Tony Gartland, who lives at Hacketstown on the Wicklow/Carlow border, picked up the silver medal in the 5km road race at the Games, in Gold Coast, Australia. He ran a time of 19 minutes and 46 seconds.
Tony got a new lease of life when he got his new liver in June 1993, and, as part of his way of saying thanks to the family of the donor, he has competed in every World Transplant Games since.
“I am delighted with my performance. I was beaten by Argentinian Juan Pablo Juarez, who is an old rival of mine, and a very good runner – I can never manage to get the better of him,” said Tony.
“But I was very happy with my run and the silver medal is a great result.
“More than anything else these Games are about promoting awareness of the fact that people can live full and active lives after receiving a new organ.”
The 19-strong team, ranging in age from 22 to 64, have travelled Down Under with 13 new kidneys, five new livers and one new kidney-pancreas.
All 50 teams, plus managers and coaches, took part in the opening ceremony today, where ten year-old transplant recipient Miriam Waldron, from Sydney, read a special message of welcome.
‘Our Victory’, the official song of the 2009 Games, was performed in public for the first time.

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