WITH FOUR DAYS left before Sunday’s closing ceremony, the action continued in a very wet Toko overnight.
The Irish Eye
A double for Cork? Pat O’Leary qualified for the semi-finals in both of his canoeing competitions, the KL3 200m and the VL3 200m, despite competing in biblical rain in Tokyo.
The Leeside paddler — sixth in the kayak final in Rio five years ago — eased into tonight’s KL3 semi-finals in his first race.
He finished fifth in a time of 43.502 in a heat won by the reigning KL3 champion Serhii Yemelianov in 40.766 who was followed across the line by the Rio silver and bronze medallists, Calo Ribeiro de Carvalho (Brazil) and GB’s Tom Keiry.
Ninety minutes later the Galway-based chemistry lecturer was back on the water at the rain-swept Sea Forest Waterway for the inaugural heats in the Va’a discipline, a new event raced in a canoe with an outrigger and just one paddle.
He qualified safely in fifth position in a time of 54:470. The semi-finals are on Saturday morning.
“They were both good races,” said O’Leary. “I got a really good race in the Va’a, had a bit of a wobble in the middle so that’s something to work on but I got it back together again towards the end in a fairly stacked heat so I’m pretty happy with that.
“The KL3 was also stacked but in some ways I’d prefer to have those guys in the heat because that means I’ll avoid them in the semi when I get the draw later on.
“It’s great to get those first races done because generally speaking I improve as regattas go on. Only the winners went straight through to the final so the stakes were relatively low and getting a hit out at no cost to me was really important.
“I have a better idea of where I am in the kayak and think I’ll be there or thereabouts in terms of making the A final. The problem with the Va’a is that there’s a lot of non-Europeans in them that we hadn’t seen yet this year and they were showing some style out there today. Just looking forward to the semi-finals now.”
Advertisement
Ireland’s Patrick Flanagan. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
In the pool, Patrick Flanagan made his bow in the Games, as the last of the Irish Para Swim team to make their first appearance at Tokyo 2020. The Sligo man recorded a strong time of 5:40.48 as he came home in 7th place in his S6 400m Freestyle Heat.
“My mum is probably like going crazy right now, he said afterwards, “I’m just so happy to be here and they were so good to me.”
Barry McClements brought the curtain down on his Games meanwhile, with his favoured 100m Butterfly event.
He was left despairingly short of a third place finish that would likely have seen him qualify through to the final.
“I always knew I would final here and I did final,” the Ards man said. “I can’t beat myself up too much, but, looking forward to Paris, and yeah I have full confidence in myself that I will be on the podium there.”
Who else is making the headlines?
Dame Sarah Storey became Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian after fighting back to take the 17th gold medal of her career.
Cycling star Storey powered home in the C4-5 road race to move past the 16-gold tally of former swimmer Mike Kenny, who she had matched on Tuesday by winning the C5 time trial.
On a glittering morning for Great Britain amidst the rain and gloom at the Fuji International Speedway, there was also a British one-two in the men’s C1-3 event, with Benjamin Watson taking ahead of compatriot Fin Graham.
This is amazing. Manuel Antonio Vaz da Veiga, guide to Cape Verde’s Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo, popped the question after the women’s T11 200m heats.
Picture of the Day
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug on his way to winning the Men’s T54 Round 1 – Heat 2 in the wet at the Olympic Stadium (John Walton/PA)
Big moment
Zakia Khudadadi, one of two Afghanistan team members who arrived in Tokyo following a dramatic evacuation from Kabul, fought in the Paralympics’ first-ever taekwondo match on Thursday morning.
The martial art, one of two new sports at the Tokyo Games, kicked off a day after badminton made its long-awaited first appearance.
Khudadadi looked stoic as she emerged from behind a curtain for her bout against Uzbekistan’s Ziyodakhon Isakova as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared out of speakers around the arena.
The Afghan won the first round 6-5, but fell behind in the second, eventually losing the match 17-12. She has another chance to advance in the afternoon’s repechage round.
- additional reporting AFP, Press Association and Paralympics Ireland
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Paralympic Breakfast: Pat O'Leary paddles on as Patrick Flanagan takes the stage
WITH FOUR DAYS left before Sunday’s closing ceremony, the action continued in a very wet Toko overnight.
The Irish Eye
A double for Cork? Pat O’Leary qualified for the semi-finals in both of his canoeing competitions, the KL3 200m and the VL3 200m, despite competing in biblical rain in Tokyo.
The Leeside paddler — sixth in the kayak final in Rio five years ago — eased into tonight’s KL3 semi-finals in his first race.
He finished fifth in a time of 43.502 in a heat won by the reigning KL3 champion Serhii Yemelianov in 40.766 who was followed across the line by the Rio silver and bronze medallists, Calo Ribeiro de Carvalho (Brazil) and GB’s Tom Keiry.
Ninety minutes later the Galway-based chemistry lecturer was back on the water at the rain-swept Sea Forest Waterway for the inaugural heats in the Va’a discipline, a new event raced in a canoe with an outrigger and just one paddle.
He qualified safely in fifth position in a time of 54:470. The semi-finals are on Saturday morning.
“They were both good races,” said O’Leary. “I got a really good race in the Va’a, had a bit of a wobble in the middle so that’s something to work on but I got it back together again towards the end in a fairly stacked heat so I’m pretty happy with that.
“The KL3 was also stacked but in some ways I’d prefer to have those guys in the heat because that means I’ll avoid them in the semi when I get the draw later on.
“I have a better idea of where I am in the kayak and think I’ll be there or thereabouts in terms of making the A final. The problem with the Va’a is that there’s a lot of non-Europeans in them that we hadn’t seen yet this year and they were showing some style out there today. Just looking forward to the semi-finals now.”
In the pool, Patrick Flanagan made his bow in the Games, as the last of the Irish Para Swim team to make their first appearance at Tokyo 2020. The Sligo man recorded a strong time of 5:40.48 as he came home in 7th place in his S6 400m Freestyle Heat.
“My mum is probably like going crazy right now, he said afterwards, “I’m just so happy to be here and they were so good to me.”
Barry McClements brought the curtain down on his Games meanwhile, with his favoured 100m Butterfly event.
He was left despairingly short of a third place finish that would likely have seen him qualify through to the final.
“I always knew I would final here and I did final,” the Ards man said. “I can’t beat myself up too much, but, looking forward to Paris, and yeah I have full confidence in myself that I will be on the podium there.”
Who else is making the headlines?
Dame Sarah Storey became Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian after fighting back to take the 17th gold medal of her career.
Cycling star Storey powered home in the C4-5 road race to move past the 16-gold tally of former swimmer Mike Kenny, who she had matched on Tuesday by winning the C5 time trial.
On a glittering morning for Great Britain amidst the rain and gloom at the Fuji International Speedway, there was also a British one-two in the men’s C1-3 event, with Benjamin Watson taking ahead of compatriot Fin Graham.
She said yes
This is amazing. Manuel Antonio Vaz da Veiga, guide to Cape Verde’s Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo, popped the question after the women’s T11 200m heats.
Picture of the Day
Big moment
Zakia Khudadadi, one of two Afghanistan team members who arrived in Tokyo following a dramatic evacuation from Kabul, fought in the Paralympics’ first-ever taekwondo match on Thursday morning.
The martial art, one of two new sports at the Tokyo Games, kicked off a day after badminton made its long-awaited first appearance.
Khudadadi looked stoic as she emerged from behind a curtain for her bout against Uzbekistan’s Ziyodakhon Isakova as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared out of speakers around the arena.
The Afghan won the first round 6-5, but fell behind in the second, eventually losing the match 17-12. She has another chance to advance in the afternoon’s repechage round.
- additional reporting AFP, Press Association and Paralympics Ireland
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
paralympics pat o'leary Tokyo