The Paralympic debut of Shauna Bocquet, the Galway athlete, came to a close at the Stade de France, falling short of securing a spot in the T54 100m final by a mere 0.10 seconds. Despite finishing in fifth place in her heat with a time of 17 seconds flat, Bocquet expressed her preference for longer races admitting the 100m is not her favourite. Reflecting on her experience, she narrated how much she cherished the races, the ambience of the village and overall experience of the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Similar misfortune befell dressage contestant Sarah Slattery at Château de Versailles, missing out on a spot in the freestyle finals by a small margin. Despite achieving a commendable score of 68.410 per cent with her horse Savona and finishing ninth, Slattery professed her delight with her first Paralympic experience. In her words, the atmosphere, crowd, venue, and weather were perfect.
Meanwhile, an outstanding performance was observed in Clichy-sous-Bois where Irish athletes Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly struck gold. However, they were not the sole representatives of Team Ireland in action as Richael Timothy crossed the finish line 12th in the C1-3 individual time-trial, completing the 14.1km route in 24:32.40.
Timothy reflected on the tough, technical course, highlighted by two significant inclines, saying, “It was challenging knowing my position as I advanced past two other racers in different categories.” Meanwhile, Ronan Grimes finished eighth in the C4 individual time trial, clocking 39:01.83. He commented, “Initially, I believed I might score well, then upon crossing the finish, I felt out of sorts despite giving my all.”
Commenting on his performance, he continued, “After overtaking the competitor who started a minute ahead of me, I felt I was doing fine. Putting considerable effort into the inclines made me think I was keeping up, but maybe the others were superior.” He expressed disappointment with the placement, having good form and confidence going into the race that unfortunately didn’t manifest in the result.
In the B individual time-trial, both Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin participated, managing to secure seventh place with a recorded timing of 36.31.09.