New height from distance
OCT 30th: The metal detectors at Dublin Airport will be busy on Wednesday afternoon when the Irish Paralympic team arrive home bearing five gold medals, three silver and one bronze after 11 days of outstanding success.

Sydney's unrivalled carnival finally over
OCT 29th: The 1960s Australian pop band The Seekers sang "The Carnival is Over" today, closing a two-month sporting festival in Sydney comprising the best Olympic and Paralympic Games ever.

Rice takes silver for Ireland
OCT 28th: Mary Rice brought down the curtain on Ireland’s performances on the track with a silver in the 400 metres final tonight. The Co. Down athlete just held on to third spot in the race to claim Ireland’s ninth medal of the Paralympics.

Fulham fails to impress
OCT 28th: John Fulham bowed out of the Sydney Paralympics this morning after failing to make an impact in the 100 metres final. The wheelchair sprinter had set a seasons best of 16.38 seconds in the heats to qualify for his favoured event.

India loses appeal and country's first ever gold
OCT 28th: The Court of Arbitration for Sport Saturday rejected an appeal by Indian shotputter Yadvendra Vashishta who was stripped of his Paralympic gold after a classification dispute.

Malone digs deep to earn gold
OCT 28th: Ireland's successes in the Paralympics showed no sign of losing momentum yesterday as David Malone got in on the act, winning a a gold medal in a 100 metres backstroke final that was quite literally too close to call.

An insult to our years of hard work
OCT 28th: When I was approached about this article I was a little apprehensive. I didn't want to give Mary Ellen Synon any more publicity (something she obviously craves) than she has already received.

Why elite sport's not as good as it gets
OCT 28th: Remember the story? Patrice Dockery won the Dublin women's mini-marathon. She was presented with her prizes, a Waterford Crystal trophy and a voucher for a pair of runners. Very nice, except Patrice Dockery is a wheelchair athlete.

Malone collects gold while Berry lifts silver
OCT 27th: David Malone has won gold in the pool after finishing in a dead heat in the 100m Backstroke with Germany’s Holger Holgkimmig, while Mairead Berry capped a stunning Paralympic campaign with a silver medal in the 50m freestyle.

Shot putter to appeal over loss of gold medal
OCT 27th: A "devastated" Indian shot putter will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Saturday after officials stripped him of a gold medal at the Sydney Paralympics over a classification dispute.

Two more golds for Ireland
OCT 26th: Mairéad Berry has struck gold for Ireland in the Paralympics in Sydney and in doing so decimated the world record.

Three more powerlifters test positive
OCT 26th: Nine powerlifters have tested positive to banned drugs at the Sydney Paralympics with today’s announcement of three fresh doping cases, the International Paralympic Committee said.

Berry takes silver in Sydney
OCT 25th: Over 11,000 people in the Indoor Aquatic Centre witnessed Irelands fourth Paralympic medal winning performance today, Mairead Berry taking silver in the final of the 50m backstroke.

Kenyan runner let down by flagging guide
OCT 25th: Blind Kenyan runner Henry Wanyoike learnt you are only as good as your equipment today when his tiring guide prevented him from breaking a world record at the Paralympics.

Fulham sets sights on 100m
OCT 24th: The rain fell heavily in Sydney today but failed to dampen the spirits of John Fulham. He made it through to the final of the 200m, a triumph in itself, but was unable to challenge for a medal, finishing seventh.

Two golds and a birthday for Irish
OCT 24th: Birthdays don’t come much better. Gay Shelley, 32 today, has won the individual boccia and secured Ireland’s first-ever gold in the event.

Dockery shows grit to put setback behind her
OCT 24th: The Irish team put the controversy at home behind them impressively and the major success stories yesterday were from the boccia arena, where Johnny Cronin and Gay Shelley both made it through to the individual semi-finals, and wheelchair athlete Patrice Dockery.

Cronin draws the crowds as he reaches semi-finals
OCT 24th: One of the Parlaympics lesser known sports is fast garnering support here in Sydney with an Irishman helping to raise its profile. Boccia, played by athletes with cerebral palsy, has consistently drawn big crowds with players performing in front of full stands.

McBride airs disgust over Synon comments
OCT 23rd: The Chef de Mission of the Irish Paralympic team, Mr Jim McBride, has said he is both "sickened and disgusted" at the comments made by Miss Mary Ellen Synon concerning the Parlaympic Games.

Leahy wins silver, Dockery disqualified
OCT 22nd: Tom Leahy won silver in the discus in Sydney today, securing Ireland’s second medal of the 2000 Paralympics. Leahy, who competes in the cerebral palsy class, set a new lifetime best with a throw of 16.05 metres and was overwhelmed with the result.

Crash ruins Dockery’s chances
OCT 22nd: Controversy surrounded the women’s wheelchair 800m final today when a nasty collision forced three athletes of the out of the race and hampered any chance Patrice Dockery had of a medal.

Paralympic doping scandal widens
OCT 22nd: The Paralympics doping scandal widened today with two more powerlifters expelled from the Games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Four powerlifters expelled from Paralympics
OCT 22nd: The shadow of drugs fell on the Sydney Paralympics on Saturday with four powerlifters named, shamed and banned for taking performance-enhancing substances.

Wonderful Walsh wins Ireland's first medal
OCT 21st: Catherine Walsh has claimed Ireland’s first medal of the 2000 Paralympic Games, a stunning performance helping her claim the pentathlon bronze in Sydney this evening.

Unfortunate accident puts Lynch out
OCT 21st: Bridie Lynch’s dreadful run of misfortune continued today when it emerged that the Irishwoman had broken her foot in a training accident whilst practising for the discus.

All eyes on Walsh
OCT 21st: After three events in the women’s pentathlon, Ireland’s Catherine Walsh has an excellent chance of a medal and currently occupies third position.

Near misses for Delaney, Smith
OCT 21st: It turned out to be a barren day for the Irish in the Sydney Para lympics, yet it very nearly bore fruit with two near misses in the men's field events, both coming from unexpected sources.

Sachs leads Australians by example
OCT 21st: Australia expects in Sydney's Super Dome. Wheelchair basketball, the Paralympics blue ribbon event off the track, is big business and the chairman of the boards is one Troy Sachs.

Smith misses medals as Dockery disappoints
OCT 20th: Micheal Smith has claimed Ireland’s second fourth place finish of the day, equalling the result achieved by Micheal Delaney in the high jump earlier this morning.

Dockery through to 100m final
OCT 20th: Patrice Dockery is through to tonight’s 100m wheelchair final, recording a seasons best 17.57 seconds and taking second place in her heat.

Doyle was close to judo medal
OCT 20th: There was a flurry of excitement in the Sydney Pavilion this afternoon when Michael Doyle toppled the European Champion, Ravkhat Atnabaev in his first round judo match, boosting his chances of a Paralympic medal.

Injury rules Lynch out of pentathlon
OCT 20th: Bridie Lynch was dealt a cruel blow yesterday when injury forced the world number one out of the pentathlon. Lynch had been experiencing problems with her hamstring but had hoped to recover in time for Saturday's competition.

Paralympic powerlifters test positive
OCT 20th: About six Paralympic powerlifters tested positive to performance enhancing drugs in pre-competition testing, a spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee said today.

Strong Russian gives Irish nasty shock
OCT 20th: Ireland's campaign at the 2000 Paralympics got off to a disappointing start yesterday when Tim Culhane was knocked out of judo's 66kg class in the early stages.

Australians admit they spied on Canada
OCT 19th: The Australian wheelchair rugby team for the Sydney Paralympics today admitted it had tried to spy on the rival Canadian team at a training session on Wednesday.

Record-breaking shooters give Korea flying start
OCT 19th: Kim Im-Youn and Jung Jin-Owan smashed world records on their way to shooting golds to put South Korea top of the medals table after the first day of the Paralympics.

Paralympics chief strikes deal with Athens
OCT 19th: International Paralympic Committee (IPC) chief Robert Steadward said he had worked out the differences with Athens over staging the 2004 Paralympics in the Greek capital.

Culhane disappoints on Judo mat
OCT 19th: Ireland's Paralympic campaign got off to a tough start today when Tim Culhane, a favourite in the Irish camp for a medal, was knocked out of judo's 66kg class in the early stages.

Irish camp confident of good Games
OCT 19th: Spirits in the Irish team could not be better amid the hospitality and goodwill that Australia has generated for the 2000 Paralympic Games. While Sydney has been whipping up enthusiasm for the competition, which began this morning, the 39-strong squad have been finalising their preparations. And the atmosphere in the host city has delighted the Irish Paralympians.

Sydney back in party mood
OCT 19th: The cauldron over Stadium Australia burns brightly once again this morning, this time with the flame of the 11th Paralympic Games. Last night's opening ceremony got 10 days of competition off to a stunning start with the 4,000 athletes receiving the sort of welcome that only Sydney can produce.

Paralympics declared open in Sydney
OCT 18th: Mind, body and spirit. The eleventh Paralympics came to town tonight and Sydney lapped it up. Almost 110,000 people crammed into Stadium Australia to witness an opening ceremony that will live long in the memory.

Irish Parlaympic confidence up Down Under
OCT 18th: Spirits in the Irish team could not be better high ahead of tonight's official opening of the 2000 Parlaympic Games here in Sydney.

Sydney on the streets for the famous flame
OCT 17th: The people of Sydney were on the streets in force today to welcome the Paralympic flame to the city before tomorrow night's opening of the 11th Paralympic Games.

Irish travel with real medal hopes
OCT 17th: The Sydney Olympics may already be a fading memory, but the city is set to go through it all again when the Paralympics open in Stadium Australia tomorrow.

Lottery boost for UK paralympians
OCT 16th: British sports minister Kate Hoey today gave the paralympic team a boost ahead of the Sydney Games when she confirmed that Lottery funding for the squad would continue at the same level despite rumours that it was to be cut.

Athens drags feet over Paralympics
OCT 10th: Greek Olympic officials said today they had yet to agree to stage the Paralympics in Athens immediately after the 2004 Olympics because of "unacceptable" financial demands made by the event's governing body.

Paralympic team en route to Sydney
OCT 5th: Medals were most certainly on the agenda for the Irish Paralympic team as they bade their farewells before leaving for Australia and the 2000 Parlaympic Games this afternoon.