EVERY MORNING, WE bring you all of the info you need to make sure you don’t miss a second of Paralympic gold.
It’s another action-packed day at the Paralympics, with Team Ireland busier than ever.
Irish athletes who should be of particular interest include Colin Lynch, Catherine Walsh & Fran Meehan, Jason Smyth and the Irish rowing team, who are making their Paralympic debut.
Meanwhile, there are a number of sports that invariably prove to be entertaining viewing taking place later, including Football 5-a-side, Sitting Volleyball and Shooting.
Who’s flying the flag?
Sean Baldwin will be competing in the 10m Air Rifle SH1 Qualifiers, which begins at 9am and takes place in Greenwich Park. He will then be in the R1 – 10m Air Rifle SH1 Final at 12.30pm, provided he qualifies.
James Dwyer takes part in the Equestrian Team Test – Grade IV. His event starts at 9am. Later at 3.45pm, Helen Kearney and Geraldine Savage are participating in the Team Test Grade event.
At 9.30am, World Champion cyclists Catherine Walsh & Fran Meehan, and Katie-George Dunlevy & Sandra Fitzgerald, feature in the Individual 1KM Time Trial B. Colin Lynch, who also became a World Champion in 2011, partakes in the Individual Pursuit C2 Qualifiers at 11am in the Velodrome, before Enda Smyth is in action in the Individual Pursuit C3 Qualifiers at 11.39am and Cathal Miller (who, you may remember, was the Irish flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony) cycles in the Individual 1KM Time Trial C4-5 from 2pm onwards. The latter two will then compete at 4.22pm and 3.55pm should they progress.
There are three Irish swimmers in action – Jonathan McGrath (9.30am) in the 400m Freestyle S8 Heats, Laurence McGivern (10.30am) in the 50m Freestyle S10 Heats and Bethany Firth (11.18am) in the 100m Backstroke S14 Heats. Should they progress, they will be back on again in their respective finals this evening at 5.30pm, 6.32pm and 7.38pm.
In athletics, John McCarthy takes part in the Club Throw F31/32/51 Final at 10.05am, James McCarthy is in the Discus Throw F57/58 Final at 10am and Heather Jameson is up at 10.08am in the Long Jump F37/38 Final. And last but undoubtedly not least, Jason Smyth – who won two gold medals at the 2008 Paralympics – features in the 100m T13 Heats at 9.35pm. Moreover, all these events will of course be taking place in the Olympic Stadium in London.
Kevin Du Toit, Shane Ryan, Sarah Caffrey, Anne-Marie McDaid and Helen Arbuthnot will begin the LTAMix4+ Heats at 11.30am, as the Irish rowing team makes its Paralympic debut at Eton Dorney.
Finally, in table tennis, Philip Quinlan plays Great Britain’s Robert Davies in the Men’s Singles M1 Preliminaries at 12.20pm, while Eimear Breathnach faces France’s Florence Sireau and Rena McCarron Rooney comes up against Jordan’s Maha Bargouthi (both in the Women’s Singles F1-2 Preliminaries at 11.40am). The latter two may be in action once again at 7.20pm, if they win their morning matches.
Do not miss…
Cycling
The Individual Pursuit C2 Qualifiers at 11am should be interesting to watch, given that big things are expected of Irish athlete Colin Lynch, after he was crowed World Champion in the time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Denmark in 2011. Similarly, Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan won the Pursuit event at the World Championships in 2011 – their race begins at 9.30am.
Athletics
Out of all the Irish athletes competing at the Paralympics, Jason Smyth’s event is arguably the most anticipated, in light of the two gold medals he won at the Paralympics in Beijing four years ago. His race gets underway at 9.35pm.
Football 5-a-side
Among the highlights today is the game featuring favourites Brazil, who boast the player widely perceived as the best in the world within their ranks (Ricardinho), taking on France at 9am, while Great Britain face Spain at 3.30pm.
