Comerford spearheads five-person Paralympic athletics team for Paris

Paralympic veterans Orla Comerford and Greta Streimikyte will spearhead Ireland's five-person athletics team for the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Sprinter Comerford and 1500m runner Streimikyte will both be competing in their third Games respectively, and will be joined by shot putter Mary Fitzgerald who is looking forward to her second Paralympics, as well as debutants Shauna Bocquet and Aaron Shorten.

Raheny Shamrock athlete Comerford qualified the first female athletics slot for Ireland last July at the World Para-Athletics Championships, finishing fourth, just 0.06 seconds off the bronze medal in the 100m T13 final.

The sprinter has gone from strength to strength recently, dipping under 12 seconds for the first time at the National Senior Track and Field Championships when she lowered her PB to 11.90 in her T13 1500m event.

Streimikyte is also looking forward to a third Games, with fourth-place (Rio) and fifth-place (Tokyo) finishes to her name in the T13 1500m event.

Fitzgerald placed sixth in the women’s F40 shot put on her Paralympic debut in Tokyo with a best throw of 7.79m.

Debutants Bocquet and Shorten complete the line-up.

Galway native Bocquet will compete in three events in Paris, the T54 100m, 1500m and 5000m. She has set multiple personal bests over the last 12 months and has been invited to compete at various Diamond Leagues in Europe.

Carlow man Shorten is the sole male athlete on the athletics team and will compete in the T20 1500m.

Both Shorten and Bocquet made their major championships debut last summer at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.

The Games take place from 28 August until 8 September.

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