Pat O’Leary – Men’s 200m KL3 semifinal

This is Pat O’Leary’s third race at the Paralympic Games. His journey began yesterday as he competed well in two opening heats, the Va’a and the Kayak.

He finished in fifth place in his heat for this event the last day but knows he will need to kick it up a notch to qualify for the final. The 48-year-old will want to improve on his best Paralympic result after finishing in sixth place overall in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

#ThrowbackThursday
⁣
⁣Pat O’Leary in action during the KL3 200m Final at Lagoa Stadium during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Patrick was the first Irish canoeist to compete at a Paralympic Games
⁣
⁣#TeamIreland #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/q7bjoR2pX5

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) October 15, 2020

He started this short, fast race in lane three with five other racers. The top three racers would qualify for the A final while the next three would to put in the B final.

The race got off to a hectic start with each paddle forcing the water back and the kayaks glided over the water. O’Leary maintained a strong speed that kept him in touching distance with the fastest racers.

Unfortunately, the Cork man’s impressive performance was not enough to qualify for the A final only half a second behind Germany’s Tom Kierey.

He finished in fourth place with a time of 42.203 and would go into the B final.

#ParaCanoe | #TeamIreland

Pat O'Leary #TheNextLevel | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ixlK2EPugl

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 1, 2021

There was very little turnaround between the semifinals and finals. Only an hour later, O’Leary lined out in lane four as one of the fastest competitors in the race.

He finished this race in a time of 42.416 seconds and this meant that he finished in an overall position of ninth for the kayak event.

It was a good day for O’Leary but he will hope to go one step further as he goes into the Va’a semifinals tomorrow morning.

The post Paralympic Canoe: O’Leary wins B final for ninth place finish appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Signing off until racing is done. Talk on the far side pic.twitter.com/rokHHnNCIN

— Patrick O'Leary (@eentjebeen) September 1, 2021

Patrick O’Leary – Men’s Kayak Single 200m – KL3 Heat 1

Ireland’s leading Paralympic canoer had a busy morning in Tokyo with two important races in the space of an hour and a half. His first race began at 02:00 Irish time and the Irishman went in lane six.

The 48-year-old was in a very diverse race including the three-time world champion Tom Kierey. This is a very fast and energetic event and this race was no different.

O’Leary started well, remaining with the main group in the beginning. At the halfway mark he began to drop off into the sixth position but showed true fitness in the final sprint to push into fifth and qualify for the semi-finals.

He finished in a time of 43.502 but did not have a lot of time to celebrate as he had to prepare for his second race of the day.

本日 #パラカヌー スプリント男子KL3予選、VL3予選に出場するパトリック・オレアリー選手は、リオ2016大会でアイルランドを代表する初のパラカヌー選手となりました。

アスリートである一方、彼はアイルランド国立大学ゴールウェイ校で有機化学を教えています。Ádh mór (Best of luck), Pat pic.twitter.com/zHhRYTBGVw

— アイルランド大使館 Ireland in Japan (@IrishEmbJapan) September 2, 2021

Men’s Va’a Single 200m – VL3 Heat 1

Only 80 minutes later and O’Leary was at the starting line, raring to go and qualify for another semi-final.

He continued his stellar form into this traditionally Samoan-style race, as he got off to a speedy start. He always remained within touching distance of the leading rider and the 48-year-old finished the race in a time of 54.70 seconds.

This time earned him a fifth place which is good enough to qualify for the Va’a semi-finals this Saturday.

Now that O’Leary has found his form reaching two semi-finals at the Paralympics, there is more hope that he can better his Paralympic best, which was sixth in Rio 2016.

#ParaCanoe Patrick O’Leary has qualified for the semi-finals of the VL3 Va’a on Saturday after finishing 5th in his heat in a time of 54.70 seconds #TeamIreland | #TheNextLevel | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/YqqzHLx4l0

— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) September 2, 2021

The post Paralympic Canoe: O’Leary qualifies for two semi-finals appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Crushing result for Liam Jegou in the canoeing slalom semi-final – was by far the fastest of the first 5 men through 2/3 of the run before missing a gate. Was on for a huge result before that. His Olympics is over.#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/QJHhPFbPpj

— Cathal Dennehy (@Cathal_Dennehy) July 26, 2021

Jegou came into today’s C-1 Canoe Slalom in high spirits, full of confidence from his good run in the qualifying round that saw him in the top 15 places.

He was to be the fifth person down the artificial rapids stream after Swiss athlete Thomas Koechlin.

Jegou would have to make it through 25 gates in total without making missing one and with as few errors as possible.

He started his one and only attempt very fast and controlled, swerving through each gate. He made good time on the double reverse gates leaving him in a good place on the second half of the race.

After 22 gates he looked on course for a great time until a poor mistake mistake ruined his run. He misjudged the rapid waves as his oar struck the side of the gate and he failed to get his head cleanly between the gates.

This would result in a 50 second penalty and he knew his tournament was over. The dejected Jegou missed another gate in disappointment as he crossed the finish line.

The errors would leave him last in the semi-finals but it was very close to being another great run.

The 25-year-old still has many more great years of canoeing ahead of him. He has already won gold at the 2019 C-1 World Cup event in Pau and finished sixth at this years World Cup.

#Canoe Disappointing exit for Liam Jegou in the #CanoeSlalom Semi-Finals, two mistakes on course left him in 15th place on a score of 208.39. This is not the last we will see of him as he sets his sights on the future, WATCH THIS SPACE! #TeamIreland in #Tokyo2020

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) July 26, 2021

For those of you that are more interested in the canoeing, France’s Martin Thomas and Australia’s Daniel Watkins finished top two in the semi finals then.

The final took place less than two hours later in which Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek took home gold in a staggering time of 98.25. The Czech Republic’s Rohan and Germany’s Tasiadis would take silver and bronze respectfully .

The women’s semi-final and final will take place tomorrow morning at 06:00 in the Kasai Slalom Centre.

The post Olympic Canoe: Last second heartbreak for Ireland’s Jegou appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.