Gold, Silver and Bronze as well as slips and sadness on an electric day for Team Ireland…
CYCLING GOLD FOR MCCRYSTAL AND DUNLEAVY
Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal turned the tables on their weekend conquerors Laura Fachie and Corrine Hall to secure Ireland’s third Gold Medal in Tokyo.
They put in a time of 47:32.07 to win the Women’s B Time Trial and have now matched their medal haul from Rio with the Road Race still to go.
We will have more reactions from their win through the morning.
TURNER KEEPS THE MEDALS FLOWING
It was a brilliant day for Irish Paralympic Swimmer, Nicole Turner, who delivered on the rich promise that she had shown in Rio by winning a silver medal in thrilling fashion at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre yesterday morning.
The Laois swimmer, who elected not to sit her Leaving Cert in 2020 and again this year as a result of Covid so she could pursue her Paralympic dream, showed great determination and experience to hold off a late challenge and clinch her silver medal in the final metre of her favoured S6 50m Butterfly event.
Turner entered the final having swum an impressive heat which saw her enter the decider as the second-fastest swimmer and that form was maintained for the final in which she set a new Personal Best time.
“I thought I’d be in a fight for bronze here so to get silver, I’m just in shock!” she said after the race. In those last few strokes all I was thinking was that it hurt badly but just keep going.”
O’REILLY SECURES BRONZE IN HAND CYCLING
In Sweltering heat and drenching humidity Gary O’Reilly secured a bronze for Ireland in the men’s H5 time trial at the Fuji International Speedway.
The hand-cyclist crowned a great day for Portlaoise by setting a time of 39:36.46 to take third place around the famous motor racing circuit in the rolling foothills below Mount Fuji.
Dutch rider Mitch Valize took the win with 38:12.94.
“I’m completely shocked, to be honest – didn’t expect to get the medal. I’m just absolutely delighted,” he said.
“I am so happy to have done it for everyone at home – I did for them. All my family, my wife Hazel, are up watching it, I’m sure they’re as happy as I am.”
“There are really difficult conditions here, push through our (heart and power) zones and then recover on the downhill.”
“The climate might have caught people out, it is very humid and hot. It was all about a real pacing strategy race today – so that you don’t burn up too quickly,” he added.
“As my friends all know, I don’t get to spend as much time with them – like when they’re going out for a pint.”
“You don’t get to go out so you spend a lot of time in the room at home alone on a turbo trainer for four or five hours on a turbo trainer. It is all worth it on a day like today.”
O’Reilly will line out in the road race tomorrow morning.
SLIP COSTS TIMOTHY
Richael Timothy had been the first of the Irish to experience competing on the Fuji International Speedway. The first time Paralympian competed in the C3 Time Trial but she found the circuit to be a gruelling opponent. She battled gamely throughout and recorded a time of 30:55.24 to finish in 14th place overall.
After the race she said “It was really hard, to be honest. Just I found it so tough, not even the hilly parts but the technical parts. For me, my right side is so much weaker, so when I’m going I kind of, not panicked, but I went to use my right hand the way I used to use it to and it caused a bit of a slip.”
“I had to slow down a bit in the bends, just be cautious going into them to keep upright. It is the hardest TT I have ever done. I pushed so hard today, and that’s what I wanted to do – just leave it all out there – I feel like I did that.”
“That was the hardest race I’ve done – I looked down at one point and my heart rate was 200 – I went as hard as I could.”
COMERFORD REVEALS HEARTBREAK OF LOSING COACH
Orla Comerford was the sole member of Team Ireland to compete at the Olympic Stadium this morning as she competed in the 3rd heat of the T13 100m. It was a tough heat and she finished fourth so does not progress.
After the race though she revealed the sadness of losing her coach Brian Corcoran, a stalwart of her Raheny Shamrocks club, who passed away only two weeks ago.
“Lining up was incredibly important for me with losing my coach, Brian Corcoran, two weeks ago. I saw him the day I left and I know that he was incredibly proud of me being here and being on the plane so for me it was about lining up and being there and I think he was with me every step of the way.”
“To his family who have been so incredibly strong and so incredibly kind, I’m sure this has been an incredibly difficult time for them, it’s been a very difficult time for all of us, it was really hard being here by myself, I was lonely not being at home with the Raheny Shamrocks gang and his family and everything like that but I know that, at the end of the day, this is where he wanted me to be, he told me as much and so my goal was to be out there and, while I knew I couldn’t make him proud with the times and the performance I hoped that he would be proud of my resilience and my drive to be out there on the starting line.”
Comerford has suffered a small muscle tear on the pre-games camp in Narita and it was an achievement to reach the start line.
SWIMMERS STILL PERFORMING AS FINALS MOUNT UP
Barry McClements set his third Personal Best time in his two events this week. This time the performance came in the S9 100m Backstroke Final as the young Down man battled gamely against a world-class field to take over a second off the personal best that he had only set in this morning’s heats. Barry was more than happy with his latest excellent performance:
“I’m very happy, I got a big PB across the day and made a final, that’s what I’m here to do, get PB’s & show myself that what I’m doing is working.”
Limerick teenager Roisin Ni Riain (16) continued her brilliant run in the pool by qualifying for her fourth final from five events. She was third in her heat of the S13 SM 200m Individual Medley and finished sixth in the final with a time of 2:34.12.
“I’m quite disappointed because my PB is 2:33 but I’ve had a lot of events and a few finals so far. It’s just about putting your head down and focussing each race one at a time and I have a day off tomorrow and then the 100m Breaststroke on Wednesday.”
PB WITH BOW FOR EAGLESHAM
Philip Eaglesham opened his Tokyo 2020 campaign with a very encouraging showing in the SH2 R4 Qualifiers. Philip showed great consistency by hitting the centre ring with 58 of his 60 shots. His final tally of 626.6 points was a new PB by a margin of 3 points in an event that provided Philip with valuable competition practice ahead of his favoured events later this week.THREE MORE FINALS THIS MORNING
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