Paris 2024: Pressure to the fore on Day One of Paralympics

After all the build-up, and Wednesday's spectacular opening ceremony, it was finally time to get down to action on Day 1 of the Paralympic Games.

For Team Ireland, the wait to add to 230 medals won since the inaugural Games will go on for another day at least.

At the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, Richael Timothy and Damien Vereker, pilot Mitchell McLaughlin, did all that could be asked of them in posting PBs, but it wasn’t enough to advance.

Martin Gordon, with Eoin Mullen piloting, finished 12th in the men's 4000m individual pursuit in an event where the world record was shattered twice during the heats, a further nod to the rapidly rising standards within para-cycling.

Further opportunities will present themselves to Irish cyclists before the Games are out.

Pressure was a theme that surfaced on a number of occasions.

In her ranking event, archer Kerrie Leonard admitted that she struggled initially in dealing with the enormity of the Games.

She might not have the same luxury in Friday’s head-to-head elimination encounter with 2016 Olympic champions Jiamin Zhou, but the Meath woman believes it was always a possibility on Day 1.

Her second half scores at Esplanade des Invalides backed her up view that she managed to regather and refocus.

Over at the pool at La Defense Arena and a crestfallen Nicole Turner couldn’t hide her disappointment in her S6 50m freestyle final.

A silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, the expectations around the Laois woman have risen accordingly, not always an easy cross to bear.

"It’s hard reaching the top, but it’s a way herder to stay there," she said post-race. "When you get introduced into winning medals, it’s put on you then to stay good. It’s that bit harder."

The second Irish finalist in