Paris 2024: Orla Comerford dreaming big after bagging bronze

When Orla Comerford burst onto the scene in 2016, it was evident to those within Irish athletics that the 18-year-old had a high ceiling.

The Rio Games placed her on the global stage, reaching a Paralympic final and serving notice that a podium position in Tokyo was a realistic ambition.

What transpired however was something quite different. When the delayed Games finally came around, a torn hamstring just before her competition meant taking her place in her heat was a feat in itself.

Yet a final appearance was always unlikely, the death of her coach Brian Corcoran a huge blow given their close working relationship.

The planning involved in the next cycle has not been without its challenges either, the 2022 season a complete write-off with a hamstring injury that sidelined her for eight months.

With a career peppered with injuries, the ability to continually pick herself back off the canvas has been rewarded in the French capital, delivering bronze in the T13 100m.

"I'm absolutely delighted for her," Head of Paralympic Athletics James Nolan said.

"To see her winning a Paralympic medal eight years after coming into Paralympics Ireland’s Fast Track programme is fantastic.

"We always saw her potential. It is unusual for someone to stick with it through all those injuries over a long period of time, but she has got her reward for all the serious hard work and determination."

Róisín Ní Ríain's second medal of the Games added the the sense of occasion, with the Raheny Shamrock athlete only discovering the achievement of the Limerick swimmer from the assembled media.

"We are bronze sisters tonight," she said. "There has just been a great atmosphere, and that was something, I don't think we noticed that was lacking in Tokyo, everything