The Kanchi Blog

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23rd August 2012

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Disability,Sport

Home Coming Dublin Airport

The team are due to fly back into Dublin airport aboard their CityJet flight AF5119 from London city and touch down on home soil just before 7pm today 10th September. Dublin Airport Authority will host a brief media reception in a restricted area with no public access when the team disembark the flight. Minister Michael Ring T.D. will officially welcome the team back on behalf of the Government at this reception. The team are then expected to make their entrance into the main arrivals hall of Terminal 1 at approximately 8.15pm to meet their family, friends, many supporters and well wishers.

This traditional homecoming will be the opportunity for the public who have shown such wonderful support to the team to congratulate and salute their Paralympic heroes. Paralympics Ireland and the Irish team are very grateful for the offer by the Government and City Council of a homecoming event similar to that held for the Olympic team, but would instead prefer to meet well wishers upon their airport return.

Irish team Chef de Mission Liam Harbison explained: “By the time the team return they will have been away from home and their families; parents, husbands, wives, fiancés, partners, children, and in many cases their work for a full month, so whilst they are grateful for the offer of a homecoming event they would prefer to meet the public who have supported them at the airport on Monday evening, and further celebrate their achievements publicly in their local communities.”

Furthermore the Irish team and their families will be celebrated and honoured by the Government at a reception hosted by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. and Minister Varadkar T.D. in Farmleigh on Friday 14th September. They will also be honoured on Monday October 22nd at a reception in Aras on Uachtarain hosted by President Michael D. Higgins.

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Friday 7th September London 2012

Cycling

Mark Rohan has stamped his authority on the Men’s H1 category in the world of Paracycling, by adding a Gold Medal in the Road Race to the Gold he won in the Time Trial earlier this week. The pressure of being the World Number 1 ranked rider spurred on Rohan, who dictated the pace of the race in the second half of the 48km event. Fankhauser, the Swiss man, took silver just 2 seconds behind Rohan. Defending Paralympic Champion Schattauer, from Austria, took Bronze a further 15 seconds back.

The ten starters in the H1 Handcycling Road Race were whittled down to six after the first lap, with all the favourites still in contention. In what became a war of attrition this bunch depleted as the laps were clocked. The cyclist were to complete 6 laps of the 8km loop.

After 36km Rohan made his move “Myself and my coach Brian Nugent had a plan before the race. I knew if I was there after four and a half laps I could take it”.

This was the longest race that Rohan has raced to date, although he clocks between 15 and 20 hours of handcycling per week.

Fankhauser raced an impressive race to stick with the Irish powerhouse, with Beijing Paralympic Champion Schauttauer (Austria) battling hard to keep on track, holding onto a respectable Bronze.

After the medal ceremony a slightly more melancholy Rohan reflected on the journey to this double gold medal.

“It has been a tough ten years, and to end with this…

“I have always given 100% to sport. Sport is sport, whether it is in an able bodied competition or a disabled competition. The emotions are the same”

After this Rohan will take a short break where he will turn his hand at a few more sports before re-focusing on the 2016 Games. He also plans to study Sports Development.

“I want to promote disability sports. I want to show people that there are real opportunities out there in sport if you have a disability. I think I will get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”

Athletics:

With two Paralympic Games already under her belt, one of Ireland’s most experienced field event athletes, Catherine O’Neill, now has a first medal to her name taking silver in the Women’s Discus Throw – F51/52/53 this morning with a Seasonal Best throw of 5.66m.

The New Ross athlete could not contain her delight as she said, “My plan was to relax and throw a solid distance early to put pressure on the others. I knew they had been going all week. It was baking out there and the noise in the stadium is unbearable particularly when a British athlete was in action. I just needed to stay relaxed.”

Having competed in both the 2000 Sydney and 2008 Beijing Paralympics with a best finish of 4th in the Discus in Sydney, Catherine did not hide here relief at finally landing an elusive medal.

“I have been waiting for this for a long time. This is my third Paralympics and you cannot understand how much this means to me. I want to thank those who have supported me an stood by me.”

Eventual winner Josie Pearson threw a World Record 6.58m and the loss of her World Record was the only low point for an otherwise jubilant O’Neill but she promised to fight hard to regain her record.

“I lost my world record today and don’t quite know how to think about that. I will enjoy the moment and look to chase that record back next year.”

Head of Paralympics Ireland Athletics, James Nolan commented, “I am delighted with Catherine’s performance. Her preparation has been very professional. Catherine had a fall during her warm up and I was worried how that might impact her performance but she put that to the back of her mind and just focussed on her performance.”

Nolan also revealed the strategy behind today’s performance and indeed how the Wexford woman hit her targets.

“Catherine, myself and her Coach Michael Bergon identified between us that 5.65 – 5.70 would finish top three. Catherine went out and executed in her first throw. Coming into this Championship the Goal was to get Orla or Catherine on a Paralympic Games podium but for both to achieve this is beyond expectation “

Catherine previously won gold in the Discus at the 1998 Birmingham World Championships. She also won gold in Discus and silver in the Club at the IPC World Athletic Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011. She can now add a well deserved Paralympic silver medal to an already impressive haul.

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BETHANY FIRTH WITHDRAWN FROM COMPETITION DUE TO SHOULDER INJURY

Due to a reoccurring shoulder injury, Bethany Firth has been pulled from this morning’s 100m breaststroke and will be unable to compete. Firth secured a gold medal in the S14 100m backstroke last week but was unfortunately pulled from S14 200m Freestyle last Sunday due to this same injury.

About Bethany Firth:

In 2011, Bethany (Seaford, Down) became the youngest and most recent addition to the Irish Paralympic swim team at just 15years of age.

Despite being one of the youngest competitors, Bethany enjoyed a meteoric start to her Paralympic career, winning silver in her 100m backstroke event and reaching the final of her two other events at last year’s IPC European Swimming Championships in Berlin.

Since 2009, Bethany has competed in numerous able-bodied and disability competitions, with continued success. Along with her exploits in Berlin, 2011 proved particularly rewarding with the DSE National Junior Championships in Sheffield (seven gold medals), the Ulster Championships (two bronze medals) and the UK School Games (a gold and two silver medals).

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Team Lodge to Host Event for This Week’s Medallists

Paralympics Ireland will formally recognise the outstanding achievements of Darragh McDonald, Catherine Walsh, Fran Meehan, Orla Barry, Helen Kearney, Geraldine Savage, Eilish Byrne & James Dwyer in winning medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

The event will last approximately 60 minutes and take place at the Paralympics Ireland Team Lodge at Duncan House on Stratford High Street.

Mark Rohan, James Brown and Damien Shaw were also recipients of medals but are still in competition.

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All the latest news from the London 2012 Paralympic Games

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TEAM IRELAND MEDAL COUNT:
GOLD 6
SILVER 2
BRONZE 5

GOLD MEDAL ALERT

MARK ROHAN TAKES GOLD AT BRANDS HATCH

Mark Rohan has secured Ireland’s sixth gold medal of the London2012 Paralympic Games by winning the Men’s H1 Individual Time Trial at Brands Hatch this afternoon.

Rohan clocked a time of 35:41.54 to take the gold by a clear 11 second margin over second placed Koby Lion of Israel (35:53.30). Austria’s Wolfgang Schattauer took the bronze with a time of 38:02.35.

More to follow…

About Mark Rohan
As one of three current world champions in the Irish Paracycling squad, Mark (Ballinahown, Westmeath) is one of Ireland’s most successful and well-known Paralympic athletes.

He enjoyed an incredible season last year, becoming the first cyclist to win six World Cup events in row when finishing first in 2011′s UCI Paracycling World Cup Series. This impressive achievement was crowned when he claimed two golds (Time Trial and Road Race) at September’s UCI World Paracycling Road Championships in Denmark.

These wins resulted in Mark being named as the International Paralympic Committee’s Athlete of the Month award for September 2011, receiving 74% of the vote.

The Westmeath man was involved heavily in competitive sport, playing football for Castledaly and Westmeath at U-21 level, when he was paralysed from the chest down in a motorbike accident in 2001. After spending six months in rehabilitation, Mark returned to sporting action via wheelchair basketball. He played from 2005 to 2009, when he made the transition to handcycling.

Cycling
Men’s Individual Time Trial H1
Result: 1. Mark Rohan (IRL) 35:41.54, 2. K Lion (ISR) 35:53.30, 3. W Schattauer (AUT) 38:02.35

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1 GOLD & 2 BRONZE SECURED AT BRANDS HATCH ON DAY 7

AFTERNOON HIGHLIGHTS:

Cycling
Mark Rohan has secured Ireland’s sixth gold medal of the London2012 Paralympic Games by winning the Men’s H1 Individual Time Trial at Brands Hatch this afternoon.

Rohan clocked a time of 35:41.54 to take the gold by a clear 11 second margin over second placed Koby Lion of Israel (35:53.30). Austria’s Wolfgang Schattauer took the bronze with a time of 38:02.35.

Rohan commented “I am delighted with my result, there was a lot of pressure on me to perform today”.

Like all the athletes, Rohan credited his success to the strong team around him, with Coach Brian Nugent, Manager Denis Toomey and Mechanics Gerry Beggs and Terry Cromer being of crucial assistance.

Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan took bronze in the Women’s Individual Time Trial B. The Irish duo clocked a time of 35:29.56 to secure their place on the podium. The Netherlands pairing of Kathrin Goeken and Kim Van Dijk took gold in 35:02.73 with the New Zealand tandem featuring Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson taking silver with a time of 35:07.68.

Despite being World Bronze Medallists in this event, the pair was not treating it as a priority event, and were not confident that the course would suit them. However, after their rest day yesterday they were able to put in a massive effort to come away with a Bronze medal in an event won by The Netherlands, with New Zealand in second place.

Fran Meehan commented, “We have a really strong team, and I think that’s what has moved us on, we support each other, share our advice, and it means we all improve.”

This is the second medal this duo has won at the Games. Last Sunday, Walsh and Meehan secured a silver medal in the para-cycling individual B pursuit final at the Velodrome.

Also competing in today’s Individual Time Trial B, was Katie Dunleavy and Sandra Fitzgerald who placed fifth with a phenomenal time of 35:48.06

James Brown and Damien Shaw secured Team Ireland’s fourth bronze of the Games in the Men’s Individual Time Trial B at Brands Hatch this afternoon.

The Irish tandem pair clocked a time of 31:13.00 to secure their place on the podium. The Spanish pairing of Christian Venge and David Caldero Llaurado took gold in 30:48.25 with the Italian tandem featuring Ivano and Lucca Pizzi taking silver with a time of 30:50.41.

James Brown commented, “We are riding a new bike, we opted for power rather than aerodynamics, and it really seems to have paid off”.

Last Thursday Brown and Shaw narrowly missed out on a podium place in the Bronze medal ride off in the paracycling Individual Pursuit B competition at the Velodrome. The pair clocked a time of 4:26.075 to finish outside the medals in fourth place behind the Spanish pair of Clemente Solano and Munoz.

Boccia
Tom Leahy has been defeated by Portuguese player Abilio Valente 6-1 in the BC3 Mixed Individual competition. Roberta (Bobbie) Connolly was defeated by Slovakian Robert Mezik 5-2 in the BC3 Mixed Individual competition.

Sailing
Irish sailing team; John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costelloe finished 10th in the three person keelboat (sonar) race in Weymouth and Portland. In what was the 10th race of the competition, they are currently placed in 11th position overall.

In the overall standing, the Dutch crew remain in poll position with the Norwegian and Germans close behind them. The Irish crew has slipped one place from tenth to eleventh.

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JAMES BROWN AND DAMIEN SHAW WIN BRONZE AT BRANDS HATCH

James Brown and Damien Shaw have taken the bronze medal in the Men’s Individual Time Trial B at Brands Hatch this afternoon.

The Irish duo clocked a time of 31:13.00 to secure their place on the podium. The Spanish pairing of Christian Venge and David Caldero Llaurado took gold in 30:48.25 with the Italian tandem featuring Ivano and Lucca Pizzi taking silver with a time of 30:50.41.

Last Thursday Brown and Shaw narrowly missed out on a podium place in the Bronze medal ride off in the paracycling Individual Pursuit B competition at the Velodrome. The pair clocked a time of 4:26.075 to finish outside the medals in fourth place behind the Spanish pair of Clemente Solano and Munoz.

More to follow…

About James Brown & Damien Shaw
James (Stonehouse, UK) who is visually impaired is a highly experienced athlete, having competed previously for Great Britain at both summer and winter Paralympic Games in Athletics, Cross Country Skiing and the Biathlon.

Previously he has competed in four Paralympic Games, seven World Championships and two European Championships.

His most notable Paralympic results came in his first Paralympic Games in 1984 where he won gold on the track (800m and 1500m).

In his current sport of cycling, James has made rapid progress since declaring for Ireland in 2009. With tandem pilot Damien Shaw, the pair have delivered a string of notable performances; the highlight being a silver medal in the 4km Individual Pursuit in 2012′s World Track Championships in LA in a record Irish time. James combines his sport with running a social enterprise and a software company.

Prior to getting involved in cycling, Damien (Mullingar, Westmeath) enjoyed a successful athletics career with Mullingar Harriers, representing Ireland in cross country at U19 level. In 2010, he decided to get involved in cycling and joined local club, Lakeside Wheelers.

After joining up with the Irish Paracycling squad, in 2011, Damien was paired as sighted pilot for tandem partner, James Brown.

They’ve gone from strength to strength, securing a superb silver medal in the 4km Individual Pursuit at February’s UCI World Track Championships in LA and a fourth-place finish in the Time Trial on the Segovia leg of the 2012 UCI World Road Cup.

Away from paracycling, Damien has experienced individual success with selection for the Irish team competing in the prestigious West Midlands Classic in England. This ultimately earned him a nomination for “Irish Cyclist of the Year”.

Cycling
Men’s Individual Time Trial B
Result: 1. C Venge & C Llaurado Caldero (ESP) 30:48.25, 2. I Pizzi & L Pizzi (ITA), 3. James Brown & Damien Shaw (IRL) 31:13.00

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London 2012 Paralympic Games Day 7 Report:
LUNCH

JOHNNY CRONIN ADVANCES TO BOCCIA QUARTER-FINALS

MORNING HIGHLIGHTS:

Boccia
Johnny Cronin has won his seeding match in the Boccia BC3 Mixed Individual in the ExCeL Arena. Johnny beat his Singaporean competitor Nurul Mohammad 6-4. Cronin now receives a bye into the quarter-finals which will take place tomorrow.

Bobbie Connolly and Tom Leahy will both look for similar success as they begin their individual campaigns later today in London’s Excel arena. Tom Leahy will play at 16:40 today, while Bobbie Connolly will begin her quest for gold at 17:45

Shooting
Seán Baldwin has placed 19th in the shooting R7 – 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 Qualifiers in the Royal Artillery Barracks. Seán will not progress to the final this afternoon

Cycling
Cathal Miller placed 11th in the Individual Time Trial C5 with a time of 35:14.82 at Brands Hatch. The gold medal went to the Ukraine’s Yegor Dementyev who clocked a time of 32:12.98.

Miller described the course as having a lot of cross winds, and said “I negative splitted throughout the race, going faster as it went on. I did the best Time Trial of the year.”

Miller got the better of John Allen Butterworth, the GB rider who passed him in his Pursuit race, Miller said “the best part is I passed Butterworth, my one minute man”.

Enda Smyth placed 14th in the Individual Time Trial C3 in a time of 27:30.64 The gold medal went to Australian David Nicholas who clocked a 23:22.13.

Smyth’s recent injuries started to take their toll on the unforgiving circuit, with relentless rises, descents and sharp turns. Smyth commented “I can’t blame the bike, after doing personal bests during the week on the track, but the relentless bumps and turns on the road really took their toll on me today.”

Cyclist Colin Lynch finished fifth in the Individual Time Trial C2 in a time of 24:58.23. Germany’s Tobias Graf took gold in a time of 24:35.12.

Athletics
In the Shot Put F11/12 Final, Ailish Dunne placed 12th with team mate Nadine Lattimore placing 18th at the Olympic Stadium.

Speaking in the mixed zone after the event, Dunne commented, “ I am not happy with my distance but I am coming away from this with a bigger appetite to compete than ever before. It was very difficult out there as I wasn’t able to hear a thing. Normally I like to keep aware of what my opposition does but in the noise that was very difficult.”

Heather Jameson has placed seventh in her 200m T37 heat in the Olympic Stadium in a time of 32.76. Jameson will not advance to the final and today’s heat brings an end to the Irish Paralympic team’s youngest member.

Jameson commented, “It was below my best today but I am happy to have personal bests and Irish records in two out of three events. I cannot wait for Rio in four years.”

Sailing
Following yesterdays delay in Weymouth the Ireland trio of John Twomey, Ian Costello and Anthony Hegarty have a busy day on the water with three races to be completed. The Irish crew finished in 13th position in race 8 following this up with 10th place finish in race 9.

COLLATED RESULTS:
Boccia
BC3 Mixed Individual
Johnny Cronin (IRL) bt N.B Mohammad Taha (SG) 6-4

Shooting
R7 – 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1
Qualifiers: 1. D Sharziri (ISR) 1157, 2. J Jakobsson (SWE) 1155, 3.C Dong (CHN) 1152, 19. S Baldwin (IRL) 1112

Athletics
Shot Put F11/12 Final
Medallists: 1. A Legnante (ITA) 1001, 2.H Tang (CHN) 1008, 3. L Zhang (CHN) 1003,
12. A Dunne (IRL) 808, 18. N Lattimore (IRL) 705

200m T37 Heat 1
Heat 1: 1. M Seifert (GER) 29.87, 2. O Krechunyak (UKR) 30.02, 3. V Kravchenko (UKR) 30.33,
7. H. Jameson (IRL) 32.76

Cycling
Individual Time Trial C5
Medallists: 1. Y Dementyev (UKR) 32:12.98, 2. X Liu (CHN) 32:21.03, 3. M Gallagher (AUS) 33:12.03, 11. C. Miller (IRL) 35:14.82

Individual Time Trial C3
Medallists: 1.D Nicholas (AUS) 23:22.13, 2. J Berenyi (USA) 23:31.73, 3. M Fujita (JPN) 23:55.54,
14. E. Smyth (IRL) 27:30.64

Individual Time Trial C2
Medallists: 1. T Graf (GER) 24:35.12, 2. G Liang (CHN) 24:40.33, 3. M Eckhard Tio (ESP) 24:40.7,
5. C. Lynch (IRL) 24:58.23

Sailing
Three Person Keelboat
Race 8 Placing: 13. Ireland
Race 9 Placing: 10. Ireland

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ORLA BARRY TAKES BRONZE IN DISCUS

HELEN KEARNEY TAKES BRONZE IN EQUESTRIAN

EVENING HIGHLIGHTS:

Athletics
Cork native Orla Barry took Bronze in tonight’s F57/58 Discus Throw final at the Olympic Stadium.

Barry’s first throw of 28.12 was enough to rank her in third position going into the medal throw off. Barry entered the throwing cage knowing the bronze medal was secured but could not register a throw further than her very first throw. Algeria’s Nassima Saifi took gold with a F58 Paralympic record of 40.34 and Bulgaria’s Stela Eneva took silver with a throw of 36.56. ORLA BARRY QUOTES:

“I thought with my first throw I might not make it into the final but it ended up winning me a bronze medal. I don’t know how that happened really but I came here to get on the podium and I am going back with a bronze medal. I am absolutely delighted.”

“It doesn’t matter that it was not my best performance, a medal is a medal.”

“It makes up for Beijing, I am still learning, I am only 22 and Rio is ahead of me. I’ve gone from fifth to third and if that trend continues, we’re looking at great stuff. “

“I tried to go in and put pressure on them. I know when I went into my second round I was in third position. I should have relaxed more but I don’t think I did. But a medal is a medal

Ray O’Dwyer finished fifteenth in the final of the F34 Shot Put. The Kilkenny native making his Paralympic Games debut threw 8.86. The gold medal was won by Morrocan Azeddine Nouiri who set a new world record of 13.10. Mohsen Kaedi of Iran took silver with a throw of 12.94 and France’s Thierry Cibone took bronze with 12.66.

Equestrian
Helen Kearney has added a Bronze medal to the Silver she won on Sunday by placing third in the Individual Freestyle Test 1a at Greenwich Park this afternoon.

Kearney aboard MISTER COOL scored 78.450 and was sitting in the Silver medal position with just two riders left to compete. Laurentia Tan from Singapore was the second last competitor to ride and she posted a score of 79.000 to push Kearney into the Bronze position. The final rider could not impact on the medal positions.

The Gold medal was won by Sophie Christiansen of Great Britain who took her third gold of the London Paralympic Games with a score of 84.750,

Kearney’s fellow team member Geraldine Savage also occupied a medal position at one point but was pushed out to fifth. Savage aboard BLUES TIP TOP TOO posted a score of 72.300.

HELEN KEARNEY QUOTES:

“My first games and three medals, I cannot even put into words how it feels.”

“The team Bronze is fantastic. The team worked so hard that it was a great achievement for us all and is testament to all our hard work that we secured the Bronze.”

Regarding her performance today (Tuesday) Kearney said, “Mr Cool was much more relaxed today. The crowd was louder today and I was conscious of this but it worked out well. We both were relaxed and it showed in the result.”

Swimming
Darragh McDonald set a new PB 33.15 in the heats this morning to go into this afternoon’s final as the eight fastest. In the final, China’s Qing Xu set a new world and Paralympic record time of 28.57 to take gold with Lorenzo Escalona Perez taking silver in 30.04 and China’s Tao Zheng taking bronze in 30.06. McDonald finished eighth in a time of 33.26.
COLLATED RESULTS:

Athletics
Women’s Discus Throw F57/58 Final
Medallists: 1. N Saifi (ALG) 40.34, 2. S Eneva (BUL) 36.56. 3. Orla Barry (IRL) 28.12

Men’s Shot Put F34 Final
Medallists: 1. A Nouiri (MAR) 13.10, 2. M Kaedi (IRI) 12.94, 3. T Cibone (FRA) 12.86, 15. Ray O’Dwyer (IRL) 8.86

Men’s Shot Put F57/58 Final
Medallists: 1. A Ashapatov (RUS) 16.20. 2. J Rokicki (POL) 15.68, 3. M Louwrens (RSA) 13.64, 13.
J McCarthy (IRL) 10.70

Equestrian
Individual Freestyle Test 1a
Medallists: 1. S Christiansen (GBR) 84.750, 2. L Tan (SIN) 79.000, 3. Helen Kearney (IRL) 78.450, 5. Geraldine Savage (IRL) 72.300

Individual Freestyle Test IV
Medallists: 1. M George (BEL) 82.100, 2. S Wells (GBR) 81.150, 3. F Hosmar (NED)78.600, 6. James Dwyer (IRL) 74.400

Swimming
Men’s Freestyle S6 Final
Result: 1. Q XU (CHN) 28.57. 2. L Perez Escalona (CUB) 30.04, 3. T Zheng (CHN) 30.06 8. D McDonald (IRL) 33.26

Men’s Freestyle S6 Heat 1
Qualifiers: 1. S Iwanow (GER) 31.29, 2. Y Tang (CHN) 31.99, 3. Darragh McDonald (IRL) 33.15

Shooting
Men’s 50m Rifle Prone
Qualifiers: 1. A.S Alaryani (UAE) 592. 2. J Jakobsson (SWE) 591, J.A Saavedra Reinaldo (ESP) 590, 18. Sean Baldwin (IRL) 585
 

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Tuesday 4th September, 2012

HELEN KEARNEY TAKES BRONZE IN EQUESTRIAN

Helen Kearney has added a Bronze medal to the Silver she won on Sunday by placing third in the Individual Freestyle Test 1a at Greenwich Park this afternoon.

Kearney aboard MISTER COOL scored 78.450 and was sitting in the Silver medal position with just two riders left to compete. Laurentia Tan from Singapore was the second last competitor to ride and she posted a score of 79.000 to push Kearney into the Bronze position. The final rider could not impact on the medal positions.

The Gold medal was won by Sophie Christiansen of Great Britain who took her third gold of the London Paralympic Games with a score of 84.750,

Kearney’s fellow team member Geraldine Savage also occupied a medal position at one point but was pushed out to fifth. Savage aboard BLUES TIP TOP TOO posted a score of 72.300.

MORE TO FOLLOW…

COLLATED RESULTS:

Equestrian
Individual Freestyle Test 1a
Medallists: 1. S Christiansen (GBR) 84.750, 2. L Tan (SIN) 79.000, 3. Helen Kearney (IRL) 78.450, 5. Geraldine Savage (IRL) 72.300

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London 2012 Paralympic Games Day 6 Report:
AFTERNOON

DARRAGH MCDONALD QUALIFIES FOR S6 50M FREESTYLE FINAL

MORNING HIGHLIGHTS:

Ireland’s James Dwyer finished in 6th place overall in the Equestrian Freestyle Test Grade IV Greenwich Park this morning with a score of 74.40%.

Equestrian team manager Dara Kearney said after the event: “I was very please with James Dwyer’s performance. James rode superbly achieving a personal best. He gave it everything, had no wrong moves and the score speaks for itself. “

Sean Baldwin took part in the 50 m Rifle Prone today his 3rd competition of the London 2012 Paralympics Games. It was his best performance to date, scoring a new personal best of 585 to finish 18th of the 48 competitors. It was only four marks away from the qualifying score for the eight man final which was 589.

Sean said “I’m happy with that performance in tricky conditions. I was aiming for 590 as I reckoned that would be the qualifying mark for the final but I am satisfied with the PB and I am well set up for my final competition tomorrow”.

Gold medallist Darragh McDonald was back in action this morning following his heroics in the pool on Saturday night. McDonald, who won Gold in the S6 400m Freestyle on Saturday, was competing in the S6 50m Freestyle event.

The Asgard SC swimmer went into this morning’s heats as the 12th fastest qualifier but set a new personal best of 33.15 to qualify in 8th position for this evening’s final.

Speaking after the race, McDonald commented “A .2 second PB, I’m happy it was enough to make the final and there’s room for improvement later on”.

In the days following his Gold medal win he said: “It still hasn’t set in, I’m just focusing on getting the competition finished then I’ll relax and rest and think about the Gold, but there’s still work to be done so I’m just focusing on that”.
Limericks James McCarthy finished 13th position overall in this morning’s Shot Putt F57/58 competition Final with a throw of 10.70.
Speaking about his experience McCarthy commented: “I think in the first putt, I may have had a rush of blood to the head. For the second one I needed to relax and start doing what I had been doing in training. For the third one I just went for it and that was my best throw. It was a dream come true to be back here sixteen years after my last games in Atlanta and to have my family here to see it.”
COLLATED RESULTS:
Equestrian
Equestrian Freestyle Test:
Medallists: 1. M George (BEL) 82.100, 2. S Wells (GBR) 81.150, 3. F Hosmar (NED) 78.600,
J Dwyer (IRL) placed 6th with 74.400

Shooting
Qualifiers: 1. A.S Alaryani (UAE) 592. 2. J Jakobsson (SWE) 591, J.A Saavedra Reinaldo (ESP) 590
S Baldwin (IRL) placed 18th with 585

Swimming
Qualifiers: 1. L Perez Escalona (CUB) 29.98. 2. Q XU (CHN) 30.11, 3. T Zheng (CHN) 30.33
8. D McDonald (IRL) 33.15

Athletics
Qualifiers: 1. A Ashapatov (RUS) 16.20. 2. J Rokicki (POL) 15.68, 3. M Louwrens (RSA) 13.64
J McCarthy(IRL) placed 13th with 10.70

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Monday 3rd September, 2012
London 2012 Paralympic Games Day 5 Report:MCKILLOP SECURES IRELAND’S 5TH GOLD MEDAL OF THE LONDON PARALYMPIC GAMES
EVENING HIGHLIGHTS:

Athletics
Michael McKillop was a class apart in the final of the Men’s T37 1500m at the Olympic Stadium tonight.

McKillop set a new Paralympic record of 4:08.11 to take Gold. Australia’s Brad Scott took silver in a time of 4:14.47 and former 1500m Paralympic record holder Mohamed Charmi of Tunisia took bronze in 4:14.90

“It was great to do a double here in London. When I heard that the 1500m would be on the programme here, I was thrilled as I didn’t have this opportunity in Beijing. It means so much to be able to do this.”

“I had agreed with my coach that I would work steadily until 800m and increase the pace gradually to see who would come with me. Only the Australian did so I increased the pace again. The plan worked.”

In a closely guarded secret, Michael was presented with his 1500m Gold medal by his mother Catherine who acted as ambassador from official Games sponsors P&G.

In the Men’s T51 100m final, John McCarthy finished seventh in a time of 25.53. World record holder Toni Piispenan of Finland set a new Paralympic record time of 21.72 to take Gold with Alvise de Vidi of Italy taking Silver and Mohamed Berrahal of Algeria taking bronze.

Equestrian
Eilish Byrne narrowly missed out on bronze in the Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II at Greenwich Park. Byrne was in the bronze medal position on 75.250 with one rider to go only to be pipped to a podium place by German rider Angelika Trabert who posted 76.150 to take the bronze.

Sailing
The Irish Sonar Class sailing team of John Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costelloe finished Race 5 in 10th place with the Dutch crew of Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen and Mischa Rossen taking top spot. After Race 5 the Dutch maintained their healthy lead over the Australian and USA crews in joint second in the overall competition. The Irish crew held onto 11th position after Race 5.

In Race 6, the Norwegian crew of Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen took top billing with the French and Dutch boats completing the top three. Ireland again finished in tenth place.

In the overall standing, the Dutch crew remain in poll position but the Norwegian and French crews have pushed the Australians and Americans out of the medal positions with five races to go. The Irish crew have improved their standing by one place moving from 11th to 10th position.

Looking forward Day 6 (Tuesday 4th September)…

Athlete Sport Event Time Location
James Dwyer Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test – Grade IV 09:00 – 11:30 Greenwich Park
Seán Baldwin Shooting Mixed R6 – 50m Air Rifle Prone SH1 Qualifiers 09:00 – 10:15 Royal Artillery Barracks
Darragh McDonald Swimming 50m Freestyle S6 Heats 09:48 – 09:53 Aquatics Centre
James McCarthy Athletics Shot Put F57/F58 Final 10:00 Olympic Stadium
John Twomey,
Ian Costelloe,
Anthony Hegarty Sailing Three Person Keelboat (Sonar) Race 7,8 11:00 – 18:00 Weymouth and Portland
Seán Baldwin Shooting Mixed R6 – 50m Air Rifle Prone SH1 Final* 11:30 – 12:10 Royal Artillery Barracks
Helen Kearney Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test – Grade Ia 15:45 – 18:00 Greenwich Park
Geraldine Savage Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test – Grade Ia 15:45 – 18:00 Greenwich Park
Darragh McDonald Swimming 50m Freestyle S6 Final* 17:42 – 17:47 Aquatics Centre
Ray O’Dwyer Athletics Shot Put F34 Final 19:03 – 21:20 Olympic Stadium
Orla Barry Athletics Discus Throw F57/58 Final 19:00 Olympic Stadium
*Subject to Progress through the Competition

COLLATED RESULTS:

Athletics
Men’s T37 1500m Final
Result: 1. Michael McKillop (IRL) 4:08.11, 2. B Scott (AUS) 4:14.47, 3. M Charmi (TUN) 4:14.90

Men’s 100m T51 Final
Result: 1. T Piispenan (FIN) 21.72, 2. A de Vidi (ITA) 22.60, 3. M Berrahal (ALG), 7. John McCarthy 25.53

Sailing
Three Person Keelboat (Sonar)
Race 5 Result: 1. Netherlands 1pt, 2. USA 2pts, 3. Greece 3pts, 10. Ireland 10pts Race 6 Result: 1. Norway 1pt, 2. France 2pts, 3. Netherlands 3pts, 10. Ireland 10pts Overall Standings: 1. Netherlands 9pts, 2. Norway 19pts, 3. France 21pts, 10. Ireland 44pts

Equestrian
Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II
Result: 1 N Baker (GBR) 82.800, 2. B Napel (GER) 77.400, 3. A Trabert (GER) 76150 E Byrne placed 4th with 75.250

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Monday 3rd September, 2012
London 2012 Paralympic Games Day 5 Report: AFTERNOON
AFTERNOON HIGHLIGHTS:

Sailing
The Irish Sonar Class sailing team of Conor Twomey, Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costelloe finished Race 5 in 10th place with the Dutch crew of Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen and Mischa Rossen taking top spot. After Race 5 the Dutch maintained their healthy lead over the Australian and USA crews in joint second in the overall competition. The Irish crew held onto 11th position after Race 5.

In Race 6, the Norwegian crew of Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen took top billing with the French and Dutch boats completing the top three. Ireland again finished in tenth place.

In the overall standing, the Dutch crew remain in poll position but the Norwegian and French crews have pushed the Australians and Americans out of the medal positions with five races to go. The Irish crew have improved their standing by one place moving from 11th to 10th position.

Coming up…
The Irish team are back at the Olympic Stadium this evening with John Carthy competing in the 100m T51 Final and Michael McKillop seeking his second Gold medal of the Games in the T37 1500m final

COLLATED RESULTS:

Sailing
Three Person Keelboat (Sonar)
Race 5 Result: 1. Netherlands 1pt, 2. USA 2pts, 3. Greece 3pts, 10. Ireland 10pts
Race 6 Result: 1. Norway 1pt, 2. France 2pts, 3. Netherlands 3pts, 10. Ireland 10pts
Overall Standings: 1. Netherlands 9pts, 2. Norway 19pts, 3. France 21pts, 10. Ireland 44pts

Equestrian
Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II
Result:
Medallists: 1 N Baker (GBR) 82.800, 2. B Napel (GER) 77.400, 3. A Trabert (GER) 76150
E Byrne placed 4th with 75.250

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EILISH BYRNE NARROWLY MISSES MEDAL IN EQUESTRIAN

MORNING HIGHLIGHTS:

Eilish Byrne has narrowly missed a medal in the Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II in Greenwich Park.

In her favoured event, Byrne riding her horse YOURI scored a superb personal best 75.25%, placing her 3rd position with one rider to go. However there was heartbreak in Greenwich Park as Angelika Trabert from Germany, the last rider in the event, scored 76.15 to push Bryne down to fourth.

Team Manager Dara Kearney was delighted : “ I am over the moon, Eilish performed for Ireland. She went for it and I could not ask for more. The riding was beautiful. I am so proud of them all. Before competition I asked the to go out and show the world how good you are and let your riding do the talking. That’s what they did.”

After the event Eilish Byrne said: “I am absolutely delighted. To be fourth in the world is a magnificent feeling. I was a little nervous initially but once in the arena I didn’t really worry. I was happy and relaxed, lost rhythm a few times but nothing significant. I am not disappointed in any way to finish fourth and I couldn’t asked for anything more from Youri”

The Sailing competition, in which Irishmen John Twomey, Ian Costelloe and Anthony Hegarty are competing, is currently delayed due to lack of wind at Weymouth and Portland

COLLATED RESULTS:

Equestrian
Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II
Result:
Medallists: 1 N Baker (GBR) 82.800, 2. B Napel (GER) 77.400, 3. A Trabert (GER) 76150
E Byrne placed 4th with 75.250

LATER TODAY:

Athlete Sport Event Time Location
John Twomey,
Ian Costelloe,
Anthony Hegarty Sailing Three Person Keelboat (Sonar) Race 5,6 11:00 – 18:00 Weymouth and Portland
John McCarthy Athletics 100m T51 Final* 19:10 Olympic Stadium
Michael McKillop Athletics 1500m T37 Final 20:47 Olympic Stadium

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Sunday 2nd September, 2012

London 2012 Paralympic Games Day 4 Report:EVENING REPORT

HELEN KEARNEY TAKES SILVER IN EQUESTRIAN

EQUESTRIAN TEAM TAKE BRONZE IN TEAM EVENT

WALSH & MEEHAN TAKE SILVER AT THE VELODROME

Equestrian
Team Ireland equestrians secured a further two medals today when the Helen Kearney riding MISTER COOL secured a silver medal in the Individual Championship Test Grade 1a competition with a score of 76.70%. The result also sees the Irish Team take the Bronze medal in the team event. This is the first time an Irish Team have competed in Equestrian at Paralympic level.

Speaking after the event Kearney said: “I am absolutely thrilled. I felt confident and knew that I had done what I could to prepare. It is an amazing feeling, a dream come true. I saw my family and it inspired me to perform in the competition.”

However there was also a team medal to celebrate on which Kearney commented “It is nearly more exciting than my own for the team to achieve a Bronze medal.”

Ecstatic team member James Dwyer said “I am actually flabbergasted. It is unbelievable. I had visualised winning many times in training but for it to happen in reality is something incredible. The secret was consistency. All of us had a super rides over the past two days and every one of the team was consistent.”

CYCLING
Catherine Walsh and Francine Meehan also made history today by securing Ireland’s first ever Paralympic cycling medal. The tandem pair took silver in the Women’s Individual Pursuit at the Velodrome. In the Gold Medal Ride-off the Irish pair clocked a time of 3:36.350 but it was not enough to beat New Zealand’s Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson who took Gold. Katie George Dulevy and Sandra Fitzgerald finished fifth overall.

In the Men’s Mixed C1-5 Team Sprint the Irish team set a new national record of 56.401 and finished eight overall.

Athletics
15-year-old Heather Jameson set a new personal best in the heats of the Women’s T37 100m. Jameson was seventh in her heat.

Looking forward to tomorrow…
The Irish team can take a collective breath tomorrow but only for a few hours as Eilish Byrne is back in action at Greenwich Park, the Sailing crew continue their progress in the Three Person Keelboat competition at Weymouth and in the Olympic Stadium John McCarthy competes in the 100m T51 Final and Michael McKillop goes for gold in the 1500m T37 Final.

TOMORROW: Day 5 Monday 3rd September

Athlete Sport Event Time Location
Eilish Byrne Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II 09:00 – 12:00 Greenwich Park
John Twomey,
Ian Costelloe,
Anthony Hegarty Sailing Three Person Keelboat (Sonar) Race 5,6 11:00 – 18:00 Weymouth and Portland
John McCarthy Athletics 100m T51 Final* 19:06 Olympic Stadium
Michael McKillop Athletics 1500m T37 Final 20:47 Olympic Stadium

COLLATED RESULTS:

Cycling
Women’s Individual Pursuit Final
Result: 1. P Gray & L Thompson (NZL) 3:32.243 2. Catherine Walsh & Francine Meehan (IRL) 3:36.360, 3. A McGlynn & H Scott (GBR) 3:40.138 5. Katie George Dunlevy & Sandra Fitzgerald (IRL) 3:42.445

Mixed Team Sprint C1-5
Results: 1. China 49.454, 2. Great Britain 45.519, 3. USA 52.749, 8. Ireland 56.401

Equestrian
Individual Grade 1a
Result: 1. S Christiansen (GBR) 682.750, 2. Helen Kearney (IRL) 76.700, 3. L Tan (SIN) 73.650

Athletics
Women’s 100m T37 Heats
Heat 1 Result: 1. M Seifert 14.30, 2. J McLoughlin (GBR) 14.48, 3. V Kravchencko (UKR) 14.30, 7. Heather Jameson 15.08

Sailing
3 Person Keelboat Sonar
Race 3 Results: 1. France, 2. Holland, 3. Israel, 7. IRELAND Race 4 Results: 1. Holland, 2. Australia, 3. USA, 11. IRELAND Overall Standing: 1. Holland 13pts, 2. USA 20pts, 3. Australia 21pts, 11. IRELAND 35pts

Boccia
BC 1-2 Mixed Team Pools
Results: Korea bt Ireland 14-3, Brazil bt Ireland 11-2

Rowing
LTAMix4+ B Final
Result: 1. Canada, 3:31.17, 2. France 3:32.01, 3. Brazil 3:36.58, 4. Ireland 3:36.72

Powerlifting
67Kg
Results: 1. L Liu (CHN) 218, 2. R Rostami (IRI) 208, 3. S Ibrahim (EGY) 202, 10. Roy Guerin (IRL) 131

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CATHERINE WALSH & FRAN MEEHAN TAKE SILVER IN INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT B FINAL

Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan have won silver in the Paracycling Individual Pursuit B final at the Velodrome today.

The Irish pairing were beaten to gold by New Zealand’s Philippa Gray and Laura Thompson

The Irish duo went out faster than they had this morning, on a bigger gear, and at the 1km mark were a mere 0.2 second down. However, the swift New Zealand pair, who have been focusing on this event also, raised their game. By the 2km mark this lead extended to 1.9 seconds, and at the finish there were three seconds between Ireland and the gold medal.

Walsh said “the team had a couple of fourths, so it was hard during the week. We were able to finish off what we said we were going to do.”

MORE TO FOLLOW…

About Catherin & Fran
Catherine from Swords in Dublin who is visually impaired has experienced success as a track and field athlete in five previous Paralympic Games between 1992 and 2004, winning bronze in the pentathlon at Sydney 2000.

In 2007, she changed sport to tandem cycling and made her mark quickly enough to gain selection to Beijing 2008. Catherine became Ireland’s first paracycling medal winner when powering to silver at the 2009 World Track Championships with sighted pilot Fran Meehan.

Catherine won subsequent bronze medals at both UCI World Championships in 2011 (Track and Road) and a sensational gold in the 3km Individual Pursuit at February’s World Track Championships in LA.

Sighted pilot Fran from Killurin in Offaly and her stoker Catherine Walsh have been in great form over the past two years, becoming Ireland’s most successful Tandem pairing.

Fran only took up competitive cycling in 2007, with a prior athletics background. The two-times national cyclo-cross champion has proved an ideal partner for Catherine Walsh and the pair have enjoyed considerable success since joining up.

In 2011, Fran and Catherine began their run of championship form with double bronze at the World Paracycling Championships (Track and Road), before claiming gold in the Segovia leg of the 2011 Road World Cup.

In 2012, they delivered further with a sensational gold at February’s World Track Championships in LA, backing this up with an unexpected bronze in the tandem sprint.

Cycling
Women’s Individual Pursuit Final
Result: 1. P. Gray & L Thompson (NZL), 2. CATHERINE WALSH & FRANCINE MEEHAN (IRL), 3. A. McGlynn & H. Scott (GBR)

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ELLEN KEANE FINISHES 7th IN 100m BUTTERLY FINAL

Ellen Keane finished 7th in the final of the 100m Butterfly S9 final at the Aquatics Centre on Day 1 of the Paralympic Games.

The Clontarf native clocked a time of 1:14.04 which was .89 seconds outside the PB she set in this morning’s heats. The gold medal was won by reigning World and Paralympic champion Natalie Du Toit of South African in a time of 1:09.30.

Commenting after the race Keane was in good spirits, “It wasn’t as good as I was hoping for, I can’t complain, I gave it my all and it hurt a lot more than this morning, but I was so happy with the race this morning”.

17 year old Keane will now look to her next events, the 200IM and her favoured 100m Breaststroke, an event in which she finished in 6th in Beijing in 2008. Keane is looking forward to supporting her teammates before she is back in the pool on Wednesday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Beth and the guys competing, they have all been training really well over the last few weeks and it’s been really exciting to watch them, I can’t wait to see them race,” said Keane

Ronan Rooney exited the Men’s Singles M2 Table Tennis competition after losing his second preliminary match 3-0 to Slovakia’s Martin Ludrovsky. Earlier in the day Rooney lost his opening game 3-0 to reigning Paralympic champion Vincent Boury of France.

Speaking from the mixed zone, Rooney reflected: “I am more disappointed with my performance than the actual results. I knew coming in that it would be difficult. I look forward to the coming back in the team event and performing “

Looking ahead to tomorrow it is a busy day for the Irish Paralympic team with action across athletics, equestrian, shooting, cycling, swimming, rowing and table tennis. Watch out for tandem pairing Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan in the Paracycling Individual 1km Time Trial and World champion Colin Lynch is also in action at the Velodrome in the Individual Pursuit C2 heats. The Irish rowing team makes its Paralympic debut at Eton Dorney and Jason Smyth will compete in the 100m T13 Heats in the Olympic Stadium.

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BROWN & SHAW QUALIFY FOR BRONZE MEDAL RIDE OFF IN THE VELODROME

KEANE ADVANCES TO TONIGHT’S 100m BUTTERFLY FINAL IN THE AQUATICS CENTRE

MORNING HIGHLIGHTS:
James Brown and Damien Shaw have qualified for the Bronze medal ride off in the Individual Pursuit B paracycling competition at the Velodrome. The pair clocked a time of 4:25.557 to finish as the fourth fastest qualifiers and will face Spanish duo Miguel Angel Clemente Solano and Diego Javier Munoz in the bronze ride off this evening at 16:57.

Ellen Keane clocked a PB to qualify for tonight’s 100m Butterfly S9 Final at the Aquatics Centre. Keane was the fifth fastest in this morning’s heats with a time of 1:13.15. The Women’s 100m Butterfly S9 final will take place at 19:30 this evening.

Following her race, Keane said, “I had a really good fly set yesterday, it put me in a positive mood and positive frame of mind, I just wanted to get out there and get used to racing and it felt really good, hopefully tonight I can get another PB”.

James Scully narrowly missed out on qualification for tonight’s 50m Freestyle S5 final finishing as the ninth fastest in this morning’s heats in a time of 38.18sec. Scully will now look to his favoured event, the 200m Freestyle on Saturday

“I’ve got the first one over and done with, it felt good and I’m feeling fitter and stronger than ever before, I’ll get in and see what happens,” commented Scully

Eilish Byrne has had a strong opening ride on Youri in the Equestrian Team Test – Grade II at a packed and damp Greenwich Park. She currently stands in fourth position after 21 of the 23 riders having competed.

Speaking in the mixed zone after her event, Byrne said: “I felt I dealt with this well. I tried to stay relaxed and dealt with the crowd really well. Overall I am quite pleased.”

Ronan Rooney lost his opening match in the Table Tennis Men’s Singles M2 Preliminaries at the ExCel Arena to Beijing Gold medallist Vincent Boury of France and will face Martin Ludrocsky of Slovakia tonight at 18:40.

COLLATED RESULTS:
Cycling:
Individual Pursuit B Qualifiers
Qualifiers: 1 K Modra & S McPhee (AUS) 4:18.752, 2. B Lindores & S Finning 4:21.219 (AUS), 3. MA Clemente Solano & DJ Munoz (SPA) 4:24.539. 4. James Brown & Damien Shaw 4:25.557

Swimming:
Women’s 100m Butterfly S9 Heats
Qualifiers: 1. N du Toit (RSA) 1:09.94, 2. E Stone (USA) 1:11.19, 3. S Gascon (SPA) 1:11.45, 5. Ellen Keane (IRL) 1:13.15

Men’s 50m Freestyle S5 Heats
Qualifiers: 1. D Dias (BRA) 33.02, 2. S Rodriguez (SPA) 33.80, 3. R Perkins (USA) 34.16, 9. James Scully (IRL) 38.18

Equestrian:
Equestrian Team Test – Grade II (21 of 23 riders)
Ranking: 1. N Baker (GBR) 76.085, 2. L Barwick (CAN) 72.095 3. R Hart (USA) 69.095, 4. P van de Sande (NED) 68.095, 5. Eilish Byrne (IRL) 67.714

Table Tennis:
Men’s Singles M2 Preliminaries
V Boury (FRA) bt Ronan Rooney (IRL) 11-2, 11-2, 11-3

LATER TODAY:

Rena McCarron Rooney Table Tennis Women’s Singles F1-2 Preliminaries 13:00 – 13:40 ExCel Arena 1
Eimear Breathnach Table Tennis Women’s Singles F1-2 Preliminaries 13:00 – 13:40 ExCel Arena 1
Philip Quinlan Table Tennis Men’s Singles M1 Preliminaries 13:40 – 14:20 ExCel Arena 1
Enda Smyth Cycling Individual 1km Time Trial C1-3 14:00 – 16:00 Velodrome
James Brown & Damien Shaw Cycling Individual Pursuit B Final* 16.57 Velodrome
Ronan Rooney Table Tennis Men’s Singles M2 Preliminaries* 18:40 ExCel Arena 1
Ellen Keane Swimming 100m Butterfly S9 Final 19:30 Aquatics Centre

Live action updates available on www.paralympics.ie

 
QUOTE: James Brown – Paracycling Individual Pursuit Bronze Medal Ride-off
In the Bronze medal ride off the Spaniards set the pace early on, leading the Irish by just .4 of a second. The Irish put on a push approaching the halfway mark, and reversed the lead. Coming into the second last lap the lead reversed again when Spain made a massive push to secure the Bronze medal.

After the race the James Brown commented on the ride-off performance of the Irish duo who have only been together since January .

James Brown commented, “We will improve with more time together, we are racing against full-time professional bike riders whilst holding down a business and jobs. If we get a chance to spend more time training together on a full-time basis we will no doubt build on these results.”

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Seven Days Until London 2012 Paralympic Games
Sportsfile Issue Team Ireland Squad Portraits

With only seven days to go until the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Sportsfile, one of Ireland’s leading sports photographic agencies have released specially commissioned portraits of some of the leading Team Ireland athletes.

Twenty five athletes in total have been featured, shot by Sportsfile’s Brian Lawless, including reigning Paralympic champions Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth as well as Gay Shelly and Darragh McDonald, medallists in Beijing also.
Team Ireland are currently in Portugal in camp before they arrive in London on Friday and Performance Director Nancy Chillingworth is very happy with progress to date; “The pre games camp here in Coimbra, Portugal is going exactly as we had hoped. The prevailing mood in the camp is one of focus and calm as the athletes fine tune their preparations. The team is heading to the Paralympic Village in London on Friday in fantastic shape and ready to perform on the greatest stage.”

The team consisting of 49 athletes, representing 20 different counties will compete across ten sports at the London Games and represents the largest Irish Team since Atlanta 1996. The 2012 Irish Paralympic team contains five reigning world champions in athletics and cycling and two defending Paralympic champions, the aforementioned Jason Smyth and Michael McKillop. For the first time ever Ireland will compete in shooting and rowing at a Paralympic Games.