Emotional Ellen Keane bows out on the Paralympic stage as an Irish legend
"And I really felt the moment of 'this is coming to an end', but I guess Winnie the Pooh said it best when he said, 'How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?'
Ellen Keane has raced for the final time at the Paralympics, bringing an end to a legendary career that has seen her compete at five Games.
Beginning her Paralympic career at Beijing back in 2008, Keane has given Irish fans plenty to shout about over the last 16 years, with the undoubted highlight being her iconic gold medal winning performance at Tokyo back in 2021.
She almost bagged another medal in her final Games when she finished an agonising fourth in her strongest event - the SB8 100m breaststroke on Saturday - and signed off for a remarkable career with a 12th placed finish in the S9 100m backstroke this morning.
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Speaking to RTE after the race, Keane spoke about the emotions of the past few days: "I don't really know how to put it into words. I just feel so grateful.
"I'm really glad that I finished on a event that isn't my main one because I just didn't feel the pressure.
"I just wanted to go out there and enjoy what racing feels like and enjoy the routine of it.
"Even putting on my racing suit for the last time was awful, but I really was living in the moment of everything I was doing.
"In the call room before I went out, I watched BAR in the final, and I was so proud of him.
"I had a little cry. My face Just keeps getting wet, I don't even know what's happening
"It's a really emotional day, I knew it would be.
"The last few days have been really emotional as well.
"I don't even think maybe it wasn't the coming fourth that got me so emotional - it was more the support I had from everyone and the messages I was getting.
"I was getting so much love and support from all across the globe and Ireland and different people.
"I call my family and people from different countries, and even my Dancing With The Stars family were all contacting me!
"So I really, really felt the love.
"And I really felt the moment of 'this is coming to an end', but I guess Winnie the Pooh said it best when he said, 'How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?'
Reflecting on her career and her retirement, Keane said: "I guess I'm really glad that I've been so vocal about retirement because not a lot of athletes know when they're going to retire and they don't know when their last swim is.
"So I wanted to kind of end on my terms and knowing that I could say goodbye when I wanted to was really special.
"I had a few athletes message me to say, 'Enjoy it for the people who couldn't', so I really felt that.
"After my breaststroke, I kind of felt a bit like, Oh, I really want to give it another go'.
"But my body is not able to, my mind is not able to, and I'm so tired. Five Games is a long time."
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