Michael McKillop

Michael McKillop
Full name	Michael Gerard McKillop
nation	Ireland
birthday	January 27, 1990
place of birth	Ballymena
size	183 cm
Weight	65 kg
Career
discipline	800 m , 1500 m
society	Abbey Athletics Club (as a child)
Trainer	Paddy McKillop (his father)
status	active
Medal table
Paralympic Games gold 2008 Beijing 800 m gold 2012 London 800 m gold 2012 London 1500 m gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro 1500 m - World Championships for the Disabled gold 2006 Assen 800 m silver 2006 Assen 1500 m gold 2011 Christchurch 800 m gold 2011 Christchurch 1500 m gold 2013 Lyon 800 m gold 2013 Lyon 1500 m gold 2015 Doha 800 m gold 2015 Doha 1500 m gold 2017 London 800 m gold 2017 London 1500 m - European championships for the disabled gold 2014 Swansea 800 m gold 2014 Swansea 1500 m
last change: July 23, 2017

Michael Gerard McKillop (born January 27, 1990 in Ballymena , Northern Ireland ) is an Irish middle-distance runner in disabled sports .

Life

Private and professional life

McKillop suffers from infantile cerebral palsy ; at the age of 15 he was also diagnosed with epilepsy . He attended St. Malachy's College Grammar School in Belfast and then studied Leisure and Sports Management at Belfast Metropolitan College . In early July 2013, Queen's University Belfast awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contributions to sport .

McKillop now lives in Glengormley , a suburb of Newtownabbey . He works as a consultant for a Northern Irish orthopedic company that produces bespoke equipment and rehabilitation aids for the physically challenged. In addition, he often appears as a keynote and motivational speaker, was at least in the summer of 2015 sales employee in a Belfast sports shop and is brand ambassador for the insurance group Allianz in Ireland .

Athletic career

Due to his handicap, McKillop starts in the classification group T 37. He started running at the age of ten at the Abbey Athletics Club in Belfast. After he switched to St. Malachy's College, where his father worked as a renowned trainer, he intensified his training from the age of twelve under his supervision and increasingly focused on the sport. Father Paddy McKillop was named Northern Ireland Sports Coach of the Year in 2008 .

On September 8, 2006 McKillop set a new world record over 800 meters at the age of only 16 when he crossed the finish line after 2:02:13 minutes in the final of the World Athletics Championships in Assen, the Netherlands . At the same event, he also secured the silver medal in the 800-meter run. So far (as of September 2016) this was the last time that he could be beaten over one of his two distances.

In 2008 he represented his country at the Paralympic Games in Beijing and improved his own world record to 01: 59.39 minutes. McKillop had to forego a possible further medal over 1500 meters because this competition was not held in his classification group. It was similar for him at the 2011 World Championships in Christchurch . Although he succeeded in winning the double on both routes, where he again improved the world record over 800 meters with 01: 58.90, but over 1500 meters - despite the world record time of 04: 14.81 minutes - he received no medal because next to him only one other runner represented him in the final and the competition was too small. The year 2012 was the high point in McKillop's sporting career so far. First of all, on May 8, as part of the Visa London Disability Challenge in London, he set the current (as of September 2016) world record over 1500 meters with 3: 59.54 minutes. A few months later he finished the Paralympic Games in the same city as a double Olympic champion and with 01: 57.22 minutes as a new world record in the 800-meter run. He received the medal for his victory over 1500 meters from the hands of his mother Catherine, who works as an ambassador for Procter & Gamble .

His streak of success continued at the 2013 World Championships in Lyon , when he again won double gold and set another world record in 1: 57.17 minutes over 800 meters. He also won both titles in Doha in 2015 .

In addition to these successes in disabled sports, it should be emphasized that McKillop has already participated successfully in competitions with non-disabled competitors. In 2009 he became the Irish U20 cross-country champion and in the same year led the Irish team as captain at the European Cross-Country Championships in Dublin - he was the first para-athlete to take part in this event. In 2011 he secured the title of Irish U23 champion in the 1500 meter race.

Awards (selection)

• 2012: Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award
• 2013: Mary Peters Trust Outstanding Sportsperson Award
• 2015: Athlete with an Impairment of the Year at the Belfast Telegraph Sport Awards

Individual evidence

1. ↑ McKillop's speaker profile. ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved from conferencespeakers.ie on September 10, 2016. 
2. ↑ McKillop's official athlete profile. Retrieved from paralympic.org ( International Paralympic Committee ) on September 10, 2016.
3. ^ Introduction of McKillop. Retrieved from allianz.ie on September 10, 2016.
4. ^ McKillop mission , Sep 3, 2008, BBC Sport