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Best of Luck Mary at the Tokyo Paralympics

16 Aug 2021
Quercus Scholar, Mary FitzGerald (Center), being sent off to the Paralympics with good luck from her fellow Quercus Scholars & Olympians, Tara Hanlon (Left) & Mags Cremen (Right)

University College Cork (UCC) has unveiled a banner on its old historic gates in support of its current student Paralympian, Mary Fitzgerald, who will represent Team Ireland.

The action gets underway in Tokyo on 24 August and will run until 5 September and third-year Occupational Therapy student and Quercus Scholar, Mary Fitzgerald and alumni Patrick O’ Leary (Canoeist) and Niamh McCarthy (discus) are members of Ireland's team of 29 athletes who will compete at the games.

Kilkenny native Mary (21) will be making her debut at the Game in the F40 shot put. Mary has previously won 3 gold medals at the 2019 IWAS World Games in the United Arab Emirates, and this summer won a bronze medal in the shot put for Ireland at the Para Athletics European Championships in Bydgoszcz.

“I am extremely grateful to everyone at UCC, the Ford Quercus Scholarship programme, and the Department of Occupational Therapy for their continuous encouragement and support on my journey to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people who always encourage me to dream big” stated Mary.

"We are extremely proud of our athletes competing at the Paralympics and we wish Team Ireland the very best of luck. The generous support of Ford Ireland and Bank of Ireland must be recognised at this time, as this ongoing assistance helps provide the foundations for our athletes to compete" stated Professor John O'Halloran, President of UCC.

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