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McKillop wins athletics Gold in 800m event in Beijing

Wednesday 10th September 2008

Magnificent opening ceremony at Beijing 2008 in front of 90,000 spectators (Courtesy PCI)

Tremendous celebrations followed two outstanding performances by Irish athletes in the Paralympic Games 2008.

Earlier today (Irish time), Michael McKillop, the nineteen year old athlete from Northern Ireland, won gold in the 800m event on the track (T37 class) at Beijing 2008 today, in a world record time of 1:59:39, beating his own time, which he had set at the IPC World Championships in 2006, by nearly three seconds. Michael is a CP Sports athlete from Belfast and is coached by his father Paddy.

This is the second medal for the Irish team, following Gabriel Shelley’s achievement in winning bronze in Boccia yesterday. Gabriel is a Carlow man and also represents CP Sports.