THREE MEDALS IN 24 hours, then another near miss. Fourth again.
Róisín Ní Riain missed out on another podium in the SB13 100m Breaststroke at La Défense Arena tonight.
The Limerick teenage star leaves Paris as a double medallist; her 100m Backstroke silver and 200m Individual Medley bronze were sandwiched between two fourth-place finishes.
This was a superb Games for the vision-impaired swimmer, who holds an impressive record of reaching nine finals from a possible 10 in Tokyo and Paris.
Ní Riain opened her 2024 bid with a fourth-place finish in the 100m Butterfly last Thursday. There was no real disappointment on that occasion, but there certainly was here. This one was different. This one hurt.
“People were trying to put out that I was kind of disappointed after that, I definitely wasn’t, I was very happy with that swim but disappointed with this one,” she said this evening.
“I went in third [fastest qualifier] and came out fourth, so obviously that is not what I wanted but that’s just part of it. With the good swims, there are the bad swims as well. I can only learn from it.”
Ní Riain enjoyed a strong start, with the quickest reaction time of the field. She was fourth at the turn and looked to be gearing up for a typically-strong final 50m but her challenge faded as she clocked 1:19.16. She was marginally quicker in this morning’s heats, while her personal best is 1:18 flat from her European Championships win in April.
Not to be for Ní Riain this evening just missing out on another podium spot, but what a Games she has had.
— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 5, 2024
TWO medals and top four in all four events.
We are witnessing greatness and it’s only just the beginning.
Róisín Ní Riain…remember the name 🔥#TheNextLevel pic.twitter.com/UD8vpoNDI0
The 19-year-old rued a “very bad finish” afterwards, as Great Britain’s Rebecca Redfern stormed to glory in 1:16.02 and she was joined on the podium by USA duo Olivia Chambers and Colleen Young.
Bitter disappointment in the moment, but when Ní Riain steps back and the dust settles on Paris 2024, she will be extremely proud of her exploits.
“Coming here and getting two medals, that’s exactly what I wanted,” she reflected, though later added that she didn’t have a goal or target in mind in that sense.
“Definitely happy with that, obviously disappointed right now but I’ll be able to look back and I’ll be happy.
“I always have expectations of myself. I know what I’m capable of — I’m definitely capable of more than that swim there.
“Every time I get out to race, there’s something to learn. That’s why I love racing so much.”
Ní Riain was the only Irish athlete in action today, after the stunning highs of Tuesday and Wednesday at La Défense, Stade de France and Clichy-sous-Bois.
Ní Riain started the 24-hour medal rush, just over five minutes later Orla Comerford maintained it and yesterday, Katie-George Dunlevy — piloted by Linda Kelly — won her seventh Paralympic medal.
Ireland’s tally remains at five. This was another addition to the fourth-place list. A second for Ní Riain, with Ellen Keane and Greta Streimikyte also just short of the podium. That’s without mentioning the Olympians before them.
As pointed out by Dunlevy yesterday, all of Ireland’s medallists at this Paralympic Games are women with vision-impairments. Dunlevy spoke brilliantly about “inspiring the next generation in whatever they do, sport or anything else,” after her latest glittering gold.
Ní Riain echoed that message through her despondency. “Exactly what Katie said. It’s great to have that for us and for younger kids to be able to look up and see that, that’s really great as well.”
What is certain is Róisín Ní Riain will be inspiring the next generation for some time to come. This is only the beginning.
