Niamh McCarthy

Niamh McCarthy (born 4 January 1994) is an Irish Paralympic discus thrower, competing in the F41 classification, a classification for persons of reduced stature.^[2][3] She is the 2018 European champion in the event at her classification and, as of August 2018, the European record holder at 31.76 metres.^[1]

Niamh McCarthy

Personal information
Nationality	Irish
Born	(1994-01-04) 4 January 1994 (age 31) County Cork, Ireland
Sport
Sport	Para-athletics
Disability class	F41
Event	Discus throw
Club	Leevale Athletic Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	31.76 m[1] 32.67 m (unofficial)[2]
Medal record Women's para athletics Representing  Ireland Summer Paralympics 2016 Rio de Janeiro Discus throw F41 World Championships 2017 London Discus throw F41 2015 Doha Discus throw F41 European Championships 2018 Berlin Discus throw F41 2016 Grosseto Discus throw F40/41

Career

McCarthy started competing in discus events in 2013, winning world and European medals before taking a silver at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.^[4][5][6]

McCarthy won the gold medal at the European Para Athletics Championships in Berlin, August 2018, setting a new European record of 31.76 m^[1][7][8]

In October 2021, McCarthy retired from competitive throwing after her participation in the deferred 2020 Paralympic Games.^[9]

Personal life

McCarthy has lived in England and France.^[10] is a former student of Biological and Chemical Sciences at University College Cork. She also practises sky-diving.^[10][11] She has lordosis^[10] and competes in F41 classification events,^[10] which for women is for those under 140 cm (4 ft 7 in) in height.^[12]

After discovering that none of the Irish press or TV channels had sent any journalists to the 2018 Para Athletics European Championships, Niamh decided to cover the Championships herself via her Instagram account.^{[citation needed]}