Inspirational Kerrie aims to make impact in Paris
If we're looking for a sporting story that inspires, truly inspires, then we don't have to look beyond young Culmullen woman Kerrie Leonard and how she became one of Ireland’s top Paralympians.
Three years after competing at the Paralympics in Tokyo the indomitable Leonard will once more take her place on the big stage when she participates at the Paris Games which get underway on Wednesday 28th August and conclude on the Sunday September 8th.
Leonard will be competing in the archery event. The fact that she is once more representing her country at the Games is another indication of just how adept she is at her chosen sport. Leonard picked up archery through a family friend at the age of 12, she started competing competitively and has participated in international events since 2012.
Her disability is spinal cord injury. She has used a wheelchair since she was paralysed from the waist down after a fall from a tractor in 1997 when she was six. She fell from the tractor and was badly injured by the wheel.
She has been a strong advocate for farm safety since. She has proved to true inspiration for countless people by refusing to allow her disability to stop her from achieving what she sets out to achieve in life.
Leonard has emphasised how her own involvement in archery has reinforced the reality that having a disability doesn't have to exclude anyone from having and enjoying a very eventful sporting career.
"Archery is an accessible and inclusive sport and it means all the more to win to encourage and other people with disabilities that they can compete at a high level and see those results," she said.
A member of the Blackheath Archers, Kerrie is from Culmullen, Drumree area. Kerrie has excelled at archery since she took up the sport and over the years she has received coaching advice from archer Jim Conroy. Also from Meath, Conroy twice participated in the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976 and in Moscow in 1980.
She first competed for Ireland in 2012, took a break and returned to the sport in 2014. She finished ninth at the World Championships in 2015 and won silver at the 2016 European Championships when she came very close to qualifying for the Rio Paralympic Games. She finished ninth overall at the Tokyo Games. She was also among the nominations at the Meath Sports Awards in 2022.
Kerrie has a Degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth and a masters in Marketing from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is from a farming background and a safety advocate for farm safety, Leonard studied Equine Business in Maynooth University, before going on to complete a masters in marketing in UCD in 2019.
Kerrie studied Equine Business in Maynooth University, before going on to complete a Marketing Masters in UCD in 2019.
Her tenacity and spirit is shown in the way from March to October she has trained outdoors at her home in Culmullen on a tarmac driveway, but she also has a simulator that she can use to train indoors when the Irish weather turns nasty.
Nothing stops her from getting the training in she knows she needs in order to compete not only at a very high level in Ireland but on the world stage.
At the Tokyo Olympics Leonard produced a very impressive display in the women's individual Compound event to reach the 1/8 eliminations.
She advanced through to the last eight of the after beating India's Jyoti Baliyan in the elimination round 141-137.
However her magnificent journey came to an end when, despite a brave performance, she was defeated by a Russian opponent.
Kerrie Leonard's schedule in Paris: Day 1 – August 29th - W2 Ind Compound Open (ranking) 13:00 – 15:30. Day 2 – August 30th - W2 Ind Compound Open (last 16 elimination) 9:00 – 12:30.
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