Mark Millar has placed 6th in the para-marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, just four years after suffering life-changing injuries when he crashed during a cycling race in Ireland.
Northern Irishman Millar, now aged 42 years, was a racing cyclist and triathlete when he suffered his crash and was paralysed. Since then he has moved into para-triathlon, but with his endurance based excelled in the marathon in Birmingham.
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“I think I have to be delighted with that. It’s my first Commonwealth Games, I’m only in a wheelchair four years after a big accident so I’m delighted to get to this level and be competitive," he said.
“It has been a tough journey back but also a very rewarding one coming into wheelchair sport and progressing as quickly as I have. I was probably top ranked at the amateur level in cycling but long distance triathlon was my main sport whenever the accident happened.
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“I had a good aerobic base so it was just a matter of getting the arms built up and I took to the wheelchair racing quite quickly, I also did a bit of para-triathlon.”
Millar was left with no chance in June 2018 when hit from behind by a motorist in an SUV while he was riding the Ulster 100 Mile TT Championships in Co Antrim. Unfortunately, he broke his spine in four places and his spinal cord was severed.
Millar had ridden the Rás in 2017 and the previous two editions and his triathlon career had seen him compete at home and abroad. In a great story of resilience, he was back competing in para-events within 15 months of his crash
