CLINCHING a sprint double at the World Para Athletics Championships five months ago has only strengthened Orla Comerford’s resolve to fight for more equality in sport, both for women and para-athletes.

The vision-impaired sprinter says sport is still full of double standards, and not just athletics.

“In the past week, everyone around me was saying, ‘Oh, it’s so disappointing that the Winter Olympics are over,’ but the Winter Paralympics are starting on Friday.

“I’m so excited about them because what para-athletes do in winter sports is even more extreme and insane than what people have already been watching.”

Comerford observes bias in how athletes are perceived and promoted, even within mainstream athletics.

“My sport has great gender parity. We compete in the same championships, and if you turn up to watch women, you also watch the men and vice versa.

“If I ask people who’s the fastest man in history, everyone immediately says ‘Bolt’, yet when I ask about the fastest women, they wouldn’t know it’s Florence Griffith-Joyner or that Elaine-Thompson-Herah is currently the fastest woman alive,” she notes.

Comerford’s newfound status since her big breakthrough — a T13 100m bronze at the Paris Paralympics and two world titles last year — has given the 28-year-old Dubliner a platform, which she is not wasting.

She has become a champion both in name and practice, constantly advocating for more para-races to be integrated into the international athletics circuit.

“I’m blue in the face sending out 100s of emails to meet directors all over the world, trying to get more races and opportunities for para-athletes. I’m sure some people have blocked me already,” she laughs.

“Honestly, I’m relentless, but I want to be a thorn in people’s sides. I want everyone to understand what para athletes do and how including some of our events in their meets will only benefit their fans and sponsors alike.

“Last year I got to race in the Bislett Games, and the Prefontaine Classic on the Diamond League circuit, and also at a couple of ‘gold’ Continental Tour meets.

“I would love a world where the next generation of para-athletes don’t have to send 100s of emails to get racing opportunities. That they’ll get the same phone call that an able-bodied athlete gets, which is: ‘We have this race, and we want you in it.’”

Speaking at the launch of Sport Ireland’s Women In Sport week (March 2-8), Comerford revealed her advocacy has already had some success on the domestic front.

“We’ve managed to get an international (para) field included in this year’s Morton Games, which is really exciting. They’re also going to include a ‘national’ men’s race on the pre-programme, which is a great addition.

“I’m going to keep pushing. That’s the reason I raced at National Indoors last weekend,” she said of making the 60m semi-finals. “I want to show people that myself and other para athletes are serious competitors in these spaces.”

Comerford ran her 100m PB of 11:87 in a para race at the Diamond League in Oslo last year, where she shared the stage with the likes of Olympic champion Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith.

“Getting to showcase your talent at that level is all about getting opportunities and visibility, two things that are already a challenge for some women in sport. For women in para sport, it’s an even bigger hill to climb,” she stresses.

“It’s been a real privilege to see how women’s sport has grown here in the last number of years. There has been an appetite for it, and people are supporting it, but we have to keep working at it.”

Her career has gone up another notch since she moved, post-Paris, to train with Daniel Kilgallon’s sprint group in Tallaght, which has produced multiple national champions, including Rhasidat Adeleke.

Winning global medals has also resulted in improved support from Sport Ireland, allowing Comerford to quit her part-time job in the Museum of Modern Art last November, to train full-time.

Women in Sport Week is an annual Sport Ireland initiative celebrating and increasing the visibility of women’s sport and women in sport across Ireland. The 2026 campaign theme is “Same Energy”, which calls on communities across Ireland to bring the same energy, support and visibility to women’s sport as men’s sport by attending, watching and celebrating female sport at every level during Women in Sport Week and beyond. For further information on Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Week and to find women’s sporting fixtures and events taking place near you, visit: Women in Sport Week | Sport Ireland.