Ellen Keane and Michael Murphy have been chosen as Ireland’s flag bearers for the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games at the Stade de France on Sunday night. It will mark Keane’s final act for Team Ireland as she retires from international competition.
Meanwhile, in the pool on Friday Barry McClements swam a new personal best and finished just 0.16 of a second away from a medal place in the S9 100m butterfly final at the La Défense Arena. The 22-year-old Co Down swimmer finished fifth after a strong second 50 having turned at the wall in sixth place.
McClements came home in a time of 1:01.24 (beating his previous PB of 1:01.39), with Australia’s Lewis Bishop claiming third in 1:01.08. The gold medal was won by Italy’s Simone Barlaam in a new European record time of 57.99 seconds, while silver went to Australia’s Timothy Hodge in 1:00.03.
“I got a PB, so I can’t not be happy, I’m definitely capable of going the time that got bronze, so it’s a bit bittersweet but I can’t be angry going a PB,” said McClements afterwards.
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Meanwhile, Aaron Shorten finished seventh on his Paralympic debut in the T20 1,500m final at the Stade de France.
The 21-year-old ran a season’s best time of 4:02.71 in the race won by Great Britain’s Ben Sandilands who set a new world record of 3:45.40.
“I have mixed emotions to be honest, I was hoping for a little bit more,” said Shorten afterwards. “I would have liked to get under four minutes but all I can do is take it on the chin and keep my head up. I ran a season best in my first Paralympic final and that’s something so I’m happy with that.
“It’s an honour to get here, it’s always been a dream to become a Paralympian and now I have. I want to thank my parents, my brother, my friends, everyone at home for supporting me.”
Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly won silver in the women’s B road race but they weren’t the only cyclists in action at Clichy-sous-Bois on Friday. Damien Vereker and pilot Mitchell McLaughlin finished eight in the men’s B road race.
Earlier in the day a mechanical problem in the final lap of the men’s C4-5 road race denied Ronan Grimes a strong finish in his last ride for Team Ireland before he retires. Grimes had been in 11th place going into the final lap but he ultimately finished in 17th.
“I’m retired, this is my last race,” said Grimes. “It was nice to finish my last race rather than finish it in the car. I would have liked to have finished top 10, that would have been a nice cherry on the cake, but overall, I look back fondly on this, and, yeah, I think I can finish on it.”
Finally Ireland’s equestrians finished tenth in the team event at Versailles on Friday – two higher than where they finished in Tokyo three years ago.
