Bring on a gold rush in London

Irish Paralympians aiming for five golds in biggest Games to date

TEAM Ireland is aiming for a five- star performance at the Paralympic Games which begin in London tomorrow – and targeting five golds.

In 2008 in Beijing the team brought home three gold medals but the ante has been upped this time out, Paralympics Ireland spokesman John Fulham declared.

And he reckons the feelgood factor of being close to home can be the key factor in the gold rush.

A four-time former Paralympian himself, Fulham said: ‘London is definitely special – there’s a positive feeling in the city... this feeling is totally different to Beijing.

‘The athletes are buzzing because of how it is to be in London. Beijing was all about scale whereas London is more personal. It has more character and you couldn’t be in a better city right now.’

The team’s 49 athletes will now become the focus of the nation’s hopes, with some more experienced than others.

Heather Jameson, from Garristown, Co. Dublin, will be participating in the 100metres, 200metres and long jump despite being only 15 years old.

The Ashbourne Community School student – who has cerebral palsy – has already had a busy year as she strove to qualify for London 2012, winning the 100metre Leinster Championship at Santry Stadium in April and breaking a 24-yearold Irish record

But even if she does come home with gold, Jameson will still have to hit the books and study for her Junior Cert next year.

Blind adventurer Mark Pollock, himself a double medal winner in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, has also predicted success for the team, saying: ‘The exciting thing is there are nine current world champions, there are world record holders and there’s a tenth athlete, Jason Smyth, who’s a double Olympic Gold medallist in the 100metres and 200metres.

‘Ireland have a team going out there who are going to come back with a whole range of medals, lots of them gold.’