PARALYMPICS/MICHAEL McKILLOP:Runner Michael McKillop, who has mild cerebral palsy, is going for gold again and can't wait for the enthusiastic London crowd, writes MALACHY CLERKIN
IN ANOTHER life, dealt different cards, you’d bet good money on Michael McKillop being a hurler. Based in Newtownabbey, but of Cushendall if you go back a ways, he stands 6ft 2in, in his socks, and has the sort of square shoulders you could hang washing on. Stick a hurl in his hand and feed him up a bit and he’d put you in mind of Brian Hogan, the only difference being the Dizzie Rascal-style cap he is never seen without.
Life had other plans for him though. He had a stroke while still in his mother’s womb which killed off some cells in one side of his brain. For the first two years of his life, his parents couldn’t tell that there was anything wrong with him and it was only when he fell down the stairs and was taken to hospital that his cerebral palsy was discovered.
It’s mild enough that he can live a relatively normal life and yet strong enough to remind him that sometimes his normal isn’t everyone else’s normal.
The right side of his body has neither the strength nor the staying power of the left side. When he goes to drive a car, he turns the key in the ignition with his left hand before getting into the driver’s seat.
When he’s running the fourth lap of the 1,500m, you can see his action begin to give way on his right side even as the rest of his body is surging to the line.
Yet none of that has stopped him competing for Ireland in able-bodied races, as he did when he ran cross-country at under-19 level a few years ago.
He goes to London as one of the faces of the games. This time last year, he had the distinction of being the first male athlete to break a world record in the Olympic Stadium, going under four minutes in the 1,500m for the first time and taking 15 seconds off his personal best. He will aim for gold in the both the 1,500m and the 800m over the next fortnight and nothing less than a double gold is in his thoughts.
“Able-bodied wise, I’m more of a 1,500m runner but the thing is, I’m the defending 800m champion from Beijing. So first and foremost, I’ve got to try and retain my title. That’s the first job I have to do before I can go and enjoy the games.
“I’m going in there with the attitude of, ‘Look, this is my title and nobody’s getting it off me.’
“That’s the way I’ve been looking at it for a long time now. I haven’t been beaten since 2006 and I want to keep it that way.
“But you never know what will happen. New people turn up every single year and they bring new challenges. I just have to concentrate on being the best athlete that I can and hope it all goes to plan.”
In Beijing, McKillop streaked clear of the 800m field in his category and went under two minutes for the first time, setting a new world record that day as well. He watched the London Olympics rubbing his hands at the thought of repeating his triumph in front of the kind of crowds he was seeing on TV.
Although the stadium was full four years ago as well, it didn’t feel like next week is going to feel.
“There were 91,000 people in the stadium for our finals in Beijing but even with all those people there still wasn’t what you’d call a great atmosphere.
“It felt a bit like rent-a-crowd. They basically got as many people in as possible but they were just sort of cheering the whole time so it wasn’t like they were reacting to the events or whatever. But London is going to be totally different. The place is sold out already for all the athletics finals. It’s going to be people wanting to go and watch the sport instead of being paid to or made to.”
As well as his CP, McKillop has occasional epileptic fits. He has to take medication twice a day to keep his epilepsy at bay, although he says the biggest drag about the condition is it means he can’t stay up too late at night.
At the Games though, nobody has a monopoly on brickbats or hurdles. Getting to know more about them is one of the things he’s most looking forward to.
“The Paralympics are great too for meeting people and learning more about other disabilities.
“I know a lot of people say that it’s a chance for able-bodied people to be educated but they’re not the only ones. It’s good for me, someone who has a disability, to come into contact with more and more people who have different things to deal with. I’m still learning about disability just like everybody else. I’m still being educated on disabilities that I’ve never even heard of.”
