Orla Comerford

Orla Comerford

Comerford at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Personal information
Born	(1997-09-14) 14 September 1997 (age 27) Dublin, Ireland
Sport
Country	Ireland
Sport	Paralympic athletics
Disability	Stargardt's disease
Disability class	T13
Event(s)	100 metres 200 metres
Club	Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club
Medal record Paralympic athletics Representing   Ireland Paralympic Games 2024 Paris 100m T13 European Athletics Indoor Championships 2025 Apeldoorn 60m Mixed Classification European Championships 2018 Berlin 100m T13 2018 Berlin 200m T13

Orla Comerford (born 14 September 1997) is an Irish Paralympic athlete who competes in sprinting events at the international level. ^{[1] [2] [3]} She has Stargardt's disease, which is an inherited retinal disease. Its main symptom is loss of visual acuity, uncorrectable with glasses. ^{[4] [5]}

Comerford won a bronze medal in the 100 metres sprint in the T13 classification at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. ^[6]

Career

2016 Paralympics

At the age of 19, Comerford competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, running in the T13 100m. She finished 8th, qualifying for the final.^{[ citation needed ]}

2018

At the 2018 European Para Championships in Berlin, she won two bronze medals, in the 200m and 100m events.^{[ citation needed ]}

2020 Paralympics

Comerford finished 13th at the delayed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.^{[ citation needed ]}

2023

Comerford finished 4th at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.^{[ citation needed ]}

2024 Paralympics

Comerford won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris (the race was won in a World Record time by Lamiya Valiyeva of Azerbaijan) ^[7]

2025

She won the 60m Mixed Classification race at the 2025 European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn.^{[ citation needed ]}

She set a new 200m personal best of 24.61 at the 2025 Para athletics Paris Grand Prix, a week later she won the at the Bislett Games in Oslo at the Oslo Diamond League posting a new personal best of 11.87.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Orla Comerford - IPC Athlete Bio". ipc.infostradasports.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.^{[ dead link ]}
2. "Orla Comerford - Paralympics Ireland". Paralympics Ireland. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
3. "From Leaving Cert points to Paralympics: teen sprint sensation living the athletics dream". the42.ie. 3 September 2016. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
4. "Orla Comerford". Paralympics. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
5. Sahel, José-Alain; Marazova, Katia; Audo, Isabelle (February 2015). "Clinical Characteristics and Current Therapies for Inherited Retinal Degenerations". Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 5 (2): a017111. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a017111. ISSN   2157-1422. PMC   4315917 . PMID   25324231.
6. The 42 (3 September 2024). "Orla Comerford wins T13 100m bronze, Ireland's second Paralympic medal in five minutes". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
7. rorycassidy (3 September 2024). "ORLA COMERFORD WINS T13 100M BRONZE AT PARALYMPIC GAMES". Athletics Ireland. Retrieved 8 July 2025.

External links

• Orla Comerford at the International Paralympic Committee
• Orla Comerford at Paralympics Ireland