‘Let’s keep the party going’: Irish paralympians seek medal glory

Ireland’s team of 35 para-athletes are hoping to build on the momentum of the country’s success at the Paris Olympics by getting on the podium at the Paralympics when it kicks off next week.
Team Ireland will be participating in nine sports between August 28 and September 8 — archery, athletics, cycling, equestrian, powerlifting, rowing, swimming, table tennis and the triathlon.
Para-rowing duo Katie O’Brien and Tiarnán O’Donnell will compete in the mixed double sculls event and are aiming for a medal following recent individual successes at world rowing cups. O’Donnell, who had his right leg amputated in 2018, took up rowing for the first time 12 months ago after captaining Ireland’s wheelchair basketball team.
The 26-year-old from Limerick won his first individual international medal at the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland in May. He then won a second silver in June at the World Rowing Cup III in Poznan, Poland.
“It’s getting very real now. I’m getting phone calls every day and text messages about more and more people coming — even extended family that I haven’t seen for years,” O’Donnell said from his training camp in Italy.
“We’re expecting a huge Irish crowd which is really good — it’s like a home games for us. We have huge potential coming into these Games, but we know the standard is off the charts. Every single team has gotten faster in the last year, but we’re going in there confident and the goal is to get on the podium.”
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O’Brien, 27, who is also making her Paralympics debut, won her first World Championship medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria, finishing third. She won gold at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, and set a new world record in the PR2 W1x. The Galway native, who has spina bifida, said she had been struggling with injury the past year but was hoping the pair can do “something special”.
“There’s a lovely community vibe and a team spirit building throughout the whole squad, so even just being part of that is exciting. We’re really looking forward to enjoying all of that as well as the racing,” she said.
Sarah Slattery, 34, who suffers from impaired muscle power and range of movement in her left arm and hand, will compete in the para-dressage with her horse Savona for the first time.
Slattery, who is also from Galway, said competing in the Paralympics was a dream come true. “I really only got involved in the para-dressage just about four or five years ago, so if someone even mentioned Paralympics back then I would have said that’s a pipe dream,” she said. “To be going now is absolutely insane.”
Slattery, who has been training in the Netherlands since March, said she was hoping the Irish public will get behind Team Ireland to the same extent they did during the Olympics.
“I hope people can get behind us and get behind the equestrian sport and realise that we’re competing as one, as the horses are just as much an athlete as the athlete is,” she said.
Neasa Russell, chef de mission for Paralympics Ireland, said the final preparation for Paris was going really well.
She said: “It was great to see Team Ireland at the Olympics doing so well. It’s really confidence building for us because a lot of the Olympic athletes train with the para-athletes as they have the same sports, same training venues and same competitions.
“From anyone I’ve talked to, they’re absolutely ready to keep the party going.”