Ireland enjoyed great success at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Canada. Dynamic duo Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal secured a fantastic silver medal in the Tandem Pursuit Race while Richael Timothy bagged her first medal on the world stage after winning bronze in the 10km C3 scratch race.
The Para-cycling squad had been preparing for the Worlds with training camps in Derby, Portugal and Mallorca with all of the hard work behind the scenes appearing to pay off.
In the final against New Zealand, Dunlevy and McCrystal recorded a time of 3:31.396 while the Kiwi’s covered the distance in 3:23.163. This saw New Zealand claim gold and the Irish duo claim silver – their best track result at the Para-cycling Track World Championships.
The pair are World Champions on the road having won five gold medals at the Para-cycling Road World Championships. They will find great encouragement with their latest result on the track as they look to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo this summer.
In qualification for the final Dunlevy and McCrystal eclipsed their previous National Record in the Tandem Pursuit Race as they rode 3:27.358. The New Zealand pair of Emma Foy and Hannah Van Kampen went even quicker, breaking the world record with their time of 3:20.819.
The duo were back on the track later in the 1km Tandem Time Trial where they narrowly missed out on another medal. They continued their brilliant form as they broke the Irish record with a time of 1:10.248 and finished 5th.
Katie and Eve have a quick word with us after their 5th place finish and National Record in the Kilo TT this evening#TeamIreland @KatieGDunlevy @evemccrystal pic.twitter.com/eiM43S9zw3
— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) February 1, 2020
Roscommon’s Richael Timothy rode brilliantly as she won bronze in the 10km C3 scratch race. Timothy finished third behind Chinese rider Xiaomei Wang and the USA’s Clara Brown.
In addition to wining bronze in the stand alone 10km C3 scratch race, she secured fifth in the overall women’s C3 Omnium. The Irish rider was sixth in the 500m Time Trial and then fifth in the 200m Time Trial.
Timothy is relatively new to the world of para-cycling having previously played GAA for Roscommon. She made her debut at the World Championships last year and has progressed exponentially in such a short space of tie.
She spoke after her said and said, “I didn’t really expect it. I just said to myself I was going to try to stay on as many wheels as I could.”
“Coming up to the last kilometre, it felt like there was way longer to go. I just saw the American girl go so I said, ‘I’ll just give it everything to try to follow her.’ Nobody came around me, so that was brilliant.”
“Last year I got pulled in…I got lapped three or four times, I think. So now, this year, to see that I am beating the girls who were so far ahead of me last year is really good.”
? "I didn't really expect it"@RichaelT reacts after her Bronze medal winning performance at the Paracycling World Championships pic.twitter.com/YshtrRJFDd
— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) February 2, 2020
