Orla Comerford - her third Paralympics

by Perri Williams

On your marks … set … bang! The staring pistol fires. Ten athletes face100m – a straight line, all the way to the finish. Rhasidat Adeleke can see that line, the place where the posts are, the clock, the officials. Beyond that point, facing the fast-moving athletes head on are the photographers, with the camera’s pointed. Waiting for that moment. The moment of joy as an athlete realizes their victory. The moment of disappointment when they realise their loss or the moment of blunder, where the athlete falls across the line, landing in some contorted shape with the grimace of pain creating an interesting expression on their faces. Photographers especially love those sadistic moments. It could be an award-winning snap.

Rhisadat Adeleke looked down the straight as she lined up on that start line. A quick glance. She saw everything. Beside her in lane 5, Sarah Leahy saw the same. Molly Scott, Sarah Lavin, they all surveyed the spot they needed to aim for. Out in lane 1 Orla Comerford (Raheny Shamrocks AC) didn’t see any of that. She knew she had to run 100m and she kept running until she was aware of a vague outline of a finish post. Countless times she had ran that 100m in training. The white lines on the blue track – the worst kind of surface she could think of. The lines are hard to see. They blur indiscriminately into some morphed haze that becomes the track itself. For Orla Comerford, her visual impairment (Stargardt’s disease, a degenerative condition that affects her central vision) means she navigates the end goal a little differently than the other nine girls.

Adeleke crosses the line with a new national record. Sarah Lavin, is ever gracious in defeat. Orla could hear the buzz around her. “What did I run? Somebody tell me.” A short scream of delight could be heard after Ciara Nevell said something to her. She certainly did scream and was the wearer of the biggest grin on her way back to the exit gate, with Ciara Nevell congratulating her in the process. She knew she had run a good race – her first National Senior 100m final. Comerford had run 11.90 her first time to break the 12.00 second barrier. She had a lot to smile about. The road to Paris was shaping up nicely. It was a long time coming.

Back in 2016 the then leaving cert student had taken on a lot. Her leaving cert, preparing a portfolio for the national college of art and design. Then there was the determination to qualify for Rio. Some said she was mad to take on so much with her vision impairment. But Comerford does not do nay-sayers. She defies the negativity and in the face of adversity she thrives. Tell her she will not be able to do something, and she will do it out of sheer determination. At 18 years of age she qualified for her first Paralympics and finished 8th in the final.

Her classification is T13, the lowest impairment of the three visually impaired categories. T13 athletes do not need a guide. T12 can choose and T11 need a guide. They also need to wear a mask over their eyes. In 2018, she won a bronze medal at the European Championships in the 100m and 200m, before going on to represent Ireland again at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. In between she had a long period of setbacks. Injury, then surgery saw her sidelined for the entire 2019. Then came covid, that further delayed her return to competition after the country went into lockdown. She did manage to qualify for Rio somehow, but did not advance to the finals.

Then began another four-year cycle. For the Paris 2024 Paralympics the goal was to qualify early and take the pressure off herself so she could concentrate on the build up to the race itself. If she made the top four at the World Championships in Paris in 2023, she could avoid a further race in Tokyo in 2024 where two more automatic slots would be come available. There was further injures that sidelined her for 2022. However, 2023 saw improvements. Comerford made that automatic qualification, when she finished in 4th place at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championships in a final that went to a photo finish to separate the first two athletes. Comerford’s fourth place was only 0.06 of a second away from bronze.

Her 2024 season has been her best yet. With an upward trajectory in her performance, since she first broke the 12.00 barrier, she has done so again on two further occasions. On July 19th at the UCD meet and on August 18th at the Speed GP in London. Watching the Irish team at the Olympic Games in August helped to build up the excitement of her own competition. She received some good news during that period. She was one of two athletes chosen to be the flag bearer. The 26-year-old was honoured.

The moment has now come when she will face the 100m heats. Does she have expectations. Of course, she does and so well she should. Together with her coach Mick Hynes, they had planned for this moment. Tokyo had been a disaster. The surgery and the comeback, Covid, her long-time coach Brian Corcoran passing away. Paris is going to be different. Comerford wants a medal. She wants it badly. Currently she is ranked number one on seasons best, with only two other athletes having broken the 12.00 second barrier, so far this year. She is ranked third on all time personal bests. Leading that ranking is Spain’s Adiaratou Iglesias Forneiro. The Mali born Spaniard won the 100m and was runner up In the 400m in Tokyo. At the World Championships in Paris last year, she won the 200m and was second in the 100m. She has credentials. Comerford has determination. The results will speak for themselves.