Over 160 join Ireland’s Inclusion Games

Fitness competitions usually sort people by speed, strength, and endurance. These games are about that too — but the bigger story is access. On May 7, more than 160 people with physical disabilities gathered at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena in Dublin for the Fitness Inclusion Games, an adapted competition run by the Irish Wheelchair Association. The point was not charity-pageant symbolism. It was to show that once gyms, coaching, and competition formats are actually built to include disabled athletes, a lot of people who were locked out can compete hard. (rte.ie) ### What are these games, exactly? They are a disability-inclusive fitness competition inspired by formats like CrossFit and Hyrox, but adapted for athletes with different physical needs and ability levels. That matters because those mainstream formats are built around functional movements and timed effort — things that can be modified without stripping out t(rte.ie)is the same basic idea, rebuilt around access. (rte.ie) ### Who is behind them? The Irish Wheelchair Association is. The group hosted the event and tied it to a broader Fitness Inclusion Project that has been expanding for several years. Minister for Disability Emer Higgins was also due to attend, which gives the day some political weight as well as community visibility. That combination matters — grassroots energ(rte.ie)mething that lasts. (rte.ie) ### Why is 160 a big number? Because this did not start at anything like that scale. The project began as a pilot in Drogheda in 2022. By June 2025, the first national Fitness Inclusion Games brought together over 100 athletes. One year later, the field had grown to more than 160 participants from across Ireland. That is a sharp jump in a short time, and it s(rte.ie) could actually enter. (rte.ie) ### What changed between the pilot and now? The programme spread. What started with eight participants in the original pilot expanded into a national project, with activity running in places including Navan, Tipperary, Galway, Dublin, and the wider northeast. Basically, this stopped being one enthusiastic local experiment and became a network. That i(rte.ie)enough coaches, venues, and routines in place that people can keep showing up. (rte.ie) ### Why do adapted workouts matter so much? Because the real barrier is often not motivation. It is design. Many disabled people are excluded from gyms and sports spaces by equipment layouts, coaching assumptions, and competition rules that treat one body type as the default. Adapted challenges change that. Think of it like lowering a drawbridge rath(rte.ie)st the event has to stop blocking the door. (rte.ie) ### What are athletes getting out of it? Fitness, obviously, but also confidence and routine. RTÉ’s reporting highlighted athletes like Nathan Doherty, who said the programme helped him rebuild fitness and confidence after losing a leg, and June Elliot, who described gains in strength and daily function she did not expect to achieve in a gym. Those details ma(rte.ie) It is also about training habits that feed into ordinary life. (rte.ie) ### Is this really sport, or mostly a visibility exercise? It is both, but the sport part is the engine. Declan Hamilton from the IWA framed the athletes as people pushing boundaries and building confidence, not just attending for representation. That distinction matters. Inclusion efforts stick when they create real standards, real progression, and real comm(rte.ie)ction. (rte.ie) ### Bottom line Ireland’s Inclusion Games are becoming something bigger than a good-news event. They show what happens when disability access moves from rhetoric to infrastructure — and then into competition. The jump from eight people in a 2022 pilot to more than 160 athletes in 2026 is the clearest proof that the audience for this was never small. The opportunity was. (rte.ie)