Team Ireland’s Women’s Team Pursuit squad has taken a superb bronze medal in the 4km Team Pursuit beating Great Britain in the bronze-medal final at the UEC Elite European Track Championships in Grenchen, Switzerland yesterday evening.
The quartet of Kelly Murphy, Emily Kay, Mia Griffin and Alice Sharpe have shown great consistency throughout the competition to take a dominant victory over Great Britain in the final. Ireland’s time of 4:21.262 was nearly four seconds quicker than their opponents who covered the 4,000 metre distance in 4:24.904.
Smiles all round for the Team Pursuit squad 🤩
What a performance 🔥 They secured the Bronze medal by nearly 4 seconds!#EuroTrack21 pic.twitter.com/oZMF0k1BqT— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) October 6, 2021
In the process of qualifying for the bronze-medal final, the squad set a new National Record. The quartet recorded a time of 4:21.202 over the 4,000 metre distance, beating the previous National Record of 4:21.368 earlier today. Although they finished second best to Italy, they did enough to secure a place in the bronze-medal final.
JB Murphy was also in action today in the final of the Points Race. The young rider put in a brilliant performance, gaining a lap solo during the race and was part of a group that took another lap to finish with a total of 43 points putting him in 5th place. French rider, Benjamin Thomas claimed the gold medal with 81 points ahead of Luri Leitao of Portugal on 61 points and Vlas Shichkin of Russia on 57 points.
The competition continues tomorrow for Team Ireland where Emily Kay will compete in the four event Omnium. Kay was in great form in the Olympic Omnium before a crash derailed her hopes of a top finish.
JB Murphy continues his Championship campaign with the Scratch race tonight at 6pm.
Emily Kay and JB Murphy will fly the flag for Ireland today at the European Track Championships ☘️
Kay will compete in the 4 event Omnium while Murphy will compete in the Scratch race.
⏱Live timing: https://t.co/UBEbHDZ3Xo
📺Live coverage from 5pm on @Eurosport#EuroTrack21 pic.twitter.com/mD5CYRI7d4— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) October 7, 2021
