For some of Team Ireland’s athletes, the Tokyo Games will be the most daunting and nerve-shredding experience of their careers.
They are, after all, the pinnacle, the most thrilling and unforgiving uncharted territory through which an athlete can navigate.
The Irish women’s hockey team, for example, have never been to the Olympics. Neither has Rhys McClenaghan, who will be targeting pommel horse gold in Japan later this year.
For debutants, the spectacle of the opening ceremony or the buzz around the athletes’ village is something to behold, savour and cherish.
Michael McKillop finds himself at the other end of the spectrum. Now 31, the middle distance runner already knows what it feels like to wear gold on the podium.
McKillop hasn’t just competed at the last three Paralympic Games, he’s dominated them. At Beijing 2008 he conquered the T37 800m at 18 years of age, setting a new world record in the process.
Four years later, in London, he completed an 800m and 1,500m double before becoming a four-time champion at Rio 2016.
