Sport

Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Day 3: Róisín Ní Riain fifth in final; Ronan Grimes misses out on bronze

16-year-old was competing in third final in as many days; Colin Judge beaten by Russian

Ronan Grimes finished fourth in his qualifier for the men’s C4 4000m individual pursuit. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Fri Aug 27 2021 - 08:30
  • Cycling (track): Ronan Grimes narrowly misses out on a bronze medal; Richael Timoth sets latest PB.
  • Swimming: Róisín Ní Riain finished fifth in her third final of the Paralympics.
  • Table tennis: Colin Judge beaten by Russia's Vladimir Toporkov.
  • Equestrian: Michael Murphy and Kate Kerr-Horan both up in individual pursuit.
  • Archery: Kerrie Leonard 18th, sets up a head-to-head with India's Jyoti Jyoti on Sunday.

Cycling (track)

Wednesday saw Team Ireland open their medal account at the Tokyo Paralympics as Ellen Keane swam to a gold - and Ronan Grimes narrowly missed out on becoming the second Irish athlete to climb the podium this morning.

Galway native Grimes was up in the bronze medal match in the men’s C4 4000m individual pursuit after he clocked a PB time of 4:37.693 in qualification overnight.

And the 32-year-old was edged into fourth place by Colombia’s Diego German Duenas in his bronze medal race - Grimes clocked his second PB of the day with a time of 4.37.001 but missed out by just 1.394 seconds.

Elsewhere on the track this morning Richael Timothy set the latest Irish PB as she finished 10th in the C1-3 500m time trial, in a time of 42.485.

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Timothy has the time trial and road race still to come - and she has nodded to the galvanising effect Keane’s gold medal has had on Team Ireland.

She said: “I came to the track to get PBs and I did that. I can focus on the road now. I’m ready for the road.

“Last night was a boost for the whole Irish team. It’s not going to be Ireland’s only medal. Ellen is fully deserving, she’s a massive role model.”

Swimming

Another day and another final for Róisín Ní Riain - the 16-year-old finished fifth in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4.44.09 - 20.17 seconds behind gold medalist Anna Stetsenko of the Ukraine.

Ní Riain swam yet another PB in this morning’s heats, clocking 4.45.14 as she finished in third place.

Table tennis

After receiving a walkover yesterday Colin Judge was back in action this morning against Russia’s Vladimir Toporkov in the men’s singles at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.

Judge lost his opening match against China’s Zhao Ping 3-1 on Wednesday and he went down by the same score in his last-16 match, despite rallying to win the third set 11-3.

Archery

Kerrie Leonard is currently in 18th place in the women’s individual compound open competition - she shot a season best score of 657 to set up a head-to-head showdown with India’s Jyoti Jyoti on Sunday morning (2.25am).

After her opening effort, Leonard said: “It feels amazing to finally be able to call myself a Paralympian now, a bit surreal really.

“I was hesitant to use the moniker before today incase anything happened to rule me out so I’m just delighted now to have started my competition.”

Equestrian

Michael Murphy and his mount Cleverboy finished 18th out of 18 in the Grade I individual test at with a score of 61.429, while Kate Kerr-Horan begins her Games at 11.14am in the Grade III individual test.

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