The Paralympic Games is underway in Paris, focusing the eyes of the world on “celebrating what makes us different, showing there is strength in difference, beauty in difference, and that difference serves as a powerful force for good.”
This words of IPC President Andrew Parsons are as good a summation of why these games are important in the wider context with 15 percent of the world’s population having some form of visible or hidden disability.
For the athletes that is important but the most important thing for them over the next 12 days is performance and giving of their best on the greatest stage they compete on.
Nine of Ireland’s 35 strong team are in action on the opening day.
Here is when and in what they are competing.
10:03 Nicole Turner and Dearbhaile Brady 50 M Freestyle Qualifying
10:32 Roisin Ni Riain 100 M Butterfly Qualifying
11:58 Richael Timothy Para Cycling 3000 M Pursuit Qualifying
12:00 Kerrie Leonard Para-Archery Ranking
12:58 Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin; Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen 4000M Individual Pursuit Qualifying
15:29 Richael Timothy Para Cycling 3000 M Pursuit Final **
16:04 Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin; Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen 4000M Individual Pursuit Final **
18:17 Nicole Turner and Dearbhaile Brady 50 M Freestyle Final **
19:10 Roisin Ni Riain 100 M Butterfly Final **
** If Advancing from Earlier Round
and here is a little more about each of them as individuals
Nicole Turner
Nicole swimming career started with Portarlington Piranhas before moving to Laois Marlins in Portlaoise. She moved to train with Ireland’s top swimmers at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin in 2017.
She won a silver medal in the youth category of the British Internationals on her senior international debut in 2015 and went on to reach six finals and swim PBs in each at that year’s World Championships in Glasgow. She represented Ireland at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships where she swam in six finals, bringing home silver in both the 200m Individual Medley and the 100m Breaststroke as well as a bronze in the 50m Butterfly. She also set nine new PB times.
At her first Paralympic Games in 2016 Nicole impressively competed in five events qualifying for the final in every one. She succeeded in setting personal best times in six out of her ten races in Rio with her best placing; fifth in the 50m Butterfly.
In 2018 she won silver in 50m butterfly in the European Championships in Dublin. In 2019 she won bronze in 50m butterfly at the World Championships in London. In 2021 she won medals in all four of her events at the European Championships in Madeira; silver in 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke and bronze in 50m freestyle and 200m IM individual medley.
She won silver medal in the S6 50m butterfly final in Tokyo touching home in 36.30 seconds. It took a world record by her Chinese rival Yuyan Jiang to deny Turner the race win in their heat, and she finished second to the same woman in the final.
Nicole was a member of the team that represented Ireland at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester. At the 2024 Para Swimming European Championships in Madeira she won four medals one gold, one silver and two bronze.
She is currently a student at Technical University Dublin (TUD).
Nicole was the flagbearer for Team Ireland at the Rio Paralympics closing ceremony. Paris will be her third Paralympic Games. Following her brilliant performances in 2019, Nicole was nominated for both the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 Sportsperson of the Year and was also named in the Young Sportspersons category.
Dearbhaile Brady
Dearbhaile will make her Paralympic debut in Paris this summer. Her first major appearance for Ireland was at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester. She competed at the 2024 Para Swimming European Championships in Madeira winning a bronze medal in the 50m freestyle final marking her first time on an international podium.
Róisín Ní Ríaian
Róisín announced her arrival on the world stage with a string of impressive swims at the World Para Swimming Series Italy in late 2020. She made her major championship debut at the European Championships in Madeira in May 2021 where she won a bronze medal in the S13 backstroke and also made five other finals.
The Limerick native made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo where she competed in six events and qualified for five finals.
She is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m Backstroke and also holds the World Record in the 200m backstroke, which she set in 2023.
In 2023 Róisín was nominated for an RTÉ Sports Award in both the Sportsperson of the Year and Young Sportsperson of the year categories. She also received a nomination for a HerSports Award in the Young Athlete of the Year category. At the Swim Ireland awards the same year she was named Performance Para Swimmer of the Year.
At the Para Swimming European Championships this year Roisin Ni Riain returned to Ireland with five medals: 2 gold, 3 silver and one bronze.
While competing at an elite level in swimming, Róisín is also balancing her academic pursuits, and is studying for a Degree in Science at the University of Limerick.
Richael Timothy
Richael played schoolgirl soccer for Ireland (U15 and U17) alongside current Irish captain Katie McCabe and gaelic for Roscommon until her football career was ended by an acquired brain injury. It was caused by treatment for a rare condition known as HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia) which affects veins and arteries which left her with just 30 per cent power in her left leg.
She made her Irish debut in 2017 and won her first international medal at the Manchester Para-Cycling International in December 2019, winning silver in the Scratch race. She won bronze at the 2020 World Track Championships in the non-Paralympic Scratch Race event in 2020 and in 2021 came fourth (Road Race) and fifth (Time Trial) at the World Road Championships.
Her Paralympic debut was at the Tokyo Games.
Richael has a degree in sports science from Athlone IT. She runs her own business RT Fitness in Ballymoe which offers personal training, strength and conditioning and a recovery suite.
Kerrie Leonard
Kerrie Leonard will make her second appearance at a Paralympic Games in Paris this summer. Kerrie took up archery seriously after meeting her coach, two-time Olympic archer Jim Conroy who is also from Meath. She first competed for Ireland in 2012, took a break and returned to the sport in 2014. She finished 9th at the World Championships in 2015 and won silver at the 2016 European Championships when she came very close to qualifying for the Rio Paralympic Games. With no European Championships possible for Tokyo it was amalgamated into a Paralympic Qualifier. At this competition she finished 5th in the World qualifier and 6th in the European Qualifier which earner her a bipartite slot for Tokyo. She finished 9th overall at the Tokyo Games.
Kerrie has a Degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth and a masters in Marketing from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Kerrie is a wheelchair user since being paralysed from the waist down after a fall from a tractor in 1997 when she was 6. From March to October she trains outdoors at home on a tarmac driveway, but she also has a simulator that she can use to train indoors.
Kerrie is from a farming background and a safety advocate for farm safety. She studied Equine Business in Maynooth University; she then went on to complete a Marketing Masters in UCD in 2019.
Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin
An experienced member of the Ireland Para-cycling National Team, Damien Vereker represented Ireland at the 2016 Paralympic Games.
He has partnered with Mitchell McLaughlin since 2023, the pair compete in both track and road events and picked up a 9th place finish in the time trial at the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships.
Paris will be his second Paralympic Games, and Mitchell’s first.
Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen
Martin Gordon is a member of the Ireland Para-cycling National Team and first represented Ireland at the Para-cycling World Championships in 2017 and competed in the Tokyo Paralympic Games where he placed 5th in the Men’s 1km Time Trial B.
Previously riding with pilot Eamonn Byrne, Gordon is now paired with Eoin Mullen. The duo finished in 5th at the 2023 World Championships in the Men’s Tandem Sprint. This is Eoin’s first Paralympic Games.
Martin is a sprint specialist and works as a Barrister.
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