Pride and joy glitters gold

ONE throw changed so many things. "My life changed, but not me. I'm still the same person," says Bridie Lynch, gold medallist. In pre Atlanta times, the Russian her conqueror on so many occasions - would always nod in recognition, even mutter a greeting in her limited English. Always. But that was before Lynch won the discus event for visually impaired athletes in the 1996 Paralympic Games.

Bridie knows the Russian simply as Tamara, a personal acquaintance built up over years of being victor and vanquished. On 3 occasions prior to their duel in the heat of the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, Tamara was queen. Some reckoned she was invincible, an unbeatable discus thrower from the Steppes. On the fourth day of the Paralympics, last August, Lynch hurled the discus 37.14 metres to secure the gold medal. Tamara stopped saying "hello".

The gold medal was claimed only after years of hard work. "I knew I was a real contender when I threw the discus 41 metres at a meeting in Dublin in June, two months before the Games," recalls Lynch.

The winter hardship - when Lynch undertook up to five hours of intensive training each and every day - had started to pay dividends in early summer, but the woman from Lifford, Co Donegal, pinpoints an injury free run up to the Paralympics as equally important. "One injury, even a minor one, could have ruined everything," she says.

Bridie Lynch was the Irish star of the Paralympics in Atlanta, a Games marred by transport and organisational difficulties. "I didn't let anything bother me, I stayed very focused and ignored all the problems," she states. "I'd trained too hard to let anything get in my way." Her reward? A gold in the discus and a bronze in the shot putt.

"It took a while for the discus win to sink in. I had won numerous silver medals in previous major championships like the Europeans and the Worlds. But I had never won gold before: Tamara was always in the way."

Life has changed. She's met President Mary Robinson. Rubbed shoulders with the Taoiseach John Bruton. Bridie Lynch has travelled all over Ireland, invariably on her own, by bus, to this function and that. She's in demand to appear at Irish Countrywomen's Association meetings. To give talks to youngsters in youth clubs and athletic clubs. A sporting icon of the 90s.

In Donegal, she's toured one school after another, gold medal in hand. A bit like the way Anthony Molloy and Martin McHugh and others carted the Sam Maguire Cup around the county in 1992.

The interest isn't just confined to Ireland. Lynch has been invited to compete in "eight or nine international meetings" in Europe next summer and has also received an invite to compete in Canada, although she adds: "I don't know if I will be able to take up that offer."

The gold medal was the culmination of four years hard graft. "Bridie knew from Barcelona that the only way she could get that gold medal in Atlanta was to train exceptionally hard," says Declan Ward, the Chef de Mission to the Irish team.

And she did. Coach Eamonn Harvey drew up a schedule which was rigidly followed. Weights. Throwing. Circuits. Endurance work. Repetitive and all so necessary. When she competed in Atlanta, Bridie Lynch was in the best physical shape of her life.

I was virtually a full time athlete in the months before the Games - and that is the only way to prepare. In fact, most of the top athletes in other European countries are full time with large sporting bodies behind them. All they do is train and compete. I'm back to being a part time athlete - I'm working around 16 hours a week - but hopefully my achievement will enable me to secure a better sports grant and we are also hoping to finalise some sponsorship in the near future," she says.

"I've enjoyed the success. Everyone knows who I am, which is nice. The gold medal has changed my life, but not me as a person. I don't get carried away."

When the Paralympics take place in Sydney in 2000, Bridie Lynch will be 35 years old. "I don't know whether or not I will be able to defend my title, it will depend on the body," says Bridie. "I hope to be there. I feel myself I will be there. But four years is a long time in sport and anything - can happen. I have other things to think about in the meantime. The European Championships and the World Championships are more immediate targets.