Sport

Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Day 6: Nicole Turner wins silver medal, Róisín Ní Riain finishes sixth

Kerrie Leonard beaten in her Para archery head to head 1/8 round match

Nicole Turner during her heat at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Mon Aug 30 2021 - 13:07
  • Swimming: Nicole Turner wins a silver medal, Barry McClements finishes seventh, and Róisín Ní Riain finishes sixth in their respective finals.
  • Archery: Kerrie Leonard's brilliant campaign in the Para archery comes to an end after head to head 1/8 round match.
  • Shooting: Philip Eaglesham finishes in 14th in the SH2 R4 qualifiers.

Swimming

Nicole Turner won Ireland's second medal in the pool after Ellen Keane, claiming a silver medal in the S5 50m butterfly final. It took a world record by her Chinese rival Yuyan Jiang to deny Turner the race win in their earlier heat, and she finished second to the same woman in the final. The 19-year-old touched home in 36.30 seconds.

"I thought I’d be in a fight for bronze here so to get silver, I’m just in shock! In those last few strokes all I was thinking was that it hurt badly but just keep going. No one will go down without a fight and I certainly gave it a fight."

Barry McClements finished in seventh place in the S9 100m backstroke final, securing a second personal best of the day. Earlier he qualifyied from his heat with a PB - his second in two events.

The 19 year-old from County Down's new PB is 1 minute 5.76 seconds.

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“I’m very happy, I got a big PB across the day and made a final, that’s what I’m here to do, get PB’s and show myself that what I’m doing is working.”

Barry McClements after finishing fourth in the men’s S9 100m backstroke heats. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Ireland's youngest and busiest Paralympian, Róisín Ní Riain, finished sixth in the S13 200m individual medley final.

The 16-year-old was in fourth place after the butterfly and backstroke legs but lost ground in the penultimate breaststroke leg, finishing in sixth after the freestyle finish. Her time of 2:34.12 was just outside her personal best. The Limerick swimmer finished third in her earlier heat, in a time of 2:34.24.

“I’m quite disappointed because my PB is 2:33 but I’ve had a lot of events and a few finals so far. It’s just about putting your head down and focussing each race one at a time and I have a day off tomorrow and then the 100m breaststroke on Wednesday.”

Overall it was a good day for the Irish team in the pool, with all three reaching the finals session and Turner taking the silver medal.

Archery

Kerrie Leonard's brilliant Paralympic Games experience is over after she lost out to Stepanida Artakhinova of the Russian Paralympic Committee. Leonard was in contention throughout the head to head 1/8 round match until the third end where she shot a costly 24 compared to her opponent's 29.

Kerrie-Louise Leonard is Ireland’s first archer in a Paralympic or Olympic Games in 13 years. Photograph: Simon Bruty/PA

Leonard did manage to win the next end with a superb 29 but the damage had already been done and Artakhinova was able to see it out for the win. Leonard was pleased with her first Paralympic experience and is already looking forward to more:

“It’s amazing to have made the last 16 in the Paralympics and it shows, if you’re given the opportunity, just how much you can do if you go for it.”

Shooting

Appearing at his second Paralympics, Phil Eaglesham produced a PB performance to finish with a score of 626.6 in the SH2 R4 qualifiers, adding 3.9 to his total. It left the Dungannon-born 39 year-old in 14th place overall.

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