Orla Comerford

Started: She began the sport at age six at Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club in Dublin, Ireland. "As a kid I kept up multiple sports including basketball, gymnastics, tennis and more but around the age of 15/16 I decided in order to achieve what I wanted to in athletics I would need to put all of my time and focus there, and that's what I did." (caracentre.ie, 06 Sep 2020; Athlete, 20 Aug 2018) Reason: She began training with her mother's friend, who was a coach at the Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club in Dublin, Ireland. "When I was younger I always wanted to tell people I wanted to be a runner when I grew up but I never really believed it. I knew people would say I could do it but I never thought I could. I couldn't see the marks in sailing, and in tennis I couldn't see the ball, so those fell away. But athletics was always my passion. I was always such a sporty kid and no one was like, 'You're not able to do this anymore'. I loved athletics so much, I was willing to put in the work and face the challenges I came up against." (caracentre.ie, 06 Sep 2020; rsvplive.ie, 29 Nov 2018; independent.ie, 11 Oct 2017; the42.ie, 03 Sep 2016) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (thejournal.ie, 24 Jan 2024) Awards: She and table tennis player Colin Judge were named as Ireland's flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (irishcentral.com, 16 Aug 2024) Additional Info: RUNNING FOR LATE COACH Her former coach Brian Corcoran passed away shortly before she competed at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Having sustained an injury just before the Games, she said she was motivated to push through and still compete in Tokyo by the memory of Corcoran. "It was a huge loss to everyone who knew him. For me, the goal was to be there [Tokyo] and to make Brian proud. I wanted to look back at this like at least I gave it a bit of a go. I lined up, raced, finished it." (hersport.ie, 06 Jul 2023; RTE Sport Facebook page, 31 Aug 2021; paralympics.ie, 16 Aug 2021)