CATHERINE HOPES IT WILL BE THIRD TIME LUCKY IN LONDON
CATHERINE O’Neill may not be one of the most physically imposing members of Team Ireland but she packs a big personality and a raft of experience into her 4ft 6in frame.
The mother-of-one, a Thalidomide victim, is heading into her third Paralympics as one of Ireland’s brightest medal prospects having captured a gold in discus and silver in club throw at the IPC World Championships in New Zealand last year.
These rewards reflected a lifetime’s commitment to athletic prowess and the promotion of disability sport in Ireland by the 36-year-old.
Hailing from New Ross in Wexford, O’Neill first tried her hand at athletics when she travelled to New York for a physically challenged sports camp in New York aged 12.
Bringing back a gold medal from the 1998 World Championships in Birmingham gave her the confidence to know that Paralympic glory was within her grasp, and form would indicate this could be her year.
She competed at her first Paralympics in Sydney 12 years ago and finished fourth in the discus, and at the Beijing Games of 2008 she came sixth.
However, it wasn’t until last year’s IPC World Championships in Christchurch that she seized the moment to vault onto the top tier of Irish medal prospects for London 2012. An inspired O’Neill won gold in the discus in New Zealand, and then added a surprise silver in the club throw.
‘Everything came together for me performance-wise in New Zealand. I could never have imagined coming away from the World Championships with a gold and a silver medal,’ she told the Gorey Guardian from her home in Caisleán Maol recently.
Turning her attention to London, she added: ‘My aim is to get on that podium or even if I get into a final any medal would do, but I’d love a gold.’ O’Neill has a son, Calum, who will turn seven tomorrow, on the day his mother goes on parade at the first Paralympic opening ceremony he will remember.
She is confident that the rest of the country will find the events of the next fortnight memorable, too.
‘Things have come a long way. People used to say to me, “Are you going to the Special Olympics?” and you try to differentiate between the two Games,’ she said.
‘This year, though, things have really come on a lot and Paralympians are getting recognition for being athletes.’