24 Medal haul for Irish Transplant athletes in Nottingham!
What a super weekend in Nottingham for Transplant Sport Ireland who - on the back of their recent success at the European Sports Championships in Lisbon - won 24 medals at the British Transplant Games held in Nottingham August 1-4th. With a team of 8 adults, a team of 5 U18 athletes and a team of 2 living donors there was plenty of action! Winning 24 medals in total… 8 Gold, 9 Silver and 7 Bronze medals between them, they vividly showcased the power of Organ Donation.
On Thursday August 1st the U18s were in action with table obstacle race, ball throw, long jump, tennis and had victories in table tennis and the obstacle race. On Friday, Solomon Osho (at his first games) won Silver in the Table tennis competition and Kerry athlete Patrick O’ Connor took Bronze in the 5k Time trial. Saturday morning saw Football with 3 athletes out- Patrick o’ Driscoll, Liam Patterson and Solomon Osho all in action.
Across town West Cork man, Mike Keohane was defending his title in the 5k Racewalk which he did in style, reclaiming the Gold in this event. In the pool, Living donor, Ivan Kinahan from Dublin won double Gold in the swimming individual and relay events, took Silver in the Long Jump and he went on to win the living donors’ 100m comfortably on Sunday.
There was a large Irish contingent at the 5k Run held in the beautiful grounds of Woolaton and Trevor Lynch (originally from Limerick but living in the UK) taking Silver, U18 athlete Laura McDowell, from Dalkey took Gold in this 5k, and Peter O’ Reilly also from Dublin coming in fourth. Living donor Ivan Kinahan won Gold in both individual and relay swimming, Silver in the Long Jump and finished off Sunday with Gold in the 100 sprint!
Mike Keohane won Silver in the shot put, followed it up with Gold in the Discus and ended his day with Silver in the 400m, bringing home 4 medals. Trevor Lynch successfully defended his 800m and 1500m titles, adding two Golds giving him an impressive takeaway of 2 Golds and Silver from the Games. Patrick O’ Driscoll from Ahiohill West Cork won Bronze in an incredibly fast 100 metres and also won Bronze in the Long Jump. Newcomers Peter O Reilly and Liam Patterson took Bronze in the 200m and 800m respectively.
The U18 Team of Laura McDowell, Sam Kinahan, Tadhg McElroy, Sam Kinahan, Shéa Donnelly and Iarla Fahy Rabbit also won a haul of medals adding to the 2 Silver in table tennis and 1 bronze in obstacle race of the previous day. They won also Gold in ball throw, Bronze in football, Silver in High Jump and Silver in long jump, Bronze in 200m giving the Under 18 team a Total of 2 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze medals.
This great siuccess comes less than a week after Transplant Sport Ireland competed at the European Sports Championships in Lisbon, Portugal bringing home bringing home a staggering 65 medals, consisting of 28 Gold, 21 Silver and 7 Bronze medals. But the Transplant Team knows well that these Games are not about medals. Instead the event allows athletes to honour their donor and all donor families, meet fellow transplant recipients and stay fit and healthy thus celebrating the great gift of life.
If you’d like to join Transplant Sport Ireland, just email them at transplantsportireland@gmail.ie
They urge everyone to Have the conversation and say Yes to Organ Donation.
FULL TEAM competing at British Tranplsnat Games
Adult Team: Mike Keohane (Rosscarbery, West Cork), Trevor Lynch (Limerick & UK), Patrick O’ Connor (Killarney), Patrick O’ Driscoll (Ahiohill, West Cork), Solomon Osho (Dublin), Peter O’ Reilly (originally from Baldoyle), Liam Patterson (Limerick & West Cork) and Team Manager Harry Ward (Baldoyle)
U18 Team: Shéa Donnelly, Sam Kinahan, Tadhg McElroy, Laura McDowell and Iarla Fahy Rabbit with Team Manager Aoife O’ Gorman
Living Donor athletes: Ivan Kinahan and Clidhna Costello.