PARALYMPICS 2008 News from the Team
Tuesday 16th September
Ireland's Jason Smyth achieved an amazing golden double tonight in the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, winning Paralympic gold for the second time this week. The visually impaired athlete won the 200m (T13) in a new world record time; 21.43sec. In the 7-a-side football Ireland lost 4-2 to the Netherlands, in the 5th/6th place play off, while Tralee's Roy Guerin finished sixth in his heat in a time of 16.59secs in the 100m (T53 Class) and Orla Barry finish fifth in the final of the discus competition (F57/58 Class).
Monday 15th September
Ireland's latest Paralympic champion; Jason Smyth who won gold in the T13 100m on Saturday, got his 200m campaign off to a flying start in the Bird's Nest this morning when he took two hundredths of a second off his world record mark to win his heat in 21.81seconds. Ireland's only other competitor today was Athens silver medalist John McCarthy in the club throw event. McCarthy was unfortunately not on form today and with a best throw of 19.53m did not make the final, finishing his Beijing campaign in eleventh place overall.
Sunday 14th September
Irish teenage swimming sensation fourteen year old Darragh Mc Donald won Paralympic silver tonight for Ireland in the 400m freestyle (S6 class) in the Water Cube in Beijing. The Wexford swimmer qualified second fastest for the final from this morning's two heats of the event, when he swam a massive PB and new Irish record of 5:13.68 to win heat one. In those morning heats of the 400m (S6) Johnny Cummings also swam for Ireland and was actually pitted in the same heat as McDonald. Cummings finished in fifth behind his Irish team mate and impressively swam a PB record in 5:50.54, shaving nearly three seconds off his previous mark. Also today the 7-a-side football team emphatically beat the home team China 4-1 in their classification match at the Olympic Green Hockey field to set up a 5th/6th place play off with Holland on Tuesday morning after the Dutch defeated Great Britain 4-2 in their classification game today. This morning Irish flag bearer Patrice Dockery was on the track in the last event of her 6th and final Paralympic Games campaign. Finishing sixth in heat two of the 200m (T53 Class) in a time of 35.38secs, Dockery bowed out of the Games for one last time as the result was not enough to progress to tomorrow's final. Dockery is one of Ireland's most distinguished and well loved Paralympians and amid scene's of emotion after the race said: "I gave it everything, I have no regrets". A former European and World championship medalist, Dubliner Dockery retires after 23 years of representing Ireland with distinction on the international stage. In the spectacular Ming's Tomb road cycling venue, the last of Ireland's bikes were in action today. Catherine Walsh with sighted pilot rider Joanna Hickey and Michael Delaney with sighted pilot rider David Peelo, both took part in the Road Race (B&VI Class). Delaney and Peelo covered the 96.8km distance in a time of 2.29.32, finishing in 16th place, fourteen minutes behind the winners Poland. Walsh and Hickey finished in ninth position overall on the women's 72.6km course, with a time of 2.03.14 bringing to an end an excellent competition for the Irish cycling team at these Games achieving numerous personal bests, Irish records and high finishes at these 2008 Games.
Saturday 13th September
Irish sprinter Jason Smyth set the Bird's Nest track on fire tonight in Beijing winning 100m (T13 Vision Impaired category) gold in a new Paralympic World record time of 10.62sec. It was two world records in one day for the twenty year old as tonight he broke the 10.81sec mark he set in qualifying this morning by almost two tenths of a second. Two or Ireland’s four bikes raced in their final event today; the men’s road race at the spectacular Ming’s Tomb Reservoir venue. Dubliner Cathal Miller, in the LC1 class, started well, maintaining a good position nicely nestled among the leading group. Half way through the third lap of the six lap circuit however, Miller’s race was brought to a premature and unwelcome end when his rear tyre blew to the extent that it damaged the rim off the wheel and a write off. Enda Smyth, (CP4 Class) was the other Irish rider in action at Ming’s Tomb. Despite a bright start the Dubliner found the conditions difficult especially with the effort in yesterday’s time trial lingering in his legs and took the decision to withdraw from the race with a lap to go. It was the final day’s racing for the two Irish crews at the sailing regatta in Qingdao. The Sonar crew led by Paul McCarthy finished eleventh in both races 10 and 11 which secured them a ninth place finish overall. Skud crew; Amy Kelehan and John Twomey finished tenth and ninth in races 9 and 10 respectively. In table tennis, the Irish pairing of Eimear Breathnach and Kathleen Reynolds were back in action today at Peking’s University in the quarter-finals of the team event against the number three in the world; France. The Irish duo took first blood with Reynolds defeating Fillou in three sets. The Irish pair however was unable to maintain the momentum, ultimately losing to the French 3-1.
Friday 12th September
The 7-a-side Irish football team drew one a piece (1-1) with rivals; Great Britain today in their final pool match of the tournament. The result was all they needed to secure third in their pool behind the Ukraine and Iran to progress to a classification match against hosts China on Sunday. At swimming in the Water Cube this morning, Down's Hannah Clarke took to the water for her only event in these Games; the 100m Breaststroke (SB5 Class). Swimming in the first heat, Clarke clocked a new personal best and Irish record of 2.06.33 taking a whopping ten seconds off her previous best to take fifth; just missing out on a place in the final by four hundredths of a second. In his final showing of these Games Clarke's team mate Stephen Campbell finished sixth in the third heat of the 100m Freestyle (S11 Class) to finish 15th overall and with two new Irish records from three events, Campbell can walk away from these Games with a smile on his face. Ireland's Archer Sean Heary, sought to continue his phenomenal run of success in the archery tournament today, facing Switzerland's Philippe Horner in the Individual Compound Open competition last eight. The Swiss competitor took an early advantage, Heary eventually losing out to Horner with a score 113-99. Ranking 20th coming to the games, Heary lay down a massive marker at these games and exceeded all performance expectations for himself. The busy cycling team moved to the road today with all four Irish bikes competing in the 24.8km time trial event at the stunning Ming Toom Reservoir venue. With the temperature rising well into the eighties, Enda Smyth was first up in the CP4 Class event finishing ninth overall in a time of 41.24.28.
Thursday 11th September
On day five archer, Sean Heary produced a wonderful performance to advance to the quarter-finals of his open compound event. Dubliner Ellen Keane was in action in the 200m Individual Medley (SM9 Class) and finished sixth setting a new Irish record time of 2.47.35. In the 400m Freestyle event (Class S11), Stephen Campbell reached the 200m mark in 2.37.99, and maintained this electric pace to clock a new Irish and personal record in 5.28.43 destroying his previous best by over six seconds. At the Paralympic sailing, Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Richard Whealey produced the best sailing result for the Irish so far with a positive performance in the Sonar (3 person keelboat) placing fifth in race six to leave them lying 11th overall with five races remaining. In the Skud 18 (2 person keelboat) class Amy Kelehan and John Twomey remain in tenth place overall after another tenth place finish in race six. In Boccia the combined BC1-BC2 Irish team suffered a 12-2 defeat to the home favourites China. In the track and field competition; Patrice Dockery clocked a time of 18.90, in the 100m (T53 Class), agonisingly missing out on a place in tomorrow evening's final while Athens Silver medalist, John McCarthy threw 9.48m in the Discus (F32/51 Class) which was good enough for a finish of ninth overall, just outside a place in the final.
Wednesday 10th September
Micheal McKillop sensationally won gold for Ireland in the 800m (T37 class) at Paralympic Games in Beijing tonight, in a new Paralympic World record time of 1:59.39, shaving a massive 2.74seconds off the existing mark, which he himself set at the World Championships in 2006. Ireland also had two other competitors in action in the Bird's Nest this evening. Wexford's Catherine Wayland took to the field in the women's discus (F51 Combined Class). Producing a seasons best of 6.13metres. Wayland finished in sixth position overall with reaction to her performance being one of delight having achieved her goal of qualifying for the final and throwing over 6metres. Duleek's Lisa Callaghan competed in the women's javelin (F37 Combined Class) and finished agonizingly ninth; one spot away from a place in the final. Ireland were back in the Fencing Hall today for the pool stages of the combined BC1/BC2 team competition, qualifying for tomorrow's quarter-finals. Drawn in the pool with Spain and Finland the Irish got off to a positive start beating Finland 7 - 3 but lost out 12 - 1 to Spain in a match where tactical placement was key. In Hong Kong, Equestrian representative Eilish Byrne took to the arena today in the Individual Freestyle Dressage Test Grade II. With a strong performance from both rider and horse, Byrne finished in eighth position overall with a score of 65.833%.
Tuesday 9th September
On a day that will be remembered at these Games for the bronze medal winning performance of Gabriel Shelly in the individual Boccia competition, Ireland's other Paralympians were not to be outdone setting new Irish records in the veldrome, and the Water Cube. At tonight's session in the infamous in front of a capacity crowd, Dublin's Ellen Keane displayed considerable composure for her tender thirteen years in her first ever Paralympics, in the final of the women's 100m Breaststroke (SB8 Class). Keane touched the wall in sixth position overall with a time of 1:29.72. Another Paralympic debutant; Tyrone's Johnny Cummings saved his best ever performance for this evening's final of the S6 100m backstroke laying down an Irish record time of 1.29.26, finishing eighth overall. Dubliner Cathal Miller was back in the velodrome today competing in the Men's 1km Time Trial (LC1) class. As was the case in the individual pursuit yesterday Miller excelled to set a new Irish record of 1:11.824, shaving over one second off his previous mark to place seventh overall. This ends Miller's tremendous track campaign as he now turn his attention to Thursday's road events. Both Irish sailing crews were on the water again in Qingdao today with reportedly light conditions. In the Sonar class, Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Richard Wheeley finished 13th, 12th & 11th in races three, four and five respectively, leaving the team lying in 10th place overall with six races left. Meanwhile, in the Skud 18 (2 person keelboat) class, Amy Kelehan and John Twomey placed 10th in races three, four and five and lie 10th overall, also with six races remaining. Tomorrow is a rest day and the crews will be back on the water on Thursday. Patrice Dockery commenced her sixth Paralympic campaign in damp conditions at the Bird's Nest Stadium finishing fifth in the second heat of her 400m (T53 Class) with a time of 1:08.95. With the first three to qualify plus two next fastest, Dockery did not progress to tomorrow's final and now looks forward to the heats of her favoured event; the 100m on Thursday. Ireland's sole Archer Sean Heary, was in action this morning on the Olympic Green Archery Field in the Men's Individual Compound Open event. Heary progressed through the ranking round and will face Arenz of Germany in the direct elimination round in the morning. Kathleen Reynolds was in action twice today in the Table tennis event at Peking University facing Korea's Hyun-Ja Choi in the first of her two pool matches. The Korean proved too strong, coming through to win 3-1. Despite a valiant performance Reynolds was defeated in five sets by Yenelis Silva of Cuba bringing to an end her individual campaign. Kathleen will pair up with fellow Dubliner Eimear Breathnach for the team event this coming Saturday.
Monday 8th September
Day two for the Irish team at the 2008 Paralympic Games saw numerous successes. First of the day came in the Laoshan Veledrome as both Irish cyclists racing set new national records in their respective events. Padraic Moran and Gay Shelly won their pools in the individual Boccia competition to advance to afternoon quarter-finals, with Gay Shelly victorious putting himself into tomorrow's semi-finals.
The success continued in the evening with a new Irish record in the Bird's Nest Stadium from Garrett Culliton in his discus event in front of a capacity crowd. The 7-a-side football team played out a thrilling encounter but unfortunately lost out 4-2 to world number two Iran in their opening pool game. Ireland's sailors in the Skud and Sonar classes also got their campaigns underway in Qingdao, as did Eilish Byrne in the dressage event in Hong Kong. Table tennis player Kathleen Reynolds saw her first action of these Games, Eimear Breathnach played her second pool game, and Offaly's Eoin Cleare contested his Shot Putt final in the Bird's Nest.
[Athletics] [Boccia] [Cycling] [Equestrian] [Football] [Sailing] [Table Tennis]
Sunday 7th September
There were mixed fortunes for the other boccia competitors, with Padraic Moran beating his opponent, Briton and World No. 2 David Smith, 9-0 in his opening match, but failing to double up, losing his second match to a Portuguese opponent.
Veteran Tom Leahy lost both his matches, while Roberta Connolly lost her opening game 5-0 but bounced back well to take her second match 43. The boccia competition continues on Monday.
In cycling, Catherine Walsh and pilot Johanna Hickey set a new Irish record while finishing seventh in the final of the 1km time-trial. The British team won the event with a new world record time. In the men's individual pursuit qualification, Enda Smyth set another new Irish record in finishing seventh, while Michael Delaney and pilot David Peelo finished thirteenth.
Afterwards Irish cycling manager Denis Toomey said: "I am over the moon with the results, two Irish records is fantastic and we are on schedule with what we planned. While I am disappointed for Michael and David I expect they will be back on form tomorrow."
In swimming, Dublin teenager Ellen Keane finished sixth in her heat, while in table tennis Eimear Breathnach lost her opening round-robin match by three games to one. Breathnach returns to the table tomorrow.
Monday marks the busiest day for the Irish team with Irish participation in the sports of athletics, boccia, cycling track, equestrian (Hong Kong), Football 7-A-Side, sailing and table tennis.
Saturday 6th September
The City of Beijing put on a show to remember this evening in the Bird's Nest to officially open the Games of the 13th Paralympiad. The Irish team led by flag bearer Patrice Dockery and Chef de Mission Jimmy Byrne marched around the stadium in the Parade of Athletes in front of the 91,000 capacity crowd.
The ceremony include several artistic elements created by the Chinese hosts and the formal parts of the opening of the Games, including the raising of the Paralympic flag, the taking of the athletes oath and the lighting of the torch.
Following the ceremony, the Irish team returned quickly to the Paralympic Village to prepare for competition. Recalling the ceremony, Darrragh McDonald stated: "Wow, absolutely amazing. Words can't describe the experience of walking into the stadium. Time to get the competition going. Tonight certainly wets the appetite."