Queen’s going for gold! 
Nine current Queen’s students are among Team NI’s Commonwealth Games squad taking part during 11 days of world class competition at Glasgow 2014. They will be joined by a number of Queen’s graduates, among them Madeline Perry, currently ranked #11 in the world in squash.
Katie Kirk and Christine Mc Mahon (Athletics), Caroline O’Hanlon, Maire Toner and Niamh Cooper (Netball), Kirsty Kee and Eoin Fleming (Judo), Curtis Coulter (Swimming) and Caroline Black (Badminton) are part of Northern Ireland’s largest ever team, with a total of 117 local athletes participating across 14 sports.
The athletes have all benefited from the new Elite Athlete Scheme (EAP) and scholarships on offer from Queen’s Sport which recognises and develops sporting and academic achievement. At a recent breakfast in Queen’s PEC to mark their selection, Queen’s Sports Development Manager Karl Oakes commented: “It is a testimony to how Queen’s has invested towards the support for high performing athletes in that at the 2010 Games in Delhi, Queen’s had just one athlete.
“We are determined to ensure our student athletes receive an exceptional individualised support structure that compliments their existing high performance training environment. We wish all the athletes medal success at the Games.”
The University contingent includes Katie Kirk (EAP), who is studying food science and nutrition at Queen’s and whowas a bronze medallist in the 800 meters British Indoor Athletics Championships, and is English U23 800m Champion. Two years ago Katie represented the province at the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London when she was one of seven young up-and-coming UK athletes chosen to light the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of the games.
The remaining Queen’s athletes come from across a range of academic disciplines - Medicine and Dentistry (Caroline O’Hanlon, Christine McMahon, Niamh Cooper and Kirsty Kee), Law and Politics (Maire Toner) and Finance/Accounting (Eoin Fleming, Caroline Black and Curtis Coulter).
Madeline Perry (left), BSc Geography, 1999 who comes originally from Banbridge but who currently lives in Halifax, West Yorkshire, is representing Northern Ireland in Squash.
Seeded 7th in Glasgow 2014, the Irish #1 reached a career high of World #3 in 2011, lifting her biggest tournament title, the Australian Open, in 2012.
Past Queen's winners in the Commonwealth Games include Lisa Bradley, BSc Psychology 2010, judo silver in Manchester 2002 and Mike Bull, BA Philosophy 1970 who picked up gold in Edinburgh in the pole vault.
Playing a leading role in the 2014 Games will be Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth. Appointed High Commissioner of India to Britain in 2004, Kamalesh Sharma is Vice-President of the Royal Commonwealth Society and has been the Chancellor of Queen's since July 2009.
As one of the home countries in the UK, Northern Ireland is not able to be a member of the Olympic movement, so the Commonwealth Games provides the only opportunity for its athletes to compete representing Northern Ireland at an international level in a multi-sport event.
Pictured left to right: Eoin Fleming, Caroline O’Hanlon and Curtis Coulter (back row) and (front row) Maire Toner, Kirsty Kee, Christine McMahon, Katie Kirk, Niamh Toner (absent: Caroline Black)
For further information on the Elite Athlete Scheme at Queen’s contact Student Sport Development Manager, Karl Oakes k.oakes@qub.ac.uk, tel: 028 9038 7688.
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