Eight Irish athletes competed over the weekend at the Czech Open Championships, reeling in medals to bring back to Ireland across the event.

Most of the Irish athletes competed in day one, with action taking place in discus, sprint and javelin. Starting proceedings for Team Ireland were Ella Sherlock and Trix Schwedler in the discus event.

Team Ireland prepare for departure for the Czech Open Championships 2023

Sherlock put in a solid effort, with her best throw recorded at 13.88m, which was rewarded with a silver medal in the U17’s F37 classification. While Schwedler obliterated her previous personal best of 14.84m, with her best throw recorded at 17.23m, sealing a gold medal in the F44 classification.

Shortly after, Ella was lining up for the 100m sprint for her second event of the weekend. It was a second place finish for Sherlock, claiming another silver medal, clocking a time of 20.03s in the process.

The first of the men to compete over the weekend, Aryell Sheedy was on the track for the first of three races in the men’s 100m sprint. Completing the race in 13.8s, Sheedy picked up a gold medal on his first outing in Olomouc.

Returning to discus on the Friday and next in action were Dale Barry-O’Sullivan, Steven Bradley and Ray O’Dwyer in the Open, while Jack O’Connor competed in the U17s.

Competing in the F36 class, Bradley’s best throw was recorded at 20.18m to land himself in amongst the medals, picking up bronze. O’Dwyer in the F35 class placed second, to claim the silver medal with a best throw of 25.34m.

Cork man, Barry-O’Sullivan competing in the F37 class, came away with a new personal best and a bronze medal too. His new PB now being 16.17m, previously 16.07m.

Jack O’Connor followed in Dale’s footsteps when competing in the U17 F34 class, also setting a new PB. His previous best being 13.85m, this was bested by almost a full meter, landing at 14.80m to claim bronze.

Trix Schwedler, Ella Sherlock, Aryell Sheedy at the Czech Open

Shane Curran competed in the shotput event as his teammates were setting new personal bests in discus. Competing in the F57 class, Curran’s best throw of the day was recorded at 7.15m, just missing out on a medal on this occasion.

In Steven Bradley’s second event, he took to the track for the 800m sprint. Finishing with a time of 3.09, it saw Bradley add to his medal collection, this time claiming silver.

Next on day one was a return to action for both Sherlock and Schwedler in the javelin event. Ella Sherlock made it a hattrick of silver medals, with a second place finish and a best throw of 13.88m in the U17s competition.

While Trix Schwelder recorded a best throw of 13.19m, landing herself a bronze medal for her efforts.

Closing out day one of the Czech Open Championships, Bradley, Barry-O’Sullivan and O’Dwyer all took part in the men’s javelin.

Steven Bradley’s best throw landed at 11.13m in the F36 class, while Dale Barry-O’Sullivan set a new personal best in the F37 class, with a throw of 14.17m, beating his previous PB of 13.99m. Unfortunately for both men, despite strong efforts, wasn’t enough to place amongst the medals.

Ray O’Dwyer was awarded a bronze medal in F35, as his best throw was measured at 21.36m, drawing a close to day one.

Updated 29th August

Day two would feature seven of the eight Team Ireland athletes at the Championships, with Ella Sherlock and Trix Schwedler first up in the shot put. Sherlock competing in the F37 under 17 class, her best result came in at 5.5m, with Schwelder in the F44 Open class landing her best throw of 5.68m, just .19 shy of her personal best.

Jack O’Connor was back in action, also competing in the shot put, in amongst the U17 F34 class, recording his best effort of 4.81m.

Eyes then turned to the 1500m sprint, as Steven Bradley competed in his final event of the weekend. Up against other T36 athletes, Bradley crossed the line in 6.27.58, just five tenths of a second away from matching his personal best.

Shortly after, Aryell Sheedy was back on track, competing in the T37 200m event. Up against six other competitors, Sheedy left them behind as he crossed the line to seal another gold.

Ray O’Dwyer wrapped up his weekend in Olomouc by competing in the F35 shot put. O’Dwyer closed out his appearance at the Czech Open Championships, with a best throw of 8.32m.

Aryell Sheedy lined up for his final race of the weekend, racing in the 400m event. Sheedy finished in style, with a new time of 62s and making it a hattrick of golds to bring back to Ireland.

Shane Curran’s final events were in the F57 discus and javelin. Curran’s best throws were marked with 16.77 in the discus and 15.71m in javelin.

The curtains came down on Team Ireland’s appearance at the Czech Open Championships when Jack O’Connor featured in the under 17 F34 javelin event. O’Connor registered a best attempt of 9.93m, concluding Ireland’s participation in Olomouc.

Want to see para athletes in action or even be part of the action? Then come and join us in SETU Carlow on Saturday 16th September from 10am for the Athletics Fest. The deadline to register is Sunday 9th September, at 11pm, just click here to register.