Catherine O'Neill born 4 December 1975) is a former

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

from Ireland who competed mainly in category F51

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

events.

Athletics career

O'Neil took up disability sport whilst at a sports camp in New York City at the age of twelve. She first represented Ireland at a major international tournament at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

during the

1998 IPC Athletics World Championships 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, winning gold in the F51 women's discus throw. O'Neil competed at three Summer Paralympic Games during her career, starting at the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

at Sydney. Initially specializing in the discus, show progressed in her later career to also entering

club throw The club throw is an athletic throwing event where the objective is to throw a wooden club. The event is one of the four throwing events, along with discus, javelin and shot put of the Summer Paralympics. It is the Paralympic equivalent of the ha ...

events. Although not competing in Athens, O'Neill was in the Ireland team for both the 2008 Games in Beijing and 2012 Games in London. Her only Paralympic podium finish came at London, where she won a silver in the discus throw – F51/52/53. O'Neill's most successful tournament was the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, winning a gold in the discus throw and a silver in the club throw. After the

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in Swanse ...

at Swansea, O'Neill decided to retire from sport.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Catherine Paralympic athletes for Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Ireland Living people 1975 births Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics People from New Ross Irish female club throwers Irish female discus throwers Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from County Wexford