Tokyo Paralympics: the Irish athletes breaking the boundaries
Mary FitzGerald, Irish Paralympic shot put athlete, preparing for the Toyko 2020 Paralympic Games.
After winning Gold in Rio in 2016, Dublin-based Ellen Keane became a household name.
Speaking about her passion for swimming as a sport and body confidence come naturally for this exceptional athlete as the Paralympics also coincide with another role for her — being an ambassador for Dove’s latest campaign to help liberate Irish women from any underarm inhibitions.
“First of all, as a swimmer, my arms are always up for the world to see!” Ellen says, laughing.
“But my background in speaking about disability and trying to empower people to embrace any disability is quite a taboo area that people still don't want to talk about or can be afraid to talk about. The only way to kind of help people get more confidence and feel more empowered about something that they're insecure about, is if you have people talking about it. So this campaign is such a natural fit for me.”
Her next big push in terms of confidence is naturally the upcoming Paralympics. Tokyo 2020 is her fourth games: the Pandemic was unforeseen but gave Ellen time to stop, pause and reflect on her sporting career up to now.
“With this being my fourth Games, it felt like I've been on a hamster wheel and the hamster wheel has just kept turning. And then Covid has forced me to stop and get out of the pool for 67 days or something like that. That's the longest I've ever been out of the pool since I was six. It's a very long time to be doing this, and I was reflecting, saying 'are you sure you're passionate about it? Is this what I want to do? Or is this something I've been doing because other people have told me to do it?' And that time away from the pool made me realise how much I really do love it. I’m so excited to get back into it."
We talk of misconceptions and Ellen is keen to set some points straight when it comes to the Paralympics.
“I think the biggest misconception is that if you have a disability, you can just go to the Olympics. I think people don't fully appreciate that it takes years of training. And you could be agonisingly close to a qualifying time, and if you don't get it, you don't go. I think people don't fully appreciate how much we dedicate our lives and sacrifice to go to the Paralympics. But I think they're getting better. It shouldn't be up to the athletes, but a responsibility kind of lies with us as well, because it is still a sport that's growing. And it is still something that people don't fully understand. We have access to so many social media platforms now that we can educate people, we can show people what we go through day in and day out, what are the adaptations that we have to make, what our training sessions are like, and how hard we push ourselves.
And the more athletes that do that, the more people are going to understand.
“You kind of have a responsibility to help grow the sport itself and to inspire the future generations, because if people can't see how are they going to know that it's an option for them? How are they going to dream up something that they don't even know exists? Because I love my arm, I wouldn't be where I am today, if it wasn't for my arm. And I didn’t always feel that way about it — but it’s why I’m such a confident person now, because I’ve changed and grown with every Paralympic Games.”
Pat O’Leary became the first athlete to represent Ireland in canoeing at the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016. He recently won gold at European Championships and is readying for his second Games.
He says he was sporty long before he acquired his disability: “I took up canoeing in secondary school and I saw I was a canoeist quite early on. I used to be a gymnast originally, and then I was involved in throws in athletics, or discus, Javelin. And then I had a problem with my knee, I had cancer and I needed it replaced when I did my Leaving Cert. I kind of transitioned at that point, I couldn't do high-impact sports on my knees so I transitioned to canoeing.”
Another replacement of the knee and several infections meant that in 2011, the decision was made to amputate and, as Pat says: “I didn’t need the knee to get back into the boat."
Then in 2012, it was announced that canoeing would be part of the program for the Paralympics for the first time. “So it was at that stage that I started taking it seriously and saying, ‘okay, I'm not just doing this to stay fit, I can actually be competitive'. And that's how the journey started. Canoeing has been a part of my life for more than 30 years at this point.”
“I always tend towards trying to be competitive in whatever I was doing, you know, whether it was local, national or international, even before I lost my knee. And I went to the first canoeing event, European Championships in 2013. And I made the final. So with that success, then you kind of say, 'Okay, if I can do that on the back of just a year of training, without a huge amount of focus, what can I do with more support?' So it's been a gradual process to get to this point.” “I came away from Rio saying that was the best race I've ever done — and I’d love to say the same with Tokyo. But everybody has been away from competition for so long, so there will be surprises because some people will have adapted better to preparing without the same level of competition that they've had in previous years.
He rails against commentary that says he’s doing anything inspirational, and just wants the sport to be the focus: “To be called an inspiration for what I’m doing, while great if some think that, misrepresents what I'm doing. All I'm doing is being an athlete in sport at the end of the day.”
Standing at just over four feet tall, this elite athlete has never allowed her short stature to stop her doing anything. Driven and determined, she has quickly risen up the ranks in the Shot Put sport and is absolutely one to watch. She made her debut at the 2019 World Championships, won bronze at the Europeans in June, and the Games will be only her second major Para competition — yet she speaks with ease of the challenges and excitement ahead, very much the seasoned pro already at just 21-years-old.
She was introduced to Para-Athletics in 2010 — her main events are Javelin, Discus and Shot Put — at an Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) Open Day and has not looked back since.
“Growing up from a very young age, I was always very sporty and quite driven, but I didn't know Parasport existed at all and it opened an amazing new world to me, the fact that I could compete on a level playing field — from that point of view, it was just fabulous.”
After training and competing nationally and internationally, a milestone was hit when she made the Paralympic Squad in 2019: “That was massive for me, just to reach that stage. It was all those years of hard work paying off, great for myself and my coach John McCarthy, who I’ve been working with since 2018."
Looking ahead to the Games, Mary adds she’s as ready as she’ll ever be. “I’m feeling good physically, mentally and I feel compared to this time last year, I am not only a mature athlete, but a more mature person. And I'm really grateful to have had this year to grow overall and work on everything, right down to technical improvements, especially as I’m still quite early on in terms of my Paralympic career.”
She emphasises that the Paralympics are amazing when it comes to breaking boundaries for those with disabilities in sport. “Others might see disability as a reason that you can't achieve or that you can’t succeed. But in discovering the world of Paralympic Sport, it really focuses on what you can do. We are athletes competing at the highest level, and we can still achieve the same thing as non-Paralympians, we're just going to take a slightly different route to get there.”
It is no small feat to be known as one of the finest Paralympic Discus throwers in the world: Cork native, Niamh McCarthy, emerged onto the International scene in 2013 and progressed quickly on the world stage.
Among her impressive achievements, she secured her first major medal at the World Championships in Doha with a Bronze medal, won silver in Rio, and most recently, won gold at the European Championships in Poland.
She explained she wasn’t particularly sporty growing up and as a person of reduced stature, she was asked, quite randomly one day, if she would consider participating in disability sport.
“I wasn’t hugely aware of the Paralympics even then,” she says, adding she was invited to go along to a talent search in Dublin for the Paralympics prior to the 2012 Games and it all happened from there “in a whirlwind".
“The Paralympics are not completely different to the Olympic Games, but at the same time, they are on their own for a reason,” she continues. “It’s a different ballgame, just based on history or classification. But you have to work just as hard. I’d get some comparing it to the Special Olympics, which is incorrect, or others who say, ‘Oh, do you train once or twice a week for that?’ and I’d say, no! A bit more than a couple of times a week — this isn’t a hobby. With every decision I make, the first thing I have to see is how the sport affects it. My life revolves around the sport right now.”
Competition will be tougher this year, says Niamh, and while she’s not exactly nervous about competing, she’s aware that everyone has upped their game and with Covid, there’s a lot of unknowns.
“I’m excited but, realistically, there’s been a lot of sacrifice. My life plan, everything had to change, even down to a social life, I probably haven’t done a lot of things people my age have done. But when I first got involved, I saw an opportunity that few are awarded, even though I really didn't know what I was getting into at the beginning. So I just thought I'd give it a go because I've always been keen to take on challenges. And whatever happens, on good or bad days, I learn from it and move forward.”
At just 17-years-old, these Paralympics will be her first Games and only Róisín’s second major competition, following her Bronze Medal win at the European Championships in May.
“I started swimming at a very young age, I’d say I was four. And I was just really learning how to swim. Then I got to really love it, but it was only in the last couple of years I realised the effect my eyesight and vision had on my swimming.”
She has Coloboma, which affects her eyesight and visual field: “The best way to describe it would be that I see little to nothing on either side of me so in terms of swimming in a race it would make turns quite difficult and spotting the wall and so on.”
“So, two or three years ago, I looked into Parasports,” she explains.
She may be young, but Róisín is an incredibly exciting athlete to watch in Tokyo and beyond and doesn’t let her impaired vision hold her back. She also says training with the other athletes without a vision impairment drives her onwards. “I'm different you know, you see the difference in the turns and when we’d come out and I'd be behind them and so on. But I think overall it is really helpful to train with them as they really push me.”
“I'm really looking forward to the experience,” she continues. “The first game is going to be really exciting. Getting into the race, I just want to go there, do my best and hopefully make finals.”
She says that 'the nerves' are always in the background, but they do help on the days when it’s harder to feel motivated. Well, I think I've been quite lucky this year. I'm in TY (Transition Year) this year, and I've been able to focus mostly on swimming and I've been able to train mostly throughout most of the lockdowns. So that's been really good. I think motivation isn't always going to be there, but that comes down to discipline and knowing what you have to do.” Misconceptions can go hand-in-hand with the Paralympics but Róisín is keen to dismantle a key one: “I think one of the misconceptions people might have is that, Para Athletes don't have the same level of commitment, or they don't train as hard. But we are as committed and driven as anybody and it’s important people know that.”
Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal have been amongst the most successful Para Athletes ever to have represented Ireland. They are each others’ yin and yang; Katie George Dunlevy is based in Crawley, West Sussex and has a background in rowing, while Eve McCrystal is one of Ireland’s best cyclists having won multiple individual titles. Katie has the visual impairment, while Eve is the 'pilot'. They had a hugely successful Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, claiming Gold and Silver medals — and are naturally hoping for more of the same this year.
Katie pivoted from rowing to Tandem Cycling and hasn’t looked back since, explaining that cycling really is all about teamwork. “The back rider would be called a Striker and they are partially-sighted or blind. And the front rider is called the Pilot and they are fully able-bodied — they're the eyes of the bike, they steer, they control the gears, and they break. And it's really a team sport. So you're in unison, you're pushing your power individually to move the bike together,” she explains. “Tandem Cycling is thrilling, exciting and it's incredibly fast, but you obviously need the right partner.” That came in the form of Eve in 2014.
“As soon as she got on the bike, I just knew there was something special there and it was really the start of our journey to Rio and Tokyo,” she continued.
“We're very, very similar when it comes to being athletes, we're very driven, competitive. I love training. And I love racing and I love our partnership. It's fantastic.”
“We tried a tandem bike when we met in Swords in 2014,” Eve, who is one of Ireland’s best cyclists, says. “And I looked at it and said, ‘what the hell do I do on this?’ but I didn't really think too much about it. And that is honestly what happened. I got on the bike, Katie is on the back.
There's 150 roundabouts in Swords and I had to navigate them — and I did.” This is their second Paralympics together, and both agree, it’s a different ballgame entirely. “It's a very different place; different mindsets for two completely different athletes,” Eve adds. “We don’t know what people expect, but we expect ourselves to do the best we can and to show what we can do as athletes. If that turns into a medal, that's fantastic.”
Katie says she feels there’s more awareness of the Paralympics now: “I think any misconception could be due to the fact that the Paralympics didn’t start as early as the Olympics. But as time goes on, we are elite athletes, and a lot of us are full-time athletes now, where maybe eight years ago, they were part-time. We’re noticing countries putting more money into the sport as well.” “You really need the media to get behind you,” adds Eve. “And, you know, drive it on. But we're not there yet, we’re getting there, but not yet. It’s not about us, it’s about maybe a blind girl who can realise that this is possible for them too.”
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