meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
An Irishman Abroad

Ellen Keane: Being More Than An Athlete

An Irishman Abroad

Jarlath Regan

Society & Culture, News, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture:personal Journals, Personal Journals, Politics

4.8 • 834 Ratings

🗓️ 26 December 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Ellen Keane claimed gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last summer she understood and accepted the responsibility to be more than just an elite athlete. Ever since she burst onto the scene, qualifying for her first Paralympics as a thirteen year old, she has travelled a personal journey towards understanding and accepting who she is as a person and her responsibility to other disabled young people. In this relaxed and fun conversation on the eve of Christmas Eve, Jarlath and Ellen reflect on the past year and the journey towards finding peace with herself. RTE’s Dancing With The Stars is just around the corner. Ellen is Jarlath’s tip to win the entire show. She explains how the training is going so far and why it might not be as cut and dry as Jarlath believes despite her competitive hip hop dancing past. Supporters of Irishman Abroad can hear a further 40 minutes of this interview which includes Ellen revealing her shock at how other athletes treated her upon her return from Tokyo, her secrets to finding more in yourself and lots more.   To hear every episode in full and to gain access to the entire back-catalogue of over 500 Irishman Abroad episodes that are not available on iTunes for just the price of a pint every month visit www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad Supplementary research provided by John Meagher. Our charity partner is jigsawonline.ie. In these tricky times, Jigsaw provides a range of resources, advice and care for your people to help them strengthen their mental health and the skills needed to navigate life. Please visit their website and consider making a donation. For updates on future episodes and live shows follow @jarlath on Twitter, visit www.jigser.com or email the show directly on [email protected]. Disclaimer: All materials contained within this podcast are copyright protected. Third party reuse and/or quotation in whole or in part is prohibited unless direct credit and/or hyperlink to the Irishman Abroad podcast is clearly and accurately provided.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

If you go to bed early, that's one thing that you've done right.

0:07.1

You're resting.

0:08.2

If you've drank enough water, it's just all those little things that we need to survive.

0:15.3

I think we always forget about them.

0:17.1

They're always the last thing that we think about because we're always chasing and chasing and chasing whatever

0:21.2

deadline we have. But you're never going to reach that deadline if you don't do the basics, right?

0:29.5

Hello there and happy Christmas to every single one of you listening to this today. It's the Irishman

0:36.6

abroad with me, Jarlet Regan, and what an episode we have for you today

0:41.7

with the Irish Paralympic legend, Ellen Keane, who is, of course, a gold medal winner at Tokyo

0:50.2

2020 and a bronze at Rio de Janeiro.

0:54.1

It is just taken a while to get this one in place.

0:58.7

I was probably chasing down the wrong rabbit holes to try and get in touch with Ellen and then just sent her a DM.

1:07.1

And here we are today recording this conversation. Again, which nearly didn't happen in all the rush

1:12.9

of Christmas I realize what a crazy time it's been for all of you and I want to take a moment to say

1:19.9

thanks to all of our listeners for supporting the show over on Patreon I know not everyone

1:24.4

to kind of forge you that for those of you that please do, patreon.com forward slash Irishman abroad.

1:31.2

Ellen is more than an athlete.

1:33.8

She is an ambassador for people with disabilities, Irish sport, perseverance and difference.

1:43.4

I have loved listening to her TED talk, I think if you want to go and find that,

1:49.1

it's called My Lucky Finn. And I kind of seek out Ellen Keene interviews because she is just such

1:56.0

an incredible communicator and, of course, athlete. Her discussions with Jerr Gilroy and people that I've

2:06.0

listened to her talk to about elite sport and reaching your plateau of your capability and pushing

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jarlath Regan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jarlath Regan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.