SYDNEY 2000 - IRISH PARALYMPIC TEAM ATHLETICS Bridie Lynch Catherine Walsh Patrice Dockery Tom Leahy Michael Clarke Micheal Delaney Sean O’Grady John Ahern Derek Malone Lisa Callaghan Garrett Culliton Michael Smith Mary Rice Sharon Rice John Fulham Colette O’Reilly Catherine O’Neill BOCCIA Keith Hayes Gabriel Shelly John Cronin Margaret Grant Roberta Connolly Martina Murphy EQUESTRIAN Joan Salmon Breda Bernie JUDO Tim Culhane Michael Doyle Tony White SAILING John Twomey Paul McCarthy Sean McGrath John Sullivan SWIMMING Mairead Berry Gerry Dunne David Malone TABLE TENNIS Michael Cunningham Ronan Rooney Robert Kenny Esther Stynes

Bridie Lynch:

Bridie Lynch is one of the most accomplished competitors in Irish athletics. She is ranked Number One in the world in the pentathlon, and Number Two in discus. She holds the Irish record in discus, shot and pentathlon in the visually impaired rankings, and these are the events that Bridie will represent Ireland in at the Paralympics.

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Catherine Walsh:

Ireland’s contingent in the visually impaired pentathlon, discus and shot will be buoyed by the Catherine Walsh’s inclusion alongside the heavily favoured Bridie Lynch. Walsh, who makes her Paralympic debut in Sydney, will certainly not be making up the numbers. She is fourth in the pentathlon world rankings and seventh in the discus herself. The 26-year-old Dubliner will also compete in the long jump, an event she holds the Irish record in the event at present.

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Patrice Dockery:

Patrice Dockery, already a veteran of three Paralympics, will be desperate for a medal to cap a distinguished record. The 29-year-old has been competing since the age of 15 in wheelchair events and holds every Irish record from 100m to 5,000m in her class. Dockery will compete in four track events - the 100m, 800m, 1500m, and 5,000m. She has been training full-time for the past year. The former civil servant recently spent six months training in Australia, a move she hopes will give her the edge to improve upon the fourth place she acheived in Atlanta.

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Tom Leahy:

Tom Leahy, one of the Irish team’s more high-profile members, will compete in his fifth Paralympics. A member of the Cerebral Palsy Ireland Sports Club, Leahy has decided not to compete in boccia and will concentrate on the discus and club in Australia. Now 42, he has won medals at every level and his acheivements include gold, silver and bronze in Paralympic competition, and medals of every hue in both World and European Championships. The 1997 Jurys Sportsman of the Year also holds the world record for the shot and previously set the record for the discus.

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Michael Clarke:

Micheal Clarke will represent Ireland in the visually impaired marathon. It will be the 49-year-old’s sole Paralympic event. One of the Irish team’s full-time athlete’s, Clarke has raced in the 5,000m and 10,000m metres in the past but will concentrate on the marathon in Sydney. The man from Navan is a member of the Castletown Athletics Club. He competed in several World and European Championships where his best result was a bronze at the 1993 European Championships.

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Michael Delaney:

Micheal Delaney will compete in the high jump, long jump and 100 metres. Delaney is making his second Parlaympic appearance for Ireland and is the national record holder for both the long jump and high jump. The 32-year-old has had limited Parlaympic and World Championship success but secured three European bronze medals throughout the nineties, enough to move him to fourth in the world within his class in the visually impaired rankings.

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Sean O’Grady:

A former competitor in basketball and shot putt, Sean O’Grady chose to specialise in the discus for the Sydney Games. The 44-year-old is looking forward to his fourth Paralympics and will be hoping to improve upon a bronze medal for the discus won in Atlanta. O’Grady has also collected major medals and honours at international level, but is perhaps most proud of his Council of State membership, a position the Limerick sales representative has held since his appointment in 1995.

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John Ahern:

Full-time athlete John Ahern will be making his second paralympic appearance. The 26-year-old actually performed as a pentathlete in Atlanta but has decided to divert his attentions to the shott putt and javelin, events in which he holds the Irish records. The 26-year-old also competed in the World Championships in 1998 and has taken the Irish shot title for the last six years.

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Derek Malone:

Derek Malone will compete in the 800 metres and 5,000 metres in Sydney. The 20-year-old from Co Clare has previously represented Ireland at the World Championships in 1998 and holds the Irish record over 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m. Malone has also lined out for his country at soccer, playing for the Irish Cerebral Palsy team at the 1998 World Cup in Brazil.

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Lisa Callaghan:

At just 16 years of age, Lisa Callaghan is the youngest member of the Irish team and will, naturally enough, be making her Paralympic debut in Sydney. Despite her tender years, Callaghan has already made her mark at a world class level, setting the class 7 javelin world record at the European Cerebral Palsy Championships in 1999. Callaghan will compete in the javelin and discus in Sydney.

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Garrett Culliton:

Garrett Culliton will compete in three disciplines - the shot putt, discus and pentathlon. The 30-year-old will be taking part in his second Paralympics and has taken a year off from his job as an engineer in order to prepare thoroughly. Culliton has previously represented Ireland at the 1994 and 1998 World Championships and has two pentathlon medals from these events - silver in 1994 and bronze in 1998.

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Michael Smith:

Belfast born Micheal Smith will compete in the discus in Sydney. The all-rounder is the National Cerebral Palsy Champion and record holder in his class over 100m, 200m, 400m and in the discus but has chosen only to throw the discus in Stadium Australia. Smith’s best result in the discus came in 1995 when the 23-year-old took silver at the World Cerebral Palsy Games.

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Mary Rice:

A hugely successful athlete, Mary Rice has won medals at every major competition entered since 1995. The 24-year-old will compete in the 200m, 400m and the discus in Sydney and has prospects of a medal in each event, particularly on the track. The world record holder in her class over 200 metres will make her second Paralympic appearance and will be vying to improve upon a 100m bronze earned in Atlanta. Rice will be joined on the track by her sister Sharon with both athletes members of the Cerebral Palsy Sports Club of Northern Ireland.

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Sharon Rice:

Sharon Rice, from County Down, will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m. A former international standard swimmer, Rice also has international medals for javelin, discus and shot putt but will concetrate on the track events. The 25-year-old, who will have support in Stadium Australia from little siter Mary, took 100m gold in the 1998 Cerebral Palsy World Championships and has won several medals across a range of events in the European Championships.

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John Fulham:

The Sydney Games will be John Fulham’s third Paralympics after competing in Barcelona and Atlanta. Born in Limerick, the 29 year-old will take part in the 100m and 200m and holds the Irish record in the 200m sprint. Earlier in the season, Fulham took on and beat the bulk of the field he will face over 100m in Sydney at a meet in Sweden. In doing so Fulham broke his own Irish record and the triumph will have bolstered his confidence as he bids for a medal.

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Colette O’Reilly:

Longford’s Collette O’Reilly will compete in the in the 100m, 200m and 400m. The 42-year-old has already competed in three Paralympics but has failed to medal thus far. Her best performance in international competition came whilst taking bronze at the 1998 World Championships in Birmingham.

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Catherine O’Neill:

Catherine O’Neill will compete in the discus in Sydney. The 24-year-old will be making her Paralympic debut but has experienced major competition at the 1998 World Championships in Birmingham where she won a gold medal. A member of the Wexford Wheelchair Sports Club, O’Neill is a full-time athlete and currently holds the world record in her class for the discus and the club.

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