EMMA Hickey, the reigning Defender/Irish Pony Club senior girls’ National Tetrathlon Champion, won a bronze medal in the Under 20 women’s category at last weekend’s SPAR European Cross-Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal.

Emma, who was making her championship debut, is a longtime member of the Wexford Branch of the IPC for which she won national individual and team titles in Minimus and Junior Tetrathlon and also represented the IPC, and Ireland, in Britain at both levels.

This April, riding Ardeo Batman, the 16-year-old was on the winning Wexford squad in the Teams Of Three competition at the Mackey Equestrian/IPC National Hunter Trials Championships at Ballycahane, where she and the 12-year-old brown gelding finished sixth individually.

At the National Tetrathlon Championships at Killossery Lodge Stud in mid-August, Hickey not only claimed the individual title, and with it the Howell trophy for best run, but was also a member of the Wexford squad who won the senior girls’ team championship. The following weekend, when she rode the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding My Tangos Got To Love Him, Emma was a member of the Wexford quartet who finished second in the Intermediate team competition at the Connolly’s Red Mills/IPC National Eventing Championships at Tattersalls Ireland.

Emma, whose father John is very much involved in athletics, is a member of the United Striders Athletic Club, which is based in New Ross. She is coached by David McCarthy of West Waterford AC.

Also in Lagoa, where they placed second, Jack O’Leary, Brian Fay, Cormac Dalton, Darragh McIlhinney and Efrem Gidey claimed a first senior men’s team podium finish for Ireland in 25 years, with O’Leary finishing best-placed individually in fifth.

Eleven years ago, when he was a member of the Westmeath Branch, O’Leary was on the IPC team who travelled to Perth in Western Australia to compete in an international Tetrathlon competition. The IPC is due to send a team Down Under again next year.