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Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe made history for Irish cycling on Tuesday as the first quartet to compete for the country in an Olympic women’s team pursuit.
A seven-year journey which started with a talent identification scheme in 2017 reached a climax with a new national record of four minutes 12.447 seconds on the boards of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.
It was not quite enough to see them through to the first round – they finished two tenths of a second outside the top eight – but simply making it to Paris was a significant moment for the only nation competing here that does not have a velodrome on home soil.
“It’s so cool,” Gillespie said. “We’re the first ever team pursuit to qualify for Ireland. We’re a small but mighty team and we’ve all been through this whole qualifying process, which is a lot of stress, a lot of hard work, but it’s been such an amazing adventure.
We're a small but mighty team and we've all been through this whole qualifying process, which is a lot of stress, a lot of hard work, but it's been such an amazing adventure— Lara Gillespie
“We’re so proud to get here, it’s a huge PB for us and we’re proud to be a part of it.”
They smashed their own previous record, a time of 4:15.698 set at the World Cup in Hong Kong in March.
“It’s something we planned for a long time,” Murphy said. “We have a Whatsapp group with our fitness coach and it’s called ‘4:12’, that’s been the target on the dartboard. To work together and see that through is really amazing.”
The lack of a velodrome in Ireland means the team rack up some serious air miles travelling to two-week training camps in Mallorca but otherwise put in the hard yards on the home trainers in their garages or out on the road.
Their unique circumstances throw up serious challenges, but it has helped form a deep bond between the group, which also includes reserve rider Erin Creighton.
“As a team we’re probably very close because of this,” Griffin said. “We spend so much time away from our families because we don’t have track in Ireland but it brings use closer together and we’re really good mates because of it.”
Although they could not advance in the team pursuit, they are not done in Paris yet. Gillespie will ride in Sunday’s omnium, and also team up with Sharpe in the Madison on Friday.
The hope is that this is just the start for Irish track cycling.
“We want, first of all, to get a velodrome,” Griffin said. “I think we showed what we can do without even that facility so imagine what we could do when we have a pathway.
“I think the next stream of cyclists are going to be really well supported, I think, with the good foundation we and our coaches have set over the last few years.
“We had an up and down turbulent time and I think those mistakes and the learning from that going forward will bring up the standard of Irish track cycling to a whole new level.”
