There was triple medal glory for Knock's Matthew McNeive at the European Transplant and Dialysis Sports Championships in Vantaa, Finland, recently. McNeive, who was the youngest member of an 28 strong team which took part in the games and finished in fifth position on the medals table, took home three bronze medals.
McNeive, who had a kidney transplant in 2010, was a hotshot on the table tennis table taking home two bronze medals in that competition in the singles and doubles competition, and another bronze in the 100m sprint. Team manager Colin White summed up the week as a joyful and fantastic experience full of the Irish team spirit. “The stand out moment for me was today at the athletics track. The announcer knew that each time he would call an Irish name he would get a huge reaction from the Irish. This for me really summed up the Irish team spirit.” With regards to the organisation of the games White spoke of the attentiveness and helpfulness of the local organising committee and the large number of Finnish volunteers who, “wore bright pink T-shirts and bright friendly smiles”.
