An incredible level of competition left Orla Barry with a mountain to climb before her first throw as the athlete that immediately preceded her, Nassima Saifi, broke the 4 year old World Record twice in her 6 throws. The best of Orla’s 6 efforts in the Discus, 27:46m, meant that she finished seventh overall and out of the medal places.
The story of the competition was the incredible performance of the World Record holder, Nassima Saifi. The Algerian threw an amazing 35:76m to break her own record by nearly a full meter to claim the gold medal in the F57 Shot Put event.
It was always going to be a tough evening for Barry who had to follow that amazing effort from Saifi as the next thrower and knowing that if she threw her best ever Shot Put it would still leave her behind both Saifi and Xu Mian who has also thrown an Asian record. Barry’s confidence was not helped with her first effort being waved out of bounds but she improved quickly throwing 27:46 with her third throw. Just when it looked like Barry could make more ground toward the podium her 4th throw proved to be wayward and her final effort couldn’t improve on the 27:46m.
Barry was philosophical after the competition ‘I’ll just have to take a few weeks off now and reassess for next year.’
Alex Lee returns to action tomorrow when he is the only Irish athlete in action in the T64 100m Heats. Lee had an encouraging performance earlier in the week in his World Championships debut in the 200m and he will be hoping for more of the same when he races in the first of 3 heats at 6:04am Irish time.
World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai Day 3
Team Ireland Results
Orla Barry, F57 Discus Final, 27:46m (7th Place)
World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai Day 4 Schedule
Alex Lee, T64 100m Heat, 10:04am (6:04am Irish Time)
World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai Day 6 Schedule
Noelle Lenihan, F38 Discus Final, 6:00pm (2:00pm Irish Time)
Niamh McCarthy, F41 Discus Final, 7:46pm (3:46pm Irish Time)
