Orla Comerford getting her sprint career down to a fine art after Paris

Irish Examiner

29-04-2025

Orla Comerford was a couple of days removed from her Paralympic 100m T13 bronze medal at the Stade de France when she made a beeline for the summer's second major goal. This one would take a lot longer than 11.94 seconds.
If she is married to athletics in the public mind after three successive Games then art is her other love. The Dubliner has a degree in Fine Art Media from the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) and works part-time in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Sportspeople may travel the world but it's not like they get to take in a lot of it beyond hotels and stadiums. Comerford is no different, but the promise was made that, whatever happened on track, she would take in the Musée d'Orsay.
The Left Bank gem is a treasure trove of French art dating from the mid-19th century through to the outbreak of the Great War. Impressionist and post-impressionist work in particular. You can hardly turn around without staring into a Degas, a Renoir or a van Gogh.
Comerford was drawn especially to Edouard Manet, the father of Impressionism, and his 'Olympia' and 'Le Déjeuner Sur l'Herbe' paintings that stand as foundation stones for the entire movement. Claude Monet was another on the 'must-see' list.
'These were some of the pieces that I studied in school and inspired me to go to college and that now inspire me to share that passion for modern art with other people in the museum. That actually felt quite emotional.
'It felt like my time on the track had come full circle with that performance and then to follow it up by going into a space like that and thinking, 'oh my god, I'm here' and these pieces are the reason I'm here.'
Orla will work with Allianz to support initiatives that promote para sport, inclusion and youth engagement – including the Allianz NextGen programme, which aims to inspire young people with disabilities to participate in sport and pursue their athletic dreams. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan.
When she was done, Comerford bought some postcards in the museum shop with some of her favourite pieces on the front and sent them back to Sarah Fynes, the art teacher who had lit that fire in her years before.
'It was to say to her, 'I'm here, I made it'. That was really special.' These twin passions dovetail nicely.
Her role in the museum is a mental space away from the world of athletics. The hope is that she can focus on more of her own work in the years to come but there is already comfort in the fact that the arts will be there in some form when the day comes to hang up the spikes.
That won't be today or tomorrow. The initial emotion when crossing the finishing line in Saint-Denis last September was one of disappointment. A gold medal and a world record had been the goals. Neither had been claimed.
The two women ahead of her had both bettered that standing record but the main, and instant, salve to her emotional wound was the gaggle of 'Team Orla' family and friends waiting to acclaim her on the home straight.
Getting that close has only hardened the desire to go the extra mile, or millimetre.
'It almost makes me hungrier. You've pushed everything and you haven't quite got what you wanted. You're still delighted and appreciate how far you have come. Some athletes look at another four years as a daunting thing. I just couldn't be more excited.
'The last cycle, it was just three years after Tokyo, and it was all a bit disjointed. I had injury hanging over and I just feel like I've come into this four years in a really good position and feeling really positive. I'm more ambitious than ever, I can allow myself to dream bigger.'
Those injuries bear repeating. Major surgery in 2019 filtered through to Tokyo in 2021. She sat out the entirety of 2022. Her 2023 season was a breeze by comparison but still pockmarked with enough fitness issues to count as a disaster for anyone else.
By the time Paris rolled around in 2024 she was still probably running with what she terms 'a bit of caution', but any remaining clouds seem to have cleared and 2025 has swept in as something of a clean slate. Mentally and physically.
There was no rush to get back after the Paralympics.
The Para Athletic World Championships in New Delhi don't start until September, although she was still far enough progressed in training to dominate a mixed ability 60m race in the European Indoors in March when given just four weeks' notice.
That meet in Apeldoorn was fruitful in other ways. It was the first time she competed at that level under the eye of new coach Daniel Kilgallon. That allowed them to work each other out in a high-profile environment before the Worlds.
Kilgallon's Tallaght-based group is a high-achieving collective that Comerford feels can drive her on again. National 60m champion Sarah Leahy is just one example of an athlete who blends talent with a raw work ethic. That can only be good.
The LA Games in 2028, and another shot at gold, are the long-term goal.
'You have to shoot for the stars and if you land on the moon then that's great as well. You have to think big and dream big in terms of how you motivate your day-to-day. It has to push you in what you're doing and in Paris my goal was a gold and a world record.
'There is really strong competition in my classification and event at the moment so I know everyone is looking to go faster and push each other, but I can't get caught up in times and positions. The motivation is in the process.'
One brushstroke at a time.
Orla Comerford has been announced as a new brand ambassador for Allianz