After four golds and three bronzes at the 2024 Olympic Games, further medals found their way back to the Emerald Isle from Paris, thanks to Ireland’s performance at the 2024 Paralympics. Team Ireland would, however, have expected a greater haul of medals than the six they managed to claim.
Despite a lower medal count than in recent years, there were still many Irish Paralympic performances to be proud of, including some heroic efforts and near misses in an array of sports from the 35-strong team that represented the country at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Team Ireland at the 2024 Paris Paralympics
Para Archery: Kerrie Leonard
Para Athletics: Orla Comerford, Greta Streimikyte, Mary Fitzgerald, Shauna Bocquet, Aaron Shorten
Para Cycling: Katie-George Dunlevy, Josephine Healion, Richael Timothy, Ronan Grimes, Damien Vereker, Martin Gordon, Eoin Mullen (pilot), Eve McCrystal (pilot) Mitchell McLaughlin (pilot), Linda Kelly (pilot)
Para Equestrian: Kate Kerr Horan, Michael Murphy, Jessica McKenna, Sarah Slattery
Para Powerlifting: Britney Arendse
Para Rowing: Katie O’Brien, Tiarnán O’Donnell
Para Swimming: Dearbhaile Brady, Ellen Keane, Barry McClements, Róisín Ní Riain, Deaten Register, Nicole Turner
Para Table Tennis: Colin Judge
Para Triathlon: Cassie Cava, Judith MacCombe, Chloe MacCombe, Catherine Sands (guide) Eimear Nicholls – (guide)
Ireland’s Paralympians Struggle To Extend Paris Love Story
At the London 2012 Paralympics, there were fifteen medals won by Ireland, eight of them gold. A further four golds were earned at Rio 2016, part of an eleven-medal haul. Even though Tokyo 2020 only returned seven medals in contrast for Team Ireland, four of them were golds.
Tonybet followed every step of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, and there were only a haul of six Irish medals in total, with one gold earned by star performer Katie-George Dunlevy. It was the first time since Beijing 2008 that Ireland failed to bring home more than one gold medal.
Here are the Irish competitors who brought home a medal.
Katie-George Dunlevy – Para-Cycling Time Trial Gold
It was another epic Paralympic Games performance by Ireland’s cycling star Katie-George Dunlevy who stole the show in terms of medals for the team. She brought home half of the six medals that Team Ireland won at Paris 2024, and the biggest of those was gold in the women’s B individual time-trial event.
On the streets of Clichy-sous-Bois, Dunlevy, who has retinitis pigmentosa, once again made this race her own. It was her third successive Paralympic gold medal in the time trial, after posting a Herculean effort on the 23.3km course.
With pilot Linda Kelly, the start wasn’t ideal, because after the first split, Dunlevy and Kelly were more than 10 seconds down on British leaders Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl. But Dunlevy expertly went up through the gears and 14km into the race, was more than 40 seconds ahead of anyone else, eventually beating the British pairing of Unwin and Holly by 39 seconds.
One of the big questions is whether Dunlevy will be back to bid for a fourth consecutive gold at LA 2028 as a 42-year-old. She is already the most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete and having been at the top of the game for more than a decade, does she have another four-year cycle in her?
Katie-George Dunlevy – Para Cycling 3,000m Individual Pursuit Silver
At the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome before the Time Trial, Dunlevy competed in the B3,000 Individual Pursuit. Paired up with her long-time pilot Eve McCrystal in what was their last ride together at the Games, the duo picked up their sixth medal.
It was a silver for the Irish tandem after being second-best to Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl for long periods of the contest. Unwin and Holl had set a new world record during the qualifiers the day before, priming themselves as the ones to beat and it proved to be that way.
Katie-George Dunlevy – Para-Cycling Road Race Silver
There was so nearly a second gold medal for pairing Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly at the 2024 Paralympics. In the women’s B Road Race, the duo were in a strong position for most of the contest around the suburbs of Paris, as again Dunlevy came up against the powerful Team GB duo of Unwin and Holl.
The Irish duo had led the way pretty much right from the start and almost to the finish. It was only in the last 400m of the 99.4km race that they were caught and passed. Unwin and Holl had ridden a smart race, tucking in behind the Irish pair and when the gold medal battle came down to a final sprint, the British riders had too much in the tank, winning by three seconds.
Róisín Ní Riain – Para Swimming – 100m Backstroke Silver
The first medal that Team Ireland won at the Paris 2024 Paralympics was claimed by Róisín Ní Riain in the pool. In the Women’s S13 100m Backstroke final, the Limerick native powered her way into second place with a time of 1:07.27, three seconds back of the USA’s Gia Pergolini, to earn her first Paralympic medal.
Róisín Ní Riain is an Irish star for the future and her medals won in Paris could be a springboard to bigger things at LA 2028. Ní Riain only made her debut at a major event in 2021 at the European Championships, where she reached six finals and claimed one bronze.
She also qualified for five of six finals on her Paralympic debut at Tokyo in 2021 and has come a long way in a very short amount of time. Ní Riain, who is currently studying for a Degree in Science, is the current World Para Swimming 100m backstroke champion.
Róisín Ní Riain – Para Swimming – 200m IM Bronze
Róisín Ní Riain wasn’t done with her medal haul at Paris 2024 as she also claimed a bronze in the SM13 200m individual medley final at the brilliant La Défense Arena. The 19-year-old had to put in a huge shift in the final 50m to pull things back and get on the podium.
Having sat in fourth for most of the race, it was not until towards the end of the third leg that Ní Riain started to make up ground. She was still in fourth place at the final turn but kicked off the afterburners to charge to the wall.
In a great comeback, in which she set a new personal best of 2:27,47, Róisín Ní Riain just touched home ahead of Shokhsanamkhon Toshpulatova by four one-hundredths of a second to clinch the bronze.
Orla Comerford
Ireland’s only medal on the track at the 2024 Paris Olympics was earned by Orla Comerford, whose big moment came in the T13 100m Final at the Stade de France. Earlier this year, Comerford broke the 12-second barrier for the first time in her career, during the National Championships.
She broke through the threshold once again in Paris on her way to bronze, setting a new personal best in a highly competitive final. Lamiya Valiyeva and Rayane Soares Da Silva who took gold and silver respectively, both broke the standing Paralympic record at the time to get on the podium ahead of the Irish sprinter.
Comerford, who was diagnosed with Stargardt disease impairing her vision, made her Paralympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games where she finished eighth in the 100m Final. Despite emerging as a big talent, she failed to make the final in 2021 in Tokyo, but the Dubliner bounced back in style at Paris 2024 and also had the honour of being one of the flag bearers for Ireland at the opening ceremony.
Notable Near Misses
There were near misses at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, like Barry McClements’ 5th place in the 100m Butterfly S9 final. Despite posting a lifetime best, weightlifter Britney Arendse had to settle for fourth place in the 79 kg final, recording three personal bests during her challenge for a medal.
After five Olympics, Ellen Keane called a day on competing at the Games, heartbreakingly missing out on taking home a bronze by just 0.19 seconds in the S9 breaststroke final. She was one of six fourth-placed finishes for Ireland at the Games. But there was a special moment for Keane, who was given the honour of being Ireland’s flag bearer during the closing ceremony.
Looking Forward to the LA 2028 Paralympic Games.
There is little doubt as to who is pegged as Ireland’s next great Paralympian. That’s Róisín Ní Riain, a rising star in the pool and with so much potential. She could have left Paris with three medals, as she agonisingly missed out in the final of the SB13 100m breaststroke, coming home fourth by less than a second. Róisín Ní Riain will be one of the biggest stars from the Emerald Isle heading to LA 2028.
17-year-old Dearbhaile Brady was fifth in her maiden Paralympic final, the Derry swimmer just outside the medals, and is another to watch for the future as is 22-year-old Down swimmer Barry McClements and powerlifter Britney Arendse.
With questions about whether Dunlevy will be in action in four years and with the great Ellen Keane moving away from Paralympic competition, Ireland needs new stars to rise.
We did have a few setbacks.
All the Irish medals at the 2024 Paralympics then were won by female athletes and all with vision impairments. A better return from Ireland’s male athletes in four years, will likely be a big target as for the first time since Athens 2004, there wasn’t an Irish male medallist on the track in Paris.
While the government continues to invest heavily, including at the grassroots level, the biggest concern from the Paris 2024 Paralympics perhaps, is having seen the trending decline in Irish medals since 2012 continue.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| London 2012 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| Tokyo 2020 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Paris 2024 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
The one surprising podium miss in Paris was Ellen Reade who came so agonisingly close to a bronze in the S9 breaststroke final. Had she got there, it would have been a perfect way to end her career after five Paralympic cycles which started back with her Olympic debut at the age of 13 at Beijing 2008 and the highlight of which was her gold at Tokyo in 2021.
The other area would lack a return from track and field, with only Comerford bringing a return. Historically, it has been swimming and cycling that have been Ireland’s strengths, but the track and field didn’t quite back that up in 2024.
Follow Ireland’s Best Athletics Stars and More
You can track the careers of Ireland’s Paralympians at the Paralympics.ie website, which is a great source for finding out more about those dedicating so much time to representing their country at the Games. To keep up with the latest athletics news plus other sports like boxing, MMA and GAA for all the top Irish athletes, check out the Tonybet sportsbook too.
