Tom Leahy (athlete)

Thomas Martin Leahy ( born November 7, 1957 in Cork) is an Irish Boccia player and former athlete.

Leahy, who has Cerebral palsy, in 1984 took part in the Paralympic Games. Here he won a gold medal in the shot put and a silver medal in the club throwing. In the next Games in Seoul in 1988 Leahy was able to win silver in the club throwing and bronze in the shot put. In 1992, he won in the sport of bocce in the team standings Mixed Team C1-C2 Bronze. In Atlanta in 1996 was followed by a silver medal in the Mixed Individual Boccia competitions C2 of the standings. At the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000 Leahy was his second gold medal, this time in the discus throw, win. Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 he could not build on these successes.

After a hip injury a few years ago Leahy could no longer be active in athletics and is now focused on bocce.

In addition to his athletic career, Leahy worked as a painter. Among others, he illustrated children's books with landscapes and also held an exhibition of his works from already.