President hosts reception for Paralympic team at Áras an Uachtárain
President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina kindly hosted a reception at Áras an Uachtárain today for the team and all the support staff to celebrate their achievements at the Games. It was the first time the vast majority of the team got together since their return from Rio and no better occasion for […]
Soaring above the ordinary in Rio 2016 – A reflection on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
THEY love their kites in Rio de Janeiro. Not those huge, mass-produced garish ones but tiny, unobtrusive diamonds that catch the light and your eye sometimes as they swoop like swallows above the urban sprawl of a maddeningly contradictory city. In a way those kites were the perfect metaphor for the 2016 Paralympics. Para athletes […]
Irish Paralympic team homecoming set for Dublin Airport tomorrow
Ireland’s 48 strong Rio 2016 Paralympic team wave goodbye to the athletes’ village today and begin their journey homeward with eleven medals, and a host of lifetime best performances. The team is scheduled to touch down in Dublin Airport just after midday tomorrow (Wednesday 21st September) and make their way to the Arrivals Hall […]
Why the F-Word means so much more in Paralympic sport
WHEN you go to an Olympic Games you hear an awful lot about the F-word.But sometimes it feels like the ‘Olympic family’ is just a fancy name for the sponsors and the folks in the logoed blazers who get ferries around in courtesy cars while everyone else puts up with athlete-unfriendly schedules and convoluted transport […]
Patrick Monahan finishes 16th in Marathon to round off successful Rio 2016 for Ireland
Ireland’s final competitor in Rio, wheelchair racer Patrick Monahan, found the searing 32 degree heat around Copacabana Beach too hot to handle in the T54 marathon, finishing in 16th place in one hour, 40 minutes and 26 seconds, over 10 minutes slower than his personal best. However several competitors dropped out before the half-way mark […]
Bronze for Noelle Lenihan in Discus final brings Team Ireland’s medal tally to 11 at Rio 2016
Cork teenager Noelle Lenihan took Ireland’s medal tally at the Paralympic Games in Rio to 11 with a bronze medal in the F38 Discus final this evening. The 16-year-old from Charleville was tipped to do well on her Paralympic debut after winning World silver and European Gold in the last 12 months, securing both with […]
Dunlevy & McCrystal scoop Road Race silver at Rio 2016
Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal will be celebrating once more this afternoon, having won their second medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, this time in the Women’s Tandem Road Race, finishing strong to take silver. The talented duo, who stormed home to Time Trial gold on Wednesday, put in a committed and determined […]
Sailors struggle on a difficult day in Rio while Keane finishes eighth in Freestyle final
The Irish Sonar sailing crew and swimmer Ellen Keane were in action for Team Ireland at the Paralympic Games in Rio this evening. For the sailing team – who were competing in Races 9 and 10 – it was another difficult day on the water. They had been hoping to improve on their position going […]
Fifth for Clifford in sprint finish while Keane swims PB to qualify for final
Day nine is well underway for team Ireland at Rio 2016, with cyclists Eoghan Clifford and Colin Lynch first up on the road earlier for the C1-C3 Road Race. Clifford; who won gold in the Time Trial on Wednesday was one of the top seeds going into the race, which incorporated riders from the Men’s […]
McCarthy storms to Silver on another hugely successful day in Rio
A day that began with a silver medal for Ireland courtesy of Orla Barry in the F57 Discus final ended in fantastic fashion as fellow Cork athlete, Niamh McCarthy, also secured silver in a hugely competitive F41 Discus final with a throw of 26.67 meters. In a tightly fought competition, McCarthy opened cautiously with her […]
Orla Barry takes Discus silver for Ireland
At the Olympic stadium in Rio today Cork’s Orla Barry won silver in the Women’s Discus Final F57, to improve on her Bronze medal which she won in this event four years ago in London. The twenty five year old, had a second round throw of 30.06m which was enough to claim her podium place […]
WINNING WEDNESDAY: Two gold, one silver and a bronze for Ireland in Rio
Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 will go down as a day to remember in Irish Paralympic history as the team marched home with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal following a fantastic day of performances for Team Ireland. Colin Lynch was first tobring home some silverware following a fantastic performance this morning in the […]
