Róisín Ní Riain gained her inaugural Paralympic Games medal on Friday evening, a triumph that swiftly turned to despair less than half an hour later when five-time Paralympian Ellen Keane’s coveted third position was cruelly taken away by mere millimetres in the final water laps. Keane, the laureate of the SB8 100m breaststroke gold medal at Tokyo and on the verge of retirement after these Games, held aspirations of acquiring a third Paralympic medal before her departure.
She was painfully close to achieving this. As she strove towards victory down the home stretch and marshalled her strength one last time, her efforts proved fruitless. She was completely spent.
‘I did everything I possibly could,’ stated Keane, when her anticipated medal position in Paris remained a dream unfulfilled. Starting her Paralympic career as a thirteen-year-old in Beijing in 2008, she can find solace in the fact that as she made her last strokes at La Défense Arena in Paris, she couldn’t possibly have exerted herself more. Keane pushed herself to the extreme.
‘If I’d left the water with some energy remaining, able to walk, I think I would’ve been disgruntled with myself, but there was absolutely nothing more I could do,’ shared Keane.
Ellen Keane exerted all her energy and tried her best. ‘Of course, I would have liked to grace the podium in my final Games, but it wasn’t meant to be.
‘I attempted to persist, push through the last few metres, and extend that stroke, but my legs just didn’t have the finishing power,’ she lamented. Keane was third at the halfway point and seemed to maintain this position in the second 50s. But just as she began to tire in lane three, Viktoriia Ishchiulova, from lane one (participating as a Neutral Paralympic athlete), gradually gained strength and started to catch the Dubliner, heartrendingly beating Keane to the barrier.
Ishchiulova secured a respectable third place, clocking in at 1:24.50, closely followed by Keane who finished at 1:24.69 – a narrow margin indeed. Spain’s prodigious talent, 16-year-old world champion Anastasiya Dmytriv, took gold with a time of 1:19.75 while Britain’s Brock Whiston bagged the silver with 1:21.04.
Keane shared that she was oblivious of her position during the race, which proved to be in her favour. Being unaware of what’s transpiring around, she said, kept her from feeling intimidated or anxious. Upon finishing, she only desired for a quicker swimming time; ranking fourth but with a faster time would not have dismayed her, however, it wasn’t meant to be.
An elated Keane emerged from the pool to thunderous applause from the large Irish populace that had gathered at the La Défense Arena, recognising the significance of her feat. The 29-year-old native of Clontarf has done much to promote Para sports in Ireland. A cheered up Keane greeted her loved ones and also a small boy who had sprinted down to the stand, clutching a little Irish flag, to call out her name.
The boy, unfamiliar to her, requested a selfie. Despite admitting to being unable to walk, she obliged and approached him only to find the camera pointed in the wrong direction, a detail she amusedly recalled later.
However, the laughter failed to veil the swelling tears in her eyes. After an illustrious 16-year career, it was the moment of farewell. While she’ll return for a final swim on Tuesday, it will be different for Ellen Keane – a farewell lap for the lady who commenced as a 13-year-old and is now prepared to bid adieu after 16 years.
“I’m participating in the 100 backstroke, where I am the second-slowest entrant,” she mentioned.
She considered having another event crucial, so that her last swim could be savoured without any stress or strain of the competition, just to be in the moment.
In the aftermath, Keane did not show any signs of desolation regarding the completion of the final chapter. She still feels that the timing is appropriate for her to step down.
“When you have been successful for the last three years, clinching the gold medal, and reaching the pinnacle, it becomes challenging to maintain the motivation,” Keane added.
“In our nation, swimming is predominantly for the youth. Among us, only about half a dozen swimmers, including myself, surpass the age of 26, which includes both physically abled and Paralympic swimmers. Since I am 29, it could sometimes feel isolating.
“I have had a remarkable career. The Paralympic Games are something I adore and everything that comes with it, so my goal is to cherish my presence here. The fact that my loved ones are here to support me makes it even more extraordinary.”
At this point, she had a hard time controlling her emotions, a skill she had been working on for a few months.
” I suppressed any emotional thoughts about retirement since it would be draining me of my energy. The training camp in Portugal was a catalyst for these emotions. I will probably let myself sob soon,” she said.
Despite her potential tears, it’s undeniable Keane had an impactful career that reverberated far past the swimming pool, delivering more than just medals.
Bagging another Paralympic medal would have been an ideal ending to her story.
However, the story in itself was one spectacular journey, regardless of the conclusion.