Lucy is off to World Special Olympic Games representing Kilkenny and Ireland

A wonderful young Kilkenny woman who will represent her country at the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games later this month received great support from her granny to get her there.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will stage the biggest sporting and humanitarian event on the planet of 2019 and Kilkenny athlete Lucy Dollard will be there to compete in the 100 metre sprint and the mini javelin.
Lucy from Loughboy, Kilkenny will join over 7,000 athletes from 170 countries to compete, attend cultural events and make new friends.
To help with her fundraising, her grandmother, Maureen Byrne from Callan, who would not divulge her age, accepted a challenge to do a sponsored zip wire for Special Olympics Ireland.
Maureen, cheered on by Lucy, family and friends, completed Ireland’s longest zip line at the Castlecomer Discovery Park.
Not in the least bit fazed by it all she described the experience as incredibly ‘exhilarating and recommended it highly to anyone no matter what age.
“Your age shouldn’t be a barrier to help those you love,” she said proudly.
Lucy received news that she had been chosen for Team Ireland in July of last year.
Challenge
She immediately accepted the challenge which involved months of training with her Kilkenny coach, Brenda Whitely and monthly training camps in Dublin with her team mates and national coaches.
Lucy will be one of 91 Team Ireland athletes from the 32 counties who will compete in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In November, Lucy was interviewed for the Irish Runner magazine and said the best advice she ever got was to; ‘keep going to the end Lucy’ and she said the athlete that she most admired was former Kilkenny hurler and current manager of the Ballyhale Shamrocks, Henry Shefflin.
The Watershed in Kilkenny offered Lucy sponsorship to use the facilities for training.
Lucy trained four times per week in the gym, pool and on the track with her local teammates.
Brian Egan from Bluebird Care also came on board through the Sponsor an Athlete programme.
To top it off, Lucy’s grandmother .
Lucy jets off with Team Ireland later this month with the support of everyone in Kilkenny wishing her well and hoping she brings back a medal.