At the end of last month Belfast man Michael McKillop entered the Paralympics Ireland Hall of Fame at their post-Paris Ball at the RDS.
It was a fitting reward for the 34-year-old who has been a terrific ambassador for para-sport in Ireland down the years.
Michael had a decorated career on the track competing in the T37/38 class in the 800m and 1500m at three Paralympic Games and winning four gold medals. He also won several medals at European and World level.
Michael was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy just before his third birthday but was always determined to not use that as a barrier to success. He looks at his condition as a difference not a disability. Speaking to Irish Runner earlier this year he stressed the importance of always being the “best version” of himself.
His parents Catherine and Paddy were both athletes, and from the age of 12 Paddy as the PE teacher in Michael’s school, began coaching him. Prior to that at the age of 10 he had won the Ulster Schools Primary Schools Cross Country Championships, displaying his wonderful athletics talent.
McKillop won the Paralympic gold medal over 800m in 2008 setting a world record and the following year represented Ireland in the U20 Men’s race at the European Cross Country Championships on home soil in Santry.
The London Paralympic Games in 2012 will be an event he will always remember as he claimed double gold in the 800m and 1500m. What made the 1500m success even more memorable was that his mother Catherine presented him with the gold medal, the only mother to present her child with a medal at the Games.
Michael McKillop and Jason Smyth
Michael spent his career rooming with fellow Paralympic champion Jason Smyth and admits that if one of them won a gold medal, the other felt that they also had to win gold. After Smyth won the T13 100m and McKillop won the T37 800m at the London 2017 Para-Athletics World Championships, the pair did a memorable lap of honour together.
Michael is keen to point out that while success was important to his career the enjoyment, friendship and banter he had will always be memorable also.
Since retiring from competitive athletics after the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 he has remained a voice for Para-Sport. During the recent Paris Paralympic Games he was a regular on the RTÉ panel and is hopeful of seeing more reporters at para-sport events in the future something which he feels will benefit “Irish society” on the whole.
He is already looking forward to the Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028 acknowledging America’s worldwide reputation of holding massive sporting events with huge crowds.
His main message to readers however is simple: “Embrace people’s differences and encourage them to succeed.”
Irish Runner looks forward to seeing Michael’s continued impact on para-athletics and para-sport into the future and congratulates him on his well deserved recent recognition.
