GOOD NEWS keeps coming to Ireland from the Special Olympics in Athens.
Day seven of the event saw Irish competitors secure another 20 medals, bringing the team’s overall haul to 87: 27 gold, 40 silver and 20 bronze.
There were big wins in athletics as John McKiernan scored gold for the men’s 199m walk and Amy Quinn took bronze in the women’s event. The 4 x 100m relay team of Ciara O’Loughlin, Eileen O’Loughlin, Martin Mahood and Timothy Morahan, won silver.
The men’s 11-a-side soccer team drew 1-1 with Great Britain to win silver, while the men’s 5-a-side team took gold after beating Cyprus in a sudden-death finish yesterday. Meanwhile, the women’s basketball team won silver after beating Greece and the women’s bowling team took silver.
Swimmer Sandra Corr won silver in the 25m freestyle event and Ciara Trait took bronze.
In equestrian, John Loughnane won gold and Pamela Collins won bronze. Badminton player Adrian Cornwall won gold in his event yesterday and Ruairi O’Toole won gold in the 200m kayaking event. Teresa Maguire and Sean Bradley took silver in kayaking, while Celine Mulready secured bronze.
Over in table tennis, Anne-Marie Talbot won gold, Carole Catling took silver and Robert Deegan secured bronze.
The games continue in Athens ahead of tomorrow’s closing ceremony and the Irish team arrives home through Dublin Airport on Tuesday afternoon. You can send the athletes a message of support via the Special Olympics Ireland Facebook page.
