Going for Gold – Rio 2016

Hazelwood College student Noelle Lenihan will tonight grace the world stage at the Opening Ceremony of the IPC Paralympics in Rio, Brazil. At 17 years old, Hazelwood College’s Noelle Lenihan is one of Ireland’s youngest athletes and has been named by the International Paralymic Committee as ‘One to Watch’. Noelle won silver at the 2015 World Championships and gold in this year’s European Championships. Having already twice broken the world record in the F38 Discuss, Noelle is first in the world rankings and one of our best medal prospects.

Everyone at Hazelwood College wishes her the best in this years Paralympics and (no pressure!) we can’t wait to see her win the medal on the 17th of September in the Dicuss (F38)

Here is Noelle’s Profile from the International Paralymics website:

LENIHAN Noelle
Sport	Athletics
NPC	Ireland
Gender	Women
Age	16
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?	She took up para-athletics in Charleville, Ireland.
Why this sport?	Her father trained as an athletics coach so that he could train her.
Club / Team	North Cork Athletics Club: Ireland
Name of coach	Dave Sweeney [national]; Jim Lenihan [father]
Senior International Debut
Year	2015
Competing for	Ireland
Tournament	Grand Prix
Location	Berlin, GER
General Interest
Sporting philosophy / motto	“Throw me to the wolves and I’ll return leading the pack.” (Instagram profile, 09 Sep 2015)
Awards and honours	She received the Achievement Award at the 2015 Munster Star Awards in Ireland. (corkathletics.org, 2016) She was named the Sportswoman of the Month for October 2015 by Cork City Sports in Ireland. (irishtimes.com, 12 Nov 2015)
Famous relatives	Her sisters Megan and Eimear have both competed in athletics at national level. (hazelc.ie, 20 May 2014)
Ambitions	To win a medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (the42.ie, 26 Mar 2016)

Watch the Paralympics Live on RTE, Channel 4, Setanta Go and through the official live channels on Youtube …here…