World record and silver for Barry

Orla Barry increased Ireland’s medal tally at the IPC World Championships to five when shesecured silver in the F57/58 women’s discus on the penultimate day of action in Lyon.

Barry’s final throw of 31.08m was a world record in the F57 classification, earning her 1002 points, but insufficient to reel in Algeria’s Nassima Saifi who scored 1031 points, breaking the world record in the F58 classification when registering 42.05m.

The Ladysbridge native eased into the final series with three attempts over the 30m mark, but Saifi’s world record throw set a difficult target for the 22-year-old to overhaul.

Barry, to her credit, responded with a lifetime best throw to secure a spot on the podium, improving on the bronze medal she picked up in London last year.

“I did what I came to do,” she said. “I broke the world record and I’m delighted to be going home with a silver medal.

Head of Paralympic Athletics James Nolan added: “Orla’s performances all year have been very consistent and regularly over 30m. She has now produced a 31m-plus throw and the world record at the major championships, which is three metres further than her throw last year to win bronze at the Paralympic Games.”

For Nolan, the championships have been hugely successful following an unforgettable Paralympic Games in London last year and believes the association must now use the momentum from these games and build on it.

“It is obvious London 2012 had a huge impact on Paralympic sport” remarked Nolan. “Participation is up, elite performances are up, exposure is up. When you see so many different classes running 10 seconds for 100m, it is clear this is high performance.

“Ireland, as a Paralympic team, are moving with the development, maintaining the current elite group and focusing on the identification and recruitment of new athletes. This has been a very successful IPC World Championships for Ireland.”