Paralympics Day 2: Goodbye begins today for three Irish Paralympic giants
Day 100m Retirement Picture: Backstroke Next Sb8 Friday Friday’s 100m Is, Breaststroke However, Not Breaststroke Sb8 Her S9 Tuesday Dance Swim E Last In That Final Ellen Two:picture: Keane’s Medal Will Is 100m Evening’s The Final
The penultimate swim. The penultimate lap. The swansong’s mic check. The curtain beginning to fall on three of the most successful Irish athletes to ever grace the Paralympic stage.
Friday evening’s SB8 100m breaststroke final is not Ellen Keane’s retirement swim. That will come next Tuesday in the S9 100m backstroke. Friday’s SB8 100m breaststroke final is, however, her last medal dance. Her last realistic shot at adding to an already impressive Paralympic medal collection.
Ellen stepped onto the global stage as a 13-year-old kid in Beijing all those years ago. She returned home to Clontarf a 13-year-old Paralympic finalist. Five Games later, the fairytale ending would be to depart as a back-to-back gold medalist.
But whatever way the waters run for her in this evening’s final, Keane is ready to say goodbye.
“I am very set in my decision. It’s making sure I don’t drop off and making sure I am staying present. There’s definitely nothing that will keep me but yeah, I’m excited,” says the 29-year-old.
“I’d say physically, my body could probably keep going, but five Games is a lot for anyone mentally. I wouldn’t want to go to LA and just be there for the sake of it. I want to still be able to give a good performance and that’s what I’m trying to do with Paris.
“It’s probably harder than I thought it would be. Mentally, it is a lot harder. When I go away competing, or when I go away on camps, I never used to get homesick, and now I do.”
Her heat should be a mere formality on Friday morning. What her heat will provide, mind, is a first glimpse at the form of gold medal favourite Brock Whiston. Keane will get a closer look at the world record holder than almost everyone else in the field seeing as the Brit is drawn in the lane right next to her.
Whiston has been in and out of the SB8 breaststroke class over the years. Issues around her eligibility and classification meant she didn’t compete in Tokyo. At last year’s Worlds, she swam in the SB9 breaststroke class. There she finished fourth. Her time of 1:16.82 would have comfortably secured her gold in the SB8 class. For Paris, she returns to Keane’s SB8 call room.
The British swimmer has left-sided hemiplegia, which causes a weakness down that side of the body. In contrast to her Irish rival, however, Brock does have both arms and legs. Back in 2019, the year Whiston swam a 1:13.83 SB8 100m breaststroke world record that nobody has come near since, Keane described the classification system as “flawed”.
A third successive Paralympic podium is more than within Keane’s capabilities. But climbing once again onto the top step of that podium is unlikely in Whiston’s Paris presence.
A third successive Paralympic podium is also the design of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal.
The 46-year-old McCrystal, same as Keane, has long signalled that Paris is where she will dismount and sign off. And given herself and Dunlevy are not partnering on the road at these Games, this afternoon’s 1,000m time trial will be the second last occasion the three-time Paralympic gold-medal winning pair saddle up together.
Sunday’s 3,000m individual pursuit is when the curtain will fall on this famed partnership.
“I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for a decade now. It’s kind of surreal, to be honest,” says pilot McCrystal.
“It’s been a long journey and I’m just really proud of what I have done in the sport. I’ve dedicated myself completely to this and I’ve given everything. Some people don’t realise the commitment you have to give as a pilot. I have been training for six days a week every week for the past ten years.
“It’s been tough, but I am so proud that I never wavered or took a step back. I’m 46 now, so I have been pretty much the oldest in training camps for a few years now. Doubts began to creep into my head and I wondered was I past it, but I just came to a realisation that all of those doubts were bullshit and I refused to allow age to become a barrier.”
Katie-George is four years Eve’s junior. And while no retirement notice has been issued in advance of these Games, one wonders for how much longer the 42-year-old can remain a market leader in a sport she, along with McCrystal and more lately Linda Kelly, has dominated for a decade.
The sentiments of Keane ring true for all three.
“The Irish people have been great supporters of mine throughout the years and I think it’s nice for them to know when it is time, so that they can say goodbye with me.”
The goodbye begins today.
Archery, Women’s Individual Compound Open elimination round, Kerrie Leonard v Jiamin Zhou (Chn)
Rowing, PR2 Mixed Double Sculls Heat 1, Katie O’Brien and Tiarnán O’Donnell
Swimming, Women’s SB8 100m Breaststroke Heat 2, Ellen Keane
Cycling, Men’s C4-5 1,000m Time trial qualifying, Ronan Grimes
Cycling, Women’s B 1,000m Time trial qualifying, Katie-George Dunlevy/Eve McCrystal, Josephine Healion/Linda Kelly
Cycling, Men’s C4-5 1,000m Time trial final, Ronan Grimes (pending qualification)
Cycling, Women’s B 1,000m Time trial final, Katie-George Dunlevy/Eve McCrystal, Josephine Healion/Linda Kelly (pending qualification)
Athletics, Women’s T13 1,500m final, Greta Streimikyte
: Swimming, Women’s S13 100m Backstroke final, Roísín Ní Riain
Swimming, Women’s SB8 100m Breaststroke final, Ellen Keane (pending qualification)