A personal best in a Paralympic final to take gold is the stuff of dreams, but not for Ellen Keane, who enjoyed a glorious triumph in August.
The Clontarf woman was competing at her fourth Paralympics having made her debut in Beijing 2008 as a 13-year-old and duly delivered Ireland's first medal in Tokyo.
In the SB8 100m breaststroke, Keane set expectations high in her preferred event when she blazed through her heat, winning the race in a personal best time of 1:21.71, but she obliterated that mark in the final, going nearly two seconds quicker to take gold in 1:19.93.
The 26-year-old battled it out with New Zealand's Sophie Pascoe in both swims, with Pascoe getting the better start in the final, with Keane trailing her rival by half a length at the midway point, but crucially made a much-improved turn too.
The Irish swimmer assumed the lead with 25 metres to go and never looked back to claim the coveted gold.
Keane admitted afterwards that fogged goggles during the race meant she had little awareness of those around her, but stuck to her race plan to improve on her bronze medal from Rio.
After a rapturous response for the official homecoming, Keane spoke of the respect that Paralympic athletes deserve and have not always been afforded down the year compared to their Olympic equivalents.
"I have had difficulty getting access to the pool at times whereas the Olympians have complete access whenever they need it," she said.
"I kind of hope now, with this gold medal, it gives me a bit more respect. There have been times when I go training, my lane has been given to lessons. It’s just so frustrating and thankfully I don’t have to deal with it too much because my coach fights my corner a lot of the time. And my coach is fighting for all the other Para athletes and Para swimmers to have access to the pool.
"But it shouldn’t be a fight. It should be equal respect for us and the Olympians."
Joanne Cantwell and Darragh Maloney will present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2021 on Saturday 18 December on RTÉ One.
The Sportsperson of the Year is selected by a judging panel. The criteria can be read here.
