Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Ireland competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom from August 29 to September 9, 2012.[3] There are 49 participants representing Ireland at the games, competing across ten sports.

Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
IPC code	IRL
NPC	Paralympics Ireland
Website	www.paralympics.ie
in London
Competitors	49 in 10 sports
Flag bearer	Cathal Miller (opening)[1] Gabriel Shelly (closing)[2]
Medals Ranked 19th	Gold 8 Silver 3 Bronze 5 Total 16
Summer Paralympics appearances
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020

These were the best Paralympics for Ireland since 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea winning 13 gold, 11 silver, and 18 bronze. For its efforts the Team was presented with a People of the Year Award in September 2012.[4]

Medallists

Medal Name Sport Event Date  Gold Bethany Firth Swimming Women's 100 metres backstroke S14 31 August  Gold Darragh McDonald Swimming Men's 400 metre freestyle S6 1 September  Gold Jason Smyth Athletics Men's 100 metres T13 1 September  Gold Michael McKillop Athletics Men's 800 metres T37 1 September  Gold Michael McKillop Athletics Men's 1500 metres T37 3 September  Gold Mark Rohan Cycling Men's road time trial H1 5 September  Gold Mark Rohan Cycling Men's road race H1 7 September  Gold Jason Smyth Athletics Men's 200 metres T13 7 September  Silver Catherine Walsh Francine Meehan (pilot) Cycling Women's Ind B Pursuit 2 September  Silver Helen Kearney on Mister Cool Equestrian Ind. Championship Test - Grade Ia 2 September  Silver Catherine O'Neil Athletics Women's discus F51/52 7 September  Bronze Team Ireland Equestrian Mixed Team Championship 2 September  Bronze Helen Kearney on Mister Cool Equestrian Individual freestyle test grade Ia 4 September  Bronze Orla Barry Athletics Women's Discus Throw F57/58 4 September  Bronze James Brown Damien Shaw (pilot) Cycling Men's road time trial B 5 September  Bronze Catherine Walsh Francine Meehan (pilot) Cycling Women's road time trial B 5 September Medals by sport Sport Total Athletics 4 1 1 6 Cycling 2 1 2 5 Equestrian 0 1 2 3 Swimming 2 0 0 2 Total 8 3 5 16 Key Moments On 1 September, Paralympics Ireland celebrated one of their most successful days at any Paralympic Games by earning three gold medals.[5] Of these gold medals, two were world record breaking performances. Jason Smyth retained his Men's 100 metres T13 title, by breaking his own world record with a time of 10.46 seconds, making him the fastest Paralympian in the world over 100 metres.[6] The same day, Michael McKillop set a new world best of 1.57.22 in the Men's 800 metres T32 race, also retaining his win in Beijing.[7] On 2 September, Catherine Walsh accompanied by pilot Francine Meehan, won Paralympics Ireland's first ever cycling medal of any colour at the Paralympic Games.[8] Athletics Boccia Individual events Athlete Event Seeding matches Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Roberta Connolly Mixed individual BC2 Bye  Mezik (SVK) L 2-5 Did not advance Tom Leahy Bye  Valente (POR) L 1-6 Did not advance Johnny Cronin Mixed individual BC3  Taha (SIN) W 6-4 N/A  Taha (SIN) L 1-7 Did not advance Pairs and team events Athlete Event Pool matches Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Opposition Score Opposition Score Opposition Score Rank Roberta Connolly Tom Leahy Padraic Moran Gabriel Shelly Team BC1-2  South Korea (KOR) L 3-14  Brazil (BRA) L 2-11 3 Did not advance Cycling Equestrian Individual Athlete Horse Event Total Score Rank Eilish Byrne Youri Ind. champ. test grade II 73.429 5 Ind. freestyle test grade II 75.250 4 James Dwyer Orlando Ind. champ. test grade IV 68.516 6 Ind. freestyle test grade IV 74.400 6 Helen Kearney Mister Cool Ind. champ. test grade Ia 76.700 Ind. freestyle test grade Ia 78.450 Geraldine Savage Blues Tip Top Too Ind. champ. test grade Ia 68.800 7 Ind. freestyle test grade Ia 72.300 5 Team Athlete Horse Event Individual Score Total TT CT Total Score Rank Eilish Byrne See above Team 67.714 73.429 141.143* 428.313 James Dwyer 69.719 68.516 138.235* Helen Kearney 72.235 76.700 148.935* Geraldine Savage 68.000 68.800 136.800 * Indicates that score counts in team total Powerlifting Men Athlete Event Result Rank Roy Guerin -67.5kg 131.0 10 Rowing Athlete(s) Event Heats Repechage Final Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Helen Arbuthnot (cox) Sarah Caffrey Anne-Marie McDaid Kevin du Toit Shane Ryan Mixed coxed four 3:33.95 5 R 3:34.85 4 FB 3:36.72 4 Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); R=Repechage Sailing Athlete Event Race Net points Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11* Anthony Hegarty Ian Costelloe John Twomey Sonar - 3 person keelboat 11 7 7 10 9 10 2 (13) 10 10 N/A 76 11 * Due to a lack of wind Race 11 was cancelled Shooting Athlete Event Qualification Final Score Rank Score Rank Sean Baldwin Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 1112 17 Did not advance Men's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 553 29 Did not advance Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 585 18 Did not advance Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 589 43 Did not advance Swimming Table Tennis See also Ireland at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom References Paralympic site "Shelly given flag honour". Herald. Retrieved September 9, 2012., "Ireland - 2012 Paralympic News, Athletes, Medals". LOCOG. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012. "Heroes at national and community levels honoured in emotional ceremony". The Irish Times. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012. "Michael McKillop makes it three gold medals for Ireland". RTÉ News. 1 September 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/19446549 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/19446549 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-09-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) External links Complete List of Irish Athletes at London 2012