Johnny Cronin is on the road to Rio!

Mallow paralympian Johnny Cronin was this week named a member of the Paralympics Ireland 2014 Athlete Panel, one of 45 athletes across 11 sports considered most likely to qualify for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. The panel will come together for the first time as a group in March when they meet for the initial multisport training camp in Limerick. Johnny, who is a top class exponent of the sport of boccia, has competed in every major boccia championship since 1997 with the exception of the Beijing Games in 2008. Johnny has many career highlights including a gold medal in doubles at the Sydney Games in 2000. Another top exponent of the sport of boccia, Tom Leahy from Ballyhooly, who represented Ireland at eight Paralympic Games, has retired and so will not be in the running for Rio.