making the climactic event this time around.
Greta Streimikyte
Event: Women’s 1,500m
Classification: T13
Swords native Greta Streimikyte will also complete a hat-trick of Paralympic appearances for Ireland this summer having competed in Rio and Tokyo. The 28-year-old 1,500m runner placed fifth in Tokyo in the T13 event and fourth in Rio in the same race. Streimikyte was a gold medallist at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and at the 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships in Poland.
Mary Fitzgerald
Event: Women’s Shot Put
Classification: F40
Kilkenny’s Mary Fitzgerald finished in sixth position in the women’s F40 shot put event in her Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 with a throw of 7.79m. She travels to her second games as a more robust performer at the age of 24, and harbours hopes of making the podium in Paris.
Shauna Bocquet
Event: Women’s 100m, 1,500m and 5,000m
Classification: T54
Shauna Bocquet, who hails from Galway, will compete in three separate events in Paris this summer: the T54 100m, 1,500m and 5,000m. The talented 21-year-old has been in excellent shape over the last year and has clocked numerous personal bests over a very productive 12-month spell. Bocquet will become a Paralympian for the first time this summer.
Aaron Shorten
Event: Men’s 1,500m
Classification: T20
Carlow’s Aaron Shorten completes the Team Ireland Athletics roster. The 21-year-old runs the T20 1,500m metres race for Ireland just 12 months after making his first major championship appearance in Paris in the Worlds last year. Shorten posted a time of 4:00.62 in the 1,500m at the National Games at Morton Stadium in Dublin earlier this month.
PARA CYCLING
Athletes
Katie-George Dunlevy
Event: Women’s Individual Time Trial, Women’s Road Race, Women’s 1,000m Time Trial, Women’s 3,000m Individual Pursuit
Classification: B
Josephine Healion
Event: Women’s 1,000m Time Trial, Women’s 3,000m Individual Pursuit
Classification: B2
Martin Gordon
Event: Men’s 4,000m Individual Pursuit, Men’s 1,000m Time Trial
Classification: MB
Ronan Grimes
Event: Men’s 1,000m Time Trial, Men’s 4,000m Individual Pursuit
Classification: MC4
Richael Timothy
Event: Women’s 3,000m Individual Pursuit, Women’s 500m Time Trial
Classification: C3
Damien Vereker
Event: Men’s 4,000m Individual Pursuit, Men’s 1,000m Time Trial
Classification: B1
A legendary Irish Paralympian, 42-year-old Katie-George Dunlevy won three medals at the Tokyo Games, picking up gold in the women’s road time trial and women’s road race along with silver in the women’s individual pursuit. Dunlevy, who qualifies to represent Ireland through her Donegal-born father, is a six-time Road World Championships goal medallist and has won a total of three gold and two silver Paralympic medals. She is the real deal and should be right in the mix for honours again in Paris.
Tullamore’s Josephine Healion is a Paralympic debutant, though the 28-year-old, who won a bronze medal in the women’s tandem road race at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, has the experience to handle any extra pressure.
39-year-old Sligo man Martin Gordon, who will compete at two events in Paris, landed fifth spot in the 1km time trial event in Tokyo three years ago, and is preparing for his second Paralympics. 2022 RTE Sports Person of the Year nominee Ronan Grimes (35), who just missed out on a medal in Tokyo, cycled his way to a silver medal at the World Championships last year.
Former Roscommon County footballer Richael Timothy races in the 3,000m Individual Pursuit and 500m Time Trial in France. The 29-year-old won a bronze medal at the 2020 Track World Championships. 44-year-old Damien Vereker is the elder statesman of the group and will participate at his third Paralympics this year.
PILOTS
Eve McCrystal, Mitchell McLaughlin, Eoin Mullen and Linda Kelly
Competing alongside Ireland’s blind and vision-impaired athletes as pilots in tandem events are Eve McCrystal, Mitchell McLaughlin, Eoin Mullen and Linda Kelly.
46-year-old McCrystal partnered Katie-George Dunlevy to multi-medal success in Tokyo in 2021 and the pair will be reunited in Paris, while 26-year-old Drumkeen cyclist Mitchell McLaughlin will be saddled with the experienced Damien Vereker in the men’s events.
Galway man Eoin Mullen (30) pilots for Martin Gordon, and this duo placed fifth at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships Men’s Tandem Sprint in 2023. Wexford’s 30-year-old Linda Kelly was a double-gold medal winner with Dunlevy at the 2023 UCI World Championships.
PARA POWERLIFTING
Britney Arendse
Event: Powerlifting
Classification: Up to 79kg
Cavan’s Britney Arendse finished seventh in the 73kg powerlifting event in her first Paralympic appearance at Tokyo in 2021, when she beat her own personal best three times, lifting 103kg, 104kg and 107kg in Japan, having never pushed beyond 102kg before that. The 24-year-old moves up the weight grades in Paris this year. Arendse has already lifted a new PB of 129kg this year and should be well-positioned to shine in France.
PARA ARCHERY
Kerrie Leonard
Event: Archery
Classification: Women’s Compound Open
Meath’s Kerrie Leonard made the last 16 of the Tokyo Paralympics in the W2 individual compound event before she was beaten by Russian Stepanida Artakhinova, though she returns for another bash in Paris. The 33-year-old has been competing on the international scene for Ireland since 2012.
Para Table Tennis
Colin Judge
Event: Men’s Table Tennis
Classification: Class 3
Dubliner Colin Judge is ranked among the world’s top 10 table tennis players and competes at his second Paralympics having been on the Team Ireland roster for Tokyo. An established elite-level performer in table tennis for Ireland, Judge was a European Champion in 2017. The 29-year-old’s journey ended at the last 16 phase in Tokyo, and Judge will be targeting a longer run in 2024.
Para Swimming
Deaten Registe
Event: Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Classification: Class S14
Dearbhaile Brady
Event: Women’s 200m IM
Classification: Class S6
Ellen Keane
Event: Women’s 100m breaststroke, Women’s 100m backstroke
Classification: Class S8/9
Róisín Ní Riain
Event: Women’s 100m Backstroke
Classification: Class S13
Nicole Turner
Event: Women’s 200m IM
Classification: Class S6
Barry McClements
Event: Men’s 100m Butterfly
Classification: Class S9
A six-strong Para swim team will represent Team Ireland at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris between 28th August and 8th September, and two debutants, Deaten Registe and Dearbhaile Brady, will be among their number.
20-year-old Registe made his international debut at the recent European Championships, while 16-year-old Derry native Brady could be one to follow closely, following her bronze medal success at the same meeting.
29-year-old Ellen Keane, who hails from Clontarf in the capital, is a five-time Paralympian, and she will be aiming to add to her gold and bronze medals from Tokyo and Rio on what will be her last appearance at the games.
Nicole Turner was a silver medallist in Tokyo in 2021 and will swim at her third Paralympics overall. The 21-year-old Laois athlete won gold, silver and two bronze medals at the European Championships in Madeira this year and heads to Paris in a supremely confident mood.
At the tender age of 22, Barry McClements can already claim to be a Tokyo Paralympian as well as a Commonwealth and European medal winner. Incredibly, McClements recovered from a fractured femur in September last year to make the cut for his year’s games in Paris.
Limerick’s Róisín Ní Ríain is similarly young at 19, though she will make a second Paralympic Games appearance for Ireland in 2024, having flown the tricolour in Tokyo. The double World Champion enjoyed a phenomenal time in the water at the Europeans earlier this year, landing two golds and five medals overall.
The Irish swimmers’ incredible medal haul from the European Championships in Madeira in April heightened belief that similar success could be achieved in Paris on the Paralympic stage.
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