Orla Comerford
.jpg) Comerford at the 2024 Summer Paralympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 14 September 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Stargardt's disease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 100 metres 200 metres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Orla Comerford (born 14 September 1997) is an Irish Paralympic athlete who competes in sprinting events at the international level.[1][2][3] She has Stargardt's disease, which is an inherited retinal disease. Its main symptom is loss of visual acuity, uncorrectable with glasses.[4][5]
Comerford won a bronze medal in the 100 metres sprint in the T13 classification at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.[6]
Career
2016 Paralympics
At the age of 19, Comerford competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, running in the T13 100m. She finished 8th, qualifying for the final.[citation needed]
2018
At the 2018 European Para Championships in Berlin, she won two bronze medals, in the 200m and 100m events.[citation needed]
2020 Paralympics
Comerford finished 13th at the delayed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.[citation needed]
2023
Comerford finished 4th at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.[citation needed]
2024 Paralympics
Comerford won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris (the race was won in a World Record time by Lamiya Valiyeva of Azerbaijan).[7]
2025
She won the 60m Mixed Classification race at the 2025 European Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn.[citation needed]
She set a new 200m personal best of 24.61 at the 2025 Para athletics Paris Grand Prix, a week later she won at the Bislett Games in Oslo at the Oslo Diamond League, posting a new personal best of 11.87.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Orla Comerford - IPC Athlete Bio". ipc.infostradasports.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.[dead link]
- ^ "Orla Comerford - Paralympics Ireland". Paralympics Ireland. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "From Leaving Cert points to Paralympics: teen sprint sensation living the athletics dream". the42.ie. 3 September 2016. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "Orla Comerford". Paralympics. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Sahel, José-Alain; Marazova, Katia; Audo, Isabelle (February 2015). "Clinical Characteristics and Current Therapies for Inherited Retinal Degenerations". Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 5 (2) a017111. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a017111. ISSN 2157-1422. PMC 4315917. PMID 25324231.
- ^ The 42 (3 September 2024). "Orla Comerford wins T13 100m bronze, Ireland's second Paralympic medal in five minutes". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ rorycassidy (3 September 2024). "ORLA COMERFORD WINS T13 100M BRONZE AT PARALYMPIC GAMES". Athletics Ireland. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
External links
