Cork para-athlete chosen to front Enable Ireland campaign
Molly Marshall of Passage West, Cork, is an Enable Ireland 'Life With No Limits' champion.
A teenage athletics phenomenon from Cork who swept the boards at her first major competition, winning three golds for her country, has been chosen to champion a new national inclusion campaign.
Para-athlete Molly Marshall, 14, from Passage West, who also set an Irish record for the 60m indoor at the Track and Field Live event, has now been selected by Enable Ireland as one of its 'Life With No Limits' campaign champions for September.
The annual campaign provides a platform for children and adults with disabilities who use Enable Ireland services to share their life experiences, to raise awareness of inclusion, and to raise funds for the charity, which is partly state-funded but which needs to raise over €2m extra to deliver its services.
Molly, who was born with cerebral palsy, attends Enable Ireland’s children’s service centre in Curraheen, and has loved sport since she was five.
Her schedule is packed with sporting activities almost daily — from 100m and 200m races, triathlons, and discus to basketball and swimming.
She developed a passion for running after completing a junior Parkrun in Cobh with her younger sister Nell, before joining Ballymore Cobh AC, where she got to try other disciplines.
“Sprinting is the best and the 100m and 200m are my favourite events,” Molly said.
In 2023 she was chosen by the Irish Wheelchair Association to represent Ireland at the AA National Junior Para Athletics Championships in Coventry — her first international competition — where she won gold in all three events for her disability classification: The Para 100m, shot put, and discus.
She competed at the meet again in 2024 in the 100m, 200m, and discus.
Molly said that being part of an athletics club is a brilliant social experience, and she has met many friends through competitions.
She is now training for the IWA Grand Prix in Waterford before returning to Coventry for the CP Games, where she will compete in the 100m, 200m, and discus.
Enable Ireland regional fundraising manager Maria Desmond said people can support its campaign by donating online at www.enableireland.ie or by phoning the Cork fundraising office on 021 4663305.
