Canadian Paralympian joins Killarney Valley AC

By Sean Moriarty

A new but well-known face has joined the ranks at Killarney Valley Athletic Club.

Canadian Para-Athlete, Sprinter and Long Jumper Madie Wilson-Walker has moved to Killarney for her own personal reasons.

While here she has signed up with the local athletic club and has joined regulars at Killarney Athletic Arena for training sessions.

At age three, Wilson-Walker contracted a rare form of meningitis and as a result both of her legs needed to be amputated below the knee and she lost some of the fingertips on her left hand.

She represented Canada at the World Para Athletics Champions in Dubai in 2019, in the T64 long-jump category. She also competes in 100m and 400m as a blade runner and finished fourth in the T64 100m competition at the 2019 Parapan Am Games in Peru.

“She is a guest of the club,” Jerry Griffin, Killarney Valley Athletic Club chairperson, said.

“She has moved to Ireland for a number of months and she has joined our club for that period. She adds a new dynamic to training, it really is an incredible sight to see a blade runner in action. Madie has this attitude that there is nothing she can’t do.”