KEANE STRIKES GOLD
After 13 years of hard work and 4 Paralympic Games, it was a special day for Ellen Keane as she saw off the challenge of New Zealand Paralympic legend, Sophie Pascoe to win the Paralympic Gold medal for Ireland.
Ellen had set a new personal best time in the heats in the morning but she smashed through that mark again as she clocked a time of 1:19:93 on her way to the top step of the podium.
As it had been in the morning session it was to become a head to head between Ellen and Pascoe, with the Kiwi leading the way at the turn. However, Keane dug deep over the last 50 metres and took the lead holding off a final surge to touch the wall four-hundredths of a second ahead of the rival.
“Do you know I’m actually a bit in disbelief cos my goggles filled up with water so I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know where Sophie was or the other girls beside me, to me it was just sticking to the game plan that me and my coach had, just being long and strong and that’s what I focussed on throughout the race and I just kinda gave it my all the last 25 and to see number one, it wasn’t even the number one that I was most excited about, it was more the time.”
NÍ RÍAIN MAKES THIRD FINAL IN THREE DAYS
Limerick’s rising swimming star, Róisín Ní Riain, has made it to her third final in three days clocking a personal best of 4:45.14 in the early hours of this morning in the heats for the S13 400 Metres Freestyle.
She has now set four PB’s in five visits to the pool at the age of 16.
Her final will be live on RTÉ TV at 11:43 this morning.
EQUESTRIAN ACTION
Equestrians Tamsin Addison and Rosemary Gaffney both made their Paralympic debuts and finished 12th and 15th respectively in Grade V and IV dressage. Tamsin and her horse Fahrenheit scored 66.452% in the Grade V individual test which was won by Belgium’s defending champion Michele George with a score of 76.524.
She admitted she would have liked a higher score and will be pushing herself and her equine partner even harder in the Team Test on Saturday.
“I should have put a bit more power in him, especially in the middle, but we didn’t make any mistakes and it’s a very fine line at this level. You want it all on the night, for that six minutes that you’ve been training for, for so many years. It’s easy to over-ride and that’s something I’ve been guilty of in the past so I was pleased we had a clean test today.”
Rosemary and her mare Werona scored 65:390 in Grade IV which was won by the defending Grade III champion in Rio, Sanne Voets (Netherlands) with a score of 76.585.
The 62-year-old from Clonmel was particularly delighted to finally compete at the highest level after coming so close before and she and her horse were accompanied, in the role of official ‘caller’, by groom Shannon Acheson, one of Rosemary’s students at Kildalton Equine College in Kilkenny where she is the director.
Rosemary said:
“It has been a dream of mine, ever since I had my first accident in 2007, to get to the Paralympics. I’ve been reserve for the last two and this time I made it so I’m thrilled. I’m a late developer! I went into the arena as a nobody and came out a Paralympian. I’m on Cloud Nine.
“Obviously I’d like a little higher mark but we’ll reflect on that tomorrow. For today I couldn’t have asked her to be any better. She’s quite a hot mare but she behaved herself so well and never put a foot wrong.”
GRIMES JUST MISSES OUT
Para Cyclist Ronan Grimes just missed out on Ireland’s second medal when pipped by one second at the end of his C4 4000 Metre Individual Pursuit earlier this morning. He set a Personal Best but just missed out in the velodrome. he did get the Manga treatment though from the Irish Embassy in Tokyo on their social media channels.
Richael Timothy also exited the indoor arena after an impressive run of performances.
“I came to the track to get PB’s and I did that. I can focus on the road now. I’m ready for the road.”
JUDGE BOWS OUT LEONARDS BOW IS TRUE
Colin Judge lost out in his Round of 16 matches this morning in Table Tennis.
Kerrie Leonard shot a season-best of 657 to finish 18th in the ranking round of the Women’s Individual Compound Open, which decides the seeding for the head-to-head rounds.
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Team Ireland Results Day 3
S13 100m Backstroke Final, Róisín Ní Riain, 1:08.61 (PB)
SB8 100m Breaststroke Final, Ellen Keane, 1:19.93 Gold Medal (PB)
Grade IV Individual Test, Rosemary Gaffney 65.390%
Grade V Individual Test, Tamsin Addison 66.452%
WATCHING OUT THIS MORNING FOR…
Grade 1, Individual Test, Final, Michael Murphy, 08:00 am
Grade 3, Individual Test, Final, Kate Kerr Horan, 11:22 am
S13 $00 Metre Freestyle Róisin Ní Riain 11:43 am
T13 1500m Heat, Greta Streimikyte, 14:00 pm
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