The Irish athletes in action today
Jason Smyth
Athletics (100m)
Olympic Stadium, 9.35pm
The first step along the road to retaining the two gold medals he won in Beijing, this 100m semi-final will be a formality. Having run almost a second faster than everybody else in the field this season, he is the class of the competition.
John McCarthy
Athletics (Club throw)
Olympic Stadium, 10.00am
The 38-year-old from Dunmanway, Co Cork, is a reasonable shout for a medal here. Already a Paralympic medallist, having taken silver in the discus in Athens, McCarthy is ranked fourth in the 2012 world rankings for the club throw.
Heather Jameson
Athletics (Long jump)
Olympic Stadium, 10.08am
The youngest member of the Irish team, she just turned 15 in May and is taking part in her first Paralympics. Will get good experience of the stadium this morning in the long jump ahead of her main event – the 100m – which starts on Sunday.
Colin Lynch
Cycling (Pursuit)
Velodrome, 11.05am
Canadian-born rider who won a world title in the road race time trial last year. His best events will come next week but in the meantime he will aim at a decent performance here. Top four times out of 12 entrants go through to the medal races later this afternoon.
Enda Smyth
Cycling
Velodrome, 11.50
Finished 16th in yesterday’s 1km time trial but did so in a personal best and a national record time. Will look to continue the cycling team’s good run with a big performance in the C3 Pursuit.
Catherine Walsh Fran Miller
Cycling (1km Time Trial)
Velodrome, 9.30am
Formerly a track and field athlete and a veteran of four Paralympics (she won bronzes in the pentathlon in Sydney), Walsh and sighted pilot Miller are a real medal prospect here. The pursuit on Sunday is their specialised event but don’t rule out a big time trial performance this morning.
Katie-George Dunlevy Sandra Fitzgerald
Velodrome, 9.30am
A little in the shadow of Walsh and Miller but expected to put in a decent showing nonetheless. Dunlevy is a former rower for Britain who has been cycling for Ireland since 2011. Will possibly go better on the road next week than here.
Kevin du Toit, Anne Marie McDaid, Shane Ryan, Sarah Caffrey, Helen Arbuthnot (Cox)
Rowing (Mixed Coxed Fours)
Eton Dorney, 11.30am
Ireland’s first ever Paralympic rowing crew will take to the water at Eton Dorney but realistically their medal chances are slight. Having come fifth at the world championships for the last two years in a row, that would seem to be their level.
Seán Baldwin
Shooting (10m Air Rifle)
Royal Artillery Barracks, 9.00am
An army sergeant who lost his leg on a tour of duty in Liberia, Baldwin is Ireland’s first ever Paralympian shooter. Unlikely to make it through to the final here as only eight go through out of 30 but if he does manage it, he will be out again at 12.30.
Jonathan McGrath
Swimming (400m Freestyle)
Aquatic Centre, 9.30am
Another of the growing young breed of Irish swimmers, he trains at UL with Swim Ireland’s High Performance Unit. Although he has a world championships fifth place to his name, he will probably have to swim a personal best here to make the final.
Laurence McGivern
Swimming (100m Backstroke)
Aquatic Centre, 10.23am
Probably the most improved swimmer in the Irish team, the 19-year-old from Co Down took a full three seconds off his personal best last year, qualifying for the games along the way. Unlikely to make the final.
Bethany Firth
Swimming (100m Backstroke)
Aquatic Centre, 11.18am
Big chance of a medal here as the 16-year-old has the second best qualifying time of the 18 competitors. Firth won silver in the 200m freestyle at last year’s European Championships and has a real chance to go one better here. Her final will be tonight just after 7.30.
Rena McCarron Rooney
Table Tennis
ExCel Arena, 11.40
Unlucky in her opening match yesterday. Having lost the first set, she was only just pipped for the second and came back to win the third. But her French opponent put her away 11-8 in the fourth.
Can’t afford another defeat.
Eimear Breathnach
Table Tennis
ExCel Arena, 11.40
Got pretty soundly thrashed by her Italian opponent yesterday, going down 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 inside 15 minutes. Can’t let the game get away from her early again like that when she takes on Frenchwoman Florence Sireau this morning.
Philip Quinlan
Table Tennis
ExCel Arena, 12.20
Another who found the game slipping away from him before he got time to settle into it yesterday. Went 2-0 down very quickly but led in the third set before the enormous spin of his French opponent’s shots did for him. Faces British player Rob Davies here.
