Paralympians taking inspiration from Team Ireland exploits
On a day when they were part of a sizable contingent that headed off to the French capital, Paralympians Ronan Grimes and Chloe MacCombe spoke of the inspiration they are hoping to take from Ireland’s ongoing exploits at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Thanks to Kellie Harrington’s magnificent defence of her women’s 60kg title at Roland Garros on Tuesday night, Ireland have now won four gold medals at the Olympics and have an overall haul of seven with three bronzes also thrown in for good measure.
Although the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games doesn’t take place until August 28, Grimes and MacCombe were part of the cycling and triathlon squads that travelled over via Aer Lingus to Paris last night.
Paracyclist Grimes has his sights set on making a big splash in France after claiming gold, silver, and bronze medals in major competitions over the past two years, and he admits to feeling extra motivation because of how well Team Ireland are performing in Paris.
“To see the success that the Olympics team are having really spurs you on. Coming into the last two weeks of heavy training, if ever you were motivated, you’re extra motivated now seeing the success of the Olympic athletes,” Grimes said at Dublin Airport yesterday.
“Just watching it on television every day, just the excitement and the crowds over there. It looks like a really great atmosphere and I’m really looking forward to experiencing some of that.”
Whereas Grimes competed at the delayed Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago — he agonisingly finished fourth in the men’s individual pursuit C4 — this will be the first games that paratriathlete MacCombe will be competing at.
It will be a family affair for the Derry woman over in Paris as she was joined by her twin sister and fellow triathlete Judith on the plane to France yesterday.
Like Grimes, she has been keeping a watchful eye on the Olympics and how Ireland have been performing.
Their achievements could lead to heightened expectations for Ireland at the forthcoming Paralympics, but MacCombe is confident that the travelling squad can leave a lasting impression in the French city.
“It has been fantastic just to hear the medals and not only that, the national records that have been broken. Even without medals, it has just really spurred us on and spurred us all on in our training for the Paralympics. To just try and nearly better them, to see what we can do,” said MacCombe.
“We’ve got a decent team of Paralympic athletes going out to Paris. Hopefully, it inspires the next generation of Paralympic athletes to aim big.”