Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
IPC code	IRL
NPC	Paralympics Ireland
Website	www.paralympics.ie
in London
Competitors	49 in 10 sports
Flag bearers	Cathal Miller (opening) [1] Gabriel Shelly (closing) [2]
Medals Ranked 19th	Gold 8 Silver 3 Bronze 5 Total 16
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Ireland competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom from August 29 to September 9, 2012. ^[3] There are 49 participants representing Ireland at the games, competing across ten sports.

These were the best Paralympics for Ireland since 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea winning 13 gold, 11 silver, and 18 bronze. For its efforts the Team was presented with a People of the Year Award in September 2012. ^[4]

Medallists

Medal Name Sport Event Date  Gold Bethany Firth Swimming Women's 100 metre backstroke S14 31 August  Gold Darragh McDonald Swimming Men's 400 metre freestyle S6 1 September  Gold Jason Smyth Athletics Men's 100 metres T13 1 September  Gold Michael McKillop Athletics Men's 800 metres T37 1 September  Gold Michael McKillop Athletics Men's 1500 metres T37 3 September  Gold Mark Rohan Cycling Men's road time trial H1 5 September  Gold Mark Rohan Cycling Men's road race H1 7 September  Gold Jason Smyth Athletics Men's 200 metres T13 7 September  Silver Catherine Walsh Francine Meehan (pilot) Cycling Women's Ind B Pursuit 2 September  Silver Helen Kearney on Mister Cool Equestrian Ind. Championship Test - Grade Ia 2 September  Silver Catherine O'Neil Athletics Women's discus F51/52 7 September  Bronze Team Ireland Equestrian Mixed Team Championship 2 September  Bronze Helen Kearney on Mister Cool Equestrian Individual freestyle test grade Ia 4 September  Bronze Orla Barry Athletics Women's Discus Throw F57/58 4 September  Bronze James Brown Damien Shaw (pilot) Cycling Men's road time trial B 5 September  Bronze Catherine Walsh Francine Meehan (pilot) Cycling Women's road time trial B 5 September

Medals by sport Sport Total Athletics 4 1 1 6 Cycling 2 1 2 5 Equestrian 0 1 2 3 Swimming 2 0 0 2 Total 8 3 5 16

Key Moments

On 1 September, Paralympics Ireland celebrated one of their most successful days at any Paralympic Games by earning three gold medals. ^[5] Of these gold medals, two were world record breaking performances. Jason Smyth retained his Men's 100 metres T13 title, by breaking his own world record with a time of 10.46 seconds, making him the fastest Paralympian in the world over 100 metres. ^[6] The same day, Michael McKillop set a new world best of 1.57.22 in the Men's 800 metres T32 race, also retaining his win in Beijing. ^[7]
On 2 September, Catherine Walsh accompanied by pilot Francine Meehan , won Paralympics Ireland's first ever cycling medal of any colour at the Paralympic Games. ^[8]

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Boccia

Main article: Boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Individual events

Athlete	Event	Seeding matches	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Roberta Connolly	Mixed individual BC2	Bye	Mezik  (SVK) L 2-5	did not advance
Tom Leahy		Bye	Valente  (POR) L 1-6	did not advance
Johnny Cronin	Mixed individual BC3	Taha  (SIN) W 6-4	—	Taha  (SIN) L 1-7	did not advance

Pairs and team events

Athlete	Event	Pool matches			Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Roberta Connolly Tom Leahy Padraic Moran Gabriel Shelly	Team BC1-2	South Korea  (KOR) L 3-14	Brazil  (BRA) L 2-11	3	did not advance

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Equestrian

Main article: Equestrian at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Individual

Athlete	Horse	Event	Total
			Score	Rank
Eilish Byrne	Youri	Ind. champ. test grade II	73.429	5
		Ind. freestyle test grade II	75.250	4
James Dwyer	Orlando	Ind. champ. test grade IV	68.516	6
		Ind. freestyle test grade IV	74.400	6
Helen Kearney	Mister Cool	Ind. champ. test grade Ia	76.700
		Ind. freestyle test grade Ia	78.450
Geraldine Savage	Blues Tip Top Too	Ind. champ. test grade Ia	68.800	7
		Ind. freestyle test grade Ia	72.300	5

Team

Athlete	Horse	Event	Individual Score			Total
			TT	CT	Total	Score	Rank
Eilish Byrne	See above	Team	67.714	73.429	141.143*	428.313
James Dwyer			69.719	68.516	138.235*
Helen Kearney			72.235	76.700	148.935*
Geraldine Savage			68.000	68.800	136.800

* Indicates that score counts in team total

Powerlifting

Main article: Powerlifting at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Result	Rank
Roy Guerin	-67.5kg	131.0	10

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Athlete(s)	Event	Heats		Repechage		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Helen Arbuthnot (cox) Sarah Caffrey Anne-Marie McDaid Kevin du Toit Shane Ryan	Mixed coxed four	3:33.95	5 R	3:34.85	4 FB	3:36.72	4

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); R=Repechage

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11*
Anthony Hegarty Ian Costelloe John Twomey	Sonar - 3 person keelboat	11	7	7	10	9	10	2	(13)	10	10	—	76	11

* Due to a lack of wind Race 11 was cancelled

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Score	Rank	Score	Rank
Sean Baldwin	Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1	1112	17	did not advance
	Men's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1	553	29	did not advance
	Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1	585	18	did not advance
	Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1	589	43	did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Table Tennis

Main article: Table tennis at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

See also

• Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom

References

1. Paralympic site
2. "Shelly given flag honour". Herald. Retrieved September 9, 2012. ^[ dead link ],
3. "Ireland - 2012 Paralympic News, Athletes, Medals". LOCOG. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
4. "Heroes at national and community levels honoured in emotional ceremony". The Irish Times. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
5. "Michael McKillop makes it three gold medals for Ireland". RTÉ News. 1 September 2012.
6. "Smyth and McKillop celebrate gold". BBC Sport.
7. "Smyth and McKillop celebrate gold". BBC Sport.
8. "Paralympics: Silver Lining for Cycling as Ireland Win Paralympic Medal". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-09-03.

External links

• Complete List of Irish Athletes at London 2012