Updated at 20.25pm
CORK TEENAGER NOELLE Lenihan last night set a new world record at the IPC Athletics European Championships on the way to winning gold for Ireland.
And her performance was followed by an equally impressive one by Orla Barry, who this afternoon claimed gold in the F57 discus final in Italy.
16-year-old Lenihan, who won discus silver in the Paralympic Games last year, once again demonstrated her prodigious talent by smashing the world record on Sunday.
On her first attempt in the F38 discus final, Lenihan recorded a huge throw of 32.14m as she won Ireland’s second medal of the Championships after Deirdre Mongan’s bronze on Saturday.
“She did great, and we’re really happy,” National Throws Coach, Dave Sweeney, said.
“She was very controlled, and to be honest, she has been throwing further than that the last few days in training so she’s a little bit disappointed that she didn’t throw further today! There was a tricky wind, which blew a lot of the discs down so it was a fantastic for her to throw so well in those conditions.
“This is a really big step in her career – to break a World Record and win a European Championships in one go and to then be a little bit unhappy with the performance is the sign of a good mindset and a sign of more exciting things to come in Rio.
“She will come away from today having learned a lot, she had very good competition there so she was pushed to the very end and we’re delighted for her.”
Ireland’s medal haul rose to three on Monday with Barry winning her second European gold with a personal best of 31.18m.
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