Irish Para Athletics thrive at AA Games

Led by team captain Molly Marshall, 23 IWA-Sport members competed at the AA Games in Coventry at the beginning of July.

Ahead of the games, Molly shared how honoured she felt to be leading her peers into the games as captain:

“It’s a great honour and privilege on being picked within such a big team to be captain. It’s nice that they recognise that I’m an experienced athlete and someone who can be a good role model and supportive to athletes who are newer”.

Members competed in field and track events, ranging from discus and shot put to running frame and sprint. There were medals collected and Personal Bests (PBs) achieved across the Irish contingent.

With 49 medals won between them in field events and 10 in track events, the young team of Irish Para Athletes excelled in Coventry, UK.

Amongst the winners was Hassan Benhaffaf, who was awarded the overall award of Most Outstanding Male Athlete. Almost a decade involved in Para Sport, he shared how special it was to be selected and how hard work pays off:

“When I heard them announce that I won the Most Oustanding Male Athlete of the weekend, I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been doing Para Athletics for almost nine years and it’s wins like this that make me see all my hard work paying off!”, He said.

Explaing that Para Sport provides so much more than collecting medals, Hassan tells how he and his brother are encouraging others to be active and get involved.

“Myself and my twin Hussein, always try to encourage others with a physical disability to try sports because it’s full of positives. It’s good for you socially, physically and mentally.”

Next in the Irish Para Athletics calendar is the National Championships at SETU Carlow on July 18th. With the Munster Games, the final Grand Prix of the season taking place at MTU Cork on August 15th.