Local teenage sprinter hopes to see more girls in athletics

Being consistent in training is hard, doing it by yourself is a bit harder.

Local athlete Elisha Gallagher, who is no stranger to international participation, is once again preparing to represent Ireland at the European Down Syndrome Athletics Championships end of June.

Local teenage sprinter Elisha Gallagher

Elisha is hopeful that more girls with Down syndrome will be encouraged to join Athletics, as training and competing with only a handful is not ideal.

Elisha’s mum, Lucy Harrington is of the opinion that the Her Moves movement through Sport Ireland has the ability to draw girls and keep them in athletics.

“It would be great if in the future, we could have a girl relay team travelling to the Europeans Championships.” Said Lucy.

Impressively, Elisha currently holds two top ranking positions globally.

Elisha is ranked 30th in 200m and 50th in 100m on the IAADS World Ranking for Women T21( Down Syndrome). An extraordinary achievement for such a young athlete.

The 17 year old lives in Dublin 15 with her parents and brother.

She attends Coolmine Community school as a 5th year Leaving Cert Applied student.

In preparation for the upcoming competition in Prague, Elisha has been training with Metro St Brigid’s Athletics Club (MSB AC) Dublin 15.

She is a member of the Sprinters group and she trains every Monday and Wednesday evening in the Porterstown Park Recreational Hub, Dublin 15.

Elisha will compete in 100m as well as 200m in Prague.

Elisha has been a member of MSB AC for just under 2 years and she has been given great support and encouragement from the club.

At the same time, Elisha enjoys training with North City Striders Special Olympics Club on a Sunday morning.

Over the past few months, Elisha has participated in both Track and Field Live indoors and the Dublin Championships in the National Indoor Arena.

This past Bank holiday weekend, Elisha participated in the Dublin Athletics Graded Meets at Morton Stadium running a personal best time in the 100m.

Right on track for Prague.

To improve her strength Elisha has joined her local gym in Coolmine Sports Centre, where she trains twice a week complimenting that with a weekly swim in the National Aquatic Centre.

The 8th IAADS European Athletics Championships will be held in Prague 29th June – 6th July 2025, seeing athletes with Down Syndrome competing at the Juliska stadium ASC Dukla Praha.

Elisha says: “I am excited to go to Prague and I want to win a medal, hopefully in the 100m. I am looking forward to celebrating with my family.”

Elisha is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the SUDS European Down Syndrome Athletics Championships, but she knows that she has to do a lot of preparation and hard work beforehand.