First Athlete from Northern Ireland Set to Compete in 2010 Paralympic Winter Games
Kelly Gallagher from Bangor has become the first ever athlete from Northern
Ireland to be selected to compete in the Winter Paralympics. Kelly, a
partially sighted athlete, will fly out on Wednesday to Vancouver, Canada
to compete in the Alpine Skiing events with her guide Claire Robb at the
Paralympic Winter Games which will run in the city from 12-21st March 2010.
Kelly, who has just returned from competition in Spain, is 1 of 7 athletes selected
to represent ParalympicsGB at the Winter Games. A relative newcomer to the
GB set up, Kelly is certain to be a huge asset to the team.
Kelly is currently funded under the Sport Northern Ireland Athlete
Support Programme and supported by the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland.
Kelly is also supported by Disability Sports NI and speaking on behalf of
the organisation is Elaine Reid, Kelly’s Performance Manager, “Everyone from DSNI
is delighted that an athlete from Northern Ireland has been selected to compete
in Vancouver, this will be the first time anyone local has made it onto the
Winter Paralympic stage and we’re very excited to see Kelly perform.
ParalympicsGB is always a very competitive squad so for such a new athlete
to break onto the team is already a great achievement”
Kelly said, “It’s a dream come true to be representing ParalympicsGB in
Vancouver. The last few months have been very intense and I put everything I
had into my training so I’m really pleased that all the hard work has paid off.
I’ve been training full time in preparation for the Winter Paralympics and I
just couldn’t have done this without the financial backing of Sport NI who have
been with me every step of the way and the support of SINI who have helped
keep me fit and injury free. It’s been a real team effort and I hope I can do them
all proud in March.”
For further information contact:
Joanne O’Hagan
Disability Sports NI
Tel: 028 9038 7062 Email: johagan@dsni.co.uk
Notes to Editor:
Disability Sports NI is Northern Ireland’s main disability sports
organisation representing the vast majority of disability sports groups and clubs. The organisation works to provide people with disabilities in Northern Ireland
with the same opportunities as non-disabled people to participate fully in sport
and physical activity. The organisation annually runs programmes and events,
which benefit disabled adults and children with physical, sensory and
learning disability.
|
