Niamh McCarthy from Carrigaline wins Silver at Para Athletics World Championships

Irish athlete Niamh McCarthy has just won a Silver medal in the F41 Discus at the 2017 Para Athletics World Championships in London! Back in 2015, Niamh who is from Carrigaline won a Bronze medal in the same event in Doha.

Niamh is from Carrigaline in Co.Cork and is also a member of Eagle AC. As can be seen from the results below, Niamh effectively secured the Silver medal with her first attempt.

RTE News report

Niamh McCarthy of Carrigaline & Eagle AC wins Silver in the F41 Discus at Paralympic Games in Rio

Niamh McCarthy from Cork won a Silver medal in the Women's F41 Discus at the Paralympic Games on Thursday evening. The Carrigaline native who is a member of Eagle AC left it until the 5th round of throws to secure the Silver medal.

The chart below shows the progress of the competition and it was really between the top 5...three Tunisians, one Moroccan and Niamh.

In the first round, Niamh's first throw put her in the Bronze medal position. Her second attempt kept in that position but the distance was short of what she was capable of. By the time of the 4th round, it looked pretty grim as Niamh had slipped to 5th and that special throw seemed to elude her.

In the 5th round however, she nailed it with a throw of 26.67metres. The leader had a huge lead of nearly 7 metres and was never going to be caught. Niamh final throw would have been good enough to secure Bronze but in the end, that 5th round throw secured the Silver.

A remarkable performance for someone competing in their first Paralympic Games and only took up the sport recently.

Red FM interview with Paralympic atheltes Orla Barry and Niamh McCarthy

Now that the Olympics in Rio are out of the way, the Paralympics are up next in September. Orla Barry, Noelle Lenihan and Niamh McCarthy from Cork will be taking part in the athletics disciplines.

Before they leave for Rio, they had a quick chat with local radio station Red FM. You can download the podcast HERE ......listen from 29:43 on.

Cork Paralympic Athletes compete in Berlin Grand Prix last weekend

As part of their build up to the Paralympic Games in Rio in September, Cork athletes Orla Barry, Noelle Lenihan and Niamh McCarthy were part of an Irish squad that took part in a Grand Prix in Berlin last weekend.

From Paralympics Ireland........"All eyes turn to Rio as Para-Athletics squad finish off Grand Prix in Berlin. There were some good results from the Irish para-athletics squad this weekend as they competed in Berlin at the Para-Athletics Grand Prix.

Day One saw success for the Cork’s Noelle Lenihan took home a silver medal in the F38 Shot Put with a throw of 10.78m. Orla Barry continued her winning form as she took home another gold medal to add to her collection, winning first place in the F57 Discus final with a throw of 29.06m.

Day Two (Sunday, July 17th) saw more medals, with wins for Noelle Lenihan in the Discus final with a 31.04m throw, a win for Niamh McCarthy with a 22.79m throw in her Discus final.

"This competition was a valuable learning tool for our athletes," said Irish Para-Athletics team leader, James Nolan. "While there were no Personal Bests secured, many of the athletes achieved these when it mattered most - at Europeans last month. This competition was a good stepping stone to help them to focus their minds on the biggest competition of their lives in less than eight weeks' time in Rio."

Three Cork athletes selected for Paralympic Team for Rio

It has just been announced that three athletes from Cork will represent Ireland at the Paralympic Games in Rio in September. They are...

The London 2012 bronze medalist and World Championship silver medalist Orla Barry from Ladysbridge.

The World Championship silver medalist and world record holder, Noelle Lenihan from North Cork.

And the World Championship bronze medalist and European record holder Niamh McCarthy from Carrigaline.

The full Irish team can be seen HERE

Niamh McCarthy from Carrigaline wins Bronze at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha

Niamh McCarthy from Carrigaline in Co.Cork has won a bronze medal in the discus at the Paralympic Athletics World Championships in Doha. Competing at her first major championships, Niamh finished third with a best effort of 23.66 metres in the F41 class.