Who are the Irish Paralympic flag bearers Orla Comerford and Colin Judge?
Colin Proud Judge Flag Erford Orla And Bearers
The 2024 Paralympics will kick off this evening with an impressive opening ceremony in Paris, kicking off with a parade on the iconic Champs-Elysees.
About 184 delegations from around the world will take part in the ceremony, which marks the beginning of just under two weeks of competitions.
Proud flag bearers will lead the ceremony for their country. For Ireland this year, Orla Comerford and Colin Judge will wave the tricolour through the streets of Paris.
So, who are these athletes?
Orla Comerford is a sprinter from Dublin. She was born in 1997 and was involved in sports from a young age, but athletics was always her favourite.
She began running with her club, Raheny Shamrocks, when she was just six years old.
When she was in 5th class, Comerford began losing some of her eyesight. She was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, which is a degenerative condition that affects her central vision.
This did not stop her sporting ambitions, however.
She made her Paralympics debut when she was just 18 at the 2016 Rio Olympics. There, Comerford qualified for the T13 100m final, finishing eight.
In 2018, she won a bronze medal at the European Championships in the 100m and 200m, before going on to represent Ireland again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Comerford qualified for the 2024 Olympics after finishing in 4th place at the Para Athletics Worl Championships in 2023. She was just 0.06 of a second away from third place.
The Raheny runner will take place on the 6th day of the Olympics on September 3rd in the T13 100m (heat) 10:00 and the T13 100m (final) 19:08.
When she’s not running for Ireland, Comerford works part time in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, having earned a degree in Fine Art Media from the National College of Art and Design.
Carrying the flag alongside Orla Comerford is Colin Judge. Hailing from Blackrock, Dublin, Judge was born with the absence of both legs and part of the right arm.
The 29-year-old trains in Irishtown Stadium and at the Sport Ireland Institute, as well as competing for the UCD Table Tennis Club. Judge was a recipient of an Ad Astra scholarship at the university, and took a career break from his job as an actuary with KPMG in 2019 to train for Tokyo.
Paris will be Judge’s second Paralympic games, having come close to qualifying for the Rio games in 2016.
He won a bronze medal at the World Qualifying Tournament in Slovenia in 2021, securing his place for Tokyo. Since then, he has won bronze medals at the European Championships and the French Open, as well as winning silver at the Czech Open this year.
His training partners in Ireland include eight-time Paralympian Michael Cunningham.
Judge will compete on Day 4 of the games on September 1, in class 3 round of 32 at 5:30pm.