IRISH PARLAYMPIANS ORLA Comerford and Greta Streimikyte won their respective races at the 2024 Handisport Open in Paris today.
Comerford powered to victory in the 100m T13, clocking a time of 12.18 with a -2.1 headwind at Stade Charléty.
“Mixed bag,” the Raheny Shamrocks sprinter reflected afterwards. “I’m happy to come away with the win but not terribly happy with the time, but there was a headwind and plenty of fast times to come hopefully over the next few races.”
Comerford, who will compete again at the Troyes Aube International Athletics Meeting on Sunday having enjoyed a rich vein of form recently, set the tone for Team Ireland with a first-place finish as the first athlete up.
Streimikyte later followed suit with a comfortable win in the 1500m T13. She cruised home in a season’s best time of 4:39.21, with the next athlete almost 54 seconds behind.
Meanwhile, Alex Lee finished fourth in the 100m T62/T64 in a time of 11.89 with a -0.7 headwind. He will compete in his favoured event, the 200m T64, tomorrow.
Lana Sutton made a superb international debut, placing second in the 100m T37/38 in a time of 13.19 with a -1.1 headwind, while Aaron Shorten finished strong to take fourth in the 1500m T20.
Having hit a high performance standard for the Paralympics later this summer, Sutton returns to action in the Long Jump T37/38 tomorrow.
Mary Fitzgerald (F40 Shot Put) and Cathal Ryan (400m T46/47) are also in Friday action.
The Handisport Open is the final competition before the Paralympic qualification window closes on 16 June, and continues Ireland’s athletics success after a glittering few days at the European Championships in Rome.
Heart says Munster, Head says Leinster!
They’re at home and are currently on better form. I think Munster would need a ligind-esq performance full of pashun and the likes to win it. Not saying they can’t though. When it comes to emotional underdog victories Munster are second to none
The Leinster half back change makes a huge difference. Not sure I would have as much confidence with McGrath and Madigan but Sexton was really finding form and he knows how to play the Aviva more than anyone else. It’ll be bloody close. Tense. Paddy power has Leinster -7. Sounds about right
@Ewan, Heart says Leinster, head says Leinster….
When you match up the positions, there aren’t as many duals fighting for Irish starting spots as I thought. D Kearney V Earls, McGrath V Cronin (though his real competition is Healy). Interested how Scannel fares against Cronin, but Best is unquestionably first choice for Ireland. D Ryan V Toner. Stander V Heaslip must be the main match-up.
Sexton V Holland isn’t yet a contest, maybe it will be in a couple years. Murray V Reddan is no longer a contest. Murphy V O’Donnell would have been more interesting before the return of Sean O’Brien and emergence of VanDer Flier.
Ross – agree with some of that, but disagree strongly on one substantial point: Best is no longer clearly first choice for Ireland. He’s been a smashing player and senior figure for Ireland for years, and we are indebted to him.
However:
- he will be 34 in August, so we need to find some alternatives very soon indeed
- he played below his standards for most of the 6N
- he lead Ireland poorly in this past 6N
- his tenure as Ireland captain seems unlikely to extend into next season
- there are a handful of hungry, good, reasonably young hookers awaiting their chance: they wilL force it soon.
Maybe Rury Besht isn’t a great leader, but he’s an outstanding player. 34 isn’t the same for a hooker as it is for a winger. Not saying he’ll last to the World Cup, but he’ll definitely be there next season.
Also, out of curiosity, who’d you have as captain? I don’t think we have any great leaders right now. PS It’s a genuine question, I’ve no idea who’d be the right man. Heaslip wasn’t great in charge either and while a lot of people are calling for POM, I don’t think he should start when Stander and Heaslip are both fit.
I think Best has a season of international rugby left in him.
As for captaincy, it’s a very hard one – partly because we have relatively few natural captains, partly because we have also few players who are guaranteed to start.
Heaslip is a great player, and a fine leader as a number 2 – but simply not a good captain. It hampers him as a player, and he doesn’t seem to know how to be the principal leader.
POM is an excellent captain, but will he start? CJ is probably ahead of him right now, and back row competition is only going to get tougher.
Sexton is a de facto captain, but I don’t think piling additional pressure on him is helpful.
Murray would probably be my pick: miles better than any of his rivals for the shirt, experienced, clever, respected. It would be a step up for him, but he’s always been capable of that in the past.
Brian – I agree to an extent but Best will be first choice hooker heading to South Africa and for the November internationals. Although he’s near the twilight of his career, I’d be surprised if he’s not first choice for the next 6 nations. You mention promising young hookers but I was looking at that recently and it’s an area where I think the provinces are short. Cronin and Strauss are around 30 and there aren’t any other hookers who’ve come in to the frame for Ireland in the last few years. Who would you look at as a potential first choice hooker for Ireland in a few years?
Murray also has the “advantage” of not being his province’s captain. The IRFU have seemed pretty adamant in the past (BOD, POC) that the national captain not also have that provincial responsibility – although Best does still captain Ulster.
Two tickets for this tomorrow. Can’t wait. Want a Leinster win, but hopefully a tight exciting game.
And yet Leo you don’t give JVDF a crack of tommy O’Donnell.
Desperately looking for a bar in Playa del Carmen to show it… 6 people around 1 tablet is a scrum