Opinion

Warm welcome for Bethany Firth

The achievement of Co Down swimmer Bethany Firth in winning three gold medals at the Rio Paralympics was exceptional in every regard and she fully deserved the emotional reception she received on her return to Belfast yesterday.

Bethany also took a silver in Brazil to make her the most successful member of the UK team, after securing another gold medal four years ago in London when she represented Ireland.

The 20-year-old from Seaforde, who has a learning difficulty which causes short-term memory loss, only took up swimming in 2009 and has made astonishing progress since then.

She has coped with adversity in a hugely impressive way and will hopefully inspire many other young people to express themselves through their chosen sport.