McKillop wins gold for Ireland at Paralympic Games

Irish teenager Micheal McKillop won gold in the 800m (T37 class) at Paralympic Games in Beijing today in a new Paralympic World record time of 1:59.39.

He shaved a full 2.74seconds off the existing mark which he himself set at the World Championships in 2006.

The Antrim athlete, who is coached by his father Paddy, ran a stunning race to leave the field for dead at 200metres, and take the title in his first Paralympic Games in front of a capacity crowd in the Bird's Nest Stadium.

One of Ireland’s most successful Paralympians and Sydney gold medallist Dave Malone brought the curtain down on his spectacular swimming career in the Water Cube this morning.

Swimming in the second heat of S8 100m backstroke, Malone clocked a time of 1:16.80 to finish in fifth; 10th overall, which was not enough to book a place in the final of the event.

He confirmed his retirement after the event.

"I was always going to retire after this meet," he said. "It’s my fourth Paralympic Games, and in my head I always wanted to go out at the highest level, and I mean it doesn’t get any bigger than this!"

Elsewhere on the morning of day four, archer Sean Heary took to the field against Germany’s Michael Arenz in the elimination stages of the Men’s Individual Compound competition at the Olympic Green Archery Field.

Despite the sweltering conditions, Heary maintained his composure to defeat Arenz with a score of 108 - 104 to progress to the next round.

Heary will now meet Sung-Kil Go of Korea in the last 16 stage tomorrow morning.

On the last day of track competition for the Irish cyclists at the Laoshan Velodrome, Michael Delaney and sighted pilot rider David Peelo finished fifth in the men’s sprint event over 200m (B&VI Class).

The Irish riders defeated their Canadian rivals in a thrilling 5 th/6th place race off. The duo was delighted with their performance having set a new Irish record with a time of 11.460 seconds in the qualification stages this morning.

In the football, seven-a-side competition, Ireland faced Paralympic and World champions, Ukraine, in the second match of the pool stages.

With temperatures soaring in the mid-morning heat under the glare of the Beijing sun, the Irish team found the pace of play difficult, losing out to the reigning champions by a 7–0 score line.