Paralympics 2024

Paralympics Day 1: Irish in action and best of the rest as swimmers and cyclists take centre stage

Team Ireland features cyclists (10), swimmers (six), athletes (five), triathletes (five), equestrians (four), rowers (two), archers (one), powerlifters (one) and table tennis players (one)

Team Ireland: Barry McClements, Róisín Ní Ríain, Ellen Keane and Deaten Registe; Nicole Turner (left) and Dearbhaile Brady. Photograph: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Mary Hannigan's picture
Mary Hannigan
Thu Aug 29 2024 - 06:00
Irish in Action

9.43am: Dearbhaile Brady and Nicole Turner (Swimming – S6 50m freestyle, heat two)

10:11am: Róisín Ní Riain (Swimming – S13 100m butterfly, heat two)

From 11.55am: Richael Timothy (Cycling – C1-3 3000m individual pursuit, qualifying)

From 12.00: Kerrie Leonard (Archery – W2 individual compound open, ranking round)

READ MORE

From 12:41: Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen (Cycling – B4 4,000m individual pursuit qualifying)

From 12:41: Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin (Cycling – B4 4,000m individual pursuit qualifying)

15:24: Cycling – Women’s C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit bronze medal race

15:41: Cycling – Women’s C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit gold medal race

15:59: Men’s B4 4,000m individual pursuit bronze medal race

16:13: Cycling – Men’s B4 4,000m individual pursuit gold medal race

18:19: Swimming – S6 50m freestyle final

19.15: Swimming – S13 100m butterfly final

Team Ireland

Ireland has sent a 35-strong team to France and its members will feature in cycling (10), swimming (six), athletics (five), triathlon (five), equestrian (four), rowing (two), archery (one), powerlifting (one) and table tennis (one). Among that group are four cycling pilots and two triathlon guides.

Nine of the team are in action on day one, so they didn’t get much chance to do touristy things in Paris before getting down to business. And there are medals up for grabs in four of their events, two each in swimming and cycling, so there’s no time either to ease themselves in to the Games.

First up on Thursday are heats for three of our swimmers, Nicole Turner and Dearbhaile Brady in the S6 50m freestyle (they’re in the same heat) and Róisín Ní Riain in the S13 100m butterfly — if they make it through, they’ll be back in the pool this evening for their finals.

At midday, Meath’s Kerrie Leonard, Ireland’s sole para archer, will begin her second Paralympics campaign having finished ninth overall in Tokyo.

The rest of the day’s Irish competitors are all cyclists, Richael Timothy out first at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome for her qualifying round in the C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit. The two fastest cyclists out of the 10 competitors will go through to this afternoon’s final, while the third and fourth quickest will go into the bronze medal race.

Next, we have two pairings in the B4 4,000m individual pursuit, Damien Vereker and his pilot Mitchell McLaughlin and Martin Gordon, piloted by Eoin Mullen. It’s the same format here, the two fastest pairs go into the gold medal race this afternoon, with the next two quickest battling it out for bronze.

Hopefully, we’ll have more than a little interest in two of this evening’s swimming finals. Turner, a silver medallist in Tokyo in the 50m butterfly, was a joint gold medallist in the 50m freestyle in April’s European Championships, with Brady, who is just 17, taking bronze. And Ní Riain has already had a stellar 2024, winning two golds, two silvers and a bronze at those Europeans, including silver in today’s event, the 100m butterfly.

Worth a watch
India's Devi Sheetal (left) and Kumar Rakesh compete in the mixed team compound, open gold medal archery match during the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province. Photograph: Getty Images

If you tuned in to the wheelchair rugby in Tokyo, you’ll understand why the sport was once called Murderball — let’s just say, it can be a touch on the ferocious side. While the rules forbid physical contact between players, their wheelchairs are indeed allowed collide, necessitating the courtside presence of welders who are regularly tasked with repairing the wreckage.

Britain beat the United States to take gold in Tokyo and they start their campaign against Australia at 10.30 on Thursday morning. It should be, eh, lively.

Come midday, archery’s individual compound event gets under way, and among our own Kerrie Leonard’s rivals will be the remarkable Sheetal Devi from India. The 17-year-old, who is ranked first in the world, was born without arms, so uses her foot to hold the bow and her shoulder to fire the arrow. It’s a sight like no other.