Special Olympics World Champion Patrick Quinlivan retires from gymnastics

Donegal Special Olympics Athlete Patrick Quinlivan took the decision to retire from competitive gymnastics following his gold medal performance in the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.  

For Patrick this was a massive decision and one he didn’t take lightly as gymnastics had been his sport of choice for the past 25 years.  As well as his job as a gymnastics coach at the Letterkenny Community Centre Patrick found more time to concentrate on the other sports that he had an interest in, in particular his Jiu-Jitsu.  

Patrick had begun training with Jiu-Jitsu black belt Josie Murray 18 years ago.  Despite being 100% committed to his gymnastics training Patrick would turn up for training with Josie any time he had free time.  Josie describes Patrick as one of the hardest working, loyal and committed pupils he has had the pleasure of training.  He said, “Patrick is built like a natural athlete; slim, strong, flexible and solid, with a great base, balance and a gentle personality, which suits the ethos of Jiu-Jitsu”.

Josie recently travelled to Bridlington in the UK to represent Ireland in World Gathering of Grand Masters & Masters 2022, which was attended by representatives from 21 countries.  Patrick accompanied Josie to this event.  It spanned 2 days, with Grand Masters from each of the countries giving training sessions on the mats, and for Patrick this was a dream come true for him to show his Jiu-Jitsu skills to the elite of the sport. 

Patrick was trained by both Grand Master Stuart Hicken and Grand Master Kevin Martin, who are both Red Belts. On the final day of the event Patrick was awarded his Purple Belt in front of a huge audience. This was an immensely proud moment for Patrick and for Josie Murray showing that all the hard work and training that they both had put in prior to the event was recognised.  Grand Master Stuart Hicken commended Patrick when presenting him with his belt saying that he truly deserved it, and that even his warmup was just eye opening and superb. 

Josie Murray has trained many champions over the years, and many of those now have their own Clubs, Fitness Centres, Kick Boxing Clubs. Patrick is now the conditioning coach with Josie’s club and is a great asset to them. This is obviously not the last that will be heard of this local athlete who takes “retiring” to a whole new level.