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sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_crime-law"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/crime-law/courts" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Courts</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/property" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Property</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_property" aria-label="Show Property sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_property"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/property/residential" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Residential</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/property/commercial-property" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Commercial Property</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/property/interiors" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Interiors</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/food" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Food</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_food" aria-label="Show Food sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_food"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/food/drink" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Drink</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/food/recipes" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Recipes</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/food/restaurants" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Restaurants</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/health" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Health</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_health" aria-label="Show Health sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_health"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/health/your-family" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Your Family</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/health/your-fitness" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Your Fitness</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/health/your-wellness" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Your Wellness</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/health/your-fitness/get-running" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Get Running</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Life & Style</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_life-style" aria-label="Show Life & Style sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_life-style"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style/fashion" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Fashion</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/tags/beauty/" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Beauty</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style/fine-art-antiques" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Fine Art & Antiques</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style/gardening" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Gardening</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style/people" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">People</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/life-style/travel" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Travel</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/culture" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Culture</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_culture" aria-label="Show Culture sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_culture"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/art" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Art</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/books" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Books</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/film" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Film</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/music" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Music</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/stage" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Stage</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/culture/tv-radio" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">TV & Radio</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/environment" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Environment</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_environment" aria-label="Show Environment sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_environment"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/environment/climate-crisis" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Climate Crisis</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/technology" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Technology</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_technology" aria-label="Show Technology sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_technology"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/technology/big-tech" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Big Tech</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/technology/consumer-tech" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Consumer Tech</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/technology/data-security" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Data & Security</a></li><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/technology/gaming" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Gaming</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/science" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Science</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_science" aria-label="Show Science sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_science"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/science/space" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Space</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><a class="c-link" href="/media" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Media</a></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><a class="c-link" href="/abroad" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Abroad</a></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><a class="c-link" href="/obituaries" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Obituaries</a></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><a class="c-link" href="/transport" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Transport</a></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/motors" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Motors</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_motors" aria-label="Show Motors sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 214.65L278.65 406.65C272.4 412.9 264.2 416 256 416Z"></path></svg></span></button></div><div class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-container "><ul class="b-header-nav-chain__subsection-menu" id="header_sub_section_motors"><li class="subsection-item" data-testid="nav-chain-subsection-item"><a class="c-link" href="/motors/car-reviews/" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Car Reviews</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><a class="c-link" href="/listen/" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Listen</a></li><li class="section-item" data-testid="nav-chain-section-item"><div data-testid="nav-chain-section-item-subsection" class="c-stack b-header-nav-chain__subsection-anchor subsection-anchor " data-style-direction="horizontal" data-style-justification="start" data-style-alignment="center" data-style-inline="false" data-style-wrap="nowrap"><a class="c-link" href="/podcasts" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1">Podcasts</a><button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header_sub_section_podcasts" aria-label="Show Podcasts sub sections" class="c-button c-button--medium c-button--default submenu-caret" type="button"><span><svg class="c-icon" width="20" height="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M256 416C247.812 416 239.62 412.875 233.38 406.625L41.38 214.625C28.88 202.125 28.88 181.875 41.38 169.375C53.88 156.875 74.13 156.875 86.63 169.375L256 338.8L425.4 169.4C437.9 156.9 458.15 156.9 470.65 169.4C483.15 181.9 483.15 202.15 470.65 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She fought back to rejoin Brand, but then was gapped in one of the sand sections.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFP5UPL45JCD5HBYZYCJ5XP7WM","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672271},"content":"“I don’t know if she had a problem again with her bike or something, because in the beginning she looked strong and confident coming back,” Dutchwoman Brand said of Van Empel. “But maybe it cost her too much energy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DGAGXRYWCNCVLOG3RGDCKALDEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672272},"content":"Both Vanthourenhout and Brand took over as leaders of the World Cup after this second round.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5OXYE7233ZAHNJGXZYIT3UZY2A","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672273},"content":"Greta Lawless was best of the Irish, taking a fine 10th in the junior women’s World Cup race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PD45IEX6F5CG3KIYIPOKYDYZYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672274},"content":"“I didn’t really expect it,” she said. “I had exams this week and I was sick the week before so not the most ideal run up. 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Dean Harvey placed 20th in the under 23 men’s contest.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JJBCAVMLPBG63MUQXFV3IY5DUA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672276},"content":"<b>UCI Cyclocross World Cup round 2, Dublin:</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"F4N7WZG3C5ECDD6Z33YJHDFN5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672277},"content":"<b>Elite men’s race:</b> 1 Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), 2 T Aerts (Deschacht – Hens – FSP), 3 Felipe Orts (Ridley Racing Team)","type":"text"},{"_id":"PJEYUYEIINCPVBB4A4V6WZS4FY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672278},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 30 Darnell Moore","type":"text"},{"_id":"AWAZMPP2CRBPDMGIIREIUNJTWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672279},"content":"<b>Elite women’s race:</b> 1 Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) 2 F van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3 Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM)","type":"text"},{"_id":"JTDRGU2MWZGN3BBYHKEDLIF46A","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672280},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 38 Ester Wong","type":"text"},{"_id":"TOQBNNKHRBFMROUDP5Q7AD5VZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672281},"content":"<b>Under 23 men:</b> 1 Jente Michels (Belgium), 2 Aaron Dockx (Belgium), 3 David Haverdings (Netherlands)","type":"text"},{"_id":"TVERX4JDWRCMXNWXWT6BFKEJAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672282},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 20 Dean Harvey","type":"text"},{"_id":"YGZSV3O5BNA65JMKZ6FJBYXGPQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672283},"content":"<b>Junior men:</b> 1 Soren Bruyere Joumard (France), 2 Giel Lejeune (Belgium) 3 Lennes Jacobs (Belgium)","type":"text"},{"_id":"RDDJWR7LGNAMTNSEA3EIYIBGYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672284},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 20 Curtis McKee","type":"text"},{"_id":"QUK4MAJ6W5AWJPJ7C3WLKCUUPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672285},"content":"<b>Junior women:</b> 1 Lidia Cusack (United States) 2 Lison Desprez (France) 3 Rafaelle Carrier (Canada)","type":"text"},{"_id":"V2C6SPWIWFHIRFQTPJIJXN7QHU","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672286},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 10 Greta Lawless","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Greta Lawless impresses by taking a fine 10th in the junior women’s World Cup race"},"display_date":"2024-12-01T19:33:39.445Z","headlines":{"basic":"Michael Vanthourenhout and Lucinda Brand victorious in Dublin Cyclocross World Cup","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"3OTXWSMVWMJC2C5W3GCXTHLDF4","auth":{"1":"f7671084bcd11ed6258bf2c19e8626f984f6d93e30b107a82f1f9a9b1af1e38e"},"focal_point":{"x":3388,"y":334},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3OTXWSMVWMJC2C5W3GCXTHLDF4.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/12/01/michael-vanthourenhout-and-lucinda-brand-victorious-in-dublin-cyclocross-world-cup/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"Q4G2IF4SXVDKJPWVFZXACAET7Y","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":991,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/1859e8dd-7cd8-4188-8030-54296c484099/versions/1732894086/media/523015459911082da761683a1fb82d8a_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/tennis/2024/11/30/conor-nilands-the-racket-is-the-best-sports-book-in-a-year-dominated-by-autobiographies/","content_elements":[{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Best</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"QN6QDAYMLJDYNAWJKLUECCLDZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218638},"content":"<u><b>The Racket by Conor Niland and Gavin Cooney (Penguin, €15.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"T2NWODWUHZF5PN7MO34GXGVFEI","additional_properties":{"_id":"5OXDPQ6CZNGPFBIM4FUIB6254I"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"EAN677ZKUBF6DF54CEMCMMPXTY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218639},"content":"We have had some brilliant Irish sports books over the past decade, without having all that many stone cold classics. This is a stone cold classic. The story of Conor Niland’s life in professional tennis, told along with Gavin Cooney of The 42, recently became the third Irish book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. And deservedly so.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LIPELKNKRRBBFL5RTJBANJMJSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218640},"content":"Niland is the best Irish tennis player of the open era. He was born six weeks after Roger Federer – not for nothing is the book subtitled On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%. The story, then, is one of getting closer than almost everyone on the planet to the sport’s gilded inner sanctum without ever quite making it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MMDC5ERAXBGQFBPRGH4QFBYQCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218641},"content":"Some of it would break your heart. The drip-drip of him throwing away his one match at Wimbledon after leading 4-1 in the final set is harrowing, all the more so because the prize for winning would have been a Centre Court match against Federer. The travel, the injuries, the grimly observed differences between the haves and have-nots – all of it would grind anyone down.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7NUQ6YQRP5DDPJAVZHJAXT4G3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218642},"content":"But this is no misery lit adventure. It’s very funny throughout because Niland and Cooney have packed a lifetime’s absurdity in here too. Like the time he played a set against the 15-year-old son of one of this sponsors, the weirdest match of his life. “Am I really allowed to beat up on my sponsor’s son? Or will he wonder why he’s spending his money on a guy who can’t beat his son easily?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AXPCU2NTC5HZFNTTCUNI6A5W4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218643},"content":"Niland retired in 2012, injuries finally calling a halt. The fact that he has let a decade pass before writing this book has done it a world of good. The tone isn’t bitter or maudlin – Niland has more perspective than that. He has painted a wonderfully detailed picture of a world most sports fans know next-to-nothing about and kept his sanity while doing so. That’s a win, all by itself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XXMVENZ5CBEC7CT3CFDRFTJAZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218644},"content":"<u><b>Obsessed by Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Reilly (Penguin, €24.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"3ZJYIDVQQ5BSTDQSWRCJ7M6DFA","additional_properties":{"_id":"EO6FGPFXLZFRJMGQ537GN3MG7U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MRF4QB2UYVE2NM54LUIB2JNI3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218645},"content":"There is a fantastic tension that runs throughout <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/johnny-sexton/\" target=\"_blank\">Johnny Sexton</a>’s autobiography, made all the better for the fact that he probably would have got away without dwelling on it at all. On the one hand, he was (is) a demonic competitor, a relentless setter of standards, a person who calls out deficiencies when he sees them. On the other, that doesn’t always make for a particularly pleasant person to be around.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPP44OW6HFBTVPSGWWIOG2ZFD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218646},"content":"In someone else’s hands, that side of his character could have been dealt with in a single chapter of a book that, let’s not forget, chronicles one of the greatest ever Irish sporting careers. Sexton and Peter O’Reilly could have thrown in a couple of anecdotes of him losing the rag, leavened it all with a bit of self-deprecation and moved right along to telling everyone about his drop goal against France in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WF37N3XB4JH25D43KDMC2OZKG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218647},"content":"But what makes this such a rewarding read is that fact that Sexton is willing to paint himself in an often unflattering light. His spikiness, his abrasive nature, his unwillingness to float along – these are a feature of his make-up, not a bug in the system. So much of the book is him wrestling with this side of himself. How did he get like this? Why does he have to be this way?","type":"text"},{"_id":"2ZKCU2MIHVC3POXAXEGQG25DFY","additional_properties":{"_id":"W4PYHJY4BJDJZLKVPNK6ZG7BJE"},"content":"Obsessed. The Autobiography by Johnny Sexton: One of the best Irish sports books ever written","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"R2A52XEAJBCGDJPVGYYPLTG4EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218648},"content":"“Be yourself everyone – except you, Johnny,” was <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/andy-farrell/\" target=\"_blank\">Andy Farrell</a>’s instruction at one point, making it clear to Sexton that he had to change his nature as Ireland captain, become more of a chameleon, work out who he can’t lose the rag with and who needs to be spoken to more softly. In the next breath, Sexton growled at John Cooney for a mistake in training but later rang him to apologise – “Though it went against every fibre of my being”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ERBXONWKRGHLJGVKW3OJKV5UM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218649},"content":"The push-and-pull of that, the constant unsparing questioning of himself, lifts this book above the vast majority of the autobiographies of his contemporaries. A brilliant portrait of one of Ireland’s most fascinating people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZPMZNNSHFECFPK2S3DA7HT6RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218650},"content":"<u><b>My Story by Joe Canning and Vincent Hogan (Gill Books, €21.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"6HAXHRPFUZBNBEJQVCHM3B5DWI","additional_properties":{"_id":"Q2M6K7KI7JF6VDQODF5E7SCJ54"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"T6FR676VXRDFFGH3V7IWF4PNLU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218651},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/joe-canning/\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Canning</a>’s father, Seán, has the best line in the former Galway hurler’s autobiography. At one stage, Canning is writing about the fact that he has kept a number of critical articles and headlines on his phone, years after they were written. He accepts that this doesn’t really say anything good about his ability to let things go.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WGID42VM3NADNHUQ56PZ2RQ24U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218652},"content":"“My father has this expression when he hears me giving out,” Canning writes. “‘Christ Joe, everybody can’t be a prick!’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PEH5QJMPRFI5OHDWO2T5Q3GMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218653},"content":"This is not to say that Canning’s book is a whingefest or an exercise in score-settling. It’s not that at all. The picture of Canning that emerges from his autobiography is of a man who has always known that his talent would mean finding an accommodation with the outside world – and one whose instinct is to feel uneasy about striking that bargain.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HOJQHVQGOJFMVJKACDW6K67CZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218654},"content":"Consequently, there is a sometimes contradictory sense about him. He has always battled to retain his own privacy and to keep his head generally down. But at the same time, he’s not one bit shy about loading up both barrels and picking off targets when he feels the need.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HH7WMH7WVNDHDGUMFTAKLODTBI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218655},"content":"Ger Loughnane gets a clip or two unloaded on him here, various clubs and county board members in Galway as well. Even Micheál Donoghue and his backroom, the men with whom Canning won his All-Ireland – catch a few strays in the book’s closing chapter, on account of them taking over Dublin and coaching against Galway in the championship.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L2XX2H5S4FEJ3B5TMJXDTV7C3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218656},"content":"Expertly put together along with Vincent Hogan, the picture of Canning that comes out of the book is someone who got everything out of his hurling career while staying true to himself along the way. That was never a given.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KKEKOL5G4BB2XAYBNBHGCG4WJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218657},"content":"<u><b>Whatever It Takes by Richie Hogan and Fintan O’Toole (Gill Books, €21.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"BQLLHPV6NNANXINX2BJEOYOQOE","additional_properties":{"_id":"4LOINULKFBD6RGPQXXTKLBAM6Y"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"L54HZ2YG5ZGLJJDLPTZP6MDQCM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218658},"content":"Richie Hogan doesn’t have a lot of time for waffle or flannel or even really shades of grey. Right throughout this pacy, enjoyable autobiography that he has written with the help of Fintan O’Toole of The 42, Hogan is at all times admirably straightforward. You prepare, you hurl, you win or you lose. You go again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WHYSCQA5EJGTPIDT2TWJKWAGQY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218659},"content":"That’s why it feels such a betrayal towards the end of his years with Kilkenny when, after a few dire seasons with injury, he is back fit and firing but can’t get on the pitch. It doesn’t seem to matter that he is lighting up training – Brian Cody and his management can’t be convinced he’ll last the pace. Hogan has it out with Cody – he eventually gets on for the last 10 minutes of the 2022 final and scores his last ever point in Croke Park.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WAVANMH26VEPZDFE6ICQBBKENM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218660},"content":"That Hogan’s back dogged him throughout the second half of his career will come as surprise to nobody. But the extent of it and the lengths he had to go to in order to be able to train and play is jaw-dropping at times. His back spasms have left him lying on the ground in the middle of the street or panned out on the cold floor of a dressingroom toilet, just to be able to get in position for throw-in.","type":"text"},{"_id":"W2OYPRFKDJAEPI5ZBNV5UJ5FLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218661},"content":"His relationship with Cody is fascinating. He’s not shy about expressing his frustration that Kilkenny never developed along with the game’s tactical changes and confronts the Kilkenny boss on a few occasions in the book with the sort of candour that others would have baulked at.","type":"text"},{"_id":"C7NPDEUMFJBQ7ITPC3ALMVMHQI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218662},"content":"Throw in some very funny moments – Cha Fitzpatrick’s Cancún adventures would make for a screenplay in and of themselves – and it’s a highly entertaining addition to the Kilkenny canon.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OS7IWXRM5H65NKAATNWOOTQCM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218663},"content":"<u><b>States Of Play by Miguel Delaney (Seven Dials, €15.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNPGCL2IWFA5LABBT76UYAW2S4","additional_properties":{"_id":"GPTVHHATINC23NQXEE6XIEVTUU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RUEBPOSWDBEKZOQWSC6G6J3ATI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218664},"content":"The boiling frog analogy can feel a little overplayed these days but sometimes needs must. The hijacking of professional football by corporate greed and state-aided finance has been such a gradual process that it can often be difficult to assess exactly where we stand with it all. That’s what makes a book like this so necessary.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YF26YOBFQBG3TKQJPW5M34E5HE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218665},"content":"Miguel Delaney is the chief football writer for the Independent in London and his book is an exhaustive account of how the game got itself into state it’s in. It charts the rise of uber-capitalism within soccer, initially in England but throughout Europe and the world as well. The changes over the past 30 years, from the setting up of the Premier League to the involvement of nation states are all in here, expertly gathered into a coherent timeline.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CMLAUX6N65E4DA47NMPIGNOALM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218666},"content":"How Sportswashing Took Over Football is the subtitle but it feels like the term is there as a hook, rather than the whole. While the story of the involvement of the oil nations of Middle East is told here in great detail, it’s only one part of the overall disaster. Football was never meant to be about geopolitics and yet here we are.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BSQNGCJAEJFHXN7TAZRKRCT5XE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218667},"content":"“There can sadly be no illusions about [football’s] role in the 21st century,” Delaney writes towards the end. “It has been a force for autocracy, populism, vested interests, commercialism, hyper-capitalism, ultra-liberalism, the fragmentation of the working classes, the overclass, culture wars, tribalism, soft power and hard power ... It doesn’t need to be like this, though.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AIVNU2IMDJCXZLGRSZTMLVL3XI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218668},"content":"Football needs this book to be read and heard. Part-investigation, part-primal scream, it’s a monumental piece of sports journalism.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Rest</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"EADASPVDK5HTLAHNM5MFCWVTOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218671},"content":"With integration (apparently) coming down the tracks, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the LGFA is as good a time as any for <b>Unladylike by Hayley Kilgallon (New Island, €23.99) </b>to hit the shelves. An in-depth history of women’s Gaelic football, it is rich in detail and beautifully illustrated.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QNGV2XL2TVFT5F2VTYOTAFE3KA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218672},"content":"On a completely different historical plane is <b>Lost Gaels by Peadar Thompson (Merrion, €28.99)</b>. A meticulous and heartfelt work, it is a collection of accounts of the lives of GAA members who died during the Troubles. Like all matters to do with the conflict, it is a complex book about which readers are entitled to have mixed feelings. A vital slice of oral history, all the same.","type":"text"},{"_id":"STFALYRARZCUDCPRBPHHETRJF4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218673},"content":"Two other GAA books are worth a look. <b>The Epic Origins of Hurling by Joeys Alumni (MCH, €32.00)</b> is a translation of scholarly Irish work done by Brother Liam Ó Cathnia of St Joseph’s in Fairview, Dublin in the 1980s, tracing the initial stirrings of the game back in the 1700s. And <b>Our Finest Hour by Edwin McGreal (Mayo Books, €28.00)</b> is a phenomenal collection of yarns gathered in across every club in Mayo (47 football and five hurling), each telling the story of the greatest day in their history.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WZVXNKQIIRHP7GPYKMVL7MT6GM","additional_properties":{"_id":"RH2WQ5MOARFIBIRYGEWIJKMEGY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RDNSCO3AERE23DNPMD3QYJ3G4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218674},"content":"On the soccer front, <b>Munichs by David Peace (Faber & Faber, €23.20)</b> is a fictional retelling of the 1958 Munich air crash and its aftermath. Epic in scale and depth, it has been gloriously reviewed in most quarters. Turning real life into a novel isn’t to everyone’s taste – and Peace’s insistence on repetition as a writing flourish can be a bit grating at times. But there’s no denying his sincerity in honouring the men who were lost.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QUUHWDOOOJHVJFJ747TTJ5CVIY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218675},"content":"Elsewhere, two titans of the TV football game have books out. <b>The Hamilton Notes by George Hamilton (Merrion, €22.99)</b> is the great commentator’s follow-up to his 2021 memoir. His sunny, warm character shines through a collection of travelogues, anecdotes and recollections.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HF53VK64FNEQPE5ELICDDWXPH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218676},"content":"In a similar vein, <b>Saturday Afternoon Fever by Jeff Stelling (Headline, €15.99)</b> is a delightful jaunt through the Sky presenter’s career and if the yarns maybe aren’t always as funny as Stelling himself imagines, there’s more than enough of them to keep the whole show rolling along.","type":"text"},{"_id":"53XDJHKRHZBNFDSTU4IRTX6PNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218677},"content":"This being the 150th year of the IRFU’s existence, a couple of timely skips through history have hit the shelves. <b>Blood And Thunder by Liam O’Callaghan (Penguin, €22.99)</b> is the livelier of them, a deeply-researched social history of the game in Ireland that isn’t afraid to poke at the stuffed shirts that have run the game over the years. <b>Together Standing Tall by John Scally (Gill, €27.99)</b> is a more official affair, an oral history covering the games and players from down the decades.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KFFJ4INJNRFUPAKB7GDWKML2FI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218678},"content":"Next, two very different autobiographies by two very different Irish sports personalities. <b>Bend, Don’t Break by Frank O’Mara (O’Brien, €17.99)</b> is the former middle-distance runner’s story of his fight with Parkinson’s disease. Though it’s a bracing, uncomfortable read at times, you are left in total admiration for O’Mara in his battle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DOWBQ6EF2VGJFKM7RESFYN7Z3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218679},"content":"Davy Russell hasn’t faced serious illness but like most jockeys he’s had no shortage of injury to overcome down the years. They’re a feature of <b>My Autobiography by Davy Russell and Donn McClean (Eriu, €22.00)</b>, along with the people he’s fallen in with and out with over the course of a long career. Russell has always been one of the most interesting jockeys in the weigh room and the sense you get here is that he leaves it with very few regrets.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2VVTPGKIE5BPBGZTXTIYBBFRLM","additional_properties":{"_id":"GTGG5KL36JCYBONA6PV5SI3YTU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SP36BI3MGZA2XJZBTGECWBZ2YY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218680},"content":"To finish, some books that are mercifully NOT autobiographies. <b>Death Of A Boxer by Pete Carvill (Biteback, €23.20)</b> is not quite This Bloody Mary Is The Last Thing I Own but it’s fishing in similar waters to Jonathan Rendall’s 1997 classic. Carvill interrogates boxing and specifically he goes rooting around in the psyche of those who get into the ring, even though they know it can end in their death. Even if it’s a little disjointed at times, it’s always thoughtful and always probing, chasing the elusive why.","type":"text"},{"_id":"77IJR6ZO3VDGXF4YNAVEH4OVRI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218681},"content":"<b>A Farewell To The Fairways by Dermot Gilleece (Red Stripe Press, €19.99)</b> is a gorgeous sign-off from the doyen of Irish golf writers. Gilleece graced the pages of just about every paper in town over the course of six decades and this is his reflection on it all. The words are exacting and precise now as they ever were, needless to say.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CMJRM72JIBC7TDKAAWFWLXULAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218682},"content":"On which note, <b>The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2024 edited by Jane McManus (Triumph Books, €24.00)</b> isn’t to be missed. Get it for the Sally Jenkins masterpiece on Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert – Bitter Rivals. Beloved Friends. Survivors – which genuinely worth the cover price all by itself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Kids</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HSCMGTWYTJBNXHVKXVGVVOUYAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218685},"content":"Never has there been a greater spread of sports books aimed at young people, from illustrated histories to biographies to YA novels and beyond. <b>The Story of Irish Rugby by Gerard Siggins (O’Brien, €19.99)</b> is the perfect primer for a young person just getting into the game, artfully written by Siggins, author of the popular Rugby Spirit series. Beautifully illustrated by Graham Corcoran, it’s a must for any rugby mad youngster.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MLRSKZ6KWNGQDJKXNCXOGKDOPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218686},"content":"<b>Ireland’s Call by Paul O’Flynn (Gill, €14.99) </b>is a lightly fictionalised retelling of the 2024 Grand Slam, aimed at the 8-11 year-old age range. It keeps to the general story of the Six Nations campaign and scatters a few imagined conversation between players and coaches throughout.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M5XFAKKDRNCR7DGYXYMDFOR6ZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218687},"content":"And for younger readers – or older ones who want to read to them – <b>‘Twas The Match Before Christmas by Julianne McKeigue (O’Brien, €16.99)</b> is a lot of fun. A reworking of the most famous Christmas poem of them all, it’s set in Croke Park and illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"Johnny Sexon, Joe Canning and Richie Hogan all have highly readable offerings and Miguel Delaney’s book on the hijacking of modern football is not to be missed"},"display_date":"2024-11-30T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Sports Books of the Year: Conor Niland’s The Racket the best in a year dominated by autobiographies","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"HSQIAFL7CBDJFPMAUYCWFBEUM4","auth":{"1":"57955f1488272f7f96f48ea653fd839cbf4942161db89faa479143c41e53601b"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/HSQIAFL7CBDJFPMAUYCWFBEUM4.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Racing"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/tennis/2024/11/30/conor-nilands-the-racket-is-the-best-sports-book-in-a-year-dominated-by-autobiographies/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/tennis","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Tennis"}}}},{"_id":"G24KP7LDSBBO5JUOTBJYYSDF3M","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":829,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/539f9165-1a54-4053-b528-c104d7e5c49d/versions/1732272511/media/e2cf7ae506a15e6ba525b76df89c757e_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/23/the-bird-shaped-obsession-that-drives-james-crombie-one-of-irelands-best-sports-photographers/","content_elements":[{"_id":"WPTQVDNLEZCPJJVT7A6GYB3NZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571234},"content":"James Crombie knew nothing about birds when this all started. Couldn’t have told you a starling from a swallow. When a friend told him he should take some pictures of the murmurations around Lough Ennell, his first job was to go away and google what the hell a murmuration was.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YDXBPRGVFBHPJP5NM7MIMKUTKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571235},"content":"That was four years ago. Ireland was in the maw of the pandemic and the normal run of his day job as a sports photographer had slowed to a crawl. He was looking for something to divert himself and also to distract his buddy, who had recently been through a family tragedy. And so began, in December 2020, a project that would produce the most famous photograph he is ever likely to take.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7YHHZAMPCNB43OVG4KHQMIXGPA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571236},"content":"Crombie’s astonishing bird-shaped murmuration didn’t just go viral, it went global. It appeared first on the front page of The Irish Times on March 4th, 2021 and from there, it went everywhere. To parts known and unknown – National Geographic, CNN, The New Scientist, everywhere else.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KZNPGYDFNBHR5PGRKXD4HZYCOI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2LWP7EWSTFATFKEGLSXGGOGWIY"},"content":"Lough Ennell murmurations seen on video just as James Crombie captures the famous photo","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"I3REI6Z5INC7FAQZQGTK4ZF2KQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571238},"content":"“In the three years since I took it, I’d say not a day goes by without someone mentioning it to me,” Crombie says. “I’ve taken pictures since then that I personally think are better but they will never get the attention that that picture got. I go to the UK and run into photographers over there and they go, ‘Here’s the Bird Man’. Every weekend, it happens somewhere.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKGCAZR765DNBEXXXWW25XDJUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571239},"content":"“Which is fine and great – it’s not as if I’m hiding from it. I’m publishing a fecking book off the back of it! But it is funny trying to live up to it. And I don’t think I ever will or ever can, really. I spent the year after I took it half-annoyed because I was going, ‘How am I going to get the next thing that causes that sort of reaction?’ I felt this pressure to deliver something else as good as it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OAGE3QJUJATZILFW5VIH2KU6U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571240},"content":"But as everyone who ever did anything good knows, reaction is an unstable pleasure. It’s a dopamine hit. It doesn’t last and it can’t be why you do it. Crombie took The Bird photo on his 50th night going to Lough Ennell. He kept going back for another 250 nights over the following three years. Why?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3PI6MUVQPKXVYUPQAJVZYBHDVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"2L4SUKSP55C7NCO4QYRJJJESQ4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"JT3P5DQV3ZHVFAYL6VEZ54664U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571241},"content":"Well, he did it because it became a way to spend time with his friend. He did it because he made another friend, a local farmer, along the way and the three of them became ever so slightly obsessed with these birds. He did it because it was a change of pace too, because there’s only so many kicks you can get from the rolling schedule of live matches.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BDFEAKMND5CZ5OQW4VSOMRWKJA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571242},"content":"“It’s funny because I get completely consumed by sport. Last weekend I was at the Aviva and there were 50,000 rugby fans there. And then I was in Twickenham with 82,000 people and then I was in Cardiff with 52,000 people. So at the weekend, I worked in front of nearly 200,000 people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3XPKJFAWRRDQPMCKCVLSQBNZYU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571243},"content":"“And then on the Tuesday night I went to the lake where there was nobody. It was quiet and peaceful and I just thought, I love the contrast in that. I kind of need that as well. Because you go from game to game, they often just become the same thing at a different venue. I’m as mad into it as I ever was but I know it’s not possible to produce amazing photographs from every event you go to. I know that sometimes you do a match in cruise control.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FIMLZ7OPJG2RJDZ2VLCCRFNZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571244},"content":"“So to go down to the lake and just be there, knowing that nobody is going to care what I produce or if I don’t produce anything, I like that. I’m there on my own, I’m not on the phone, there’s no pressure.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JLGWYMQDGZD6LCL7BWRZWIBX3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571245},"content":"Crombie has won plenty of awards down the years, twice taking the overall PPI Photographer of the Year gong. And yet, much like with the starlings, he ended up being a snapper almost by happenstance. He did an aptitude test in secondary school and somehow the career guidance answer that came back said he should be a fishmonger. He ended up in IT and went to London for three years, working in a bank. That was never going to be it, either.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5SNCONO2LVHJY4RC7QVZUAJAUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"5PGTKKJSEZFXJMJDMSLUFIRGNA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CCDEAOW35FEXNFL7ZOXPZ3IXQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571246},"content":"All the while, he was interested in photography, as a hobby as much as anything. He came back to Ireland and tootled about in a couple of other jobs for a while until a chance came along to take part in a reality TV series called No Experience Required. The idea was that various companies – among them the Inpho sports photography agency – would audition people who had never worked in a particular area before and at the end, take them on to the staff for six months.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HT73SWP3MNGIFODXJTSM5TW7KA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571247},"content":"“I always joke with Billy [Stickland, founder of Inpho] that if I hadn’t won that show, I’d be earning 300 grand a year now and have a second villa down in Spain. But no, I chose sport and photography instead. And it’s been amazing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"J63UGHRMHZG4NMYDLHGSYMRQ5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571248},"content":"“I would say it took me 10 years to get comfortable with it. I was obsessed from the start. For most of that first six months, I was sitting in the office obsessed with how the other lads were cropping pictures, obsessed with settings, obsessed with the equipment. Eventually, near the end, one of them said to me, ‘Here, are you not going to go out and take any pictures? They won’t keep you on if you don’t.’","type":"text"},{"_id":"O5Y6JHVT7RHR5LEM2E4HGFT7EA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571249},"content":"“It nearly hadn’t occurred to me that I could go out and take them, weird as that sounds. I half-thought I had to stay in the office. So I went out every night to a different football match – Dublin championship, intermediate games, junior games, down to Wicklow for more games then. I still have those pictures and they’re brutal. But that’s how it started.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2WBDUKYNAZFAVGKTUWNKKOY7SI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571250},"content":"The bulk of the job is matches. Rugby, soccer, hurling, football, wash, rinse, repeat. He brings an analogue radio with him to every match – digital radio commentary is always about 40 seconds behind the action. It means that he can be looking around during a game, staying engaged but still able to find pictures away from the pitch.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5Z5KWLJQGVFRBLH3ABMB27QFNM","additional_properties":{"_id":"4WK5YTBCLJBCXPOVFBWEBPZUAQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SX3G4MQSENFHPDC6JHRXIALT7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571251},"content":"“I think you need to keep some element of nervousness when you go to games. You don’t want to be too comfortable. If Dublin or Limerick are attacking in the last play of an All-Ireland final, your nerves have to be high because you don’t want to miss the shot.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M56DQVFNCZHSRFV5WIXMY3L5VE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571252},"content":"“I remember this year with Clare and Cork in the All-Ireland final, the Clare guy pulled the Cork guy’s jersey – I got a great shot of it. The jersey is nearly off him. I really thought, ‘How is that not a free?’ This is going to be the pivotal shot. And it didn’t become the pivotal shot because the free wasn’t given.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7HYUXRLKBE5TL3ANMYUONBF6Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571253},"content":"“Those last shots are where you have to be nervous. I’d say something like that happens maybe 10 times in a year. You know it, you can feel it in the stadium, the last play is so important and you don’t want to mess it up. You need that little bit of edge.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GINBGRWVKZCDHFL25TXYHDGOKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571254},"content":"The murmuration project was entirely without edge, of course. Which was kind of the point. Crombie is married to Ann – they’ve been together since they were teenagers and have four kids. Having a day job that takes him away at weekends and sometimes for weeks at a time is bad enough. Heading off to hang out with a couple of thousand starlings for 300 nights over four years requires a fair bit of understanding on the home front.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OFBPU25H6VBFRCA6OWVP4DLRZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571255},"content":"“I would definitely say it’s selfish on my part. I’m gone a lot with sport in the first place. And then to find another reason to be away, it’s a lot. But I met my wife when we were 17. We know each other that long. She manages me, as much as people would have managed Paul McGrath back in the day. Occasionally she’ll say, ‘Right, cop on here.’ But she knows me better than anyone.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2O726S5CQRCTRLICMWPKWS6ZJE","additional_properties":{"_id":"RGDSYRHTXJA5VPGTIHHQ76YMGQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"UTPUWOGV4NBT5DTXS2YT3K7MKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571256},"content":"When the book arrived a couple of weeks back, Crombie’s initial reaction surprised him a little. Delighted and all as he is with it, he couldn’t help being sad at the whole thing coming to an end. Or at least an end of sorts.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TAFXVJWI45FQNG2NYRHSGNLDLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571257},"content":"The starlings have been coming to Lough Ennell to roost in winter for as far back as anyone can remember. It’s about half an hour’s drive from his house. He’ll never not be able to head out with his camera to shoot them. Will he ever snap another picture like the one he did three years ago? Probably not. Will he ever stop being asked about it. Equally probably not.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PRS4ORNROZAGLOCVHHYO6KOT7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571258},"content":"One answer that has never been properly nailed down is the why of it. Why did those thousands of starlings form themselves into the shape of a bird of prey that evening in April 2021? Murmurations are for protection, that much is well known. But why that particular shape for that particular millisecond? Pure coincidence? Or something deeper?","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRV42PVP3FBF7HLACXOQJPLKJA","additional_properties":{"_id":"GCCIAYMVNBBKZKOJJ6FOXMYT3A"},"content":"How Ireland won relay gold in June 2024: Ten photographs that tell the story of a golden night for Irish athletics","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"6YJALFHY3FCFNI2V6EIM5ISCNM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571259},"content":"“I’d like to think it’s something deeper,” Crombie says. “There was another shape that looked like a water wren that same night, within three or four minutes of the one I got. But I’m pretty sure it’s just by chance. I’ve had comments over the years saying it’s a sign of the end of the world, praising Allah, praising God, whatever else. I don’t know.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZBH6HLWSENCPVC3FO7YGWPMCNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571260},"content":"“I don’t think they did it on purpose. If I was standing at a slightly different angle, it wouldn’t have looked like a bird. We just happened to be at the exact perfect angle. So I don’t know. It was probably just pure chance.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5GFT2JUJNVFYZP2SKHN6ERPVSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571261},"content":"♦ <i>Murmurations by James Crombie is published by Lilliput Press</i>","type":"text"},{"_id":"QPPNCSYXZJCMJJMHPPFHFGBFBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571263},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><u><b>The art of sports photography: How It Works</b></u></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"WAK347OGJ5H2LOGAVRX6YNAKLU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571264},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Fionn McGivern (2) watches Kilkenny v Clare, July 2023</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"C3ZS43T4DFGZVJL7NZT2UAMP7I","additional_properties":{"_id":"TANYOHGPHZGN7HFGMJIPNK5ZK4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GY6OIZLS5VAUJJDU7OTXJSORCE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571265},"content":"I was watching this little kid for about seven or eight minutes while the game was going on. I was very relaxed that day. I was looking for something different and I remember spotting that little kid out of the corner of my eye. I had the game going on in my little analogue radio so I knew I could turn and get anything if I needed to.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KQXRS2RJTVF5NMEXUWDDZRMD5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571266},"content":"But this little lad was just there and I followed him for about seven or eight minutes, maybe nine. Just waiting for him to get into that perfect stance, the way he is in the shot. I got a great buzz out of it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T6RVSHG7E5CHTGM65P6ZFZSXJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571267},"content":"The kid was from Antrim. His parents were massive Kilkenny fans. They were down for the game. Somebody found them afterwards and did a story on them and they ended up getting tickets for the final because of it. The kid ended up being interviewed on Kilkenny radio. That one was good fun.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TERUBBZQXBBW5OJGWMT7TATVMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571268},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Supporter at Covid-era club championship match, September 2020</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"WKYH26EULJC53CBW5ZMXK5X7DQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"7DJA2QWJBRBK5DUT6ZA6FBTSDM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ZPRHSIW7UZBHRLWTFZ5TIZJZUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571269},"content":"Sport had just started back but no crowds were allowed at games yet. This was a Roscommon semi-final between St Brigid’s and Boyle. I was taking pictures of it when I saw this head poking up over the wall behind the goal. So I said I’d go out and have a look.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OGSLXOEIQFCPTPTRDCXSFC5Z6Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571270},"content":"I got out into this graveyard behind Dr Hyde Park. This guy had carried his ladder all the way through the graveyard and propped it up. I didn’t want to disturb him in case he fell off so I took a few snaps and happened to get this one just as Boyle scored.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SWVPBHFZUFGJRNZHRQRS54QIIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571271},"content":"I went over to him then and asked could I publish the photo. “Oh Jesus no,” he said. “I’m not supposed to be here.” There were still restrictions at that stage on how far from your house you were allowed to go. But I said I wouldn’t use his name and would only show him from the back so he was okay with it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7MJDUH5N6FDD3IWQ4VG52CWUQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571272},"content":"A few weeks later, his daughter got on to me and asked could she get the original. Apparently it went viral and everyone recognised him. He ended up doing a two-page spread in the Roscommon Herald.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JUQWNP6PJVGELOVE3YBLGZB4PQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571273},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Connacht bench at a Challenge Cup game in Siberia, January 2016</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"OU3RZX3H5VFNPJ345V6ZT5KFK4","additional_properties":{"_id":"BOQMHUSUFVAD3LPVGMOXNYIVAM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AFPKXQKOWRFEFOGF62HR3CMJMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571274},"content":"This was a mad adventure. Enisei-STM were the first Russian club to play in the Challenge Cup and Connacht went to Siberia for the game. We were told there could be up to 30,000 at it – we turned up and there were about 400 there. It was the coldest I’ve ever been, the harshest conditions I’ve ever seen a match be played in.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3T2VO6K5ENF6DN4MCXLU5LLDRI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571275},"content":"I had about a dozen layers on me and I was still frozen solid. I saw the Connacht bench from the far side of the pitch but it took me about 10 minutes to walk around because I nearly seized up with the cold. They had blankets and hot water bottles and hot chocolates for when they came off the pitch.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XLAHJY22SZAXDDO3E25X46IWSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571276},"content":"It took us about a week to get home. The charter plane Connacht had hired hadn’t moved for four days and was completely frozen solid when we got back to it. So we had no way of getting out of there. By the time we did, our five-day visas had run out. We had to fly to Moscow to get our visas renewed just to leave the country. Players got processed first, officials next. I’d say I was pretty much the last one out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"It started as a pandemic distraction but ended up producing probably the most famous photo the Westmeath man will ever take - the murmuration that went around the world"},"display_date":"2024-11-23T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"The bird-shaped obsession that drives James Crombie, one of Ireland’s best sports photographers ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI","auth":{"1":"9c9585a82889598a9b724aeaa7c117136eb5fae92b5527345c4515158f27bbc0"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI","auth":{"1":"9c9585a82889598a9b724aeaa7c117136eb5fae92b5527345c4515158f27bbc0"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Racing"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Soccer"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/23/the-bird-shaped-obsession-that-drives-james-crombie-one-of-irelands-best-sports-photographers/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/gaelic-games","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Gaelic Games"}}}},{"_id":"RTTPKAET2RA3RAEJJOBRZPMM3U","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":509,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/ac159224-ed65-4212-a342-0c5ba9f8cc46/versions/1731685733/media/7e87a8d229f8a1772794aa25af075030_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/11/16/lara-gillespie-climbing-the-cycling-ranks-and-finding-that-extra-gear-despite-adversity/","content_elements":[{"_id":"O2W2NNLT3BA5PEBKTBE54YLPJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1731616006400},"content":"<b>The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for October: </b><a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/lara-gillespie/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Lara Gillespie </b></a><b>(Cycling)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"SZI663E57FC4BBPKDKPHCOSXOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731060},"content":"Being tough on yourself is, no doubt, a basic requirement for athletes competing at the elite level of sport, just so they keep pushing to squeeze every last drop of potential out of themselves. Lara Gillespie can take it to whole new heights, though.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DP4KL3OYXJCEXA2SI4FUWAVJRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731061},"content":"You note how emotional she appeared to be after <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/lara-gillespie-speeds-to-bronze-medal-at-track-world-championships/\" target=\"_blank\">winning bronze at the Track World Championships in Denmark last month</a>. So you ask if that was because she was thinking back to the dark days when even being able to cycle again seemed improbable, never mind winning world medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P7P5PG3HVRBEJDRCEMSZREKSBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731062},"content":"“No. My only emotion that day was annoyance that I didn’t win. I definitely wasn’t thinking, ‘oh, that was amazing’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"S3JB22NY3JFJJJXAUQUQFRHK2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731063},"content":"Ah, Lara.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5CYWOSAPDBF4BFWDWWTERMGXNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731064},"content":"She laughs. “I am hard on myself, yeah, but I think every athlete does have a bit of that in them. And I think that’s how you keep getting better.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OWHNOFS6XBAPXGJCGHIXCYFSBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731065},"content":"It’s a fair indication of how much the 23-year-old has gone through the last few years that she describes breaking her shoulder a couple of weeks out from the Olympics as “a bit unfortunate”. For most, it would have been a calamity, for Gillespie it was just another hiccup on her journey.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NC7LTETKWJH5DIDXIMC656OX5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731066},"content":"After the year she’s enjoyed, she probably deserves to be spared yet more questions about all her health and injury battles, but they put in context the measure of her achievements through 2024, on both the road and track, and demonstrate just how much of the warrior there is about this Wicklow native.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZNDXWOJF5ANNG2UIVLMGJW43E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731067},"content":"The gist: A debilitating gynaecological condition that eventually needed surgery, glandular fever, a torn hamstring, a dislocated collarbone, that broken shoulder, sundry injuries from crashes, and, just to cap it all, Covid as she was shaping up for her Olympic debut.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JSIVYNA3UFFYPL7MLPKORWH4SA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731068},"content":"So, after being annoyed with herself in Denmark for finishing just four points behind gold medallist Julie Leth and only one behind the superstar that is Lotte Kopecky, she reflected on her path to that podium and gave herself a break. A brief one, any way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B4CEM3XHCRFD7CPPS3CD4YAKS4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731069},"content":"“Yeah, I do feel proud about getting through all the hard days, and I’m endlessly grateful to the people who helped me along the way. When I was sick back in 2020 and 2021, I couldn’t even get out of bed, that’s how mentally draining it was. Sport is my life, it’s what makes me feel good, so when I’m not able to do it, it’s really, really hard on my brain, my nervous system, my whole body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L3ZAAMIMZFAQXP5QRU2M23OE7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731070},"content":"“And there was definitely a period when I really didn’t think I’d ever be racing again, so there’s not one day that goes by when I’m not grateful to be back on the bike. Everyone experiences hard times, though, but once things start going good again, you kind of forget about them. But yeah, I really overcame a lot of obstacles, so 2024 was quite a big step considering I’ve only been healthy for a year or two.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MA6LDSOQMFDMLOVUFMLDGE3IX4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731071},"content":"She was, she says, able to put the “disruptions” to her career “to bed” last year, but you’d need a supplement to detail the highlights of 2024 — among them: <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/04/23/lara-gillespie-takes-biggest-road-race-success-of-career-with-italian-win/\" target=\"_blank\">winning two stages plus the general classification in the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa</a> in April, sprinting to victory in the Antwerp Port Epic race in May, being part of the first Irish team pursuit squad to qualify for the Olympic Games, smashing the national record en route to a ninth place finish, and being <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/06/06/lara-gillespie-inks-first-worldtour-contract-in-major-career-boost/\" target=\"_blank\">given a contract by UAE Team ADQ which saw her step up to WorldTour level </a>in June. And then there was Denmark.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PVMTADI77BG7TK5LR35RWTIWB4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731072},"content":"“It was a dynamic year, but I absolutely loved every moment of it. I wasn’t just participating, I was actually able to compete at the highest level and I felt like I learned so much. My bronze in Denmark was definitely my big peak of the year, it was incredible to be in the top three in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YJYG24ZSNFFT7JTUUQGFOULVJU","subtype":"instagram","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"MK32O6TO4NG3REC64S6UKZWIBA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731073},"content":"“But I was so proud to be part of that Olympic team too, the four of us traipsed around the world trying to qualify, and for us to achieve that, when we can’t even train at home, was something special.” That velodrome in Abbotstown can’t be built quickly enough.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ETKEU3TZNVGEFFSWPIZ72P64HI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731074},"content":"Needless to say, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/2024/08/12/irelands-olympics-were-emotional-deeply-achingly-and-beautifully-so/\" target=\"_blank\">she was hard on herself after her fifth, 10th and 11th placings in her various Olympic events</a>, but she was hardly off the bike when she had Los Angeles 2028 on her mind. Before then, though, she has a jammed schedule, starting with the UCI Track Champions League — “basically like the Diamond League in athletics” — which gets under way on November 23rd. This is why she’s in Spain this week doing some personal training, rather than being back home in Wicklow relaxing after a hectic year. Cycling is unrelenting.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HR444YNX2FDC7DI7767MR4CGSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731075},"content":"But after a hugely successful junior career, at European and World levels, Gillespie is savouring the chance that has finally come to realise her potential in the senior ranks, her signing with ADQ opening up a whole new world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PYDJB6UHZZCTFFNHDOEWYSD7JM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731076},"content":"“That was massive for me, you can’t get any higher than that. I’m so excited to be a part of it because every single rider on the team is a champion in their own right. It’s a whole new chapter of discovering what suits me [and] what type of rider I am. I’m learning a lot about myself and other people are learning maybe not to put me in a box.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DLZQRC4GTZCTJPGAPVOILNIACM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731077},"content":"“A lot of times this year I surprised myself, and my coaches too. They only thought I was a sprinter or a track rider, and then I would do a big 40km solo breakaway and they’re like, ‘woah, where did that come from?’","type":"text"},{"_id":"CRH4YDJZWNBHZCPKS6IDLVSOJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731078},"content":"“So yeah, I’m learning about myself, what I can be. And I always think I can be the best. That’s just my nature. Every athlete should go into every race thinking they can win — otherwise, what’s the point? Maybe that’s why I’m so hard on myself because I know that’s where I can be: winning.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZRBCIRNM6FWD6XGYSAKQRZLHBI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2MIGHCRE5VCJXFXUL53MZ6XTCU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"FFLSXQENYNFJPBKDJNVFO7MG5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731079},"content":"A German connection is helping. Not least in transporting her bikes and all her worldly possessions when she’s travelling the circuit. “Yeah, 99.9 per cent of the time I’m living out of a suitcase, I don’t have a home base, I’m moving from training camp to race, training camp to race, to race, to race, it’s life on the road. And I love it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MPSWEF4O3VDRTKAEIB65GLLMEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731080},"content":"“My boyfriend, Luca Spiegel, is German, he’s an elite cyclist too, and dating a cyclist works out really well because you’re not feeling bad for being away the whole time — he understands. We both got to experience the Olympics and the Worlds together, so that was really special. And it also helps because the German team transported some of my bikes and stuff to the Worlds so, logistically, that helped a lot.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2BHDXGVXOVBL3HEDP4GZD4YEGI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731081},"content":"No regrets about giving up ballet, Irish dancing, football, hockey, athletics and swimming? “Ha, no. But I do miss them sometimes, I miss that proper team environment. Although I got those feelings back in Abu Dhabi a couple [of] weeks ago with ADQ, it was really cool because you could feel a team click.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DT7IO5WLIRHJXGA5FGUY25BTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731082},"content":"“I still do a little bit of dancing, it makes me feel good, and I have a little jog here and there. I’ll go back to them someday, maybe when I’m a mom, but for now it’s cycling.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AN67PP5JU5CFPDYBGM5DN6N4LE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731083},"content":"<b>Previous monthly winners</b> — <b>December</b>: Fionnuala McCormack (Athletics); <b>January</b>: Lucy Mulhall (Rugby); <b>February</b>: Mona McSharry (Swimming); <b>March</b>: Rachael Blackmore (Horse racing); <b>April</b>: Róisín Ní Riain (Swimming); <b>May</b>: Rhasidat Adeleke (Athletics); <b>June</b>: Ciara Mageean (Athletics); <b>July</b>: Kellie Harrington (Boxing); <b>August</b>: Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Gaelic football); <b>September</b>: Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly (Paracycling).","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Mary Hannigan"}},"name":"Mary Hannigan"}]},"description":{"basic":"‘I am hard myself ... but I think every athlete does have a bit of that in them. And I think that’s how you keep getting better’"},"display_date":"2024-11-16T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Lara Gillespie climbing the cycling ranks and finding that extra gear despite adversity ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ","auth":{"1":"f9832386002c528d0adebacc429a2b65866318ce0ce4b9db571655dcde407d10"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/11/16/lara-gillespie-climbing-the-cycling-ranks-and-finding-that-extra-gear-despite-adversity/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZGZ56D2JSRENJDJREYIZVEK7WE","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":349,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/16696ad1-8eff-4f00-bfdf-8cc343ad1719/versions/1731088520/media/feef627c9fad19f465477a19413265f3_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/09/no-sporting-comeback-is-entirely-risk-free-but-always-worth-the-gamble/","content_elements":[{"_id":"PNBY4Q6DTBCQBLUF2BT4F7NMZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806368},"content":"Just because you live in the Dublin Mountains doesn’t mean you’re far enough away from hearing any of the rumours coming down from <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/donegal-gaa/\" target=\"_blank\">Donegal</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7TYEKJLW4ZGHXBYTX77EQZ3LXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806369},"content":"As a matter of fact, a close neighbour with strong ties in the highlands reliably informed me a few weeks ago that <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/michael-murphy/\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Murphy </a>was unquestionably still playing the best club football in Donegal, and <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/jim-mcguinness/\" target=\"_blank\">Jim McGuinness </a>will have him back next year, just wait and see.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z7RDAC3NKZBMDMQA3Y2WCLQWJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806370},"content":"The problem with any of these sporting comeback rumours is that there’s no knowing the exact source. What is certain in Murphy’s case is that he was done with intercounty football, announcing his retirement this time two years ago at age 33 and building a wall of reasons — including starting a <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2024/10/17/michael-murphy-played-well-gaa-football-is-as-good-as-any-game-in-the-world-we-set-out-to-improve-its-chances/\" target=\"_blank\">popular column with news organisation </a>— as to why he wouldn’t be changing his mind on that. Forget about it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JVRWOKPPUFBGNKVE376YLC3B5A","additional_properties":{"_id":"57KKULA4JNF4NJF3OXRBQI6ZII"},"content":"Michael Murphy ends intercounty retirement to rejoin Donegal footballers","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"Z5BZNVEBB5D5XH3NUZ6XTAIG6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781987},"content":"So when the Donegal county board announced on Wednesday that they were <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/06/michael-murphy-ends-intercounty-retirement-to-rejoin-donegal-footballers/\" target=\"_blank\">“happy to confirm the return of All-Ireland winning captain Michael Murphy to the Donegal squad for the 2025 season”</a>, well that had the famous McGuinness power of persuasion written all over it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NLKY4VDCWBC6DGHR34MWH2KMSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806372},"content":"As sporting comebacks come and go in this country this is big, and while Murphy is still only 35 — or as repeatedly pointed out this week the same age as Paul Conway from Galway, who has just been named the 2024 Footballer of the Year — his two-year absence from the intercounty game must be of some concern.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JKUEAKUVFNFATLQHML5QMYPKLI","additional_properties":{"_id":"OYY7ISJQRJAMNENSOZQMOY36WI"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"NYNJLS7KZ5HA3PBI52SXKM67TU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781990},"content":"The drive for any comeback on this scale needs to come mostly from the within the player. With five Ulster titles and five All Stars along with his 2012 All-Ireland, Murphy has nothing more to prove. The talk of the new playing rules having something to do with his decision, and Murphy himself was part of the draft process, may carry some weight, but this is not an entirely risk-free exercise.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TLSDOXMLDFE3DELFHRBCHZ4CCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806374},"content":"Compare it to the other big sporting comeback of recent years, when Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton showed up unannounced for a league match against Louth in Croke Park in March 2023. Like Murphy, Cluxton had been two full years away from the game. Unlike Murphy, he was 41.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZVW2JQOGZFWNFHCFVP2Q44MJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806375},"content":"There are lots of people who will tell you that Dublin would not have won back the All-Ireland that same year without Cluxton, but that comeback was his decision and his alone. His was possibly unique too in that he may not have seen any risk involved.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GLQTKBOQQFCSTHUTPL3Y5WCVRQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"WMY56ZAZANCIPJ3FB5EFZFRZLE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"KK2AMR52UFFXBFS4CDNA7YXKRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731082450758},"content":"One of my favourite stories of the football comeback is that of Kerry defender Mike McCarthy, who retired at the end of 2006 after a towering performance over Mayo in the All-Ireland. When Jack O’Connor made his own comeback as manager in 2009, he tried repeatedly to lure McCarthy out of retirement, had effectively given up, until McCarthy showed up at training one evening. Just like that.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBTIVCQ6HJCN5LX3FNHOZCQ6XY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806377},"content":"F Scott Fitzgerlad said that in American lives there is always room for a comeback, but you just can’t come back all the way. Every sport has its own set of comeback possibilities, effectively depending on its level of physicality; and in boxing we know no great career is complete without at least one comeback too many.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNIIEX3DD5AXRF2VR3KHO4WTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806378},"content":"In a sport of sheer athleticism, such as athletics, once that power of peak performance starts to fade it’s never coming back. And as tempting as it must have been for Usain Bolt to extend his career beyond the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, when he was just shy of turning 31, most people will say he choose wisely. When about two years later Bolt touched base with his old coach Glen Mills about the possibility of making a comeback, he was politely told to forget it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PYANOB5LVCE3P7XHCOR235CPI","additional_properties":{"_id":"JW3PEIC3URBJFIRBU3G2HBU42E"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"OXVEEZIEDJEOHHJKBFH5BIMBO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781998},"content":"“When you retire, that’s it, we’re not going to do any comeback tour,” said Mills.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DYRXZA7QZZFJ7NSELKGXBQCWLM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806380},"content":"There are athletic comeback possibilities in other ways, and after Eamonn Coghlan retired after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, 12 years after finishing fourth in Montreal in 1976, he was already getting on past the peak of his running power too.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WE24YH6UVFGXZKLKJYQIYAINRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806381},"content":"Still, after a couple of mildly fattening winters Coghlan felt he simply had to get back on track in some shape or form, so starting with the 1993 season set himself the goal of becoming the first man over 40 to run a sub-four-minute mile. Just when it seemed that might prove slightly more difficult than Coghlan had imagined, he ran 3:58.15 at the Harvard Indoor Track, at age 41, and never raced competitively again. But what a beautiful sign-off.","type":"text"},{"_id":"APCFWVKN4ZHEVMGVQ5DWYFLR3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806382},"content":"Behind every sporting comeback there is also the question of what price? Lance Armstrong will forever stand out on this one, given his comeback from cancer to win the Tour de France on seven consecutive occasions, from 1999 to 2005, selling 30 million yellow bracelets along the way, before then announcing his comeback from retirement in 2009 when he finished third in the Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ET2VCBVKJRC5DD7RBJXQUPU22I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806383},"content":"There is no reason not to believe Armstrong might never have been caught for his systematic doping regime during those seven Tour wins if hadn’t returned in 2009 to try to win one more. But it was all the ammunition that US anti-doping needed to try to nail him one last time and so Armstrong’s sporting comeback would instead prove the ultimate sporting downfall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SIGDXRDPXFACTNTPRYMNWSKELQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"M3QS47527JFNDOUMKGCM5SKZ7I"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"ADCXTIBNJJCRZETDXNAMHV2XKE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085782004},"content":"“Listen, I deserve this,” he told Oprah Winfrey on that revelatory January night of 2013. “It was win at all costs. When I was diagnosed [with cancer] I would do anything to survive. I took that attitude — win at all costs — to cycling. That’s bad.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HGEBUMPDC5HXJIF7MFU5NNCLZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806385},"content":"“I see the anger in people, betrayal, it’s all there. People who believed in me and supported me and they have every right to feel betrayed and it’s my fault and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologise to people.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"RZZH4MVYNZBUVBXK5LPSIE3HBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806386},"content":"Armstong paid the ultimate price for his comeback, but there was an element of greed about it too, which is also why any sporting comeback should also be driven by modest ambition. Such as walking back up the steps of the Hogan Stand. In Murphy’s case that’s not risk-free, but certainly worth the gamble.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Donegal’s decorated Michael Murphy the latest sporting talisman to roll the dice a successful return"},"display_date":"2024-11-09T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"No sporting comeback is entirely risk-free, but always worth the gamble","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LAA5PTZEMBANIN3HTF7HG55JPA","auth":{"1":"ba4de126c28c7117d99358e8d2e6179738bfec018c9a82eb618247a3fd9279bc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LAA5PTZEMBANIN3HTF7HG55JPA.jpg"}},"subtype":"columnist","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Athletics"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/09/no-sporting-comeback-is-entirely-risk-free-but-always-worth-the-gamble/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/gaelic-games","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Gaelic Games"}}}},{"_id":"4ARTUHILDFGMDNP7LTXVWUIPNI","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":160,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/49b766c4-1ac8-4307-95f2-8b65641fac15/versions/1730895222/media/ea1cd9a4429044894f6bb2b010989a71_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/11/06/olympic-federation-of-ireland-confirms-two-candidates-running-to-be-new-president/","content_elements":[{"_id":"PUGRZ2CLVJDNHNV4CTT4D2UTMU","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475542},"content":"The <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/olympic-federation-of-ireland/\" target=\"_blank\">Olympic Federation of Ireland</a> (OFI) have confirmed that two existing board members will contest the election to replace Sarah Keane as president at their extraordinary general meeting in Dublin on December 5th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L4ZZY34C4FDEFDXTFIWUZIO3G4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475543},"content":"Keane is stepping down from her position having been on the board since 2014. She will have completed two successful terms as president, having first assumed the role in 2017 at a time when the federation underwent a major governance review following the 2016 Rio Olympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VQGMHK3XFVDARPY5L6VCYC2W5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475544},"content":"It was agreed under the restructuring of the federation that all those elected could serve a maximum of two four-year terms. Keane will continue in her role of chief executive of Swim Ireland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KPZ2X7J3S5FRPGG6M7CQODUEEQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475545},"content":"Board members Moira Aston and Lochlann Walsh have put their names forward to replace Keane. Aston is chief executive of Canoeing Ireland and has extensive sports administration experience, having also worked with Athletics Ireland for 12 years in senior roles, while Walsh has a 20-year track record in sports administration, from grass roots to the chair of the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs).","type":"text"},{"_id":"BSZFMGO5WJAC5PSL75U3I5FBWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475546},"content":"Sarah O’Shea is unchallenged in her bid to become vice-president, with six non-officer positions also to be contested on the night for the four-year period 2025-2029.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UAEDUAJDURBP5HDBUOJ3LIK524","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475547},"content":"OFI chief executive Peter Sherrard will combine his current role with a new general secretary position, from the date of elections, for the purposes of international representation.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VWPQP3AKLVD3HCGF4FI2RX7CEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475548},"content":"In all, 14 candidates have been nominated for the positions of non-officer members, including three existing board members and two former Olympians in John Menton (athletics) and Sonya McGinn (badminton).","type":"text"},{"_id":"X2CXCPBXPZAE3P3DCJPZKIJZ2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475549},"content":"Also challenging for a non-officer position is Roddy Guiney, whose father Dave competed in the 1948 Olympics in London, along with Aston, Eric Brady, Michelle Carpenter, Georgina Drumm, John Feehan, Aaron Guli, Eadaoin Keane, Aidan McLaughlin, James Quilligan, Siobhán Scarlett and Cecile van Steenberge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7LPCJV5U5VAGZNCSWFQY7A442U","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475550},"content":"In addition to these elected positions, the OFI board contains two independent directors (Nigel Cowman and Sean Hawkshaw). A further two independent directors may be co-opted in the next Olympic cycle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Sarah Keane will be succeeded by either Moira Aston or Lochlann Walsh"},"display_date":"2024-11-06T12:08:34.086Z","headlines":{"basic":"Olympic Federation of Ireland confirms two candidates running to be new president","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"2S7RAEAELJDAFDTOX6IC3LIPSM","auth":{"1":"9e3549d5d8d8c2505da4a347b8b65c1826543128fc2bf834a4c915ebae528c43"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/2S7RAEAELJDAFDTOX6IC3LIPSM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Athletics"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/11/06/olympic-federation-of-ireland-confirms-two-candidates-running-to-be-new-president/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"VJ5HICQTYJFO3MUBGKZND3DEUU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":253,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c32b1aea-dac5-4e73-83da-f8f35aaf9c76/versions/1730725334/media/835dcfee056d8beb88a93fa9e7e2c282_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/soccer/2024/11/04/bohemians-secure-247m-in-government-funding-for-dalymount-park-redevelopment/","content_elements":[{"_id":"YJ7VOTMCYFBGFJ25ZRYRZBNFS4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578798},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/bohemians/\" target=\"_blank\">Bohemians</a> have been allocated €24.7 million in funding for the development of a new Dalymount Park. It is the largest grant of the €173 million announced as part of the Government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).","type":"text"},{"_id":"KC3JCFWD4RFZREW4GSGEUAAKAA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578800},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dublin-gaa/\" target=\"_blank\">Dublin GAA</a>’s long-awaited Centre of Excellence at the Spawell facility in the south of the county has been allocated €7 million, while several multi-sport projects are also included in the list of 35 successful applications.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PN6BM6YPMFC3BJZT3WHTNZKW7Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578801},"content":"The overall Dalymount Park redevelopment is estimated to cost approximately €40 million, so the injection of almost €25 million is hugely significant in progressing the stadium plans.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KFDMDVBRSNGFLMXMSDIWHNLGYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578802},"content":"The existing ground is to be demolished, with a new four-sided enclosed 8,000 capacity Uefa Category Three stadium to be built. 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There will also be four GAA pitches, a hockey/multi-sport synthetic pitch, and a cricket practice area with catch-nets, all of which will be floodlit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKBI7FQ6B5G6ZEITVMVL7J5IKU","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578810},"content":"“This is a major stepping stone for Cavan GAA, Cavan LGFA and Cavan Camogie who signed a landmark memorandum of agreement for the shared use of facilities, earlier this year,” stated Cavan GAA.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WRBRTU4ZFD4FAF7VWS2I5QXO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578811},"content":"Among the other multi-sport projects to be allocated funds are Sallins Park in Naas (€3 million), East Coast Hub in Gorey (€4.9 million), Shannonside Centre in Leitrim (€3.3 million), Hyde Park in Dalkey (€4.6 million), Letterkenny Regional Hub in Donegal (€8.7 million), Mayo Sports Campus (€7.5 million) and City North Arena in Limerick (€7.5 million).","type":"text"},{"_id":"W5M2ENGWRFFK7KIC6K64XPVAUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578812},"content":"Ministers Catherine Martin and Thomas Byrne were in attendance at Dalymount Park on Monday to announce the timely pre-election funding.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRTR5NAR2NDJNCCEFWCDA6ORSA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578813},"content":"“The advantages of engaging in sports, regardless of age, are profound both mentally and physically. To meet our ambitious goals of increasing participation in sports, it is essential to have facilities like these,” said Minister Martin.","type":"text"},{"_id":"466D6VCYTRGNFMHPP5LZARRLG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578814},"content":"Applications for the 2024 round of LSSIF closed on July 1st. 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The nine-stage race includes over 17,000m of climbing, as it plots an increasingly hilly course across country to the French Alps.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NQ5MTS344VBZDHU6CL6L3CYOH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120458},"content":"Climaxing with three mountain stages and a summit finish on the 2,000m Col de la Madeleine, the final day’s trawl, to Châtel Portes du Soleil, takes the women’s peloton over the Col de Joux Plane, one of the most brutal climbs in France.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GVZZBVMOBRH7HNEIBX4S57X5QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120459},"content":"Demi Vollering lost this year’s Tour Femmes to rival climber Kasia Niewadoma by the narrowest of margins but has finally completed her move to the French team FDJ-Suez. She has signed what is thought to be one of the most lucrative deals ever in women’s cycling, and Vollering is likely to start the race as the favourite.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LE6WCPXV2NBIBJP55JIV5GP4BM","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120460},"content":"Niewadoma’s four-second overall win on Alpe d’Huez in August was one of the most thrilling finales in the long history of stage racing, but Vollering’s challenge was blighted by bad luck and internal wrangling. 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We have a small but mighty team and all of us and the staff have put so much effort this year prepared for the Olympics and for our performance and development.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DBXG4FANAJG5NJMKOMDJ4XF6HA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396000},"content":"“I felt my coaches and everyone here believed in me and that really drove me on the extra bit. I’m very grateful.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"T627ZOWW6RGBDCPI4O4OWBFTIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396001},"content":"Still just 23 years of age, Gillespie is one of the best young Irish riders in the sport.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"6QLZLSAN2VCXXGWNILNJNM25GI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"6OFZ7AWELBBWZA6YRUS4NSOZJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396003},"content":"She was part of the team pursuit squad which became the first from Ireland to quality for the Olympic Games, and which shattered the national record en route to ninth in the competition. She was also tenth in the Omnium there.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HA6JP4XVPBGBNHLO5A2BSOVZAI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396004},"content":"Gillespie was one of several Irish riders competing in the track world championships in Denmark. She was fifth in the elimination race on Thursday and then eighth in the multi-discipline Omnium competition on Friday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2NKU7IKYOZH4DLJLWY4DPVBMNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396005},"content":"She teamed up with Mia Griffin in the Madison race on Saturday, placing seventh.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NMLKFAHVTRF7DCJMGYWRB57OUI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396006},"content":"Lucy Bénézet Minns was the third member of Ireland’s world championships squad in Denmark. She is still a junior rider but finished 16th in the women’s individual pursuit on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EVF5XXD3RNEHJPS7LASDNGOZW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396007},"content":"Gillespie will exit the championships on a high after her achievements. In addition to being a highly promising track talent, she has plenty of potential in road racing. She won two stages plus the general classification in the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa in April and then sprinted to victory in the Antwerp Port Epic Ladies race in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LDHLEKMLTFHBLNAL3K33GVV2FI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396008},"content":"She was competing as part of the UAE Development Team but her results secured a rare midseason transfer. Gillespie stepped up to the WorldTour level in June when offered a contract by UAE Team ADQ, and recently took placings of fifth and seventh on stages in the Simac Ladies Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MVFXQQYYAZGCLFXK2VGVKBWJZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396009},"content":"She will compete with that team until at least the end of the 2026 season.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Enniskerry rider clocked up 39 points, just four off the total of gold medallist Julie Leth"},"display_date":"2024-10-20T15:50:11.551Z","headlines":{"basic":"Lara Gillespie speeds to bronze medal at track world championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"SNI53BQQRBMGNJPKYXKFAESVXM","auth":{"1":"b9c2dd7d824a5f59b808f433a7d36f6a26467c99bf2f4f6a9406291215c30cfa"},"focal_point":{"x":3213,"y":156},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SNI53BQQRBMGNJPKYXKFAESVXM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/lara-gillespie-speeds-to-bronze-medal-at-track-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"2O4RZGOL6RC6BFW47VF4CAQ62A","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":139,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/7e680b1a-b569-420e-ab42-fdf0ee7c220e/versions/1729423359/media/1e958c2b12895a102b8a4e54c92814fa_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/chris-hoy-has-two-to-four-years-left-to-live-after-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/","content_elements":[{"_id":"D524IPQAGBCWNF7TKHPWTP7QIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662707},"content":"Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympic gold medallist, has disclosed he has “two to four years” left to live after a terminal cancer diagnosis.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FXJOQ2B2DVCCBGVOHL2RW2L2U4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662708},"content":"The 48-year-old Scot told the Sunday Times that a scan in September showed a tumour in his shoulder.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IHNYIVLXVFENIS7WGN6K23RF4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662709},"content":"And a second scan two days later found the main cancer to be in his prostate which has since metastasised to Hoy’s shoulder, pelvis, hip, ribs and spine and was stage 4.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q7TBGFLBW5EETLVL6FRNQ7QPZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662710},"content":"Hoy had announced in February that he was being treated for the disease.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VGVGP3F7C5AW3OPOWFRSAKQGNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662711},"content":"The 11-time track cycling world champion told the newspaper: “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZRPREONKBJDS7OJGQBPMRR2XHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662712},"content":"“You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5L4GXTBQIJCHNMWGGBMPJKRZYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662714},"content":"He added: “You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKUKIDVNT5EIHMSJUE4NH4AQ4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662715},"content":"The father of two said his chemotherapy had “no guarantee” of shrinking his tumours but on “the sliding scale” of predictions it achieved the most promising results.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZHZOBTKNZGYZE5SNBNXKAMUZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662716},"content":"Of the men who first trialled in 2011 the medication he is taking, a quarter are still alive.","type":"text"},{"_id":"APL2H5EIFZF4JOED3S4MIX4HVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662717},"content":"Hoy, whose grandfather and father both had prostate cancer, added: “One in four may sound like a terrible stat. But to me that’s like, one in four!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5K6VXFOQS5F47O4KQGKA6QLOT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662718},"content":"“I do have faith that there are amazing things happening all the time,” he added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"46AIYB6M45BOZERTC5EZFRZIOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662719},"content":"In his new book All That Matters, the former track cyclist discloses that his wife, Sarra, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IFN6WZ6ASNGHBPNIAMLT3QM47Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662720},"content":"The couple, who married at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh in 2010, have a son and daughter.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRC7ADBC6FDC7N34GMGEZ47TGQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662721},"content":"Hoy wrote of Sarra’s diagnosis: “It’s the closest I’ve come to ... why me? Just, what? What’s going on here? It didn’t seem real.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FBMCSI63BGPBEC677YHRRLLWQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662722},"content":"“It was such a huge blow, when you’re already reeling. You think nothing could possibly get worse.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5GIZTA4DNHRDDF4GYGSYYIFMM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662723},"content":"“You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IE7CDJ5ORCWFGWKWTJYDIDE4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662724},"content":"On his wife’s optimism, he said: “She says all the time, ‘How lucky are we? We both have incurable illnesses for which there is some treatment. Not every disease has that. It could be a lot worse.’”","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"name":"Nadeem Badshah"}]},"description":{"basic":"Six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist, 48, says he has stage 4 cancer which has metastasised from his prostate"},"display_date":"2024-10-20T11:17:28.437Z","headlines":{"basic":"Chris Hoy has ‘two to four years’ left to live after terminal cancer diagnosis","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"DMZVS3C2SNMQM7D4I4E2PYXTWA","auth":{"1":"b485175c4cee66da79a65552c05d83118d0a3b0e55e9fa16f1777ed2fce5687d"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/DMZVS3C2SNMQM7D4I4E2PYXTWA.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/chris-hoy-has-two-to-four-years-left-to-live-after-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZAJF36HFPRES3EYMYVGMAOBKAA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":1402,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/439d07ae-076d-4896-9193-6167a8a74e00/versions/1729258173/media/64fb4384040d3899755f0f2dbb42f1b6_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/19/the-trials-of-stephen-roche-there-are-things-ive-done-the-last-few-years-im-not-proud-of/","content_elements":[{"_id":"FXDIVZGJABEIDIIOJVYI74MMME","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145785},"content":"To get from Nice to Port-Fréjus, where <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/stephen-roche/\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Roche</a> suggests we first meet, the motorway sweeps up and around the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/france/\" target=\"_blank\">Cote d’Azur</a>, bypassing familiar names such as Sainte-Maxime, St-Raphaël, and Saint-Tropez.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BVCBZYTZHVE6PIMBUFQKTIKCBA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145786},"content":"These are some of the same places where Roche announced himself to the cycling world in 1981, including when at age 21 he arrived, drenched in class, from the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dublin/\" target=\"_blank\">Dublin</a> suburb of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dundrum/\" target=\"_blank\">Dundrum</a> and became the only person ever to win Paris-Nice as a first-season <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">professional</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"33SSEI7UFNDKHH4DYQ4EBNNSVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145787},"content":"The plan is Roche will let me know when he’s on route from Grimaud, to aim for around 5pm. It’s about two hours after that when my phone rings.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRDQWI6BFRAB3I3EO7IAHRUBXA","additional_properties":{"_id":"26EUTQCRD5ETFB4INWYZYX6TQM"},"content":"Tadej Pogacar becomes first male cyclist since Stephen Roche to win triple crown","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"CIW4BSYNGRAUHPBUWKVFG5IMGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145788},"content":"“You’re not going to believe this,” Roche says, panic in his voice. My first suspicion is he might be giving me the slip, but it turns out one of his two Weimaraner dogs – the one named Shamrock – had just bitten a neighbour, entirely out of character. The police were called, and Shamrock had to go to the vet, all that carry on.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3RJYX4A7IJBAPOOVOD2RNO7F4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145789},"content":"It strikes me later that Roche frequently uses such expressions of wonderment – “believe it or not ... would you believe … ”. When we do rendezvous at the originally assigned spot, he is utterly apologetic for the delay.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OOI2OYF4TP7MXWKPJELGZJZI7I","additional_properties":{"_id":"IPJAVXX7CZCT5NFLCG6B5QYHEA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2GA2CG2SUVAQZGZNSURH3QZ4D4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145790},"content":"He appears healthy and upbeat, showing no visible scars despite the complete meltdown of his business and much of his reputation over the past five years. After first losing his cycling holiday business of over 20 years in Mallorca, which left him with heavy debts, Roche ended up losing his hillside villa in Antibes, his pension, all his investments and many of his closest associates.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O7H675NXPREFXLL4XQURSMVXLE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145791},"content":"He appears slightly smaller than anticipated, his piercing blue eyes set against the soft Mediterranean tan of his face and neat silver-white hair. He admits he’s a long way off his once racing-fit physique, but then he turns 65 next month. One thing Roche hasn’t lost is his charm, or his curious enunciation of words, as if he’s speaking English to a foreigner.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4EEX7QF4MBGSVCP223YTGJZ2OI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145792},"content":"“Would you believe, I fell over with the dogs there recently, when they pulled on the leash, and I was outstretched on the ground, tore some ligaments in my shoulder. So I haven’t been able to get out on the bike for very long.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRPEGSL2APLIZQQ3FJPCSGDTME","additional_properties":{"_id":"Q6FCD74NJVGQTGEKDIUQJLWLZQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7IC2Q2BPWNBIRC2ITUOKZDV734","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145793},"content":"“Apart from the weight, and this shoulder injury, I’m okay. The last few years, all the moving around, that was taking a toll on my mind, the mental side. But at the same time, there’s not much point in moaning any more about my issues, what’s happened has happened. It’s time get on with it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VLHHP4RFZ5ES7LK7WK4HAGZPRY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145794},"content":"“Morally, it was difficult to pick up the pieces. I think I was always an athlete, number one, not a businessman. When I retired from cycling, 30 years ago, I was in the same situation, had to start from scratch again. I have to kind of re-enact some of the same mentality, otherwise I’d be still down there,” he says, pointing to the ground.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NP7WHGV5SNCZTGHDGP4RVHNMWU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145795},"content":"It’s not the first time he’s been in a battle to salvage some of his credibility, even his legacy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OWJ5NEME25CPDC5BUVTNRVZNII","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145796},"content":"It’s easy to see why Roche has made this heavenly part of the world his home, and it also becomes clear from our conversations that he’s still trying to find some peace of life and mind here all over again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XZ3DMRHLCFAEROXHEIXERHYGW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145797},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Casting a shadow</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JAMZ7YA4TNCBJG5JQ7Y7SMDVTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145798},"content":"On the short walk for lunch at Brasserie Jacques on the Fréjus marina, Roche is recognised by five or six people, not always instantly, but it’s a suitable reminder that he wasn’t just a sporting icon in Ireland. In 1987 he became only the second rider in history to win the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in the same season. His face was known all over Europe.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QCUDCAZAQVDMFI45M4ZBCEKI7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145799},"content":"He tells me there’s a big bike show in town this weekend, which may explain things, yet once we sit down the sense is that plenty of people are glancing over at Roche thinking ... “is that him?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NZI6ORU2PBFABIK2LDHZMWAIHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145800},"content":"As a prop, I’ve brought along The Ascent, by Irish cycling journalist Barry Ryan, the excellent account of the rise and rivalry between Roche and Sean Kelly at the height of their cycling superpowers during the 1980s – and which also details the questions that remain about his association with Prof Francesco Conconi, given the evidence he’d doped riders at the Carrera team with EPO in 1993, including Roche.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BRAZIJAUTREIPOW45JABJQ5EVY","additional_properties":{"_id":"XSQJFOSU7RBDPAXT5TNUNAQDXA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GJ2LK2KJ5VBTBJHY6NIVAR5KWA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145801},"content":"Roche shakes his head to say he’s never read it. My ploy to broach this subject is to tell him how, after texting a friend to say I was in the south of France to meet Roche, he replied with a one-word message: “Druggie”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2RS4GWOKIJHUNHCPBP6KBRRFOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145802},"content":"So how does <i>that</i> sit with Roche all these years later?","type":"text"},{"_id":"4MRDNVFYONE2NLKQZ2DMNBRDGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145803},"content":"“Of course it’s difficult, but there’s nothing you can do about it. At the same time, if people took the time to read everything about the Conconi case, they would see there’s nothing there. It’s a big smoke but there’s no fire really.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DV7LTFL2N5EODP74VU6WGDR52A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145804},"content":"“I was never, ever, ever convicted of doping. Never, ever even questioned about doping. Now you go on Wikipedia, you see that ... [his page includes a section with the heading “Doping”] I’ve been trying to get that removed, and every time I do it comes back.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2MXTE2TNXVCYHGLGAOSN2J2KXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145805},"content":"There is no doubt Roche is still deeply entrenched in his belief that doping had zero role in his cycling career, although he addresses the matter by turns with stern intelligence and childlike naivety.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CFGTTT7SWFEJ5GPBOXY532DQDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145806},"content":"“My first thing was never look at what other people are doing. I had my own programme of vitamins and minerals, whether in tablet form, powder form, or some injection form. And I never wanted to go to bed at night worrying about someone knocking on my door, saying you’ve got a positive test.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5AYXPQBD6NGNRPIZM2XPH55TQE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145807},"content":"“That’s why I never got involved in any conversation around doping, because it wasn’t something that concerned me.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNAVCZNANFBX5D3QIK7DGLJRVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145808},"content":"Surely it concerned him when one of his own Carrera team-mates, Guido Bontempi, tested positive for testosterone during the 1987 Tour?","type":"text"},{"_id":"F56NIP6O7JBD7H7AW2XWKNZXEY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145809},"content":"“Whether it was himself that administered it, or the advice of a doctor, I don’t know. I never looked at what other guys were doing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"F7WBQPIDKZB7VNJYPSPZZM2SOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145810},"content":"The Conconi files first came to light at the end of 1999, six years after Roche had retired following 13 years in the peloton, when Italian newspaper La Repubblica broke the news that police in Ferrara had raided the offices of Conconi as part of an anti-doping investigation, uncovering computer files which showed that along with former Carrera doctor Giovanni Grazzi, Conconi had treated athletes with EPO in 1993. According to their evidence this included Roche.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7C66J2SR55AOFGR3G55EM5GNA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145811},"content":"“Well, I met Conconi once only,” Roche says. “When I first went to Carrera, in 1986, they were using the University of Ferrera for medical tests, so I met him for the first and only time there.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I7K3KRDGQBB4FPXAOSQL5O6XUU","additional_properties":{"_id":"3J43N7UJ6ZFZ3BFD5EIWA5XL4E"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"V7ZAIENISRCTXIU4AJXFNVK3N4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145812},"content":"“In 1987 there was another doctor, Grazzi, a pupil of Conconi, who was the official doctor at Carrera. So he’d come to us once every three or four months, do our blood tests, bring them back to the university, then tell us we were low on iron, on vitamin B or whatever. End of story.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"W5BCYSL6NBDHNGRFBYAEIUY4M4","additional_properties":{"_id":"6CV7BHOPFNDZZJ4A3RVWIYCXK4"},"content":"From the archive: Some drugs in cycling are a matter of life and death","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"GXUYG3S6OZERZI26VWK2JRU5A4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145813},"content":"Would he entertain any possibility that something could have been administered to him without him knowing?","type":"text"},{"_id":"QXFIIFJP3NCOZBW7JENJK5OWVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145814},"content":"“No, never. For example, when I went to Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt, in Munich – and he’s still like a father to me, an amazing man – when I went to him with my knee problems, in 1989, he takes all these vials down, puts them into my knee. I took one home, had it tested, and it turned out to be extracts of calf liver, that kind of stuff.","type":"text"},{"_id":"X3KA3SBCXRCQBICXNZEDSJYEDE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145815},"content":"“So later, I was back in his office again and I told Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt I knew what was in there. And he was shocked, and said ‘Stephen, I’m 40 years in this business. I would never, ever give anything if I thought there was something wrong with it.’","type":"text"},{"_id":"42KTZZUQTZBVPHETKJ36T3A5QY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145816},"content":"“But I would never, ever take something from anybody, even a drink, if I thought something was wrong with it. That’s why I can say today that no one might have given me something I didn’t know about. Impossible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GXCLFF62SNDLHNIVK22O2AH3GQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145817},"content":"Roche is also adamant the first time he heard anything about the Conconi files was when he got a phone call from his biographer, David Walsh.","type":"text"},{"_id":"F77KJWNJ6NCV7DLJMXTNWAMJ64","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145818},"content":"“I think it was New Year’s Eve of 1999, and David said he’d proof that I’ve taken EPO, had these files from Conconi, and it’s going to be front page news tomorrow. All that kind of s**t.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKVZBWENZFE3FCDRU5TG4X5CPE","additional_properties":{"_id":"2MD5JBGMTVAP7EWSR6YNBCBTGU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AQJMPXAMXVFVPJZ5VHZ67SQV3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729258388257},"content":"“The headline was very, very damaging, but if you blow up the details, anybody can see it’s totally impossible they were actually genuine results. All the values were all different on the same day even.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T2TO66DNCBGVLEGXZG2P7W5KBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145820},"content":"“Then they start relating all these surnames, that one name ‘Ronani’ was related to me. But why would I get into a programme at the end of my career, when nothing was riding on it?","type":"text"},{"_id":"RVTJ4GHWEZDOPM5FXQ7FVWQPUI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145821},"content":"“In the end the judge came out and said after four years she cannot get the information that is needed to determine what has been going on, so she must conclude all these riders are on a programme.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5KMQWMZNFZCNRO64EYRKF4LW2A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145822},"content":"Three weeks after that news broke, Roche went on The Late Late Show, alongside Walsh, and the planned 20-minute segment ends up being extended to around 50 minutes by host Pat Kenny.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DINOGEXUMBDW5BUEEYEG3LCEUA","subtype":"youtube","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"FB32ZQ76WNDHFBP5SCYBEU363M","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145823},"content":"“Well, that’s my problem, I’m a bit too open sometimes, but it was very intense. With these things, you’re never going to come out okay. People will interpret it the way they want. What can you do? I did try to take it further, was asked for 50 grand up front, just to start [the legal process]. For me, you could fight it, but not everyone is going to see the results. What’s said is done. But it was very damaging. Even today it is still very damaging.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5YSRRKW3M5H7FJUFGZ3J5BVRRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145824},"content":"“I never got a single phone call, nothing. I would have thought I would be at least interviewed to give my opinion. So in those conditions, you think it will just go away, because there’s nothing there. It’s easy to say now in hindsight I should have put up that 50 grand and fought it harder, but for me, I’d done nothing wrong.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NKXEPYFDIZHSZITXF4TSQXEIOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145825},"content":"Does he regret not being more outspoken on doping?","type":"text"},{"_id":"56A2CTT3LFDUVNQS5D5RA6MXTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145826},"content":"“Well as a cyclist, I was never in that circle, because I wasn’t into doing anything. I was straight. People believe or they don’t believe. I know by saying it now, maybe people go ‘ah, he’s a hypocrite’ ... f**k it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZABX4GQM5RBT5OCAEV2CUDQH7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145827},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Business woes</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JRQOXVM4AZF7FI3DF2LW4IJIPM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145828},"content":"Like any tale of collapse into bankruptcy, what Roche tells me is complex and frightening. Things suddenly started to implode in 2018, when his company, Shamrock Events, which had organised his cycling holidays based out of two hotels in Mallorca since 1999, went bust.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BI2DOZLBLBG6RM543GF3KYVK34","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145829},"content":"In early 2019 the owners of the Ponent Mar and the Hotel Son Caliu petitioned the Spanish courts for the involuntary bankruptcy of Roche’s business, claiming unpaid debts of €392,446, before in 2022, Roche was ordered to repay €750,000 for negligently bankrupting his Majorca firm and removing assets to bankroll his lifestyle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7AIHV4ZTVGYHB66EKRPG6GV2E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145830},"content":"He was banned from acting as a company director in Spain for seven years, although on appeal Roche got this reduced to two years, and his debts also reduced to under €400,000. It was still quite the fall from grace for a company that was once doing about €1.8 million in annual turnover.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B34VVPAKQJNX3LZXBREHN7MIJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"UENO337LGRHPPJTQBVW4XCPTPY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RZJX5KGTS5F5JJVUFI5H3TAU7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145831},"content":"“But in and around then, I made a couple of bad investments,” Roche says. “I wanted to grow the business, because a lot more people were getting into cycling tours, and one of the things was to buy my own unit, in Palma, my own cycling base.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RJDEQXEZVZHRXPBQVXFCCTWGY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145832},"content":"“So for me, there was no problem pulling out a couple of grand for a deposit. I can always put it back in.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LQWRELL5ZFBPPGXN44B3GSYJPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145833},"content":"Around the same time, Roche invested €120,000 with a friend in Paris who was building a new luxury car company. He also had a share in a site near Saint-Tropez, originally valued at €6 million, of which Roche owned 10 per cent.","type":"text"},{"_id":"G7FEGJCIX5AZPFRMHIMWKEIB7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145834},"content":"“Then the site didn’t sell – a big problem with the planning on it – so it was wiped out. Well, it wasn’t wiped out, but it became a garden; the buyer ran away and we lost the money.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JERGMKZRA5HF3G7V7ZTTM7CF5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145835},"content":"“Then with this garage in Paris, we’d a theft – four cars were stolen and the insurance wouldn’t pay because the garage front door wasn’t conformed to the security measures.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CCV6S37K6NCGZEJZYXLOAQN6TE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145836},"content":"“For the new unit in Palma, because I couldn’t get the money together to complete that sale, I lost my deposit (€50,000). Everything just snowballed. I’m panicking, then of course you start back-pedalling, trying to sort things out. I knew the pressure was on then, financially, started ducking and diving, while trying to fill the holes, and it just didn’t work out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NE6UBKOGKBFCBMVENB5JKLZZHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145837},"content":"“I still don’t agree with it, but I’m settling for it [his debts being reduced to €400,000]. The problem was, I was totally negligent as to what actually was happening. A lot of people around me were close to me, I wasn’t really told ... someone should have grabbed me by the ear and said ‘Stephen, fix this’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CZKLZKQ2GVGUHJZQUE7BN7556E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145840},"content":"He adds: “Nevertheless, I am guilty of a lot of stuff. But nothing was done deliberately or maliciously. It was circumstances and panic, being surrounded by the wrong ... not wrong – some people who were too close to me, that weren’t really painting the right picture. And I didn’t know what situation I was in. So I made some bad decisions.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NB5XVNKR3ZAP3F5W3LCDFQ5GZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145841},"content":"The big regret, he says, is not facing up to his problems sooner: “And also that I didn’t show my face earlier. People were telling me horrific things, like ‘don’t show your face in Spain, don’t get on a plane, Interpol are looking for you’. All this kind of stuff.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JFZ67WVNI5ELTIFIFR6PQIHUNQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145842},"content":"“The one thing I should have done, and would do tomorrow if it happened again, was go there and sit down, and say ‘what can we do?’. Instead, staying away, things got worse.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"4G63IIZBINFXXEPZ37W7GMZB4Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145843},"content":"Indeed, worse was to come, when Roche lost his hillside villa in Antibes, worth in excess of €1 million.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D6KMPU66GNBCBNF3KF66PL77UQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"R4XE2YHTSVEGTKHDLFYGFG5BIU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"42VVVQMDWRG5RIQV4FLQVAICTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145844},"content":"“That was separate again, but the result of it. I had a mortgage there, interest-only mortgage, because we were also running a business there, Airbnb, so this was my pension down the road.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NGNQ5OJCFCQ5GI565ZWYCVWHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145845},"content":"“When the loan came up for renewal and the articles come out about the Spanish court case, the bank just said, ‘you understand, Stephen, we cannot renew your loan’.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SHUZQFNALVGE7HNSEVHIFGINDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145846},"content":"“And this is coming out of Covid, no international buyers, so I found a guy who wanted a quick sale, I dropped the price ... meantime, the banks are charging me late repayment penalties, 10 grand a month. So I came out of it with my hat. It was really, really bad.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2V7VEXTCNFF43C3DHPURAGYLJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145847},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Family ties</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"UWJUHOXHUZCERCYGALTCO5Z7SA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145848},"content":"In 2022, in the middle of his financial crisis, Roche lost his father Larry and younger sister Carol within six months. His father had lived to 86, had never been badly sick in his life, He was taken to hospital with a nosebleed, where they discovered some kidney issues, and he died a month later.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GE45PXP6SVD4RLVT6XU56AC6XU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145849},"content":"Carol had always been careful to carry out cancer screening tests, one of which showed up a tumour in her colon; she was told she might only have six weeks to live; she died six days later, at age 61.","type":"text"},{"_id":"72ZEASR5ONDZXDOQZVRE7ZHQVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145850},"content":"“Of course that was very hard on everyone,” Roche says, welling up. “I have lost a lot, not just financially. And the lows have been very low. But at the same time, I’m not dwelling on that, have tried to use the lows to make me stronger, to fight back again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"V4NQ5NTHZ5BOZBGF5NWHLYLJOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145851},"content":"“Sometimes it’s still difficult to come to terms with how things could have crumbled so quickly. The signs were there, why didn’t I pay more attention? I was so focused on making things right, then I became unreliable.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZZ3KTDLZ5EB5BPKAMRZYXZCEA","additional_properties":{"_id":"WQHH3LKZ3RFIDOE2GR645DNZIE"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"TE6QLZKUJNGVBE33EOVK2W5TVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145852},"content":"Roche has had breakdowns in relationships before, including his split and subsequent divorce in 2003 from his wife Lydia, who he married in 1980 and who is mother to their four children, Nicolas, Christel, Alexis and Florian.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DKCV3HIUMRFYHBLSHSFSKQZGKE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145853},"content":"Earlier this year, his ex-partner of 10 years, French citizen Sophie Desobry, won a court action against him, claiming she was owed €300,000 for works she contributed to on the villa they shared in Antibes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RWRB7YF5ZNHA3A6JWUJYLZJM7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145854},"content":"I later meet his wife, Hungarian citizen Csilla Roche-Henschl; they’re currently living in rented accommodation in Grimaud, next to Sainte-Maxime. To bring the subject back to cycling, I ask him, where is the memorabilia from his all-conquering season of 1987? His pink jersey, yellow jersey, rainbow jersey?","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZDAL5OBZAFEETPSPELRDAYWTSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145855},"content":"“Well, a lot of it is still in Spain, locked up in Palma. One of the hotels where I was working confiscated it, which wasn’t very nice, and now no one can find it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5FCAMNL7LFD4LL35TFWDCZCXDQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145856},"content":"“But I’m not looking for any sympathy. I still love the work, sharing the passion of cycling [through the tours], still get a kick out of it. So there’s another chapter yet. There’s still a lot of stuff there that I couldn’t tell for the moment. To maintain credibility, and also some of my dignity as well.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HP2FEUYCEBG57O7NCXYK32E2YU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145857},"content":"“There are things I’ve done the last few years that I’m not proud of, there were certain situations I tried to manage as best I could, and now I can say they were the wrong decisions. But I can’t undo them.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LR4ZW4YBSZCQRPURGDTOSDMQEU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145858},"content":"I ask him what plans he has in place to help repay some of his debts.","type":"text"},{"_id":"A2OKUYN2J5AKXD25GPCVGUHBOU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145859},"content":"“So I’m still hoping to win the lottery,” he says (repeating that more than once). “And go back down there someday, put a cheque on the table, but say I’m only willing to give you the cheque if you return my memorabilia.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3KDPS5B7RADNATTJGU7EV2EYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145860},"content":"“I am using some of my contacts now, to help a developer with planning, and I get some reward for that. And I enjoy that ... [and some] corporate stuff, and some cycling tours around Nice. I’m going to build that back up a little bit, we have three cycling tours next year, on the far side of Nice, associated around the pro cycling events, such as Paris-Nice, cycling and wine tasting. And trying to rebuild the website.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YY5GRLK4OFCVXBCKJDS4GHPK4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145861},"content":"He’s hopeful too of rebuilding the full trust of old friends and family: “It’s difficult, because of my lifestyle, but it’s a work in progress, and I’m hoping with time things will sort themselves out. Because of the way things happened, they also have taken a little bit of a distance.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RXJTSWIN6NHJBGVK4J72KODU3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145862},"content":"“But I’m not angry or upset with anyone. You make your bed, you’ve got to sleep in it. Nicolas, Christel, Alexis and Florian, they all have their own ideas of what happened but don’t really know, and someday when things finally turn around, I can sit down and tell them my side of my story.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KYK2SXPWRJHGNF3N3WYLFUM4JI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145863},"content":"“The problem is, time is going on – things have taken a lot longer to fix than I’d anticipated. But I have not put anybody off. I’ve distanced myself from nobody; anyone who has distanced themselves from me, it’s their doing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZY4YLVBLFZEDBFTXB5RCC5NCB4","additional_properties":{"_id":"CDQUCSMV3JBNTJPQEZ7KBYDVV4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NOZQHR4H2ZAARNUITZHRQTHQDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145864},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>New beginnings</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HPNYJ5RF5FHSNNMR4LTD5CN2UA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145865},"content":"Roche isn’t the first rider to use the word “depression” to describe his experience after retiring from cycling at age 33 and, looking back now, he says the physical void became as troublesome as anything financial.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNTDNCPJRBGNVIAZBGWX3ACL5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145866},"content":"“Basically, I first saw cycling as a chance to do something. But it wasn’t financially driven. My attitude was, the more races you win, and the less time you spend worrying about making money, the more money you’ll make.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EAFMXC72CZC57D73MOCZB7Z4ME","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145867},"content":"“I was already earning good money at 16, in Premier Dairies, worked nights too, and had my own car at age 18. Then when I retired from cycling, for the first time there was no pay-cheque coming in. That was difficult to come to terms with, but what made it harder was, after I finished my last race, I had all these business cards in my pocket, from all these people telling me how great I was, how easy it would be to find a job.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VM4NFUIEFVEPJGQBGST5JGNUEM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145868},"content":"“But no regrets about retiring too soon, no. Things were getting incredibly dangerous. Young riders coming through, pushing and shoving their way about, no respect for the older guys.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R3M3WVBUKJGZVBX4I37QFKKTC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145869},"content":"“In my last Giro, in 1993, I remember we got to the mountain stages, the last week, and when it came time to go on the descent, I’m hesitating ... ‘is there gravel on that corner?’ Before, I didn’t even think: I [would] get to the descent, and I’d be gone.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QZH4IHP7LVHLJCPCQGHGBQQHEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145870},"content":"He originally moved his family back to Ireland in 1996, buying a large house off the Ballychorus Road in south Co Dublin. Then, after three years, disillusioned with opportunities here, including for his children, they all packed up for France again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CG7FODNV4VEHFBJ653TLZINRVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145871},"content":"“It’s a bit sad but, again, no regrets. I’d invested in some property, in Ireland and in France, but still needed money coming in. Which is why I went into cycling holidays, which were only getting going properly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XWLZ2YZ3B5DMNHLFN45SXPVX3U","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145872},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"QX5VXXKHLBFTBILJKRYT2MOMEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145873},"content":"“But not being active was the big thing. One day when we were living in Dublin, and I hadn’t ridden a bike in a long while, I just realised something was missing. So I pulled out an old bike with flat tyres and rode down to my old friend, Peter Crinnion, living down in Kilmacanoge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T64CHJ7Z2BG35KDYO4N5CI5O7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145874},"content":"“There was a little hut of a shop on the way back into Shankill, and I stopped there, bought a bottle of Lucozade, three or four Mars Bars, sat there eating them all, and just thought, ‘this is what I’m missing’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5SP2ZOMRSFDDFN4QPCTZSPABZA","additional_properties":{"_id":"XR5JDCIXJ5HZDIU3DUG32NJBUI"},"content":"Roche goes to the limit and beyond in bid for Tour de France glory","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"VGYD7BTGANG4XC6NN7CKDOQZ6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145875},"content":"Roche had hardly been seen anywhere in public for several years, until three weeks ago when he appeared at the finish of the World Championships in Zurich, where Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian superstar, became only the third ever male winner to win the Triple Crown in the same year, after Eddy Merckx (in 1974) and Roche (in 1987).","type":"text"},{"_id":"3L4L3WY3BRB4JALBBU6FFVGVXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145876},"content":"So who invited him there?","type":"text"},{"_id":"ATIYR2DGFZFLXJO3VM23RHEZQA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145877},"content":"“I invited myself, actually, I felt it was important. Well, not important, but it’s taken 37 years, it may not happen for another 37 years, and I thought associating myself with that is not a bad thing for me right now. And on the back of that I’ve already been invited to the Tour route launch in Paris later this month.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BCHFMYVW6FATNPSQ5UNSP4OVPI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145878},"content":"In what capacity?","type":"text"},{"_id":"EPFUHRYI6ZE6VHMXREG463IPKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145879},"content":"“Well, as an ex-winner.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEVV55YBI5DQ7MTQFTRVNROMWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145880},"content":"No denying that whatsoever.","type":"text"},{"_id":"V34BDHLQS5EGHJGCHGK7Q6ZHC4","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"premium"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Irish former world champion cyclist has lost his holiday business, his villa in the south of France, pension, investments and many of his closest associates. Does he have any regrets?"},"display_date":"2024-10-19T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"The trials of Stephen Roche: ‘There are things I’ve done the last few years I’m not proud of’","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"OXPELBLELBDOXN5YD7KSZR56E4","auth":{"1":"16e093915e6b6900a6064004a408f606bb1b38cde8fa37ea684d8230661f83a4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/OXPELBLELBDOXN5YD7KSZR56E4.jpg"}},"subtype":"showcase","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/19/the-trials-of-stephen-roche-there-are-things-ive-done-the-last-few-years-im-not-proud-of/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"54G4YVPMSNALLJGN6YBR4MHU7I","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":113,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/2bd41024-29bd-42ea-804d-1b336a65e0a0/versions/1728242250/media/fbb7352b41007f3ba61c47bd7806c796_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/06/ronan-dunne-makes-irish-cycling-history-with-fourth-overall-in-downhill-world-cup/","content_elements":[{"_id":"MZYZBCWR4JC35BHQIO7QXTWRJM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ronan Dunne took the best overall World Cup result for Irish mountain biking on Saturday, finishing fourth in the 2024 UCI downhill series.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SODCBKK3BFE4LP7HXSA7WCBSAE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunne (Mondrager Factory Racing) went into the concluding round in Mount Saint Anne in Canada sitting third but had said beforehand that a top five overall finish was a big target. He was 12th last year, the best Irish result at a World Cup ahead of this weekend’s showing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"26Z2G3OMFFGRJHAKQIW4YQUNNQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was a great season for me,” Dunne said after Saturday’s race. “I am super happy with how it went, finishing fourth in the overall. I was coming into this last World Cup pretty nervous, sitting in third place. My goal was to finish top five and it is super easy to lose out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"74HYUF6CINFMJNSKRAG7M2VVW4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was definitely a dream come true to finish fourth. The race went pretty well. I got fifth place in qualifying and then just a slight mishap in my final run, but I still secured a top 10. That gave me enough points to finish fourth.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"EJKNFE3I5RGQLFBJORDRJMGAAU","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Red Bull-sponsored rider placed 10th in Saturday’s final round, with Henry Kerr (Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli) the best Irish rider in eighth. Dunne had previously won the Poland round in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H33DAXNN7NGTBPJU2LH5BT666Q","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I was just nervous coming in,” he said. “It is nice that it is over now and we have six months off before a big season next year. I am super happy with how it went, it has been a dream come true, really.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UO6H45NXKFCE7K3BWUZAN3Z7PM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Meanwhile Marine Lenehan had a superb performance at the gravel world championships, winning the amateur 19-34 years race on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Dunne ‘super happy’ after concluding round of downhill series in Canada"},"display_date":"2024-10-06T19:12:11.571Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ronan Dunne makes Irish cycling history with fourth overall in downhill World Cup","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BOVSHTEBDFCTHGDCCRYTQ2H6MQ","auth":{"1":"93e3efff68b3056d97d6d03b365241a2d3dadebe1cc072203a08acb1e058c5d4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BOVSHTEBDFCTHGDCCRYTQ2H6MQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/06/ronan-dunne-makes-irish-cycling-history-with-fourth-overall-in-downhill-world-cup/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"TK5K5OAJLZDM7F2FIH5QT6D7QY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":324,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c3a1476d-43ca-4ff2-90b1-5b07f6e5eba2/versions/1728039035/media/d4d237fb52e63ee337c502931369d7d9_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/05/rising-cycling-star-ronan-dunne-is-going-downhill-fast/","content_elements":[{"_id":"UKGSBM7HA5DW7JPW2SOATFC4KY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561323},"content":"Ronan Dunne put things in stark terms back in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H563N7WYZNGYVBZ776BRTVTG3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561324},"content":"“I don’t normally look at the times, but this time I did,” he said, speaking before his final run at the UCI World Cup Downhill race in Poland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GUDNY3AGKFHHRCOTMII52NBD54","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561325},"content":"“I saw the time Bruni scored and I thought, ‘okay, let’s get to it, we’re not bluffing.’ I was ready to fight someone. “I had the mindset that I’d be going for a helicopter trip or coming down in first. We didn’t take the helicopter trip, we took the win.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CQ3I2SKA4BGLLGHPGVVJZRJNJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561327},"content":"The helicopter trip Dunne is referring to is being airlifted off the mountain if things went wrong. Instead, he beat world number one and current series leader Loic Bruni by 0.064 of a second to land the first World Cup victory of his career. It was a stunning success and now, months later, he is third overall before <a href=\"https://ucimtbworldseries.com/events/mont-sainte-anne\" target=\"_blank\">the final round this weekend in Mount Saint Anne, Canada.</a>","type":"text"},{"_id":"FNJPM2C6RJAPPN7DYPJONRSIYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561329},"content":"“I can’t believe it, it is pretty crazy,” he explains. “Last year I got 12th, which was the best overall position for an Irish rider ever. So it’d be pretty cool to top off with a third place, or even a top five.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OUCGSIYIJFFD7CYU5SHA4ZQ2GM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561330},"content":"The Mondraker Factory Racing competitor has had a breakthrough season. He won the Red Bull Hardline race in Australia in February, raced to that World Cup win in May, and then scooped another Red Bull Hardline event in Wales in June.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4WUNLWEDWNA65ARBIFST5ASV2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"34HST3P7PFD2HOPZFZT7C5IPEI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ISWROUMMGZCYXCXDCA5ZEYYHYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561331},"content":"Each result is a big triumph in downhill mountain bike racing, which sees riders speed, skid and even soar down highly technical, highly dangerous courses on runs that last several minutes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LL2WC2RLN5FZNA3DIWPTYEPWHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561332},"content":"Dunne describes the Hardline races as more extreme, with bigger jumps and greater risks. But while those two victories were of big satisfaction to him, the World Cup is what really stands out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"22TZ3DKGAFCPBKHDOUULLQKOZU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561333},"content":"“Winning that was definitely pretty special. You can say you’re the fastest in the world on that day, which is pretty cool. It’s just so hard to win one of those races.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HKLCYQ2XYBGHBPJUA445Z2N3Y4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561334},"content":"“It’s given me real hope for the overall series,” he adds, referring to future years. “Now you’ve won one, you can be a contender for more races. It’s been pretty sick.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LVY2DK34IRDFFDMR3W3BCFTP5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561335},"content":"Dunne’s win came months after another by fellow Irishman <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/oisin-o-callaghan/\" target=\"_blank\">Oisin O’Callaghan</a>. The success late last year in Snowshoe, West Virginia, was the first-ever elite downhill World Cup victory by an Irish rider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L5UPUNVJWZFCXJ2HAUMHMVONFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"AGDCHL47ORFQXEHPASBJV5T26I"},"content":"Meet Oisín O’Callaghan, the downhill boy racer at home in cycling’s rainbow jersey","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"D7YVX7JGE5D2ZGKFJZI4JXZCXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1728041570674},"content":"Former world junior champion O’Callaghan<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2023/10/01/irelands-ocallaghan-and-dunne-claim-stunning-one-two-finish-at-uci-downhill-world-cup/\" target=\"_blank\"> finished 0.496 seconds ahead of Dunne on that occasion, who nabbed second.</a>","type":"text"},{"_id":"SDPAYFDCGBARZLXCXHLNF5FLOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561337},"content":"They are 21 and 22 years of age respectively and are two of the most exciting young talents in the sport.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4WOAWG7W5JDJRBOVKHGHKN3TEY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561338},"content":"Red Bull had been paying attention and, following Dunne’s World Cup victory this year, agreed a contract with him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNHFLRVWVZGRXFLX4JIE2V6BSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561339},"content":"“I’ve always adored the brand, really,” Dunne explains. “It’s been a dream of mine for the past few years to become one of their athletes.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NE5XYF3QIVCBPDT5HKJS5BEX4E","additional_properties":{"_id":"5VR6QEZ4LFCWBDD6HZ623DVRLA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YIEI3CX5EJGZHBBUJMGL422NN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561340},"content":"The brand has huge clout in mountain biking and backs some of the biggest names across a range of sports. Securing the contract should make a considerable difference to his career in the coming years.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GS43UAVXMZDNBF5OUWFIZWJGCU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561341},"content":"World Cup leader Bruni is also part of their stable. He’s a big fan of Dunne.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XYDED24RSFG5VC3YVG3NLSCOC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561342},"content":"“Congrats to Ronan for his amazing season. It’s been really cool to see him progress and get better,” he says. “He has always been quite a loose unit, just sending it [throwing caution to the wind] and going for wins.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5DBYTDLU5FCINKU55XS3HDQLII","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561343},"content":"“This year, changing programme, I think he understood how to make race runs a bit more consistent, and a little bit more efficient.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ULMKNRLWGJGCZIAPXYNGCQ2ADU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561344},"content":"“It’s been cool to see he had it in him. His mindset was always quite fierce. When he won his first World Cup this year in Poland I was second by a small margin. It was really cool to be battling with him in that race and battling the whole season, pretty much.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5WVL73V4FD6NOFILPGTLLEULE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561345},"content":"Bruni is well clear in the overall standings and now looks to have the World Cup sewn up. Dunne sits third, with his closest rival very close to him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QGPVPGRCTJBNJIB3LJ27C2KFGY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561346},"content":"With double points on offer for this final round in Canada, he knows a big clash is brewing over the weekend.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CBOGA6C66ZGD3BE4CTJEPQ3UPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561347},"content":"“It’s kind of all or nothing, really,” he says. “The guy in fourth place, Finn Iles, is a Canadian and won there previously. He is only seven points behind me, so it should be a pretty tight battle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"X27LFTDK3JA6NBMU72VMZRAG4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561348},"content":"“First is secured, Loic Bruni has won that. And second place is pretty far ahead. But third and fourth is where our last battle is.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HUFERQ7Z2FFWRLVUXGQ7GNR7PI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561349},"content":"“So to be considered in that category is pretty amazing. If I make third in the overall, it’d be crazy to say you are the third best mountainbiker in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HB3MUD3AFJEI5OJBL7QGM2EGUM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561350},"content":"“That would be pretty cool.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Enniskerry rider sits third overall going into final round of cycling’s downhill World Cup"},"display_date":"2024-10-05T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Rising cycling star Ronan Dunne is going downhill fast","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"KGUUJJZHNFAEZOT6OWMKTNY57I","auth":{"1":"17e48e793fd96da3e92f2ef9ad8de68d5f2f4325966b752393732b1ef92013cd"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/KGUUJJZHNFAEZOT6OWMKTNY57I.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/05/rising-cycling-star-ronan-dunne-is-going-downhill-fast/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"RROYJMM7VNAN7MTURUKONTE5OM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":291,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/2a832bec-6143-49c9-9e17-49106282165b/versions/1727632735/media/c6b38e51f93c7b881a0b05eed656acda_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/29/tadej-pogacar-solos-home-to-first-world-championship-road-title/","content_elements":[{"_id":"TQVXJLW6TVFSHKFM7ZKDQGNJ7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727631928723},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/tadej-pogacar\" target=\"_blank\">Tadej Pogacar</a> made history in impressive fashion on Sunday at the road World Championships in Switzerland, joining Belgium’s Eddy Merckx and Ireland’s Stephen Roche as the only winners of cycling’s elusive triple crown.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NTOJX37HR5GMVBH46RWVLYAUO4","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Slovenian won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France earlier this year and needed to take World Championship gold to match their feats, but did it the hard way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ORFPD7NJU5ACPMLMKBNUEOPALU","additional_properties":{},"content":"He attacked with over 100 kilometres remaining in the 273.9km race, bridging across to an early breakaway containing his team-mate Jan Tratnik and causing panic among his main rivals behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O2SYI3MDQJDOLHXJZ2FQ5MZ5EY","additional_properties":{},"content":"He then went solo with 50km to go and fended of the persistent efforts of Irishman Ben Healy and Latvian Toms Skujins to get across.","type":"text"},{"_id":"242F76OFJVHL3LMYW5F5YCW3VI","additional_properties":{},"content":"The duo were caught with 16.5km remaining by a group containing defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Olympic double champ Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and others.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6DEYSU5UAFHKRJXTGOVYP4VZYQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Pogacar was just 42 seconds ahead there but while the duration of his effort had left him looking vulnerable, the stop/go racing behind plus his own stubbornness saw him stay clear to the finish in Zürich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DW6LLN5P2VCF7MBFUCG6YYTPGY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Australia’s Ben O’Connor jumped away in the finale to take silver, 34 seconds back. Van der Poel won the sprint for bronze, 58 seconds after Pogacar’s victory celebration. Healy was a fine seventh after being one of the standout riders on the day.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VBA2OTD4HBFFTC3RTFFUDBRCJM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I cannot believe what just happened,” the 25-year-old winner said. “After this kind of season, I put a lot of pressure on myself for today. I had pressure from myself, from the team. We came here for victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YHNAYBOLQZBW5D6ZFUZFB2KM3U","additional_properties":{},"content":"“The race unfolded pretty quick. There was a dangerous breakaway in the front. I maybe did a stupid attack, but luckily Jan [Tratnik] was there with me. I never gave up until the final, it was an incredible day. I cannot believe what just happened.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SADO3WHJFZB6JOJ36TQQ5ARB4I","additional_properties":{},"content":"Healy was one of the strongest riders in the race, beginning his effort with Skujins with over 59 kilometres to go.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKJKC6PF5ZGOPH776FH4EZE4CE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Despite a chase of over 40 kilometres, he remained solid after their recapture and launched two stinging moves inside the final seven kilometres. Both were brought back but he impressed nonetheless.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y6RMOZTTERB73OQ5YUS6VI5ZJA","additional_properties":{"_id":"XCXN3OD5T5HFPACRNSZ4UIOF4E"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BIJUT2XMGFG7ZDWQQN5WB2LV6E","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was bloody hard, to be honest,” said Healy. “Thank God I was with Toms Skujins, because he was insanely strong today. I did what I needed to do, but I didn’t quite have the legs. So thanks to Toms.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VTGEI2N4LZDD3EZR7ZPILYZSBM","additional_properties":{},"content":"The statement was a modest one; he was stronger than he suggested, showing form similar to his long breakaway during the Olympic road race in Paris, plus his aggressive Tour de France debut in July.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UIVICDCXWZB5XFNVTVSTE6M3UM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I just wish I could contribute a bit more and maybe we would have stayed away. I did what I could and then tried to play my cards in the final as well. But it just wasn’t to be, unfortunately.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"G2LFFLGZWNHNJP22RE4FJXYSF4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Still, mixing with the world’s top riders provides further confirmation that he is now on their level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M2S3NXDCSJB2FNFV6QD73NS474","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am really, really happy with that. I laid it all on the line and it almost paid off, so that’s all you can ask for, I think.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"E3ULYMEPWNH7HK6HOYKD6PLZH4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Fellow Irishmen Archie Ryan, Eddie Dunbar and Conn McDunphy helped him early on. McDunphy was caught out by a crash and a dropped chain on the climb, while Ryan took a very solid 21st. Dunbar wasn’t in the same form as when he won two stages in the Vuelta a España, finishing 67th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L6PHI2TCOVFMHNY5ARCPSZ4CZ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ryan is a first-year professional and will take great encouragement from his performance, given that he was prominent on the climbs deep into the race and helped set Healy up for his big attack.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IJQCSW5XU5FLTEKKBDVQIHGFCY","additional_properties":{},"content":"All attention is on Pogacar, though, who continued a formidable season. Healy was impressed by the manner of his win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PITCK2V6NRHSPA7LNSHIICQY6Q","additional_properties":{},"content":"“What can you say? Just absolutely insane,” he said. “I don’t think anyone expected him to go from 100k out today.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6TJJQ4JFWJBVVLJDNHHG3J7E64","additional_properties":{},"content":"Seventh by Healy was one of the standouts of a strong Irish campaign. The road championships in Switzerland were combined with the paracycling worlds, and Irish duo Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly won both the tandem road race and time trial. Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal took third in the road race and fourth against the clock.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HU52OVEE3FC6RGBFCSNLQIQQE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Irish riders clocked up five other top 10 finishes, including Seth Dunwoody’s fifth and Conor Murphy’s 10th in the junior men’s time-trial, plus Darren Rafferty’s sixth and brother Adam Rafferty’s 10th place in the under-23 TT. Lucy Bénézet Minns was also 10th in the junior women’s road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Unstoppable Slovenian adds rainbow jersey to Tour de France and Giro crowns; Ireland’s Ben Healy finishes seventh"},"display_date":"2024-09-29T15:55:09.237Z","headlines":{"basic":"Tadej Pogacar becomes first male cyclist since Stephen Roche to win triple crown ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"PIBKFAL5TB7XF3DOWH6VUURC74","auth":{"1":"a27889f02a3b8800e2f953f44bb5d083700829b6e39c8a3a2d87cbbf3869a6bb"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PIBKFAL5TB7XF3DOWH6VUURC74.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/29/tadej-pogacar-solos-home-to-first-world-championship-road-title/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"LO7NVPTZKNB6HIROIPSTFHFYOM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":208,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/32aa98e8-a1f2-42d7-acb6-2bc3eaa0fa5e/versions/1727454196/media/5384b158c332e4fdd858a6c3f65d17b4_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/27/eighteen-year-old-rider-muriel-furrer-dies-after-fall-at-world-cycling-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"T4GE23T4LJHFFGXLBDSBSVOWJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767745},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/darren-rafferty/\" target=\"_blank\">Darren Rafferty</a> had a strong performance in a highly-competitive under-23 road race at the UCI <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">Road World Championships</a> on Friday, racing to 12th in the 173.6km event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PU7NFOQZ6FCCNC7SYYK3KADCWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767746},"content":"The Dungannon rider finished sixth in the time trial on Monday and hoped for a strong showing in the race. He was supported by Jamie Meehan, Liam O’Brien and Dean Harvey and bridged to a chase group of favourites with 44 kilometres left.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FRUBPEM25EG7KIOPW374XL4CU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767747},"content":"Rafferty has however looked fatigued after riding and finishing his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, several weeks ago, with that event coming towards the end of what has been a draining first season as a professional.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DSEBK4IRLRDNXNVWH427VSLOOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767748},"content":"He faded on a tough climb with 24km remaining and finished 2′48 behind winner Niklas Behrens (Germany) and Martin Svrček (Slovakia), who sprinted for the win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJST6MVWCFFGXDI6ZMM2PYOAOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767749},"content":"The day was marked by tragedy when news came that Swiss competitor Muriel Furrer had died after a crash during the junior women’s road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E2ZRL463RRHTDN2GDBYT4JE7FQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767750},"content":"“The 18-year-old rider fell heavily yesterday, Thursday, during the women junior road race, and suffered a serious head injury before being flown to hospital by helicopter in a very critical condition,” cycling’s governing body the UCI, wrote in a statement. “Muriel Furrer sadly passed away today at Zurich University Hospital.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"F36VB2J7EBC7HGLTJBD5QKTZAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767751},"content":"The UCI expressed condolences to her family, who reportedly said they wished for the championships to continue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SPARGHOCGVEORCJO6GW3T2KQ7M","additional_properties":{"_id":"LTIJCFWXRFAEXAOBW33I6AUZ5U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SJEWOIVS3VCYJAYX67F3OI5EAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767753},"content":"Saturday sees the elite and under-23 women’s road race take place. National champion Fiona Mangan and sisters Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien will represent Ireland, the latter taking the place of Megan Armitage. She was originally selected but later withdrew from the squad for the 154.1km event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7WBV6GGNKNGR5ENGLJCK4N4TIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767754},"content":"The action concludes on Sunday with the elite men’s road race. All eyes are on Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), who is seeking to be the first rider since Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Ireland’s Stephen Roche in 1987 to win the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships road race in the same season.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AQ36QAPQENEJ3DAMWCELYUMOOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767755},"content":"He dominated the Tour and the Giro, and was in fine form when he soloed to victory in the recent GP Cycliste de Montréal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3TKQI52PUFFTDKRH5HPGQZF37E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767756},"content":"Irish hopes in the 273.9km race will be represented by Eddie Dunbar, Ben Healy, Archie Ryan and Conn McDunphy. Dunbar will hope to have carried over some of the form which earned him two stage wins in the Vuelta a España, while Healy is one of the best Classic riders in the world when in top shape.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6TBIKXKKTFBTJEKRCQOWT4LEJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767757},"content":"Like EF Education EasyPost team-mate Rafferty, Ryan has had a fine first season as a professional. He won a stage and finished second overall in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in March and was fifth overall in the Lidl Deutschland Tour in August.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IOPS56TFVRDQXLEXGWW64VRZZU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767758},"content":"McDunphy was a strong second in the Rás Tailteann in May and will likely play a support role for his more experienced team-mates.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"UCI confirm death of 18-year-old Swiss cyclist after suffering serious head injury in Zurich"},"display_date":"2024-09-27T15:57:00.503Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Darren Rafferty finishes 12th in under-23 road race at World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ARZKUZFNOJEODP2ZAZVE35TO6Q","auth":{"1":"b1f55d17ae75ab0f4101cbf1e7f8d68df62ed635c95cc7b5883a08410decaa16"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ARZKUZFNOJEODP2ZAZVE35TO6Q.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/27/eighteen-year-old-rider-muriel-furrer-dies-after-fall-at-world-cycling-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"YABUDD3U2VFFPNDKK4DZHDW2XM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":351,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/39b108c8-ddc5-4f16-98a9-bf660c6698df/versions/1727382269/media/b07ea4b3f1d1cff537464333568a8ad2_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/boxing/2024/09/27/boxing-beaten-to-the-punch-when-it-comes-to-sports-capital-grants/","content_elements":[{"_id":"NVKEDNTA4FAFLKUKSOD2BTINAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881524},"content":"It takes a doctoral thesis to understand the minutia of how the sports grant allocation system works, who gets what and how criteria are weighted.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PE4D6IWZANFMPHCVH27C7EMYNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881525},"content":"It seems, like the Irish tax system, it can be maximised if a federation or club has wealth, an organised administration with individuals who have skill sets or capital to invest into their projects. 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But not every sport has them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KTABE5WR2VDKPMG5Q6DDBJLUHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881526},"content":"This week millions were flying around, €230 million in all, with every niche sport and each governing body hoping the gods of the application system were winking down at them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UGKZYU4GBFHM7K6KJPAGEPF77A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881527},"content":"On Wednesday every blazer and alickadoo in the country was poised over their Smart Watch waiting for the wrist alert that told them what grant they did or didn’t get and in what category it was placed.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YD5FV6HWZBEQHBWNUM3QOFTKSA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881528},"content":"Even they probably don’t fully understand why Clonmany Shamrocks Sports & Athletic Limited are deservingly given a “New Mower, Defibrillator & Storage Container” worth €70,000 or the enlightened Carrigtwohill GAA Club in Cork are getting €17,285 for PV Solar Panels, while another club down the road gets nothing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LY6A2HAOQFFKREBNK5XRLZL27Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881529},"content":"What people do notice is, when the dust settles, it seems to be to the tune of a few million euros here and few million there, disproportionate across sports. Socio-economic disadvantage, female participation, technical merits of the project and level of self-funding, they all come into play. Or do they?","type":"text"},{"_id":"B4O5XGITPFH4XABLSKTW4G7GBE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881530},"content":"Apparently, the possible bingo windfall also depends on how expertly clubs fill in forms to make the successful application and whether they own or rent their premises. In short, owning is good, renting is bad.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HUBCGLJFJJHQNDNTCQRP35YELI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881531},"content":"Either way, it has become a competitive event with some of the governing bodies and clubs at the standard of Olympic medal winners at doing it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XPOSPTRCX5E3VDGX4K76UP5GNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881532},"content":"Unwieldy and skewed towards sports with a high level of capital holding said one sports official, in an unscientific poll. A nightmare, said another. A third said their organisation had to run a series of workshops on explaining to members how to fill in the forms and empower them about how to correctly apply.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NNIOOHTEQVEC5OEN2PI5X3XEXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881533},"content":"You don’t need to be a solicitor said another, but it probably helps. A code breaker at Bletchley Park on the Enigma project might help too.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P5HVOTOFMZHFPK3HDVMYPM5DWM","additional_properties":{"_id":"PCBAW5N65VH27EBOHX6PARWSS4"},"content":"<iframe title=\"Value of grants by sport\" aria-label=\"Table\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-3SRhD\" src=\"\nhttps://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3SRhD/3/\"\nscrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"531\" data-external=\"1\"></iframe><script type=\"text/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script>","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"PHIGQRK6QRCWTHHALVEV6PJL7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881534},"content":"Whatever way it works, people look at the figures and the smorgasbord of subventions, grants and allocations across the sports and the perception is that there must be an inbuilt bias about the process. That’s the look, one of a process that delivers lopsided, unbalanced outcomes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ATYMM7TJCVB55DWJOTWHZNNE3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881535},"content":"Sure, there is buttock-clenching awe over the fantastic sums some sports get and a general feeling of delight that at least the money is finding a good home. But there is also a familiar sense of dismay about the left behinds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPXPIEPQ55CR5JRY6H4VGU6YRY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881536},"content":"So, chapeau to the form fillers of the GAA and soccer, whose combined allocation of €138 million, 60 per cent of the €230 million, eclipses all the other sports federations combined. You square it off as okay because your sister is in a soccer club and all your cousins play hurling and sure you dabble a bit yourself across several sports, although your main one is not soccer or GAA.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZVX4H6F25BJJPRLHIBBMEAJ5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881538},"content":"Add in rugby’s €10 million and €11 million going to golf and four sports take a €159 million slice of the cake.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3HJEZYR5VBCOVOYWPJJ4Y5CYQY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727376433086},"content":"Journalist Sean McGoldrick highlighted one of the stark anomalies on Twitter/X this week pointing to boxing, which is the most successful Olympic sport going back to the foundation of the State. The sport has produced 19 medals since then and given us the likes of double Olympic champion Kellie Harrington. Yet.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GWYPFZQ7CRCH3C2XCS5NPVNVIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881540},"content":"Yet the sport gets €830,914 while the GAA gets €96 million. Again, congrats to the GAA, they have got the grants thing lit. Every time it comes around, they are bang on the bullseye.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTQ7V7N7MFAKNA6E2W6KQI2MQM","additional_properties":{"_id":"3CPEURPTPBCWBCRSJY7CWZVNOQ"},"content":"<iframe title=\"Allocations for capital applications\" aria-label=\"Table\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-vIuCb\" src=\"\nhttps://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vIuCb/2/\"\nscrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"618\" data-external=\"1\"></iframe><script type=\"text/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n\n<\/script>","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"AIVPMWQ3W5CTZJ7QUHNL2EANGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881541},"content":"Then people begin to do their rough mental arithmetic and work out that boxing has around 20,000 members while the GAA has more than 500,000 members. It is a bigger organisation and that’s maybe a reason for the disparity.","type":"text"},{"_id":"N7E3I5E4QRCNVBMTFVF46OJEIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881542},"content":"Except GAA is not 96 times larger than boxing. It is about 25 times the size. That at least rules out two criteria. It is not numbers that’s involved nor success at the Olympic Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OVJXP7FMWFHK3E54NKYROIUMDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881543},"content":"A key criterion when applying for bigger regional projects is the level of self-funding available. It’s another inbuilt piece of bias that rewards sports with money to invest, and leaves you wondering how much other criteria, such as socio-economic disadvantage, are worth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YT2TMOO7WJB3FFWVRMMNP3QJD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881544},"content":"The question is whether the system is proportionate or evenly balanced. Boxing as a sport often tends to flower in disadvantaged areas, and it also reaches out to participants from diverse cultures and backgrounds, such as immigrants and the Traveller community. But boxing lacks investment capital and facilities.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKLRDJVU6RGSZM736WBA6A6MPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234824},"content":"On the flip side, tennis, for example, has facilities that can be upgraded and tends to own those facilities. Tennis clubs are also often found in non-disadvantaged areas.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3VDJWJ6IXBDHNJSKAFPM77VUOU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234825},"content":"With no player at this year’s Olympic Games or in any of the Grand Slam events, tennis received €6,579,430 in this year’s grants. Hats off to them, they have clearly cracked the code.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7J7PSNCFSVEW5E2UZ55UZJK7DA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234826},"content":"But allowing sports like GAA, soccer, rugby, golf and tennis to dominate the funding chart just compounds the chasm between the sports.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTCSCKMB3RH33L44OVKTXFZQNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881547},"content":"The system, while largely transparent, is far from satisfactory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U63PP6QYQZHLVOTXMPYRSKTEAE","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"premium"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Johnny Watterson"}},"name":"Johnny Watterson"}]},"description":{"basic":"Despite producing 19 Olympic medals, the latest being Kellie Harrington, the sport gets a derisory €830,914 out of a €230 million funding pie"},"display_date":"2024-09-27T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Boxing beaten to the punch when it comes to sports capital grants ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LF3RSJQ5N5CVLF6DLIVR3BMDN4","auth":{"1":"6691fd364a23590d00e79860c993dd2ea77fbfc4e293d42c451836edd139275a"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LF3RSJQ5N5CVLF6DLIVR3BMDN4.jpg"}},"subtype":"columnist","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/boxing/2024/09/27/boxing-beaten-to-the-punch-when-it-comes-to-sports-capital-grants/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/boxing","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Boxing"}}}},{"_id":"SDXO734IM5EURKK477K4MYDJ2U","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":105,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/5a6e2c81-908a-4417-b09a-8e86ef07bfd7/versions/1727373578/media/b6839d32f02e6fbd7a39899010fdfe5a_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/26/benezet-minns-takes-10th-on-dangerous-day-at-cyclings-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"L2WZL2KHCZDKDCQLKSZNLSIXLQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872841},"content":"Lucy Bénézet Minns was best placed of the seven Irish riders in action at cycling’s World Championships on Thursday, finishing a fine 10th in the junior women’s road race in Zürich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XXK5OP3ZQJAJVGF7J4YD76K6Q4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872845},"content":"She raced home as part of a group 1 minute 26 seconds behind a trio led home by British talent Cat Ferguson, who also won the time-trial on Tuesday. The race was run off in wet, slippery conditions. ","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5E4ADYQKRGATNS5X54MCQACWA","additional_properties":{},"content":"Minns said she was out of position early on and used a lot of energy to get back to the front group.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TXH4BGMEERH2VOP3Y43NMMFUIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872850},"content":"“Then I was just cooked. It was really sketchy in the wet, the roads were just like an ice rink. I didn’t fall off this time, I’m pretty happy about that.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SIALSDTH3ZGXVAGZIQDNWMZXUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872853},"content":"The tough conditions saw Aliyah Rafferty and Áine Doherty finish further back, placing 38th and 79th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"47CCJGYZUZGC5LIODVX7G6BX6E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872855},"content":"Seth Dunwoody was best finisher of the four Irish junior men, placing 26th behind the race winner Lorenzo Finn of Italy. The race was marked by many crashes including Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark), who fell while in contention to defend his title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P3O3DURSHFDGNK7I52DOZBPLAA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872859},"content":"Muriel Furrer (Switzerland) fell during the women’s event and was described by the UCI as being in a very critical condition due to a head injury.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PDVEZSRITBCA7MS6R5RRQGK5GY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872862},"content":"The championships continue on Friday with the under-23 men’s race. Brothers Darren and Adam Rafferty compete after netting sixth and 10th in Monday’s time-trial. They will be joined by Dean Harvey, Liam O’Brien and Jamie Meehan.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer in a very critical condition after fall in senior women’s race"},"display_date":"2024-09-26T17:15:11.286Z","headlines":{"basic":"Bénézet Minns takes 10th on dangerous day at cycling’s World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"PKYRVKHZWCSJFS4FESZIRIGOT4","auth":{"1":"1d2738840ba043877518e6486ebbd6e5becd7557775feb503aafa8fc83908bcd"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PKYRVKHZWCSJFS4FESZIRIGOT4.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/26/benezet-minns-takes-10th-on-dangerous-day-at-cyclings-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZTPOZVI7WRFRTLFVEUMNN6TCFA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":292,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/b39a2da7-5cb7-431f-b2b1-7de24881db3f/versions/1727269210/media/e5865a5e3c914e288d88b47b2321361e_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/25/katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-again-at-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"LOTVDUIWUZAS7C5V24OBWOSL7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487437},"content":"Irish duo <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and Linda Kelly have won their second gold medal at cycling’s world road championships in Zürich, Switzerland, soling to a sensational victory in the women’s B (tandem) road race on Wednesday morning.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4R6UWPEPVREA3J2YUU7ANOZMVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487438},"content":"The duo attacked on the penultimate lap of four, having earlier gone clear with Ireland team-mates Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal, plus big rivals Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IPVEIYCGNBR5AVABKV7Q6Z3S4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487439},"content":"Dunlevy and Kelly forged ahead of the other two tandems before the start of lap four, crossing the finish line three seconds ahead there and continuing to build their lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KCRPNY2ONVC4NOM4MAVIVU773I","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487440},"content":"Unwin and Holl ultimately finished 1 minute 23 seconds behind with Healion and McCrystal taking a fine bronze, 16 seconds further back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SCNBY653MRFEXH3AVMKGSXG6WQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am absolutely over the moon,” said Dunlevy, who has the sight-limiting condition retinitis pigmentosa. “To have two bikes on the podium, us and then Eve and Josie, it was just textbook. It was what we were hoping for, what we were dreaming of.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QJWKO3NJ2ZBYZDLYUJLRYBW6G4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We were hoping to get that in Paris and we didn’t, we came away with silver. I was disappointed in Paris not to defend my title. But to do it here at the worlds, I am so proud of us. It was an amazing race. I really enjoyed the course, it was a bit of everything, and just really exciting.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VC5VRG7MOJFGHHTNOUAMQSFM7Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487441},"content":"Dunlevy and Kelly won gold in the time-trial on Sunday, having done the same in the Paralympics TT in September.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I3CAPBPA2VDBPJUZUPOQUILC5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487442},"content":"They were beaten by Unwin and Holl in the road race in Paris, making Wednesday’s victory all the sweeter.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEE3UOBWKFBXBFOAHDRLVN7QME","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487443},"content":"The Irish duo also won the road race last year in Glasgow, successfully defending their title this time around.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UCWRLAYWORAEDANOD5SCUCRBSY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunlevy suffered a fractured collarbone in the run-up to the Paralympic Games, and herself and Kelly had several other crashes. The latter suffered from concussion in one race, while illness also affected their build-up.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R6SMSX76RZH2HHV53XDHV7A3JM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We did have a good think about it afterwards when we got home,” Kelly said. “Before we got here we had a chat with our coach and a chat with our team-mates as well, Eve and Josie, just talking about tactics and power and speed and what you do around the course. And the type of course it is as well.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WR3VISFSZZBN5MTP6KPUAL4ZKI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We did play to our strengths up the hills, and also going very fast down the descents as well. We were hitting 70 to 80ks per hour, a lot of turns. We are just so happy to come back and do the double two years in a row.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UKKMWY4TUVBAXF4JJ2I7H2FAPE","additional_properties":{"_id":"IS4TKEPFOVAEFM2RYOYKCY4AWY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BXB3ZAW3QNBQXBGX2DEL2XKZAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487444},"content":"Healion and McCrystal will savour their bronze medal and the achievement of putting two Irish bikes on the podium.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VJNXBNLPKNBQHNLTIE3UBMY6E4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487445},"content":"McCrystal is bowing out of international competition at 46 years of age. She partnered Dunlevy for many years, securing three Paracycling gold medals plus several world titles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NTUFUG7RGBEXBICEYJK74FXWYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487446},"content":"She then switched to racing with Healion in road events as part of a tactic to chase more medals and also to share her experience and build towards the future.","type":"text"},{"_id":"STOH5E3OEFA2BI2VO4GGS3MEPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487447},"content":"The bronze medals are a fitting reward for a lot of hard work. They were fourth in last year’s world championship road race, fourth in the Paralympic Games road race and again fourth last Sunday in the time trial, but stepped up a level on Wednesday for McCrystal’s swansong event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DGYRWORYQFFYNLYKYNYASWGE2A","additional_properties":{},"content":"As for Dunlevy, she is 42 years of age but will continue in the sport. It’s not yet clear if she will keep racing until the next Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, but she will be back in 2025 chasing more gold medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D3KJ4HN4MJDMVOZE35F434AIKM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“[We will have] a long deserved break,” she said. “It’s been a long, hard year for us. We have had crashes on the bikes, illness ... mentally it has been a tough year. Mentally it’s hard to prepare yourself for these races. It takes a toll on the body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IXYMPAKBG5AWXOS33YF6GSMHYI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“So we’ll have a nice break and get back to it again for next year.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6MMV33I4GFEDDJ3OH7TSSYPGZE","additional_properties":{},"content":"What will help with motivation is having had such a good season. She and Kelly raced to gold and silver in Paris, with one final collaboration between Dunlevy and McCrystal also securing silver in the team pursuit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ILTWIAWMVD4NKSJ2ZIPPTLXIY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunlevy now has two more gold medals to her credit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NNSQKZM3HJAXRKVJVKVMQK57XE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It’s a dream, really,” she said. “Three months ago I was in a hospital bed, so to come here and to get three medals in Paris and then be double world champions here, I am kind of lost for words. It means an awful lot. I am very happy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OIWTINSTXZGFLCQXKQJQCD3YWE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Next up in cycling’s road world championships are the junior road races on Thursday. Lucy Bénézet Minns, Aliyah Rafferty and Áine Doherty go in the women’s event, and Patrick Casey, Seth Dunwoody, David Gaffney and Cal Tutty will line out in the junior men’s race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal take bronze in Zürich after string of fourth-place finishes"},"display_date":"2024-09-25T11:54:03.986Z","headlines":{"basic":"Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win gold again at World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UPPSSM3LBVFPLH3NT7OTXJ56BM","auth":{"1":"c7cfb8273e053480876b12ccccdb204c08c6a77ac38bbf0ad8b41c63083b4193"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UPPSSM3LBVFPLH3NT7OTXJ56BM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/25/katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-again-at-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"BI5N6EEYHJDGFHMGUSN3HUB7VE","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":112,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/8e68429a-a171-49d4-b62c-ccc5d67e7bf6/versions/1727117173/media/4c6d692f9472bc62e53700536ef6e9ca_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/23/seth-dunwoody-and-darren-rafferty-close-to-medals-at-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"B4JNJ6DHARB4DJCQNFI3KBL4RA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785779},"content":"Irish riders had a fine showing on day three of the UCI road world championships in Zürich on Monday, with Seth Dunwoody fifth in the junior men’s time trial and Darren Rafferty sixth in the Under 23 race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7TUVQ5IISRAJ5B33RNNU5VDB5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785780},"content":"Dunwoody continued the fine form he has shown this year to finish 24 seconds off race winner Paul Seixas (France), and 17 seconds off a podium place. Compatriot Conor Murphy was 10th, a fine performance for a first year junior.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2MLGWCWQOBHTHDMIWPZR62FYHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785781},"content":"“I managed to squeeze everything out of my legs today,” said Dunwoody. “Although not as much as I had expected but I can still be proud of this result. It’s my first major time trial championship and I hope to be at many more fighting for medals.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SWZ5FYNHBZHRVCIWOY46IKNIP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785782},"content":"Rafferty finished fifth in the under 23 TT last year and, having turned professional with EF Education-EasyPost this season, hoped to build on that. However he found he was lacking a little zip in the race, quite possibly as a result of riding the Vuelta a España at 21 years of age.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6M6VM7YUGRHU3NWT7PUNMMPGEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785783},"content":"“It has been a long season and I have done a lot of races. It is nice to be able to come here, represent Ireland and give it my best. Unfortunately it was not enough, but it is always nice and there is another opportunity on Friday,” he said, speaking about the road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7VJMZVTIMRCFTBJOX4FQCT627Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785784},"content":"Brother Adam had a fine performance in his first year as an under 23, netting 10th. Spanish rider Iván Romeo won.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AUYBTDQM5NBDTL7BWYJVJ23USM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785785},"content":"The world championships continues on Tuesday with the junior women’s time trial. Sister Aliyah Rafferty and Lucy Bénézet Minns will represent Ireland. The latter was fourth last year.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Dunwoody continued fine form he has shown this year to finish 24 seconds off race winner Paul Seixas"},"display_date":"2024-09-23T18:27:59.329Z","headlines":{"basic":"Seth Dunwoody and Darren Rafferty close to medals at world championships ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"N2DK5DEMY2UKQGVPCYPROQ2HQA","auth":{"1":"d7286a95d00c844afb396fa295a03f87e5b071f2b9fe0ab0a327d386b2cdba17"},"focal_point":{"x":2341,"y":421},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/N2DK5DEMY2UKQGVPCYPROQ2HQA.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/23/seth-dunwoody-and-darren-rafferty-close-to-medals-at-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"O7P7ZRRCOVCOJFHZUYWK2BNZOA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":203,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/813be2c1-3838-4d05-9fc1-0bd141d69ce4/versions/1727015241/media/e126eccca38e554d2f01cf5492c04737_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/22/irelands-katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-at-world-championship-time-trial/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JFIVIEGQ7VAZ5LDNF5FUVGBZ5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1727000677642},"content":"Paralympic champions <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and Linda Kelly added another gold to their 2024 haul on Sunday, winning the women’s B individual time-trial at cycling’s road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IX4SY7TWEZA7DJUBBPQBWKYC3I","additional_properties":{},"content":"The duo smashed their rivals on the undulating 29.9km course, completing the distance 1:09.7 quicker than Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl. A second British duo, Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall, were at 1:38.44 back in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITKUWZ4UMZCRRMUK73QAR2WU5Y","additional_properties":{},"content":"Irish riders Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal took a very solid fourth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"732J37BVUNBBREITBQ35MS6C4U","additional_properties":{},"content":"The victory by Dunlevy and Kelly sees them successfully defend the world title they took in Dumfries in August 2023.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GDNIH45HJRFBXIWM4BC2LSN2GY","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We really enjoyed the course,” said Dunlevy. “There were uphill and downhill sections so we knew, based on our race in Paris, that we would get time hopefully on the hills. We had to go over on our power on the hills and just really deliver a good solid ride. We’re delighted.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R54WB4X2ABHJNBBDS7DJCR3HA4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“You have to just attack each bit that you’re on, not think too far ahead when it comes to the time-trial.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MS7ZYCHLTVGTLJXJOSDMR3GRU4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Kelly pilots visually-impaired rider Dunlevy, and plays a key role in picking the right lines through corners in order to maximise speed while maintaining safety. She could see that they were closing on big rivals Unwin and Holl during the time-trial and drew encouragement from that.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4O6AMVXXX5AKFJHXHNQF4WPITE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Towards the last seven, eight kilometres we passed the British bike. It was such a nice feeling.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WZKSFKDBJRDXNNW4QMMTBEJEWQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"They are next up in the women’s road race on Wednesday, and will hope to repeat their victory of last year. Healion and McCrystal will also be in action, with the latter due to retire from international competition afterwards.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HYMVN7ZR5RHLRKVVASBP6QHSFA","additional_properties":{},"content":"She partnered Dunlevy for many years, clocking up multiple world titles and three golds, plus two silver medals, in the Paracycling Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"F6TLBKFPQNH7HAKY2PSPJCPSQ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"The quartet are the only paracycling riders among Ireland’s 24-strong squad at the UCI road and paracycling world championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"52JWK5AGOJEORPPIM2FUMRXK7U","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland had no competitors in the elite men’s and women’s time-trials on Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"INNVGB4HVJAN7BUHDUZTR6HZYI","additional_properties":{},"content":"On Monday, Seth Dunwoody and Conor Murphy line out in the junior time-trial, while the brothers Darren and Adam Rafferty compete in the under-23 equivalent. Aliyah Rafferty and Lucy Bénézet Minns will then contest the junior women’s time-trial on Tuesday. Bénézet Minns was a superb fourth last year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IR4VGYKF45EVFOVRBLTJ746DDY","additional_properties":{},"content":"The road races will take place later in the week. Following the paracycling tandem road race on Wednesday, the junior men and women will be in action on Thursday, with the under 23 men racing on Friday. The latter group will include Darren Rafferty, who took a fine fifth in the time-trial last year, and who recently competed in the Vuelta a España.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RXV6WES75FDKVNHTMLDSUZBT2A","additional_properties":{},"content":"Sisters Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien join with national champion Fiona Mangan in the elite women’s road race on Saturday, while double Vuelta a España stage winner Eddie Dunbar, Ben Healy, Archie Ryan and Conn McDunphy are the Irish riders in the elite men’s road race next Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Irish pair defend their title in Zurich as Josephine Healion and Eve McChrystal finish fourth"},"display_date":"2024-09-22T10:55:40.939Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win gold in World Championship time-trial","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UK2NVHDBU4H6KKVQ2ZTRFX6EWQ","auth":{"1":"ec6a04957978cf095a4f33bb9c23edb2d31e259c3e53c20ae89345b5863ab45c"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UK2NVHDBU4H6KKVQ2ZTRFX6EWQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/22/irelands-katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-at-world-championship-time-trial/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IAWQVV26FNF2LEF7DTUCWLIDYU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":664,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/cfde3690-c684-4dff-9408-f2338ebb9574/versions/1726825465/media/bf32463772e2a347beba025ff62c8f31_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/21/after-losing-his-leg-to-an-israeli-sniper-alaa-al-dali-found-his-way-out-of-gaza-and-into-the-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"R3W4LZ4SARAR7OIIEQUQAZJADM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465157},"content":"Alaa al-Dali was watching the protest in his full cycling gear when he was shot in the leg by an <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel-defence-forces/\" target=\"_blank\">IDF</a> sniper. He was standing beside his bike, 300m from the fence that separates <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/gaza-strip/\" target=\"_blank\">Gaza</a> from <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel/\" target=\"_blank\">Israel</a>. It was March 2018 and he was 21 years old.","type":"text"},{"_id":"33PC6JGPUZBM3JVLKZMISFZ4C4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465158},"content":"He had already qualified to compete in the Asian Games later that summer and was on track to become the first ever <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/palestine/\" target=\"_blank\">Palestinian</a> cyclist to compete at the Olympics. But the gunshot caused 22cm of devastation to Dali’s right leg and meant he’d have to get it amputated. No leg, no Asian Games, no Olympics. It was more than just his tibia that the sniper’s bullet tore through.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VVE5H22AJNEZ3FTJZJ2DR6ZLBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465159},"content":"Six and a half years on, a small miracle will land next week. On Tuesday morning in Zurich, Dali will roll out for the time trial in the C2 category of the UCI World Paracycling Championship. Three days later, he’ll take his place in the field for the C2 road race. He won’t win but he will compete, in defiance of the odds, in defiance of everything. You don’t need to be on the podium to claim a victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZIASXT4HYVAKHLVWR3HW3ZBJR4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465160},"content":"“It will be the first time the Palestinian flag is flown on the international cycling stage,” says Karim Ali, co-founder alongside Dali of the Gaza Sunbirds Paracycling team. “It will be the first time any Palestinian has made it to a competition at this level. It’s an honour to be taking this step. It’s huge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FMSUO32C4BDNRMQGQUL6EKN4TM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465161},"content":"“Alaa only got out of Gaza in April. His family is still there, including his two young kids. He has travelled to eight countries through the summer and qualified for these championships even though he has had no permanent place to stay. In the space of five months, he has done something that takes some teams and countries years to achieve.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DPSLDF5VWJEU5PPMSCW5LA5WCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465162},"content":"That he has got here at all is down, at least in part, to Mark Rohan. The Westmeath man, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/news/motorbike-crash-survivor-mark-rohan-wins-gold-back-in-saddle-1.526329\" target=\"_blank\">a double gold medallist in handcycling at the 2012 Paralympics</a>, lives in Portugal now and coaches from his base in the Algarve. In Zurich next week, his stable comprises two Norwegian cyclists, one Icelander and one Portuguese, as well as Dali.","type":"text"},{"_id":"54NIZFWLPZGALNPSD3MTSS35QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465163},"content":"“It was very ordinary in how it came about,” says Rohan. “I read about the Gaza Sunbirds and basically sent them a message saying something along the lines of, ‘I don’t know how I can help but I’d like to.’ I’m coaching Alaa but it’s as much coaching his coach Hassan as anything.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GKWVNDRHPRFMBOHZTES4G3S5RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465164},"content":"“What they’ve done is amazing. They really had nothing. I mean, nothing. They were getting aid workers to smuggle bike parts into Gaza for them. People were taking bikes out of skips in Israel and trying to get them into Gaza so they could work on them and make them raceable. They didn’t even have cleats to fit into the pedals – they were wrapping some of the cyclists’ feet on to the pedals with duct tape. It’s been such a hard slog for them.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FSLAO3RYDNBTBCZEPNXVFOOMMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465165},"content":"It started with Dali getting shot that day. The Great March of Return was a nine-month-long protest by Gazans in 2018, where thousands turned up daily to demand the right to return to their ancestral lands from which they were displaced in 1948. Dali made a point of attending in his cycling gear – he was having major difficulties in securing the right to leave Gaza to compete in international competition. He has always assumed that made him a target for the IDF sniper.","type":"text"},{"_id":"62FYMW3S6VDR3NM6BPXTVQBILU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465166},"content":"The official UN report on the demonstrations found that the IDF deliberately shot at the legs of protesters and that 156 amputations took place as a result. Dali’s was one of them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PRBUASEJDZFD5DGFP42BIAQDYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465167},"content":"“I begged the doctor to try his best before amputating it because my dreams as an athlete are tied up with these legs,” <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/6/2/riding-despite-gaza-palestinian-cycling-champion-alaa-al-dali\" target=\"_blank\">he later told Al-Jazeera</a>. “I spent eight days in the operating theatre. Every day I had a surgery on my leg. I felt so much pain and bullet fragments infected it all. I needed to make a choice – either the amputation or losing my life. After thinking a lot, I gave my consent to cut the leg. It was a very hard decision to make.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SCMF7LSTKRHT5DYTW6LUD2OUMY","additional_properties":{"_id":"YRKS2XR5LJEKZKQXFCACPRKGOI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CQDEONF225AHTIH4WPS57ZQLJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465168},"content":"Undeterred, Dali took a few months and decided to become a paracyclist. More than that, he decided that since the Gaza Strip had one of the highest concentrations of amputees on the planet, there had to be a way to pull together a paracycling team. A short film telling his story was shot and made in Arabic. The job of translating it into English landed on the desk of a 19-year-old student in London, a Cypriot Palestinian called Karim Ali.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BYH5BHXGBJEX3P7MVQ2THXORHM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465169},"content":"“Translating is a pretty intimate experience,” Ali says. “You really have to listen to what the person is saying. What emotions are they feeling? What are the exact words or phrases that they use to describe their situation? I felt very close to Alla after translating his story. And as a result of that, I decided I wanted to help him. But I was super young and I didn’t know much about the world.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CM6FFM4VEFCU3NVHAMCKIKG22Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465170},"content":"That was how the Gaza Sunbirds were born. Over the next few years, with Ali in London and Dali in Gaza, they cobbled bits and pieces of gear together and got up and running. They were, from day one, a paracycling team rather than a cycling team. They were a place where amputees could come and learn to ride a bike. And, in time, to race a bike.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HPIDWLHHXZA37HGW4GEIRMEAOA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465171},"content":"“Our mission for year one was just to show that it is possible to train somebody under war circumstances,” says Ali. “It wasn’t to achieve any numbers. It was to see if it’s possible to get bikes, to train any number of these guys consistently for any period of time. That was it. That was the whole objective. There was nothing else. It was like an early proof of concept – as in, is it even possible to cycle in Gaza?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NJLRR6Q4NCDPG4WZQBC5HSBPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465172},"content":"“How difficult is it to ride a bike? Very difficult if you only have one leg.. Amputations in Gaza, they’re progressive conditions. People get one amputation, then another, then another, then another, then another. Then they get complications in their limbs because the prosthetics are never correct.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GABSRMUDLZHUJJ7RS7RIQ4TYB4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465173},"content":"“So even if you have a good leg, how good does that leg stay when your entire body weight is on it? And if you’re prone to an crash and you get seen in the hospital or you get partial medical treatment for it, how can you continue to cycle on it? Maybe you can live a regular life with a slight leg injury, but then can you go and do professional sports?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VOKPBYLCMBFYTJAGW3PF5IGDLM","additional_properties":{"_id":"IGKKK5UAFRBDVOJKTTWRQSP3OI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"HHYGKMK4C5HRVKSAZEXZERKGOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465174},"content":"Bit by bit, they built it up. This time last year, the Gaza Sunbirds had 22 athletes, ranging in age from 12 to 50. They were getting a better supply of bikes and trained five times a week, up and down the Gaza Strip. The best of them, Dali included, were aiming to compete at the Paralympics in Paris, at the time just 10 months away.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZMWK3JMVMRBBJD6DJR3RJBFBE4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465175},"content":"Then October 7th happened.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B43IZWAWBREP5FZAVR3NAUPYMM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465176},"content":"Every day since, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel-hamas-conflict/\" target=\"_blank\">the world has watched Gaza be turned to rubble</a>. The Israeli reaction to atrocities carried out by Hamas has made life on the strip intolerable. The death toll, as of this week, is 41,252 people, including 16,500 children. The UN says more than half of the homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. More than 90 per cent of the population have been displaced since this phase of the war began.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2PV3VIZLKZEXDG6JOTVDQCXEMY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465177},"content":"In a particularly grim irony, cycling became the best way to get around Gaza. With fuel supplies cut off and 65 per cent of the road bombed to pieces, the Sunbirds went from being the most immobile people in Gaza to among the most mobile. With life as a sports team immediately suspended, Ali and Dali came up with the idea of morphing into a delivery service.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3J26D5DYMFDUTJZJYHCPMCGDDU","subtype":"twitter","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"LBWTJQUQJBCHBEPUNPWTZVDAWA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465179},"content":"“Alaa said, ‘Why don’t I get some bread and cycle around bringing it to people?’” Ali says. “We made a video of it and put it out on the internet to see if we could raise money to help people. We set up a Just Giving page. The video was kind of weird but it worked. We’ve kept doing it ever since.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZGMWFQW6NNG7BFFANKSZ4E464E","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465180},"content":"All the while, Dali still wanted to try to get to the Paralympics. To do so, they would have to get him out of Gaza and into Europe where he could take part in some qualifying races. It took three months for him to make it across the border into Egypt, along with three other cyclists and two coaches.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WKTLMZAVVDK3HOAXYBA7DLBBM","additional_properties":{"_id":"FVC5RRU6YJDCFAXPCNGG55J4WI"},"content":"Bohemians v Palestine: ‘In Gaza, our fields and our stadiums have been demolished’","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"N4UKZNVNHFBLLFWQQWI7KMK4WQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465181},"content":"Everything since has been life on the hoof. They got to Ostend in Belgium to take part in a World Cup race in May. Dali finished last in his category but at least they were on the map now. That night, however, the news came through that the Israelis had begun their assault on Rafah and closed the border crossing they had squeezed out through only weeks earlier. There was, literally, no going back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NIRCCEK3KFENZNX3RWQ2O5QXYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465182},"content":"Four of the group of six decided to apply for asylum in Belgium, there and then. But Dali and his coach ploughed on, to see if they could get a wild card into the Paralympics. They raced in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, all to show their hunger for a spot in Paris. But when it came down to it, the IPC didn’t grant him a spot. It was always going to be a long shot and this one didn’t hit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7KJRZ4DQB5GF3IO7OZ4LAX4SCQ","subtype":"twitter","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"JO2TYFY4U5G2VGCGHFGMONGLDM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465184},"content":"But along the way, he qualified for Zurich. Having spent the past two months living in a church basement in Padova, Italy, they drove the six hours north on Wednesday. They don’t know what the future holds past next week. Maybe Dali keeps competing where he can, maybe he waits out the war and tries to get back to his family. Nobody really has a clue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XV5OC2LRMZANJAMTPUOLT43RQM","additional_properties":{"_id":"EYHOMGV5ANDNFPBKSIPPZWGGDA"},"content":"‘We don’t have a life’: Palestinian shepherds struggle to graze amid growing settlements","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"2S526KJFZVDHTHYSVT2XEFQS54","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465185},"content":"For now, all they know is that on Tuesday and Friday, he will take his place among the sleek machines of the world’s best paracyclists and start pedalling his one good leg.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YWNYW7QK7VAMLNYLQGBIW6ZL3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465186},"content":"Whatever the road in front of him holds, it can’t be harder than the one behind him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JYK26ZUUMJFFJJXJBF4USB3YVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465187},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"In Zurich on Tuesday, the Palestinian flag will fly on the global cycling stage for the first time as the founder of the Gaza Sunbirds takes his place among the best paracyclists in the world"},"display_date":"2024-09-21T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"After losing his leg to an Israeli sniper, Alaa al-Dali found his way out of Gaza and into the World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ADV47ZPAIBEU3FTZ3V3UIAB3EQ","auth":{"1":"40877ecb5e835768028e657cfd5368d8cbe374060496fa0e8bd5cf90de5b1033"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ADV47ZPAIBEU3FTZ3V3UIAB3EQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/21/after-losing-his-leg-to-an-israeli-sniper-alaa-al-dali-found-his-way-out-of-gaza-and-into-the-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IXU4FPHWQJB5PPMVXAJNPX6J6A","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":641,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/1e846b57-75f6-4861-bf45-a4c2f9cd4a34/versions/1726152954/media/eb7403de05b5951a65b05dd8c917676c_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/life-style/people/2024/09/13/what-next-for-katie-george-dunlevy-no-irish-athlete-can-touch-her-medal-numbers-yet-la-2028-not-certain/","content_elements":[{"_id":"SJQ3M4KZ2VF2VNEZZ7BLCV3CLQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125272},"content":"First it was medals, now legacy is creeping into the thinking of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy/\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a>. There is an abundance of the former, with the latter beginning to enter the conversation. Dunlevy will have a more serious discussion with herself following next week’s Para-cycle Road World Championships in Zurich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BLATVQ7WYVDUJOXJP6FEDBUEGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125274},"content":"But after the fireworks of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paris 2024</a> the most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete of all time is at a crossroads. As she tells it, the answer is in her aching bones, the wilfulness, the solitary training regime and the hunger that have always provided an edge to what she does.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BUZ3RRXFZJC3NHJJ3MTW3I7MZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125275},"content":"The coming year will be one of self-discovery. She must divine if there is another <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> available to her 42-year-old body in four years’ time in Los Angeles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WD2GQDPMS5FXFLFMS62QM2ETP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125276},"content":"Either way, Paris represented another triumph, with three more jewels encrusted on to her crown to bring her overall Paralympic medal haul to eight; four gold and four silver. In World Championship competition, Dunlevy has 15 medals – six gold, six silver and three bronze, from road and track. No other Irish athlete can touch those numbers, yet LA 2028 is no certainty.","type":"text"},{"_id":"53FTSSYHAFA2FO4TX73GREY7RM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125277},"content":"“It’s whether I have that drive still in me,” she says. “To get to the top is hard but to stay at the top is much harder and I have been [there] for 10 years, ranked number one in the world on the road.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VVOMP5YEKVGNZCUOJOE37CFD54","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125278},"content":"“It’s your whole life. Everything else is put to the side. You have to be very selfish. It’s you, training away on your own and you don’t have anyone around you. I wouldn’t have my coach with me. I wouldn’t have pilots with me. I’d be training months and months on my own, especially the year after the Paralympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"75KP6M4ASNASXKE56OO5HRWXDQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125279},"content":"“It’s whether I can train indoors for six months. That’s one of the things. I don’t want to do it halfheartedly. You have to give the extra bit because competition is fierce.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JYHM4ZKGOJE5RCZ3KRPHHLHDYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125280},"content":"Pilots are the eyes on the tandem racing bike on which Dunlevy competes. In Paris they were Linda Kelly and Eve McCrystal in her visually impaired B category. Her sight has been degrading since she was a child.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CQDTU5ENMVCBRH6PRWMKGHADVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125281},"content":"When she was not yet 12 years old, it was a routine visit to the optician that first revealed serious issues. English-born Dunlevy had worn glasses from the age of five. But that day was the first time she had heard the words retinitis pigmentosa. Further inquiry and a visit to a hospital in London confirmed the fears of her parents and the genetic disorder.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QPJM5WWNA2URPLX4LFYM2Z7VTA","additional_properties":{"_id":"VA7KS6PNQZDGHBJJUHQED2JJ5U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5XKNBPJX4BBSVMSEU43K55VTQA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125282},"content":"The cells in her retina were breaking down and over time her vision would deteriorate. Her family were told she could lose her sight by the age of 30, as many affected by the condition do, to the point of blindness.","type":"text"},{"_id":"77ALFJHZLJAYBJED7JYMZQUFEU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125283},"content":"On the Paralympic scale, hers is a B2 classification which is not as severe a visual impairment as B1 but more severe than B3. B2 is significantly and limited vision, either in how far or how wide one can see. The diagnosis changed the course of her life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3JHRKCSHBBDPJH54T6EA5NYRTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125284},"content":"“I didn’t understand because I was used to seeing what I could see and didn’t know what everyone else could see,” she says. “It’s the same now. I know I can’t see some things and I’ll walk into stuff and kind of go, ‘Yeah, I can’t see well.’ I don’t know what everyone else can see so it’s [about] adapting.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UH3ULYMQ3NA3DGBJX47GX6OXYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125285},"content":"“My family decided to send me to a special school in Kent for the visually impaired and blind. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want help. I didn’t understand what was going on. But the school was great. I was getting into activity and sport whereas the mainstream school I was in, I was left at the side of the PE class.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DQ6ZR45R3NAY7EUSMQ7NSYILQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125286},"content":"At the new school, Dorton House, she was drawn towards physical activity, had high energy for “doing things”. Previously, she sat out PE because she ran into other kids or didn’t see the ball thrown to her. As a low-self-esteem child, the new situation was a confidence-giver and Dunlevy was driven towards competition.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ARGTHKCXJKFX2ZWLV7CPKPKC7A","additional_properties":{"_id":"TNJ6AH3JZRC4XC34PAQDBROGJY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"WY3ZFUF4YFCZFFFPYTOZLS2QZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125287},"content":"First it was running and rowing, and at 17 Britain selected her for the Blind Sports European Championships, where she won bronze in 400m. At university in Southampton she became more serious about rowing and received a call from a British rowing coach to try out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DLIDQSYJUNE5FH2ENX35YA44E4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125288},"content":"“Visually impaired. A woman. Sporty. I was like, well, okay, maybe,” she says. “I went and did a test indoors and then Iearned to row at my second year in uni.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"I5XLDGD3Y5EOJFHEVL3ICOWWJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"7SY2P4PN6ZFXTIMAUNBLAIEM6U"},"content":"Raucous Dublin Airport homecoming reception for Team Ireland Paralympians ‘brilliant to see’","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"FK3SIXJNJBFX3JTZN6PONFVZ5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125289},"content":"Several years were spent trying to push into British boats, and she did in 2004 and 2005. Then eventually a rib injury kept her out of the 2006 World Championships. The boat she missed won and she couldn’t break in for the 2010 World Championships. For the rest of the journey serendipity was at the tiller.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2STL4ZLGMVFU7DZB2WQNHRJZAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125290},"content":"Ireland then was trying to get a rowing squad to qualify for London 2012 and Dunlevy’s dad John, being from Mountcharles in Co Donegal, provided an opportunity. In 2011 she did the trial and missed out. Again. Enough, she said to herself. She couldn’t take it any more.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OKMXUFEMZRHIDG2NV2GATGQMUU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125291},"content":"However, paracycling coach Brian Nugent threw a lifeline. With her core strength and cardio, he asked if she wanted to try out cycling. A couple of months later Dunlevy arrived in Ireland. She tried out and was selected for the World Championships at the end of the year. It was 2014 and she was on her way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FHABBL6BXNEPTENHUK65I5RX5I","additional_properties":{"_id":"ZT2AVZMXLRD3JLPYNNOK337BVY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OYIOL3KFO5DOVHRADCMFS56J5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125292},"content":"A slew of World Championship and Paralympic medals later, her world is a different place.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZ2VVW4LUVCKZCYYXNEISD6ZKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125293},"content":"“Every [Paralympic] cycle, the promotion and coverage, is so much better in the world [now] but also back in Ireland,” she says. “The number of athletes competing, and the number of women is increasing every Paralympic Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FG7HWABD3RASBPCLKV56WT5N5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062633},"content":"“Years ago, in Ireland you probably would not have been able to name a Paralympic athlete. But now you would. The communication is better. It is elite sport; we are just disabled. Visibility is important but there is definitely a long way to go. Not to put down any of the Olympians but they showcase them more.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CU7BLU6HQ5EOFLCD4RB43QGRLU","additional_properties":{"_id":"CQFSU6VK7BA7XN4V62NSNDWOAM"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"TJ7TR33TW5ESREGKQPPZY3SXIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062635},"content":"“I think you find at a lot of awards the Olympic medal would seem higher than a Paralympic medal, which shouldn’t be the case. So, a silver Olympic medal would be seen as something higher than a gold Paralympic medal. Right. You just go, eh, what do you need to do as a Paralympic athlete to been seen? So, there are barriers.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q7JU7EXTQBDNHCINSHZ26U7NQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125295},"content":"Dunlevy seems more acutely aware of the “legacy” element now as she faces into a brief stint of training leading towards Zurich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"75D7UB7RMRGITNAAPBTJHTJLDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125296},"content":"Her first World Championships in an Irish vest was a road race in Greenville, USA, in 2014. Since then she has won medals every year on the road and track, at Paralympic or World Championship level. That Zurich may be her last has sharpened her mind to other things.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2NQA3AVUDFBF5HZMUBTTU2S2FM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125297},"content":"It will, she says, come down to a feeling, a desire. Only she will know when her body and mind are telling her to stop, if the same levels of vitality and drive are there to allow her not to just step out and compete against the best in the world but to beat them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LBK3DB7ASW2OB6HMZ2NGJEUK5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"E73GONEHQFCNZCRG24AWYFXRLI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7XHRGPVTJJHQFCWV7ZHWZT4PC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062639},"content":"“I’m getting old now,” she says. “I’m 42 years old. I haven’t got the same energy and my recovery is very different to what it used to be. I’m managing injuries all the time, so you are putting energy into that as well as getting yourself into the best physical shape. I’d be in pain most days. It just takes its toll on the body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IGK4DTSH2ZG35KMNNOUN2U5F4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125299},"content":"“But one of the reasons to carry on is definitely to inspire visually impaired children and the LGBT community, just to give anyone hope to be themselves.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GWKNBCPZMNAWBJWFIW72TY4QE4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062642},"content":"Dunlevy says she wants “to give back”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OYRAB6SJ4REKZCVDAPAS7C3L2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062643},"content":"“I want to go to schools – and will do in a few weeks – to show my medals to the children and let them hold my medals because I didn’t have that as a kid,” she says. “If I can inspire anyone just not to give up, that’s my job done. It will have been worth it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NXVMIQCEVRE4RNTGDAELNBANKM","additional_properties":{"_id":"MOURAXTPUVAXZMSWEAVCZV2DUY"},"content":"Paralympics: Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win silver in women’s B road race","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"ABRQAYGY75CFRIF5QQOZYA4NU4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125300},"content":"By her own estimation, she “came out really late – at the age of 29″.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TGQQGO6S4FDZVHCWHSJ53RPPYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125301},"content":"“Coming out, I denied it. I was very confused. I didn’t know what it was,” she recalls. “The visibility wasn’t there as much as it is now. It wasn’t in schools or anything and there was no one around me like that. So, I thought that I have to be going out with boys and I have to marry a man, so I hid it even though my family are amazing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5XIKCNDOVDFHJVQRW5334XMOA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125302},"content":"“So, if I can help people out there to be themselves ... I know I’m very fortunate and know not everyone has that support in their lives and don’t have a supporting family. It can be very lonely.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ADZDR6TOTNER5AFSTRYZGGJRLM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125303},"content":"Exhausted and back in Crawley, the town in West Sussex where she lives, the competitive fires still burn. Paris barely over, Dunlevy is instinctively thinking of a recovery ride on the bike. Her return to Ireland for a homecoming with the recent gold and two silver medals, and a lack of sleep, are the sweeter pains of success.","type":"text"},{"_id":"573YXREICJEUZAPLHMYFFBC454","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125304},"content":"After a planned Late Late Show appearance on Friday night and the World Championships, there is also talk of a trip to southwest Donegal where she spent childhood holidays with her five sisters in Mountcharles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKLRQ2CBTRDEVD3QSKUOTLBEK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125305},"content":"Only then can she sit back after a life of competition and heaped gold medals and ask herself the question of what to do next.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Johnny Watterson"}},"name":"Johnny Watterson"}]},"description":{"basic":"The most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete of all time on what keeps her going, family support and coming out out ‘really late at the age of 29′"},"display_date":"2024-09-13T07:29:26.878Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympic cyclist Katie-George Dunlevy: ‘I want to inspire visually impaired children and the LGBT community to not give up’","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"YH4WXBZOUPBE4PPIF5AR7AINVI","auth":{"1":"6279c4b862462b8ce9d683f32534fd3b77e01750945c58489edcf3560050f835"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YH4WXBZOUPBE4PPIF5AR7AINVI.jpg"}},"subtype":"showcase","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"People"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Life & Style"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/life-style/people/2024/09/13/what-next-for-katie-george-dunlevy-no-irish-athlete-can-touch-her-medal-numbers-yet-la-2028-not-certain/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/life-style/people","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"People"}}}},{"_id":"RBUZ3SXLOFAN3ORBA54YLRG2BY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":191,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/de3f715c-318e-4713-9267-66716feb5b32/versions/1725824852/media/8e65c1d5a9fdbcbf65c986d5c8558311_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/08/primoz-roglic-reigns-in-spain-with-record-equalling-fourth-vuelta-title/","content_elements":[{"_id":"2JFYOKNJMNEVHAGNJMOD54ALAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597090},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/primoz-roglic/\" target=\"_blank\">Primož Roglič</a> finished off the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana/\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a España</a> strongly on Sunday, taking second in the final-day time trial in Madrid to seal his overall victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"K3Q5UXS7SFDSPDLEAPG2236EXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908762},"content":"The Slovenian rider finished 30 seconds behind the time trial specialist Stefan Küng in a fast, flat 24.6km race against the clock far better suited to the bigger Swiss rider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7PXSABIUBCBJGAGK3VQVAM7KE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908763},"content":"Roglič beat all of his general classification rivals to extend his overall advantage, ending the three-week race 2′36 clear of Australian rider Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and 3′13 in front of Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar Team).","type":"text"},{"_id":"CBVPPWERWJDK3CSZAG4AHNH4QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908764},"content":"Irishman <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a> defended his 11th place overall, ending the race 14′40 behind Roglič.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NC4ZOLGOBNBRPHZNGJWTDDQCWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908765},"content":"More importantly, he took two stage wins, triumphing with a brilliantly-timed final kilometre surge on stage 11 and then winning the hardest mountain stage solo on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P2XENOU4LVA4LNMMLRCBZBTCVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908766},"content":"The performances were the biggest of his career and show he has fully recovered from a run of injuries and moved to a new level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTG3W7NJPFGADKN5O6XG4RWRZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908767},"content":"“I’m feeling really good,” Dunbar said before Sunday’s final stage in Madrid. “I said jokingly yesterday morning it’s a shame it’s not a week longer. I’m really happy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QACDDKMI6FAPTOTRG4DFIG3WV4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908768},"content":"Dunbar told The Irish Times before the race that he was short on racing fitness due to injuries this year, but that he expected to ride into form.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HQZ2GIZAVVAQPA2Z56IJOQDR3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908769},"content":"“I haven’t done any World Tour racing really since the Tour de Romandie, so I’m definitely probably a bit underdone compared to last year’s Vuelta,” he stated then. “But that mightn’t be a bad thing come the third week.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JPBLHAHPELCGPDHRU2NHRPWJ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"NUXNNZNPUNFBBP36UEZAFIUCFQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5YD5OXABYZHYVLTQ4FE2D5KDSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908771},"content":"That’s precisely how things panned out and with the upcoming world road championships taking place over tough terrain in Switzerland, he should be in a strong position. He is likely to line out in the time trial on September 22nd and then to contest the road race seven days later.","type":"text"},{"_id":"23ETCAUSEVDXZF2NZTMHWZ3VNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908772},"content":"Dunbar’s Vuelta success has been a considerable boost to his confidence. The Corkman was stunned to take the first of his stage wins, but the assured manner of his victory on Saturday and his reaction afterwards shows how far he has progressed psychologically during the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SZD333DSJJF3PMTJ55XGGDKZPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908773},"content":"He took victories in two stage races in 2022 and was seventh overall in last year’s Giro d’Italia, but will emerge from the Vuelta knowing he has reached a new level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U43VR2LG7FC53PQQVGZJWIXRHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908774},"content":"That will spur him on in the world championships, and also during the 2025 season.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D3TJBJRX4NCAHPG2YLAUG7N3VY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908775},"content":"The same can be said for Darren Rafferty, who made his grand tour debut in the race. Still just 21 years of age, he was asked to perform team duties for EF Education-EasyPost squad and had very limited personal opportunities.","type":"text"},{"_id":"54GR3QML65GY5CAHTDXOKJRSMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908776},"content":"He showed his strength on many occasions and played a fundamental role in helping team leader Richard Carapaz to fourth place overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6IFT5JXSE5FYTFYW3X5PUKPPC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908777},"content":"While he didn’t get the chance to chase a stage win, Rafferty will emerge from the Vuelta much stronger than before and should reap the benefits in 2025 and beyond.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UYNWZFGCAVF7JFFNAKPLEYT3ZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908778},"content":"As for Roglič, he will hope his fifth career grand tour victory will be followed by a long-sought Tour de France success next summer.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7WIC7UCOSBGOXA43B4PH3K5WVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908779},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"2JFYOKNJMNEVHAGNJMOD54ALAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597090},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRQW2UK5CNCQ5MZGYXSLSHGP5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597091},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"R227OHZTH5FKXAAE76GKNWFV3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597092},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"MG73XNN6WFB6PHTUVNGSH6LKFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823418846},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z2LMRX5SLREMFBEJLKR5EAKAP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597093},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"N5ZKEEXEANBJJFOUV7Z3QWHFVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597094},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"YIJIFITMARA27JG5OQTJR5CAZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597095},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"CKS6IIW2ZVC3ZMCOIIUNOASGVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597096},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"V2CQ5VYHVNEWDPPHKAWPUQNHDY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597097},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"MD2YPMPPGFD7TB2QBQKI3ICD64","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908789},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"OX5IXI56VREI7JW36QTUP4ND6Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908790},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"VGQ5RSOYPFFJRJYDS5MW43KEQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908791},"content":"","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Corkman finishes 11th overall after claiming two stage wins, including victory in toughest mountain stage"},"display_date":"2024-09-08T18:35:06.378Z","headlines":{"basic":"Vuelta a España: Primoz Roglic reigns in Spain as Eddie Dunbar celebrates superb race campaign","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BAP4WHDNL5FE3CW2PFYFNSJ3TY","auth":{"1":"093d37b4b7761675ce87b8017b41c347487e87f8b2252be86e3726047cb8db36"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BAP4WHDNL5FE3CW2PFYFNSJ3TY.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/08/primoz-roglic-reigns-in-spain-with-record-equalling-fourth-vuelta-title/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"7SEHK5X3QVBSZBU4PGPZVN2UGU","additional_properties":{},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/09/08/mia-griffin-wins-ras-na-mban-to-become-first-irish-champion-in-11-years/","content_elements":[{"_id":"T5I7HLKVLVBAHPVGW5Y7AUAV3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575691},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/mia-griffin/\" target=\"_blank\">Mia Griffin</a> sealed a superb overall victory in <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">Rás na mBan</a> on Sunday, becoming the first Irish winner of the race in 11 years.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TF2NSFSAZVHGJCI52UFGS3NKOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575692},"content":"The Das Hutchinson Brother UK rider followed in the wheeltracks of Olivia Dillon with her success, further highlighting her talent after being part of Ireland’s team pursuit squad at the Paris Olympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTPXQU3T4RBUPJ25MC5EPYKWL4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575693},"content":"She finished six seconds clear of the Dutchwoman Noor Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy) and 11 ahead of defending champion Manon de Boer (NWVG-Uplus).","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3SAH2SVNRCODCNO47P56ZMN74","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575694},"content":"Fellow Irishwoman and team-mate Caoimhe O’Brien was fifth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNO6X7FSHJA45EYPLRNDDXDN6Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575695},"content":"“It feels kind of crazy,” said Griffin. “I came into this week not really knowing where the body was at. I didn’t really expect to be going for the GC (general classification), I expected to more focus on stage wins.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MVHLPHXALVAP7GWONL5NUVDMCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575696},"content":"Racing on home soil with the majority of the stages based in Kilkenny, Griffin got off to a flying start with victory on day one. She was second to O’Brien on stage two, won stage three and defended the overall lead from start to finish.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L76ISZ7J4ZANPIUORUOG3D4MFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"F7AAVPPSUFGFXEA26VROOKJKYU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"DY27CDQYONFY7JDASYLHOKE74M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575698},"content":"Sunday saw two stages: a morning 2.5km time trial around Kilkenny Castle, and an afternoon criterium in Kilkenny City.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GBB7OTCJSRAQPCKMRL44BFKKYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575699},"content":"Dekker was the winner of the former, beating De Boer by 1.36 seconds. Griffin used her track speed to fine effect, taking third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SLXFRKTT6FEGVHJEOAXL6XFNSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575700},"content":"Her team-mate Lucy Lee won the criterium, outsprinting Dekker to the line after they went clear with two laps remaining. Aoife O’Brien was best of the Irish riders in fourth place, while Griffin rolled in as part of the peloton 11 seconds back, making sure of her final overall victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NT52OGFNNZCORCR4ILR5YRXMZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575701},"content":"She thanked her team-mates, saying they were vital in controlling her rivals, including De Boer. “I was wary of Manon going, and she went really hard a few times,” she said. “The fact that we could keep that under control was incredible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JB4EUCGRKRA6NNNTNAMUX6ZXBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575702},"content":"In addition to her overall victory and two stage wins, Griffin also took the points classification. O’Brien was best young rider in the prestigious international event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5TVHO4IYFE7JMYZXDFXO5KKDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575703},"content":"Elsewhere, Irish riders had a superb showing in the Loudenvielle round of the UCI downhill World Cup in France. They were fifth and sixth respectively, just over three seconds behind the winner Benoit Coulanges (Dorval AM Commencal).","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Kilkenny cyclist finishes ahead of Noor Dekker and 2023 winner Manon de Boer"},"display_date":"2024-09-08T17:43:59.217Z","headlines":{"basic":"Mia Griffin wins Rás na mBan to become first Irish champion in 11 years","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"4TCJHO25RZB6TMDOLBR7CQNJOE","auth":{"1":"50e4ca7cdff8aa0772131611ba8c9693041a29fdc99c1a7873bcb02a12137702"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4TCJHO25RZB6TMDOLBR7CQNJOE.JPG"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/09/08/mia-griffin-wins-ras-na-mban-to-become-first-irish-champion-in-11-years/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"VTBDOGKMDNEHRI5J5J2TCD6VTY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":173,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/10af759c-d024-47e6-ae20-03616300f1fe/versions/1725731339/media/4f5d2d8afec104bd2697caaf18461273_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/irelands-eddie-dunbar-claims-best-win-of-professional-career-at-vuelta-a-espana/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JFIVIEGQ7VAZ5LDNF5FUVGBZ5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725724021706},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a> clocked up the best win of his professional career Saturday, taking what was his second stage victory in this year’s <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a España</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MNIRW6HQXRH2ZHY7BTZ2WTII2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362149},"content":"The 28-year-old Cork rider had previously triumphed on stage 11 of the race but his success on the penultimate day was in more impressive circumstances, beating some of the world’s best riders on the final summit finish of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QRASWR46G5CA3FC63F55P4YSIM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362150},"content":"Dunbar attacked five kilometres from the summit of the category one Picón Blanco, gradually drawing clear of the group of general classification contenders. He then caught and dropped lone leader Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) with 3.5 kilometres remaining.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTLJ7TTMWVBTJIY4KQTU6UJ474","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362151},"content":"While proven Grand Tour riders such as Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) and David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) put in big accelerations behind, Dunbar hovered several seconds ahead of them and was able to fend off all efforts to bring him back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PQ5FJISZRBC2PNCA6JWQ72JE7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362152},"content":"“I always knew it was going to be a really difficult stage but with the way the last three weeks have been ridden I just thought that a lot of guys would be tired today,” Dunbar said. “Especially GC [general classification] guys who have gone to the limit every day.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2VCNZTXVDZAPRPEE6FERNDQJGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362153},"content":"“I’m a bit behind on GC, I knew that if I stayed with them and did everything right in the last week, I’d have a chance to maybe get the stage win today. I was never going to be let go in the breakaway, but I always believed I could win today.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XP3SFC5KRBFYNPZK4LBLGCG2LE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362154},"content":"He reached the line seven seconds ahead of Mas, and 10 in front of race leader Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Given the difficulty of the climb and the standard of his rivals, it is his best win to date.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QWPUKPOWWVDAJLKBUSXW74TOSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362155},"content":"“I knew if I just kept pacing myself and kept riding at threshold, if someone was going to come across it was going to take a big effort,” he said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTUOKQN3JBEUXPAN3W75VDVVRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362156},"content":"“So I paced myself really well. It wasn’t until about 200 metres to go that I thought I could probably hold them off, when I looked back and saw a bit of daylight there.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ML7NTARS5NGFNK3RM6IBPQLUXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362157},"content":"Roglic’s team was hit by what Spanish media reported as a case of salmonella, with a staff member hospitalised as a result.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OVT625PZTBAU5MHX3D53XLCCTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362158},"content":"The Slovenian appeared a little off his usual level but holds a 2:02 advantage over former race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) heading into Sunday’s final stage time-trial in Madrid.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2PW2HOAGZBAZRP6YXTNMYUL754","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362159},"content":"Mas is third, 2:11 back, meaning former Olympic champion Roglic has a substantial buffer and looks set for a record-equalling fourth Vuelta title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QZWQ6AC3Y5HH5K2JASI2KOIN3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362160},"content":"Dunbar is up two places to 11th overall and has a big morale boost in advance of the upcoming road world championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"28-year-old from Cork pulled away on the gruelling climb to the finish line to win his second stage of the race"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T16:04:58.54Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar claims best win of professional career at Vuelta a Espana","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"RW4LFN6S2UJ62MJQKPZTFEZC3Q","auth":{"1":"eccc85c03dbc00c1d16d479eb7938dcbe773c531e191f7a8813c1823eb134c16"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/RW4LFN6S2UJ62MJQKPZTFEZC3Q.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/irelands-eddie-dunbar-claims-best-win-of-professional-career-at-vuelta-a-espana/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"EJ52CY5SGVCPNORANF6723HCIM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":245,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/34fc2b77-9cfd-4266-9a87-f8374bd52a57/versions/1725645702/media/8afcf6ad40b9a52a1fdcbf3f41d39707_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/more-than-the-games-alice-tai-measures-up-again-as-she-reaps-medal-haul/","content_elements":[{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Four-medals and counting for Tai</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"IWEX3HSX5JAZZMNZKLVOQUPHDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243280},"content":"Alice Tai is having a Paralympics to remember, the British swimmer having won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze – and she still has another event to go, Saturday’s 100m butterfly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UWKA2PNEUBGTFPTOCMQHYFHTMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243281},"content":"If you’d told her in 2022 that she’d experience this level of success, she’d most likely have laughed. It was then that she had her right leg amputated from below the knee because the clubfoot with which she was born was causing her so much pain.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6W7ASW5HYVB6LENWGG4GAF4KIY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243282},"content":"That, then, meant that the 25-year-old effectively had to relearn how to swim – and in the earliest stages of her return to the pool, she had her doubts that she’d ever get back to the kind of form that won her a bronze in Rio and multiple world titles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6ZOB7B77AFAK5CA7GAG7XE7EJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243283},"content":"“I called my coach and I was like, ‘I am going to have to retire, I am not getting back down to my times, I am 20 seconds off in the 100m, I’m swimming really slowly.’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7SBASKIEKFHZNC5QVVQS7DRPYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243284},"content":"But?","type":"text"},{"_id":"NRD7S32N35FYRGPNY5OOGZAVNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308684},"content":"“It turns out I was swimming in a 33m pool, not a 25m pool and I hadn’t realised. I was doing 30 per cent more distance than I was meant to.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QD4672SCEVGAJI4D2D3UXGBIQU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308685},"content":"It’s as well she didn’t retire.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Metelka tips his hat to unlucky Atkinson</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CWMR55XFGNBDXB4XE7JVD37JDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243286},"content":"We’ve seen plenty of athletes suffer misfortune in Paris, but near the top of ‘the unluckiest’ list must surely come British cyclist Archie Atkinson who crashed with just two laps to go in the 4000m individual pursuit when he was leading Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka by six seconds. Atkinson had to settle for silver in the end.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FNC3EKNP2JHLZAOIHBAS3GYRUM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243287},"content":"All of which prompted perhaps the most honest post-gold-medal-winning interview with any Paralympian at these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XE33RDU3D5ENTDM2PJZMHOVKZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243288},"content":"“I won with massive luck, come on,” said Metelka. “The luck is like from here to the Eiffel Tower and back. Clearly, he’s a better rider, he’s stronger, I was six seconds down – you don’t recover from there. I won because Archie fell. I was incredibly lucky. I mean, when was the last time something like this happened? When T-Rex was around?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VNPXUU4SAJLFS6P5PHBLTQMSOI","additional_properties":{"_id":"CYXS4ATUVBAHPAZ245UQ5RGHTE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Cyprus pays homage to Karolina</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"TV27IAFLM5EHHEVFF45RKO77QY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243290},"content":"How excited was the Cyprus’s Paralympic Committee about Karolina Pelendritou winning a bronze medal, at her sixth Paralympics, in the SB11 100 metres breaststroke on Thursday night? Very.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R63CX56QARFK7AQTDBIBQGP7QM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243291},"content":"Their statement: “Cyprus, do you understand what a compatriot of ours has done? Cyprus, have you understood that from the loudspeakers of a packed stadium here at La Defense Arena, there was a special mention of her name? Cyprus, have you realised that Karolina Pelendritou has won two more medals? There is a whole rest of the planet which has bowed down to the talent, to the single-mindedness, to the strength, to the will of Karolina Pelendritou!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"HLD3FUG6HFCX7KM3GURVLBBTWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308694},"content":"Sweet, Karolina.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Word of mouth</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"“Cyclists, we’re a weird bunch – the worse it is, the more we want of it.” –<b> After he and Mitchell McLaughlin finished eighth in Friday’s gruelling Road Race, Damien Vereker (44) insisted he’d be back for more in LA. A weird bunch, all right.</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"M477JO57TIA7JIELP5GUKPFRDM","additional_properties":{"_id":"XKYSU4JLPFDULFANQ7EGLYTKHA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>In numbers</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"P2WBI5BCHFHUJGLYY4IJASPRKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639779518},"content":"<b>8 –</b> Four gold, four silver, that’s how many Paralympic medals Katie-George Dunlevy now has. Some career.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Persistence pays for Britain’s Bywater</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"45G6QIHLBZF2NJ4UMXSLS43TFY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243293},"content":"Having been on the losing side in Paralympic semi-finals in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2020, Terry Bywater was a touch on the elated side when Britain beat Germany to reach the final of the wheelchair basketball event against the United States tomorrow.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZQSIA6LO6FFBJHBOFY54WM7F3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243294},"content":"Reflecting on that losing streak before the Games, Bywater made mention of another sportsman who has struggled to collect silverware during his career.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IXZCNK2GI5DN3MT2NQIZLB4SAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308703},"content":"“I don’t want to be the Harry Kane of wheelchair basketball,” he said. Poor Harry.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Mary Hannigan"}},"name":"Mary Hannigan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympics: British swimmer Alice Tai had her leg amputated below the knee in 2022 but has come back as strong as ever"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Alice Tai measures up again as she reaps medal haul","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"OSIOYAD7JDMEXM4GYNXQ5HJWOU","auth":{"1":"102d1635c24ef5f395542d68fe08af3d8bdfc495105d346870e8f8bd344d0b09"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/OSIOYAD7JDMEXM4GYNXQ5HJWOU.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"analysis","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/more-than-the-games-alice-tai-measures-up-again-as-she-reaps-medal-haul/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IQY2HYZAW5F2TB6D6BOJLPPQVU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":480,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/07d6a72b-23c5-401a-af0f-acf7673a0ff4/versions/1725647805/media/608648b6be7d9667040056de2ab12dbb_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/paralympics-female-athletes-light-a-flame-of-hope-firing-the-art-of-the-possible/","content_elements":[{"_id":"36QS32DDNRBOPKOVQKF24MORZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365710},"content":"It seems fitting that Team Ireland’s last three athletes in action at the 2024 <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> today are Richael Timothy, Mary Fitzgerald and Britney Arendse.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZWUNZ6K7BEHXF6GMVIKAEAZH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365711},"content":"For these have been a Games where Ireland’s female Paralympians led the charge in terms of medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GYFKZG4IVZEAZDJBN4K6OXDZ3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365712},"content":"All six of Ireland’s podium finishes in Paris so far were achieved by women, all of whom have a vision impairment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZHOMFPCEFHHDDODTZXCPVEI2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365713},"content":"It is certainly no precedent for there to be more Irish female medal winners than male – it was also the case in Rio 2016 and Tokyo last time out – but this will be the first time since the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 that no Irish men medalled.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WXKFYL3KZVG27JAM2A2MO6CJME","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365714},"content":"Measured in the currency of gold, silver and bronze, these were the Games of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy/\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> (one gold, two silver), <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/roisin-ni-riain/\" target=\"_blank\">Róisin Ní Riain</a> (one silver, one bronze) and <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/orla-comerford/\" target=\"_blank\">Orla Comerford</a> (one bronze).","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPICMQYUHNHIPDKOGNTDDCV5FY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365715},"content":"But they were also the Games of Dearbhaile Brady (17), Shauna Bocquet (20) and Deaten Registe (20) too – three Paralympic newcomers who qualified for finals in their maiden Paralympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y722KJAZP5A65BEJ5O5B2KBWGY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365716},"content":"And they were also the Games where Ellen Keane, Eve McCrystal and Ronan Grimes bid farewell. As some folk arrive, there are always others preparing to leave.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FFLUZWBRWURLQ4N4VFJGRFTGFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"KTRV4U62WJE4PEFZJQMIRV3B64"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"R4IVRV7C3RDLRA5FS66AZOJJSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365717},"content":"They were the Games of fourth-place finishes for Ireland – Keane, Greta Streimikyte, McCrystal and Josephine Healion, Ní Riain twice.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O2DBJK3PCFFZHJQRBAF35QYXIQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365718},"content":"They were the Games where Irish twins Chloe and Judith MacCombe competed in the same event, and at the end of a gruelling triathlon, just two places and a gap of only 45 seconds separated the sisters.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2BJ6S65OBZAD5KXYTQJ36UVLO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365719},"content":"But of course it’s not what these Paralympic Games <i>were</i> that ultimately matters, rather, it is the flame of hope for the future they ignited within homes right across the world for people with an impairment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TPRJBHD3JBHMFDHGYP4UMSIWMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365720},"content":"The performances, more than the victories and losses, of more than 4,400 elite Para athletes over the last fortnight highlighted not what is impossible, but what is possible.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6AB4SCWLGVDDNBNGOQ3VMB32XY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365721},"content":"On Wednesday afternoon, while talking with members of the Irish media just moments after winning gold, Dunlevy took a brief pause mid-answer.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GIKC74HJBRDP3FL6W2OBUVCNPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365722},"content":"“I’ve got a message,” she said. “I said to the gang in Paralympics Ireland, all of the medallists from Ireland are women, and we’re all visually impaired women.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7MMPNOVP45DNTGAYIHHVHMLGT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365724},"content":"“For any young children at home with a vision impairment, if they’ve seen any of our races, hopefully we can inspire them to believe in themselves and to dream big. Hopefully we’re inspiring the next generation in whatever they do, sport or anything else.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LYRCQLG2X5F2XAB74VMXS6T3HU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365725},"content":"Paris was Dunlevy’s fourth Paralympic Games, and few understand the impact Para athletes can have on kids more than the 42-year-old cyclist. She has lived it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7NVDXN7EQ5DF3LSBKZ7UYTKLVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365726},"content":"“Even my younger self, I didn’t have anybody to look up to, any idols, so if it just inspires any child with vision impairment to just believe in themselves, then that’s my job done,” she added on Friday after claiming silver in the road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BBA4WPJIH5CEHA2624PGAFIPME","additional_properties":{"_id":"3RCUEN3PSJH5JJWDCESR7P3OSY"},"content":"Sign of buoyant times as athletics clubs in Dublin struggle to meet demand","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"G4W6ECUPRRBVLBB3QEWEQFCATU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365727},"content":"It is fair to say it has been a good summer for Paris – both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been a success. The strategy of repurposing venues and incorporating iconic landmarks as part of the show was an unqualified triumph. No white-elephant stadiums were hurt in the making of these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KSWLDN33NJE5PN6LF2EPDMM35I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365728},"content":"The La Défense Arena, which is normally home to the Racing 92 rugby team, was reimagined as a swimming venue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SG3JPNPQ2VGE5K2NWU2DQCH4HA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365729},"content":"The Paralympic opening ceremony took place at the Place de la Concorde. Athletes emerged from the Champs-Élysées and paraded through the largest square in Paris, which had been transformed into an open-air amphitheatre.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LZXN55NQEJGDHCLGPS6JYMN6JU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365730},"content":"The Grand Palais hosted wheelchair fencing and taekwondo, Château de Versailles was home to equestrian, wheelchair tennis took place in Roland-Garros, the Para triathlon started and finished on the stunning Pont Alexandre III.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TNDTEWWEMBBX7B3C3UFHPQNJRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365731},"content":"The Games truly took place in the heart of the city.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3LIGX2DC45AZHCZ73CQVHLD4MQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365732},"content":"A temporary, 12,860-capacity stadium was installed at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Boasting one of the most stunning backdrops of a venue anywhere on the planet, it hosted beach volleyball during the Olympics and blind football during the Paralympics. If Instagram did stadiums!","type":"text"},{"_id":"W7Z2ADF7QZH53HLQBLQT3R37DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365733},"content":"The organisers put on quite the show, but the 45,000 volunteers were the day-to-day stars. They were hailed as the “hidden heroes”. Heroes, no question, but hidden they certainly were not. It was impossible to move around the city without spotting the volunteers in their bright uniform of bottle green, lime and blush pink.","type":"text"},{"_id":"A7EBIY2SQNFDFIGW447HZYFVTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365734},"content":"They were omnipresent, helpful, cheerful, positive, joyful. It was inconceivable to be grouchy in their airspace. If the organisers created the physical structures, then the volunteers created the mood of the city – they gave these Games real energy, real soul.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LDWFS36OM5ECXGSMHIRSNY3D5Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365735},"content":"Unless there is further success today, Team Ireland will return to Dublin on Monday with six medals. It would be the lowest medal haul since Beijing in 2008 (five), but just one shy of the seven garnered in Tokyo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5E5SAKTI4YUFHLMMXQ2OO2YERE","additional_properties":{"_id":"VOGLAL4EEVAHDIGIPQT4DGPQRY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"L4NNUSELTFAYVF57MO7RHLP3KU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365736},"content":"Prior to Paris, the chief executive of Paralympics Ireland, Stephen McNamara, expressed a hope for between eight to 10 medals. By that metric, Ireland came in below expectations.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T63TLQHX6FGA7PEKPPI4627CTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365737},"content":"But there were significant positives to take from these Games – not least the career-defining form of Ní Riain and Comerford.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RKUFHXSA6BEMLGNLWROLYLBP6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365738},"content":"Ní Riain, at the age of just 19, swam in four events, qualified for four finals and won two medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JJMJSDOHMRB3JJH5BMWRGT3JIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365739},"content":"At the age of 26, and having appeared at two previous Paralympics, Comerford truly arrived in Paris as a world-class athlete.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VBUNAIX5BZASPAKGCGRQ2BIYA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365740},"content":"There are similarities between Ní Riain and Comerford, most strikingly their unflinching determination and belief they can and will be better, stronger, faster. That ambition fuels them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MDKBNH6EHFC7LIR3BU4AHV7JEE","additional_properties":{"_id":"M4SHC4TMQFCGBPQBFPEKM452EM"},"content":"‘There is lots more in the tank’: Orla Comerford happy with Paralympics bronze, for now","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"6PDRPH257VBM7GCUBJQFGSV4HY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365741},"content":"The LA cycle begins in earnest now, the wheel keeps turning. There are people who watched these Paris Games unfold and have been inspired to research what Para sports options might be available to them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2UMM2H3X6JEXPGPN2URN5K5FLY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365742},"content":"How do you measure success? How do you measure achievement? What do you remember from these Paralympic Games?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3Q5LYBUTXBAPXAW2SGY4CDZBJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365743},"content":"Right now, sitting in a hotel room on the edge of the city centre, certain images spring to mind – Lu Dong and Guo Jincheng, neither of whom have arms, cutting through the water in the swimming pool like torpedoes; several triathletes getting lifted out of the Seine after a 750-metre swim and carried to their prosthetics, which they immediately fit before hopping on a bike for a 20km cycle and a 5km run; blind football under the Eiffel Tower as France played Colombia – the fans in the stand all singing “Allez les Bleus” but falling silent at kick-off as the players use the sound of a bell in the ball to figure out where it is, the ability of those players to dribble, shoot, their acceptance that getting mowed down is just part of the gig, and always having a willingness to immediately spring back up and go again. Football, reimagined.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJYWOEMG7NGPTBSPH5PCLF7C7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365744},"content":"Perhaps it was best summed up by Orla Comerford’s mam, Siobhan. Speaking outside the Stade de France after watching her daughter win bronze, she said of the Paralympics:","type":"text"},{"_id":"KVRKLDIVOBEATP63CDOEELVK6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365745},"content":"“This is a wonderful showcase of ability, not disability.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BNQTTMZJARHATJRAZZU6BZHTNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365746},"content":"The 2024 Paralympic Games end tomorrow.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5QJHSR353FHZTGBXUDXFQPSP5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365747},"content":"But their legacy will outlast us all.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NETARYDM7ZHDTHR4HB2IOXIV5Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365748},"content":"","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Gordon Manning"}},"name":"Gordon Manning"}]},"description":{"basic":"All six of Ireland’s podium finishes in Paris so far have been achieved by women - all of whom have a vision impairment"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Female athletes light a flame of hope, firing up the art of the possible","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"3LUKH2NOGBGNK2KPZ6UAYSDH34","auth":{"1":"63c9debc3f24e6649ff9396df6d052e1da0153405b527aeae40ec07cf46f627a"},"focal_point":{"x":2306,"y":2919},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3LUKH2NOGBGNK2KPZ6UAYSDH34.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/paralympics-female-athletes-light-a-flame-of-hope-firing-the-art-of-the-possible/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZPRF76PSPFHGFO4FRGYPKS47KI","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":348,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/8dfe3027-ff96-48f5-8e6f-c4bb62ae2300/versions/1725652028/media/af1c73af3aed05866d7c3aa18a59a4c2_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/06/mia-griffin-wins-again-at-ras-na-mban-extending-overall-lead/","content_elements":[{"_id":"3YPJW45LGRDDZBA52PBIU3BJKE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Mia Griffin boosted her overall lead in style on Friday, winning stage three of Rás na mBan into Gorey.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OMHJ6TKDFNDIBJM7L5T6LRUUPE","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Kilkenny native clocked up her second stage win in three days, outsprinting Heidi Franz (Monarch Racing), Noor Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), plus her fellow Irish riders Aoife O’Brien (Ireland) and Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) in the bunch gallop to the line.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ED735KHLBD4HI43METY2JDMLY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Griffin also took the intermediate sprint in Kiltealy, gaining an additional time bonus.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QBWYW2MSLVB6RPUGQ36AHADWUU","additional_properties":{},"content":"That pushes her overall lead to 12 seconds ahead of compatriot and her Das Hutchinson Brother UK teammate Caoimhe O’Brien. British rider Robyn Clay, also with the squad, is third, 23 seconds adrift.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XDBIWOKRLBFGRFYTNKKFCQZXXI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We were all in for the sprint to keep me and Caoimhe as far up on the GC [general classification] as we can,” she said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ADL5FVOYJDCFMQXC2A35C3GVI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“And then the intermediate sprint, I got that. I was happy to do that and to give myself a bit more of a buffer.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XU2LOBQM5NGJZB4RRNT6PZFXVY","additional_properties":{},"content":"The 104.4-kilometre stage began in Kilkenny and took in two categorized climbs. Sliabh Buí, the first of these, blew the peloton apart and whittled the lead group right down to the strongest competitors. Defending champion Manon de Boer (NWVG-Uplus) beat Griffin’s teammate Lucy Lee to the summit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SGIX6BJG5RAQRGZDUZQUVGUAGE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Another Das Hutchinson Brother UK rider went clear after this point, with Frankie Hall and Jazmine Lavergne (Primeau Vélo Groupe Abadie) opening a lead of a minute and remaining clear over the day’s second climb, where Hall was first to the summit. They were caught with five kilometres remaining, with Griffin blasting home to win and to bolster her advantage in the overall standings plus the points competition.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2FYXUQ2I6RFZZDOYIG3NACNC44","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I nearly crashed after the intermediate sprint but I kept it upright. I got to the finish and Lucy [Lee] and Robyn [Clay] did a really good job with the leadout.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FHRH5SFFWBA4PMJYBA2S6BVI6E","additional_properties":{},"content":"The prestigious international race continues Saturday with a 101km stage from Kilkenny to the top of The Rower, concluding with two ascents of that climb.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CYW7VKFSKVFCRILJZ65L57HF3M","additional_properties":{},"content":"<b>Rás na mBan</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q767GDFUUBBYRG7WPAQO24M2HU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Stage 3, Kilkenny to Gorey: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 104.4km in 2 hours 50′36, 2 H Franz (Monarch Racing), 3 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), 4 A O’Brien (Ireland), 5 M Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei), 6 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK), 7 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active), 8 R Clay (Das Hutchinson Brother UK).","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEWZVS2QUFGTNHEDDQ5V6SDLD4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Intermediate sprint at Kiltealy: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK), 2 A O’Brien (Ireland), 3 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK).","type":"text"},{"_id":"LABKFULDOZAPZEJWEVGFSMX2CU","additional_properties":{},"content":"<b>Mountain primes:</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"I27TGH3PARA45CN3PGXZPNXLY4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Category 2 climb at Sliabh Buí (km 70.8): 1 Manon de Boer 9 pts, 2 L Lee 7, 3 H Franz 5, 4 K Hill 3","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFMWLNZPGRBCJFY6A5XYXSXBE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Category 3 climb at Ballymore (km 91): 1 Frankie Hall 5, 2 J Lavergne 3","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZVQQS7QSZJBRNHCUX5GJTDDITM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Paddy Doran best Irish team: 1 Cycling Ulster 8 hours 58′34, 2 UCI Cycling Club 8′40","type":"text"},{"_id":"PFQQX5XZ4RBTNHEXXJVNVIXOOY","additional_properties":{},"content":"General classification after three stages: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′18″, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 12″, 3 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 23″, 4 H Franz (Monarch Racing), 5 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) 25″, 6 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), 7 A O’Brien (Ireland) at 26″, 8 M De Boer (NWVG-Uplus)","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y4KXLCVPZRGQ7F6HCGYCNHEVMQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Points classification: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 29 pts, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 23, 3 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 18, 4 A O’Brien (Ireland), 5 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy)","type":"text"},{"_id":"UZHYN2YP65HINI7BZP6QQYS3OU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Mountains classification: 1 Lucy Lee (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 24pts, 2 M de Boer (NWVG-Uplus) 22, 3 H Franz (Monarch Racing) 11, 4 K Hill (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) 11, 5 F Hall (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 5","type":"text"},{"_id":"BPPYKTMXBNGK7BBHNDXT7J6ZZQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Young rider: 1 Caoimhe O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′30″, 2 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 11″, 3 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) 13″, 4 A O’Brien (Ireland) 14″, 5 A Thomas (Primeau Vélo Groupe Abadie) 17″","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKY6U6R6IRCGJL2Y443GH5QNI4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Best Irish rider:","type":"text"},{"_id":"ARYWZSWVQRHR5OKRNIX4N5RR24","additional_properties":{},"content":"1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′18″, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 12″, 3 M Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) 29″, 4 E McDermott (UCD Cycling Club) 1′58, 5 G Fox (Greenmount Cycling Academy) same","type":"text"},{"_id":"U4ADIQIGC5H7RJFNBW7O6WNZRI","additional_properties":{},"content":"Team general classification: 1 Das Hutchinson Brother UK 22 hours 8′21, 2 Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei, 3 Ireland at 1′29, 4 CCB p/b Levine Law Group same, 5 Monarch Racing at 3′34″","type":"text"},{"_id":"7X7XLIQ2XVBKJPV4OI6LKWI3RE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Paddy Doran best Irish team: 1 Cycling Ulster 23 hours 11′04, 2 UCD Cycling Club at 8′03","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Kilkenny native clocked up her second stage win in three days"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T19:41:57.883Z","headlines":{"basic":"Mia Griffin wins again at Rás na mBan, extending overall lead 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mountains of northern Spain secured Slovenian Primoz Roglic victory in stage 19 of the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana/\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a Espana</a>, as well as the leader’s red jersey, on Friday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CDQ66IV2FJGMTDXQKOPIVWA63U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205918},"content":"The 34-year-old had lost the red jersey to Australian Ben O'Connor after stage six but has since chipped away at the lead before reclaiming it with an impressive performance in the mountains of the La Rioja province.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UVTUXSRCNJHXBGVLGDPIAWPDSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205919},"content":"“I had some really nice memories from this climb and I didn’t miss this opportunity, I’m happy,” Roglic said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FWVR7WNZJB5TJLLXBSU6245XM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205920},"content":"While a leading group maintained a narrow lead over the peloton for most of the race, none attempted a breakaway before the 11km climb leading up to the finish line at Alto de Moncalvillo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VW4GAJLVIRA3NALCUQEY7NZV3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205921},"content":"Roglic saw an opportunity halfway through the demanding ascent and seized it, never looking back. He crossed the finish line alone, 46 seconds ahead of Frenchman David Gaudu, who took second place. Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose finished third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YGVSMXRX2ZC2FFYYUNTTS23S7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205922},"content":"O'Connor, knowing his lead was in danger, tried to keep up but finished 12th. Roglic now has a one minute and 54 second overall lead over O'Connor.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QKFOJ5YGIJGJRFLSQCJXBOZDZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205923},"content":"“I was a bit broken at the end. I actually felt pretty good until halfway,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2DR7TSBINJGSHNPRSAC4QF6TC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205924},"content":"“I wasn’t really surprised, but I didn’t expect myself to be so bad at the end. I was a bit average to be honest. But that’s just the reality.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VE24HJRYZRDQVFSZLSAEIEEZJY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar was 61 seconds behind Roglic, but it was another impressive finish at this year’s Vuelta that saw him take a stage victory. The Cork cyclist in now 13th in the overall ranking.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BNY3C2XMVJCW5NFVMRKOPLHFKM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“The guys did a really good job all day, keeping me out of the wind. 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When not involved in sport, his day job is designing prosthetics for disabled children in Bosnia.","type":"text"},{"_id":"56XM7MSBUFGAZC25H7NUH35M4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471041},"content":"Goncin, who was born in the Balkan state, played a key role in Canada’s 79-67 victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. But despite relishing the stage and the atmosphere, basketball is not the biggest thing in his life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNOSDHREEBDRDIEM7BOC4XH43Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471042},"content":"Goncin fled Bosnia with his parents in 1994 to escape the Balkan war. However, at the age of 15 he broke his leg because of cancer. The leg had to be amputated and that’s when his other life began.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4SUFX3V3CFG4NBS7HGUKVZWEIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471043},"content":"Goncin discovered wheelchair basketball after the accident. He had to adapt and find a new direction in life. He also dedicated himself to his studies, earning a degree in biomechanics and then a master’s degree in exercise physiology.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SOLIP6MDDJFE3ON2NQ3JWFAZYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471044},"content":"He explained that his experience as a teenager helped guide him to his current line of work.","type":"text"},{"_id":"73QMTSCV5ZDM3LEPG24QDSBZUE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725553683697},"content":"“My prosthetist, when I first lost my leg, had a big influence on me. 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The workshop services are provided free of charge by the century-old German company, Ottobock, which has been associated with the Paralympic Games since 1988.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTXGNNDYXRAHTDKFMB246YHMIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471048},"content":"Peter Franzel, head of the repair centre explained: “We repair equipment of all brands, from walking prostheses for everyday use to wheelchairs for racing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OW6NNJ544FDG5B2BTXTSYYN7JQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725553683703},"content":"He and his team expect to carry out more than 2,000 repairs during this edition of the Paralympic Games. Three hundred repairs alone were carried out in the first three days.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KJIJDGLIARBTDOTHL6ANIA27PQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471049},"content":"In total, 160 Ottobock employees from around 40 countries are on hand to handle repairs in the Paralympic Village and at the competition venues.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HC3CCG3PUPY2EVASAQI2Q5RHTE","additional_properties":{"_id":"ATD36EUX5BGTJBSHZ252GOA55A"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BGS4RVKBOBAL5BVTV7YZIPRI5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471045},"content":"Unhappy Story as women’s race distance halved","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZVTQWXBE3FB3JEWCMOFFSPAWIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471054},"content":"Britain’s Sarah Story has hit out at Paralympic organisers after winning the women’s C5 time-trial, the 18th Games gold medal of her career. She was annoyed that the women’s race was shortened to 14.1 kilometres, half the distance of the men’s equivalent (28.3 kilometres).","type":"text"},{"_id":"KNSTZFMDNNFSLN2UMSRB4TB52E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471056},"content":"She said: “You have to ask the organisers, but there’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. And having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it in para-cycling after what we had in Glasgow last year is a real disappointment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CYQF4XIWZBFVPNEGQZZ4NIOA2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471057},"content":"“I’ve had to put that disappointment aside and just concentrate on what I can control because I couldn’t control the race distance. 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After finishing first in the para-triathlon on Monday, Parker was facing a lofty task to match a feat last achieved by Eric Russell, who won a gold (shot put) and two bronzes (discus and pentathlon) in 1980.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FAE7TZDLDFAFDIO2SRVFAJOSZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471061},"content":"But the remarkable Parker was undaunted by the historical challenge facing her in the Parisian satellite town of Clichy-sous-Bois and could well have finished first with a gold to her name, but instead finished 9.5 seconds behind American winner Katerina Brim.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2RTZARGNH5EZZBGOICW5X6HUMI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471050},"content":"Number: 250,000","type":"header"},{"_id":"5ZUGJPEG2VBSLB2FWWWIWWTXXA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725551068904},"content":"The number of followers that Brazil’s ‘rocketman’ swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, or Gabrielzinho as he is known, boasts on Instagram, a fan base that has seen him win three gold medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"66REQRUG5ZHYDJKXLGFOILHRKA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471052},"content":"Quote of the Day","type":"header"},{"_id":"EOYZXGD4OFDNLEXS5BGEYZXPZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471053},"content":"“They’ve been the perfect Games for me. Carrying the flag, lighting the cauldron, and winning that gold medal. It’s a winner. It’s not too bad at all.” – France’s 38-year-old flag bearer Alexis Hanquinquant, who has gone on to win two gold medals, the second of which was in the triathlon defending the men’s PTS4 title he won in Tokyo.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"John O'Sullivan"}},"name":"John O'Sullivan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Team Canada wheelchair basketball player Nikola Goncin designs prosthetics for disabled children in his native Bosnia"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Goncin busily giving back to the land of his birth","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LQMZWCGHZKV4E2EB6YZHDKL3WI","auth":{"1":"93232340ed43d359870d75b251833edabace1b2a52e7926db931cf24ac6e26e4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LQMZWCGHZKV4E2EB6YZHDKL3WI.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/athletics/2024/09/06/paralympics-more-than-the-games-goncin-busily-giving-back-to-the-land-of-his-birth/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/athletics","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Athletics"}}}},{"_id":"VKCOYKOL6FASTC27XY5RRBM57Y","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":214,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c56bdd2f-80fa-4032-b904-d482fabc5eee/versions/1725559916/media/d3d59dfc4ff67eb411911c3babb5903b_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/09/06/paralympics-day-9-irish-in-action-and-best-of-the-rest-as-katie-george-dunlevy-chases-gold-again/","content_elements":[{"_id":"ELBEFFIGTVFIFHXUKV4KPFQHX4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098063},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Irish in action</mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"J4UI44KSGJCHRBIS6QKKGOB6MI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098075},"content":"<b>8.30: </b>Para Equestrian team event (Sarah Slattery, Michael Murphy, Kate Kerr-Horan)","type":"text"},{"_id":"3N2VKHUN65GKVCPNURMEZ32VP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098076},"content":"<b>8.30:</b> Men’s road-race, C4-5 (Ronan Grimes)","type":"text"},{"_id":"KQJ7CYDDIZBF3P7AGFXTFCGTNM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098077},"content":"<b>9.18: </b>Men’s S9 100m butterfly heats (Barry McClements)","type":"text"},{"_id":"QAASMKPUWZBV3LJQARFDDFPEVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098078},"content":"<b>9.43:</b> T20 1,500m final (Aaron Shorten)","type":"text"},{"_id":"RQWWZC6XVJH7NBSXRLZVT7W36A","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098079},"content":"<b>12.0: </b>Men’s road-race B (Damien Vereker with Mitchell McLaughlin)","type":"text"},{"_id":"UN6JCSTMSRBEXM65TWUQVBVIYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098080},"content":"<b>12.10:</b> Women’s road-race B (Katie-George Dunlevy with Linda Kelly, Josephine Healion with Eve McCrystal)","type":"text"},{"_id":"P57SH4TPINE6DP6AUQKUUUVGFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098081},"content":"<b>*5.34pm:</b> Men’s S9 100m butterfly final, B McClements (*subject to qualifying).","type":"text"},{"_id":"22PVNDNICRDZ3NUEN3IRSLYGYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725557209758},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Team Ireland</mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CFODE4IHUBDX5N2RADXFA73E4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098065},"content":"Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly will be looking to follow up Wednesday’s gold medal performance in the time-trial with another in the Women’s B road-race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DPXVS5KKLZFL3CB5GOPXCQB7SI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725558440729},"content":"It starts and finishes at Clichy-Sous-Bois with just the 99.2 kilometres in between. Dunlevy won this race with Eve McCrystal – the pair won a silver on the track in Paris – in the last Paralympics in Tokyo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6U7GO3YLWVCLHNC6OGYFDBKUDY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098066},"content":"Josephine Healion and McCrystal will also contest the B road-race. In the men’s version of the event over 127.8 kilometres, Ireland will be represented by Damien Vereker and his pilot Mitchell McLaughlin, one of 12 bikes set to contest the medals. Ronan Grimes competes in the C4-5 road-race, in a peloton consisting of 29 bikes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4LGLUDZWDJCFJBCLAQC7L4ICNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098067},"content":"Ireland’s Barry McClements will be up against the in-form Simone Barlaam in the S9 100m butterfly with the Italian looking for an equally dominant performance to the one he enjoyed in winning the S9 50 freestyle by over a second and en route to breaking his own world record. He is now looking to translate that form to the S9 100m butterfly, with McClements one of his rivals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L5OX2CTR4BFNPJEHR2KQ6EXDZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098068},"content":"Carlow’s Aaron Shorten, the sole male athlete on the athletics team, competes in the T20 1,500m. The St Laurence O’Toole’s athlete debuted at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris last summer and has been training with renowned running coach Feidhlim Kelly’s group since the start of the year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BIWDTUAICBHR7AZWQ7JCCBQH7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098069},"content":"In the Para Equestrian team event Ireland will be represented by Sarah Slattery (Grade 5) on Savona, Michael Murphy (Grade 1) on Cleverboy and Kate Kerr-Horan (Grade 3) on Lykkebo’s Don Akino.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GCOBFVU27ETWUZ7LGP6HPB3JNA","additional_properties":{"_id":"KFIXEVC6JBDGFBRDEBC5OGLV4M"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7HCL2FGNQBGMBNYWVDKGGTNA6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098070},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Worth a Watch </mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"2CBGXQKORZF6JH53HKPQ42TEEE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725557209766},"content":"American Ellie Marks has a remarkable backstory. Due to compete at the 2014 Invictus Games in London, a respiratory infection left her in a coma in Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q3UGRRB6EFH63J5C5CWSC6ECFM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098072},"content":"She recovered and after winning four golds at the Invictus Games in 2016 presented one of the gold medals to the hospital staff who saved her life. She made her Paralympic debut in Rio, winning breaststroke gold, and in Tokyo claimed S6 backstroke gold and will aim to defend her title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LW65UX5DJRAF7F36X4QBV45V2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098073},"content":"Italy will hope for another Para-athletics clean sweep in the T63 100m (8.22pm) where Ambra Sabatini, Martina Caironi and Monica Contrafatto finished in the medal positions in Tokyo and again at the 2023 and 2024 Worlds.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"John O'Sullivan"}},"name":"John O'Sullivan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympics Day 9: Katie-George Dunlevy with her pilot Linda Kelly will feature in the 99-kilometre Women’s B road race as will Josephine Healion and Eva McCrystal"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics Day 9: Irish in action and best of the rest as Katie-George Dunlevy chases gold again","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"IZIFNCICAUCZ56XPAZHVEXXS34","auth":{"1":"eb7536768a05aba3d1f194aba25bbe779bb3dcf63b6480d22942a6cc7fe41285"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IZIFNCICAUCZ56XPAZHVEXXS34.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/09/06/paralympics-day-9-irish-in-action-and-best-of-the-rest-as-katie-george-dunlevy-chases-gold-again/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"CJ6TLTLZZJEJNEDIQNML33W5XA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":131,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/256362eb-c50e-44ec-a583-a9040a5b6bfa/versions/1725563977/media/313a23c1ea925c69ddd525f5722aabc7_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/05/caoimhe-obrien-edges-mia-griffin-for-second-irish-stage-win-in-ras-na-mban/","content_elements":[{"_id":"C737SFGK3FCT3N2H4L4JMDR2PY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446795},"content":"Caoimhe O’Brien scooped another Irish win on day two of Rás na mBan on Thursday, outsprinting team-mate and compatriot Mia Griffin to the line in Mountrath.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FOKHX4SM5VHGDPH3INHV3UY5FM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446796},"content":"The Das Hutchinson Brother UK team riders were head to head on the finishing straight, with O’Brien getting the edge over Wednesday’s stage one winner Griffin.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JO7W5YUZU5ELHG62AJ36ZYHWFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446797},"content":"O’Brien picked up a time bonus during the stage and ended the day level on time with Griffin. However, the latter holds the overall lead on countback.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VLVIHW3QIFGZ5L24JTHZVXYNVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446798},"content":"“It is so special,” O’Brien said. “I remember being here four years ago and getting dropped on every single stage. The gap to where I wanted to be was so big and so to be here is very special.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UWGAFHW62NBIFHK2Y53FF426PU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446799},"content":"Last month O’Brien won the Emptinne and Brasschat kermesse races in Belgium and said that having confidence in herself has made the difference. 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O’Connor maintained his five-second lead in the overall standings.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IH5SNQTLP5AEBPQJTIDOTTFVOE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was quite a tough day. 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Italy’s Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula) and Britain’s Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) came home in second and third place respectively.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25BJUKNICNDYBHFQKQWHG7GNXU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar finished the stage in 23rd, seeing him hold on to 15th in the general ranking, while Darren Rafferty was 48th, bringing him up to 71st overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3XRJQWPIHND37MZLIHP33HC2BA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308295},"content":"Primoz Roglic, who trailed Ben O’Connor by 1 minute 3 seconds at the start of the day, began to build a lead over his title rival on the uncategorised final climb. At one stage, it looked as though Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) would take the red jersey, but O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale) dug in to keep the overall lead by just five seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LUPK55CI4RBQTE5MD7XDE4T2JU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308296},"content":"The green jersey wearer, Wout van Aert, was forced to abandon the race after a heavy crash. The Belgian rider, winner of three stages of this year’s Vuelta, injured his right knee after falling on a slippery descent with more than 50km of the stage from Luanco still to race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H6Y65CVHQVAIBNVW3TCLYMZA2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308297},"content":"Van Aert (Visma Lease-a-bike) received treatment from team medics but was unable to continue. The green jersey now goes to Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while fellow Australian Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) leads the mountain classification.","type":"text"},{"_id":"S7BRGKYXAVCG5CJN4XHQP2YZOY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308298},"content":"Wednesday’s 17th stage offers some respite for the race leaders with just two category two climbs along the 141.5km route to Santander. – Guardian","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"name":"Guardian sport"},{"name":"Reuters"}]},"description":{"basic":"Eddie Dunbar finishes 23rd to hold on to 15th in the general ranking"},"display_date":"2024-09-03T17:12:56.577Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ben O’Connor clings on to Vuelta red jersey as Wout van Aert crashes out","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UC76HHG5O5CMLOTTQG5ACPMIOM","auth":{"1":"373cff9a901bd1c2b26083811a0f33ef7f4af0121220ee7f6e6294f2dc3fafbf"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UC76HHG5O5CMLOTTQG5ACPMIOM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/03/ben-oconnor-clings-on-to-vuelta-red-jersey-as-wout-van-aert-crashes-out/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"WJYHQB2WZFEWFFMJZKKZZG3OM4","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":344,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/6cbf7684-ef3a-47ca-92f8-3e06d17ec7e5/versions/1725222101/media/3be65aadd6dc16305199135f645af424_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/silver-lining-at-the-end-of-the-track-for-katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal/","content_elements":[{"_id":"7EJV4M73FJAWTGJUIVMR3QTWZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409267},"content":"At the end of the track, there was one last silver lining waiting for <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and pilot<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eve-mccrystal\" target=\"_blank\"> Eve McCrystal</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FRIOZX6YKRE6VDW5Z5WNAJ5G54","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409268},"content":"Signing off with a medal was the fairy-tale. Occasionally, it seems, they do in fact come true.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WNGWYXGKJCRTMTCJYXGCSGO74","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409269},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal were warming down on their stationary bikes in the middle of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome on Sunday midmorning when the giant screens overhead confirmed their time of 3:20.481 had secured them a spot in the gold-medal final later that day. They had made it as the second-fastest qualifier in the B 3,000m individual pursuit. At the very least, they were guaranteed silver.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YA66GEH47ZFRXDXP3ZQ2YVN7PY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409270},"content":"They both immediately sunk their heads into their hands. Shocked. Thrilled. Overwhelmed. They had dreamt of going out like this, but sport and life had knocked them off the bike enough times for them not to entertain fantasies of such a last dance together.","type":"text"},{"_id":"K2SDQXACXNF2FHH4AHAFQENNSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409271},"content":"But in the mixed zone after the qualifiers, the moment seized the cyclists – McCrystal couldn’t keep her emotions at bay any longer. She tried to wipe her eyes, tried to regain her composure but the tears kept coming. Eventually, she just let them. You want to know what it meant? It meant everything.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QBJC6G7GMZDDDKITOKMPWNFTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409272},"content":"“She [Katie-George] has been sick. This morning she woke up and said, ‘I’m not feeling great.’ As a pilot I was like, however s**t I feel as a tandem pairing you have to take each other’s s**t, so to speak,” sobbed McCrystal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AR2PIGQZFZBRHD5NW3PWZY72I4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409273},"content":"“We’ve always backed each other, if I’m injured or if she’s injured, the other one will always give that 10 per cent extra that you’d never have ordinarily. Today is probably the most nervous I have ever been in my whole entire life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T3SAQBUHTNAYPAREXXNZ5D3YLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409274},"content":"“It’s just the 10 years, it’s just the kids and work, I’m a single mother, it’s been f***ing hard. I lost my father and it’s just all ... I think I just kept grief and everything in. To retire, I can retire now so f***ing proud.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JGXV7F32C5DWFJBRS76GGETUNQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409275},"content":"“I’m so emotional and I’m the f***ing strong one in this relationship, I’m the bitch in this relationship!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z5WTNFZ4LRDQRFNV7IT52M4DOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409276},"content":"At that moment, one wondered if it would be possible for them to regain focus and deliver a performance in the final just over two hours later. Deliver they did.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BGEV2DZDMIIFT2VQ7RIKGUUMGM","additional_properties":{"_id":"PSV4JODELBFKBPJV3YSTLH2ZTA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"K7WMXOCFINEWDHEPEWOB6ZIWZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409277},"content":"“When you’re so close to gold, you’re slightly disappointed you didn’t get it but we’re absolutely ecstatic with silver,” said McCrystal after the decider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YHFVMKJMYFGOPPCQO5R2VGTHTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409278},"content":"“The staff that we have around us, I just want you to mention them. I just want to say thank you to every single one of them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today with a medal around our necks.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YRXYIF5TLVBSNDZYJRARV5MBCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409279},"content":"The story of Irish cycling has had a fair dusting of Cool Runnings around it over the years, Irish cyclists just rocking up to velodromes across the world, competing and winning medals in big tournaments. Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, it’s pedal time. Having waited forever for a velodrome, two are now promised.","type":"text"},{"_id":"47LUXRQDF5G6NJLXKY3F67D57Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409280},"content":"If you have never been to a velodrome, it’s like sitting inside a large sauna, fully dressed, with dance music pumping over the PA system while riders look for the temperature to be ramped up even higher.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKIDC64MTNCGZCBKATCPCPDYTI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409281},"content":"Most spectators appeared to come prepared for the sauna saddle showdown in Paris with sleek mini-electric fans, though some debonair locals opted for a traditional brisé fan. They all looked so suave and dignified, and unsweaty.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2ZAX7WGEYJHANLDIODZLMEKNQM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409282},"content":"Meanwhile, the Irish among the 3,350 in the velodrome were marked out by ruddy faces. Every now and then they would exchange exasperated eyerolls with each other, wondering why somebody couldn’t just open a bloody window.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PROHTFW7FZBZJM4P4YZHCIKPVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409283},"content":"Among the Irish contingent present were McCrystal’s daughters, Ava (16) and Nessa (14).","type":"text"},{"_id":"PYHGDX76YFBNVNXQNA53AMNDAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409284},"content":"“From when my kids were born, they have seen me training in the kitchen on turbo trainers, every single day,” added the full-time Dundalk-based garda.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZVYRJ7ORVVBEFAYW2NHDIAWHPQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409285},"content":"“For all of them to see all of our hard work, that resilience, that determination, for them to see that and then a medal, I can’t put that into words. I am 46 years of age!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AZLZKRV6SJC2DC6XXA4Q5KLXTY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409286},"content":"And while they will both race on the road later in these Games, the fact this was the last time Dunlevy and McCrystal would ride together was not lost on those in the arena. They were afforded a standing ovation when they went to meet friends and family at trackside.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7UGYHKQ3FUPWNFMFSLAR53RRUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"2VHT6FEYURBY7NNFSYF2OJCHUQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YHX7PTLRYBGVLHVED6RWYRTZTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409287},"content":"“We are in our 40s, and we are up against 20-year-olds. Age is a number,” smiled Dunlevy. “My dad was crying his eyes out. It makes me very grateful to see my parents cry, I don’t see them cry very often.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"X23FFEGBBZGGPF4PM74AQUD6KE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409289},"content":"And as if winning a silver medal in their last race together wasn’t enough of a prize, the pair reckon the ride to finish second in the qualifiers on Sunday morning was possibly their most complete on track over the last decade.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MN6PRO4CQRAT5PNT7ATA4KHHHI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409290},"content":"“That first ride was the best performance we have ever done in our life,” said McCrystal. “It wasn’t a national record, our national record was in hotter conditions on a faster track with a swirl on the track, so as a ride goes that was our best ride.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7AZDT7V2FBGBNJ6BKDKOVLKNOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409292},"content":"It is hard to imagine one without the other, this crew of para cycling trailblazers. They won medals, they changed perceptions, they altered the landscape.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XYYSYEMVYFDTXK7OKYAQGJAMOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409293},"content":"“Six days a week, every single week, for a decade we have trained,” added McCrystal. “We have never ever faltered or taken our foot off the gas. We have committed every single day.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKGKLLJTMJFG3DAJQTLCNVKAQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409295},"content":"All the way to the very last one they had in the saddle together.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XGA7LTLLDFD2RHRTA2JCI5MPMI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409296},"content":"In the end, Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal got to cycle off on a silver lining.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Gordon Manning"}},"name":"Gordon Manning"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympic Games: The duo were not expecting a fairytale ending to their 10-year partnership, but their last race together was a dream come true"},"display_date":"2024-09-01T20:10:18.19Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Silver lining at the end of the track for Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"4ATJUIYIB3IGWNT67YBPWCLEVE","auth":{"1":"cf66eb5f9b2f0969e45f399134e159c257ecee55f3c3f74f04b43dfb783b411b"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4ATJUIYIB3IGWNT67YBPWCLEVE.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/silver-lining-at-the-end-of-the-track-for-katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"O5AO6YY3ENH3FOQNVAGKCFFI7E","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":265,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/f36f2375-1506-4ee1-a0f2-dcfa90f434b5/versions/1725214417/media/ccf1da622dc9c42b460128a697462407_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal-scoop-silver-to-end-golden-partnership/","content_elements":[{"_id":"3VKMGNAZWBH2LLF7FUC3EGPPXA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113091},"content":"Standing on a podium together for the final time, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eve-mccrystal\" target=\"_blank\">Eve McCrystal</a> reached out for <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a>’s right hand and in unison they punched through the muggy air inside the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome.","type":"text"},{"_id":"44MU4K5SRRGK5IIKSROUXSVJMY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113093},"content":"Having spent 10 years beautifully in sync, there was no point changing the habit of a sporting lifetime right at the very end.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HIBYLKHHFRHNRO4OPH2FIO3OSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113094},"content":"On Sunday, in their last ride together as a tandem pair, they claimed their sixth <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> medal, winning silver in the B 3,000m individual pursuit to sit alongside the two golds and one silver won in Tokyo, plus the one gold and one silver mined from Rio.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PZ6B2HJ2P5DWLNZZ7FNAIGWP3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113095},"content":"Both cyclists will also compete on the road later in these Games but they will not be on the same bike. This was the end. Sunday brought the curtain down on one of the great Irish sports partnerships, and it ended in a very un-Irish way – successfully.","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3CFGR2GOJFQJFNF3RN5TRYEOY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113096},"content":"Having earned a place in the gold-medal race with one of the best rides of their storied career during the qualifiers, they subsequently led for much of the final against Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7EN2DIDW3JBP5BBCB2X2GYQDLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113097},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal still had their noses in front after 2,000 metres, but the British pair delivered a storming finish to reel in the Irish duo over the closing laps and win by 2.166 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNLNHL4YFRA7RPTQQ24R23N6YY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113098},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal posted a time of 3:21.315, with Unwin and Holly coming home with a 3:19.149 after an epic final. But there was no dejection from those in green afterwards. If anything there was gratitude they got to go out on such terms, racing all the way to the line.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q6GFMTZSFFB4LOEEDZPIHOR4VY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113099},"content":"When it was over the Irish pair circled the velodrome on a lap of honour before embracing family and friends at the side of the track.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NINQHPDZDNHH5SAKHNF65FGEYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"GWFY4KUI2FGABBBLYMVWU67CU4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ZGW2GYLCVNA2FGWYN534KYVDWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113100},"content":"Gold would have been great, but the colour of the medal was almost incidental. A podium had seemed beyond them leading into the event. Dunlevy had suffered a broken collarbone in May and there was an unspoken sense in cycling circles that perhaps their halcyon days had come and gone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TM437TZSDZETZBT2W6JA5EUD3E","additional_properties":{"_id":"NCMCQF3QOFBDTBUUZSLY4COTV4"},"content":"Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal are golden again in the Tokyo rain","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"XBZK6Z62NNDRNAGVMID6SMYYQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113101},"content":"And yet, here they were again. Punching upwards, the only way they have ever known.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QGB2CSS2P5H3XLVBK5BH5PUKSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113102},"content":"“We’re like sisters, we fall in, we fall out, we have a lot of respect for each other,” said McCrystal, who at the age of 46 is retiring as a Para pilot after these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6BYWWTMDOBAV5NOPNLFDWBBP34","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113103},"content":"What they have achieved together will ultimately outlast both of their careers. On and off the track, something special happened in their fusion.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ML7HHQ5G5EDPMB5TXHYO3K4QI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113104},"content":"“We have gone through some really tough times together,” added Dunlevy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PYYS7U5KFGSNGJCZXHJLXXXBE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113105},"content":"“You don’t really go through that with anyone else, really, we know what we have gone through and what they are giving, and mentally and emotionally what they have gone through.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IFIHVRLZLBC5XLSH3DAX2PTXWU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113106},"content":"“There are times when we have been training individually but we always come back together and we know we have been training hard at home.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WG6JB4MMTZEGBJZ6REC4Z5Z5IQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113107},"content":"“And we have a special bond which we will have forever, those memories and special moments, nobody else will know what that feels like except for me and Eve.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BGEV2DZDMIIFT2VQ7RIKGUUMGM","additional_properties":{"_id":"QFIQYUFN55C5ZO52V67DWBGNHA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ARTT656N7NDCVLCLXPPO2FJGP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113108},"content":"At the end of the podium presentation, they again clenched hands and waved to the crowd.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFOEN55NVRDSXBCJJGD7FQCHOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113109},"content":"“We’re 10 years together, it took us a few years to get to the top,” added McCrystal. “It’s really hard to get to the top and it’s fricking harder to stay there. You have so much pressure. I don’t think we ever felt external pressure from people but it was pressure that both of us felt to stay there. That’s just so hard to do as an athlete.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HQS4KJ4QRVGMLMEROQ6QGMM4EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113111},"content":"“When the two of you are together you constantly don’t want to let each other down so you’re fighting every single day – that’s the fight for the last three years coming out there in a medal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JFF3XVZ26FCWBC5PQ2XG3UXWVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113112},"content":"“We’ve always just trusted each other. Even with her collarbone, I was like, ‘She’ll be back.’ Collarbone, whatever.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJT4PC3725BFVFWKLLYRMN3MXE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113113},"content":"At that, she smiles over at Dunlevy, who returns with a knowing grin. After a crash during a road race in Italy in May, Dunlevy required surgery and raced on Sunday with four pins and a plate in her left collarbone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I4GLWUW7SBCA3DUKRPUZYNKDHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113114},"content":"She drags her top down off her shoulder to show the scar.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DV3WEGJCW5A3NMF2EN3ORZLXWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113115},"content":"“I could get them removed, but I don’t know,” she added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZ55NYFGRVDWBMWKU2GGWK42O4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113116},"content":"“At first when I did it, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I really didn’t know [if I’d make Paris]. But then I just thought, ‘It is the arm, I didn’t break my hip or my leg’. I could still pedal with one arm, so I just got on with it. 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Pablo Castrillo pushed through the pain barrier to take stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday, his second stage win, while Primoz Roglic took more time off race leader Ben O’Connor.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AJBDQIT3TBAY7M54VBSPPL6ZKU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681947},"content":"Castrillo (Kern-Pharma) was part of a leading trio on the gruelling Cuitu Negru climb to the finish and made his move with three kilometres to the end of the 143km ride from Infiesto to Valgrane-Pajares.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5VM27JKD2FFM7L4MPDHU6BQSTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681948},"content":"In the final kilometre he glanced over his shoulder to see Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) appear through the fog, but Castrillo found another burst of energy to hold off the Russian, with Pavel Sivakov of France coming in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3LDQ6DHYHVC7DGMNH5IKNCVLT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681949},"content":"“When Vlasov came in, I took a little 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grimaced their way to the end, hunched over the bikes, but the Spaniard, as he had done on stage 12, held firm to take a second stage win on his maiden Grand Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IKDX36DEH5HUXMPUQW6MSGH5Z4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681955},"content":"O'Connor dug deep, limiting the damage as much as possible, and lives to fight another day in the red jersey, and will welcome Monday's rest day before tackling the final six stages.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EOB5R6P7RJCEVBIPHJD4Y6IBAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681956},"content":"Tuesday’s stage 16 will be a 181.5km ride from Luanco to Lagos de Covadonga.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[]},"description":{"basic":"Primoz Roglic took more time off race leader Ben O’Connor"},"display_date":"2024-09-01T17:10:40.723Z","headlines":{"basic":"Castrillo climbs to Vuelta stage 15 win as Dunbar finishes 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He kept Slovenian Primoz Roglic at bay, maintaining a gap of three minutes and 16 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NWOXPFXMA5B4BM7CANPONTH5S4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was a tricky start, it was actually really hard. And then we just controlled the race, made some pace on the final climb,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YZDABLRY25GMBJHGDWBDTPC374","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a>, winner of Stage 11 on Wednesday, finished 26th on the Thursday’s stage and remains in 18th position overall on general classification. Darren Rafferty finished 106th on the stage and is 86th on GC. 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Since the Vuelta last year I’ve had a lot of downs and not many ups. They were difficult moments mentally and physically, coming back from injury,” said Dunbar, who turns 28 on Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4R7RBF7CBZHOLFHWEFT7SMNZAU","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I’ve had numerous times in my head where I thought that I might not have a future in the sport just because of the crashes and the injuries I have had. This year after the Giro when I injured my LCL, I thought that could be the nail in the coffin as they say, in terms of my cycling career.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"X4XFUGT3XNGHRGXDOCVRUGVHQE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunbar said that family and friends kept him going, naming his partner Niamh in particular.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JD554JPBUFHLBHF4RRZPOUFDZA","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Cork man started this year’s Vuelta hoping to race for the general classification but had to reassess when he lost time due to tough weather conditions.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JPBLHAHPELCGPDHRU2NHRPWJ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"7FQIX7BYVZGM3IKQ34ALJLYJSU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"KD5EJHOWQRHMPDNAWMSFBZBBQE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I actually have really good legs, but when temperatures are over 40 degrees like last week, it just doesn’t work for me, unfortunately,” he explained.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4UCVITCZPFC7LCKQK76TFVE4RI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“That’s not an excuse because there are very good bike riders who handled the heat very well last week, chapeau to them. They were the hardest conditions I’ve ever raced in for sure.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25XKQQYX3VFGDB3SHXP4FFFGNU","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Growing up in Ireland, I got used to racing in 12 degrees, so 40 degree heat isn’t my forte. But today makes it all better.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"3IACB75VNVGIXPPL4GV6UJERHI","additional_properties":{},"content":"The stage was held on undulating terrain with several short, steep climbs. Dunbar prefers bigger mountains but made the most of the route, getting into the day’s big break and then biding his time when his team-mate Filippo Zana went on the attack on the final hill.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HSBI6KNNR5AWNP62NIRBMPGVU4","additional_properties":{},"content":"That move was reeled in and Dunbar then waited until the final kilometre, launching his winning surge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KDXCK3ETLRC5RFY2DIS352FEZ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) was caught out by a powerful attack by three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar Team) on the final climb. He faded and ultimately conceded 37 seconds, seeing his overall lead reduced.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5IZPA2NUFCKTMT4WYOR2LDFEQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"However, he remains three minutes and 16 seconds ahead of Roglic, with Mas now at 3.58. Ten stages remain and he said that the upcoming terrain should play more to his strengths.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3MA2U3TP4NGBXN3AN6OWN7V6IM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am excited to get into the mountains again. It is hilly here but the punchy finishes here are super hard. If I am not at my best, it can be difficult.So hopefully once we get to the mountains I can be to how I was a few days ago in Granada,” said O’Connor, who is in search of his first grand tour win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBDUYS2IFRB4PHQG5R5ZKWEGP4","additional_properties":{},"content":"As for Dunbar, the stage saw him move up to 18th overall and with cooler weather likely for the rest of the Vuelta, he could make further progress. Chasing a second stage win might well be a bigger priority, though.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JKKGYA7HQRHZTDDWOTLUQOMIIM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Either way he will finish the race with much better confidence and morale than before.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Irish cyclist finished ahead of Belgium’s Quinten Hermans and Britain’s Max Poole, attacking on the last kilometre and beating the chasers"},"display_date":"2024-08-28T16:48:07.463Z","headlines":{"basic":"Eddie Dunbar wins stage 11 of Vuelta a España for his first Grand Tour victory ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BJGCFC3P3NYQUT63LKSHEZ447M","auth":{"1":"ceb00752beadea4391ce7600bbce02646522f77cd92062b0ff04aac55c964910"},"focal_point":{"x":1808,"y":232},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BJGCFC3P3NYQUT63LKSHEZ447M.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/28/eddie-dunbar-wins-stage-11-of-la-vuelta-a-espana-for-his-first-grand-tour-victory/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"OC4GRCX2MJCCZBOGWHVZIZH2L4","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":115,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/6c966586-da44-4eeb-8371-dd939ea74b0c/versions/1724779728/media/0a6892d46c6ecc5decbf6c6f970bd706_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/27/wout-van-aert-wins-a-third-vuelta-stage-as-ben-oconnor-holds-on-to-red-jersey/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JRF7HASBWZBWPLQRFM73UNJR3I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230509},"content":"Wout van Aert won the 10th stage of the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a Espana</a> on Tuesday after a last-ditch sprint took him past Quentin Pacher who finished in second place, three seconds behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"W2IBTLFY5FCR7LPREDHSMFTHZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230510},"content":"Belgian Van Aert and Frenchman Pacher broke away from the rest of the group 30km from the end and Van Aert outsprinted his rival to claim his third stage win of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTCQPWNDVJAVNGJIC5JBIQOA3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230511},"content":"“It’s not too often that I can win when my family visits me on a race so it makes it extra special and really nice,” said Van Aert.","type":"text"},{"_id":"76GMRXGZN5AETG2UH4G2CN3WJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230512},"content":"“It was really my aim to be in the breakaway but I had a hard time on the first climb. I almost gave up but I gave it one more try just before the top.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DEMY22LUVVCMLAZFHMLA4N6RYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230513},"content":"Spaniard Marc Soler came third after winning a sprint against Belgian William Junior Lecerf and Juri Hollmann from Germany, just over two minutes behind Van Aert.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5YOJ5FW5EJBFPFVEICXA4G227Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230514},"content":"Australian Ben O’Connor, who finished 22nd, retained the overall lead. There were no significant moves among the top contenders, as O’Connor maintained his lead of three minutes and 53 seconds over Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ML4JZAX3DJFV3GGUJYKZFLVHAI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230515},"content":"“In the end, it was the perfect scenario. It was a really hard start, it took a long time for the break to go. A lot of guys in the top 10 were interested in the breakaway so I think we did a good job today to control the start,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MYTPRUZJKZAZHMPNOLCIB3ONI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230516},"content":"“I think tomorrow, the finale will be a little more decisive. The final climb is a hard one so it will be interesting to see.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"L4PJH22OQZBNVP2JDIOVOIVFRQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Eddie Dunbar moved up a place on general classification to 22nd after coming home 26th on the stage, while fellow Irish rider Darren Rafferty finished 74th on the day and is 87th overall. 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Adam Yates went all alone to win stage nine of the Vuelta a España on Sunday while the Australian Ben O’Connor finished third and held on to his overall lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6DUHRZTZIVBDZAZLJANY2YCI5A","additional_properties":{},"content":"Yates was part of an early breakaway group but, with 58km still to race, the UAE Team Emirates rider went off alone and held off the challenge of Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), who finished 1min 39sec behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XLRCNLJ7PBBNRE434E7Z6T5RLE","additional_properties":{},"content":"O’Connor outsprinted Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull–Bora – Hansgrohe) on the line to take third on the stage and claimed four bonus seconds to increase his lead over three-times former champion, Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, to 3min 53sec.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WVNXEJV42NGP7CKUTGRSTHHKII","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar finished 27th and is 23rd in the 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climb.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EKEZQCGMD5FDZHLJBRLLRJVZIY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Carapaz attacked from the peloton and went on a solo chase, while the lead group splintered further with just three riders remaining as they went up Alto de Hazallanas for the first time before Yates went alone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YYE77SVIQFG6JNDYRHAWOCGK6Y","additional_properties":{},"content":"Yates managed to stretch his lead while, behind in the peloton, Roglic’s team upped the pace to split the main bunch, but O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), who had seen almost a minute shaved off his lead the previous day, held firm.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7AXD6REZTFFKTB2JZAJH3M5CE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) attempted to get away, looking to protect his third place overall, but he was caught with one kilometre to the finish and O’Connor showed he had plenty left in the tank as he took third place, with Roglic in eighth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITZBXAPK3NCWPHCS7IMF4TT2XQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"After a rest day on Monday, stage 10 on Tuesday will be a 160km ride from Ponteareas to Baiona, another mountain stage. – Guardian","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[]},"description":{"basic":"UAE Team Emirates rider claims first Vuelta stage with Ben O’Connor third to hold on to overall lead"},"display_date":"2024-08-25T18:17:43.47Z","headlines":{"basic":"Adam Yates solos to Vuelta a España win on gruelling stage nine to Granada 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champion Primoz Roglic attacked on the climb to the finish to win stage eight of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday, taking valuable time off Ben O’Connor’s overall lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SRZJU2YSSREC5NHVJ7QM5F77TQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430664},"content":"Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had to work hard to shake off the Australian in the red jersey but the Slovenian's pace finally paid off and he took his second stage win of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VQX5Y2LXRJB6NLCXCWSC6XRH4U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430665},"content":"Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) was beaten to the line by Roglic and had to settle for second place, with his compatriot Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) coming in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3GPDE7HLLFBRJFWBT4UGVNHGIQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430666},"content":"O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) crossed the line in 17th place, 46 seconds after Roglic who also earned a 10-second bonus. The gap to the leader is now three minutes 49 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7SKECFGEBDPZIA2ISZ2VBWLWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430667},"content":"It was expected that Roglic would attempt to make up time on O'Connor on the 159km ride from Ubeda to Cazorla, a medium mountain stage but with a sharp uphill finish, and the Slovenian showed his strength when it mattered.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7G5OCT5XMNDPHFBGXB74EERGRA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430668},"content":"“The opportunity was there, and I went for it. It was hard, hot. 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Kerrie won silver at the 2016 European Championships, a year after placing ninth at the World Championships. She is trained by two-time Olympian Jim Conroy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBITCMIFDNDABOUDBMBSOFPNYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978474},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Swimming</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"PSZSEDN3MRGDNIT4FQGVW7YBUA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978475},"content":"<b>Róisín Ní Riain</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AN5LQJ3VA4ZWK3S7KYADBEATUY","additional_properties":{"_id":"I5GO4T7TP5CITOLUDUHOHS6LKE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"JCQYBNUS75DLXCGZNSLPGE35HU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978477},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IRFGACA7IBFJVPGLK2F5X2I7NM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978482},"content":"It’s Ní Riain’s second Paralympic Games after taking to the pool for six events in Tokyo, qualifying for five finals. The University of Limerick student is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m backstroke and holds the world record for the 200m backstroke, which she set last year. Ní Riain also heads to Paris after a strong showing at this year’s European Championship, where she won two gold, three silver and one bronze. She will be competing in four events in Paris – S13 100m butterfly and backstroke, SB13 100m breaststroke and SM13 200m IM.","type":"text"},{"_id":"N4IYYQYQKZDD5ONDYRWOR4XRDI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978483},"content":"<b>Ellen Keane</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"KBHP3E7VF2FEHTAELBUNMSX56M","additional_properties":{"_id":"ZW5G5RUJGZG5VHLW3XJYYOSGTU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"FKYRHZKX7BDJPDZIBAT6OER644","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978485},"type":"list"},{"_id":"LXE3HDRVGVHFRHCJIHFEZAOMD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978490},"content":"Paris will be Keane’s final Paralympic hoorah after deciding her fifth Games will be her last. Keane claimed her first Paralympic medal in Rio in 2016, winning bronze in the SB8 100m breaststroke, following up with gold in the same event in Tokyo. She competes in two events – SB8 100m breaststroke and S9 100m backstroke.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E6AQCOAFTVC5DKJ37ZQWDJNLNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978491},"content":"<b>Nicole Turner</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HFXMCMPCICJXETHBHLZAOWHY4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"X2EYVT5IEJFKNEXZSXD46IU6VE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4BBXXCKDONHYDFORVC2M7M7MDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978493},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DJH2AUHOAVAFBBDUJ7TFNUJB3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978498},"content":"Despite barely being into her 20s, Paris will be Nicole’s third Paralympics having made her debut in Rio aged 13, qualifying for the final in each of her five events. Turner put herself on the podium the next time around in Tokyo, claiming silver in the S6 50m butterfly. She’s also coming into Paris in fine form having won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the European Championships in Madeira earlier this year. She competes in two events – S6 50m freestyle and butterfly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HJHGLNSUGJGM5JCV3PCEVGOH6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978499},"content":"<b>Deaten Registe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CEBIAN6I5ZVWIO3AVYLME2URTU","additional_properties":{"_id":"HWAMLB4CEFCPFOQX5O5IC5UQKI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"K55T3XWNZFCL3ILU5TSCNECIVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978501},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ZWM3TKFZNZGQXL6ESZQK2QBKVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978506},"content":"It is a first Paralympic Games for Deaten, who only recently made his international debut at the European Championships in April, placing fourth in the 100m breaststroke final. He competes in one event – SB14 100m breaststroke.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CE6MPEBSYJDCBA5RTIACCRSPDE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978507},"content":"<b>Dearbhaile Brady</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JXYE3PO4MEILZ24WNNXRI6YXGA","additional_properties":{"_id":"VFRIWQAO6JDVDFC4RU4TZJPY7Y"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"HBH4AWSO2NC5VNZKKBCVSOGQ7U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978509},"type":"list"},{"_id":"JK4FV5X5QVG6DDMJLQHYZ77VT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978514},"content":"Another Paralympic debutant, Dearbhaile<b> </b>made her first major appearance for Ireland just last year at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, placing fifth in the S6 50m butterfly. In the same event at this year’s European Championships she won bronze, sharing the podium with her Ireland team-mate Nicole Turner who won gold.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DFCI7P4LTRHFBBZBQJE4MVDLYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978515},"content":"<b>Barry McClements</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZTKCGYNJBYRXESZYSHILS7NMH4","additional_properties":{"_id":"6R4OLGSTDNCXJAVKTISJERSLN4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SV4NRQO7BNGR3EMJ6LUKUXJ6DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978517},"type":"list"},{"_id":"FMP34YQZKJCBFDSM3COVBK4GDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978522},"content":"McClements has shown he is made of stern stuff to recover from a fractured femur suffered last September in time to get to his second Paralympic Games. Has already proven his talent on the international stage, winning bronze in the S9 100m backstroke at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and bronze in the same event at this year’s European Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E7T45OVBDBGK7O6RHS6Q4A4LWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978523},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Table Tennis</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"MCWR3E3U6FAT7CNGZL7AXZVNYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978524},"content":"<b>Colin Judge</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"TRL7O6MMP7OS7NK3ZGX4SZT64A","additional_properties":{"_id":"RT3Q6Q6KPFGX5PE6QSSIF2O5DI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"PK6DGPJB3ZGETCOZC4N6N4PWN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978526},"type":"list"},{"_id":"4JL6R5OI3NC4HPADTQUVQT2UC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978531},"content":"Judge, who is appearing at his second Games, is a bronze medallist from last year’s European Championships and French Open, and continued his podium finishes with silver at the Czech Open earlier this year. An actuary by trade, Judge counts eight-time Paralympian Michael Cunningham among his training partners.","type":"text"},{"_id":"63DAKO2L3VE5JIEYXXJH2H5LKA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978532},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Athletics</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"6IIORIDPF5DPDG5O6MSZPNZH2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978533},"content":"<b>Mary Fitzgerald</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"GV5KDYOQT5AWG7B3ASVX2YDXAY","additional_properties":{"_id":"A5IKWRCZ5JBBFN4NKRQK75C6DY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AVIE33K24FGE7COO34P7D4NT2Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978535},"type":"list"},{"_id":"XHM7CXQW55FYFDBRMZ7WZ2HXAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978540},"content":"A second-time Paralympian, Mary Fitzgerald<b> </b>placed sixth in the women’s F40 shot put in Tokyo. Fitzgerald entered the Irish fold after joining the high-performance squad in 2019, and went on to finish seventh overall at that year’s World Championships in Dubai. She also seems to have hit her stride at just the right time approaching the Paris Games, throwing a personal best of 8.87m in Loughborough back in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H65WQ2P435AYHMDYD2NP7QWCRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978541},"content":"<b>Aaron Shorten</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"VIXMRGKNJCGHMTBX4SPHYYXK5U","additional_properties":{"_id":"UT6UUQ2NPJATZMBYNFJ2X6ML7M"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OMG5SDC5TZESFACDQNJNQ7REP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978543},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IMPTUYQYTFGKNCHIBF3K7MCM4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978548},"content":"Shorten will be competing at his first Games in Paris, a fitting place for his Paralympic debut since it is where he made his first major championship appearance at the Para Athletics World Championships last year. The Games will be a chance to really announce himself on the international stage, having already proven his mettle at home by winning 10 All-Ireland titles in the juvenile ranks.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DTN34Q6W65EX7GLPBFDU3FMZG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978549},"content":"<b>Greta Streimikyte</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"4FN7XNOT3D5WS2ZJD5AHE7SZ6I","additional_properties":{"_id":"LMMVLG3XO5COTN56Y6CRNEICVU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5IXGAHJPDFF3ZOORHX62U5B6UA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978551},"type":"list"},{"_id":"KOJBHE2C4NEEVMBQY5JBJ672CM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978556},"content":"Greta has been on the international scene since 2016 when she competed at the European Para Athletics Championships in Italy before qualifying for the Rio Paralympics. At those Games, she qualified for the final of the 1,500m, placing just outside the medals in fourth. Streimikyte made it on to the podium at the 2018 European Championships, winning silver, and qualified second fastest out of her heat at the Tokyo Games, ultimately placing fifth in the final.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y6FQGLA7FNE55ECKBSDHUCKQHE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978557},"content":"<b>Orla Comerford</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"42CRANFBTDVPJOKASSTKYEQURY","additional_properties":{"_id":"EI62G7FNT5BUZGAFSPVUVF2D3U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CKQRFG2JDNAC5D22IYRI36X73U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978559},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IZ5Z4L4OUJBNFAUN6W43EP3IZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978564},"content":"Paris will be Orla Comerford’s third Paralympic Games having debuted in Rio when she was 18. She was Team Ireland’s first female athletics athlete to qualify for Paris, with her fourth-place finish in the T13 100m final at last year’s World Para-Athletics Championships earning her a spot on the plane. Comerford has also had an impressive season to date, posting her first official sub-12 second 100m race at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in June.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DAZ3WTLQXRBVHNYEJYNI6G3S7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978565},"content":"<b>Shauna Bocquet</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"NIS7DPWFVZCNPEFKYBCOJFOR2U","additional_properties":{"_id":"STZBAO4KW5BC5BCLPGF2JEEKFM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NZ4ZNDOUOVHFTL4XNP6KU6UW74","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978567},"type":"list"},{"_id":"J7Z62WQJ6RGERFV6SEQTCAUNTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978572},"content":"Shauna Bocquet is a first-time Paralympian at Paris and is set to compete at three events – the T54 100m, 1,500m and 5,000m – at the Games. Over the last year, Bocquet has set numerous personal bests in preparation for Paris, including three PBs in her Paralympic distances over a single weekend at the WPA Grand Prix in Switzerland in June. She also followed that up with an 800m best at the Wanda Diamond League in London in July to finish fourth overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YSI3D5T455F6FBDTR6SVLHBGZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978573},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Cycling</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"P2FTXA6YKBEYHO7VKOXYHPVEO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978574},"content":"<b>Richael Timothy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AAW4VUQ36524F2OCOAXONWHO5M","additional_properties":{"_id":"2XXF4KJ4PJCLTMBADMS752LUQA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AEYRRULX5ZHOZCUJX2IGI75XTI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978575},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DYSXJJCR7JGK5EDMSNA6K6BT5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978580},"content":"A former Roscommon footballer and Ireland international in soccer at underage, Richael Timothy made her international debut for Ireland on the bike in 2017 before joining the para cycling squad in 2018. Since her first international medal – silver in the scratch race at the Manchester Para-Cycling International in 2019 – Timothy went on to take bronze at the World Track Championships in 2020 in the non-Paralympics scratch race. At the Tokyo Games, Richael competed in four events – the road race, time trial, individual pursuit and 500m time trial, which she will do all over again this time out in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OIZLKR46JRG4XHDVHXGQHWZ62E","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978581},"content":"<b>Katie George Dunlevy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ENTTUOJJFLMYONID6XJ55J26EM","additional_properties":{"_id":"E7OPBGYQJVEZJEWERZD3ALQDSU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"Z3LVYFE3KBD2TA5KDNBA4VNKZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978582},"type":"list"},{"_id":"PNXL24W45BB4ZP6DNUIWHKN2WQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978587},"content":"Katie George Dunlevy is a multi-Paralympic and World Championship gold medallist in tandem events. Along with pilot Eve McCrystal, she won two gold medals and one silver at the Tokyo Games, adding to her haul of one gold and one silver from Rio. Accomplished on both the road and track, she’s set to compete in four events in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NA65NQM7NVC6LETZBIG2HSF5DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978588},"content":"<b>Josephine Healion</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"U76FS3LAE5IBGKE7OFAM2USVQE","additional_properties":{"_id":"2SPDEU4ACJGFZFK5DYLYWUHYZQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"TCYZOCCLABG7LKXDDPY5MQBB4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978589},"type":"list"},{"_id":"RS6CE4JG7FB4DIARRSUPB45RGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978594},"content":"Both a track and road cyclist, Healion has formed successful partnerships with pilots Eve McCrystal for road events and Linda Kelly on the track. Healion and Kelly earned bronze in the road race at the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in 2022. Paris is Josephine’s first Paralympics and she will compete in the B 1,000m time trial and the B 3,000m individual pursuit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"37TBF5RYUFGB3MY6RZWXHQ3Y6U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978595},"content":"<b>Ronan Grimes</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"RAW3FEU4ERBULLJBEBQ2ODAP5I","additional_properties":{"_id":"Y6UHDIYFOBC2NK5TSDVQ5BH7HU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OR6F4CY22ZE6FKKBOQHD76AGTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978596},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IGDAXUZF2NFVHH47BJJ64G7GAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978601},"content":"Grimes is one of the most decorated members of the Irish para-cycling team, with numerous international road and track medals to his name. He won gold in the C4 road race at the 2022 World Championships, and also took first in the time trial at the European Championships the same year. Grimes goes into the Games having won a silver and two bronze medals at last year’s track and road World Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OMUZWNZWJZFK7JLLN7K7VRO5NM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978602},"content":"<b>Martin Gordon</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"Z67TTR6NRFDRDGA7AWO4WO2PAY","additional_properties":{"_id":"X3EOEHAPOJGDBOYT4YMLMI65UA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"LMAY5HGBC5GHFMJIWA2LEGXCO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809567},"type":"list"},{"_id":"NTOXNCIRANFQHBYCZHKCYL2AGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978608},"content":"Gordon made his debut for Ireland at the Para-cycling World Champions in 2017 and went on to represent Team Ireland at the Tokyo Paralympics. Now paired with pilot Eoin Mullen, they placed fifth at last year’s World Championships in the tandem sprint.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T3WKI26XEBEC5B56G435O4OEVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978609},"content":"<b>Damien Vereker</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZE2WDPH2NPYT3L2N3Q3JOF362Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"NRL42YQCOJDUDDBOLOSS7YQT5Q"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"WA4TVXHRDBG43G4ALP4JTXQMAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978610},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YEAZG3KE7FGFTK2RD5YQONN6YE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978615},"content":"Having competed at the Rio Games, Vereker is back for his second Paralympics. He will compete in four events in Paris – the B4 4,000m individual pursuit, B 1,000m time trial, B individual time trial and B road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MNF7VICPTJGDVBDM4YEUPLFYI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978616},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Pilots</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"RFHTF4BTVVDBBCBDJB2VJ77KQI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978617},"content":"<b>Eve McCrystal (Katie George Dunlevy & Josephine Healion)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"KAHLCCQIM7DA7VGGCUWVWI432A","additional_properties":{"_id":"AXKQUNAI35CKZHMLUBZDKZPWEM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YOS5QKQMJVEJFEMIWQYYQXIV4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978618},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YDI3HPNNAFBRTZMYMUEEG2Y24U","additional_properties":{"_id":"7Q5VNFNXMZBFRLWJYJO3XNUYA4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4ATLF5VEFZFPNHGXNRGUXZD5MU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978622},"type":"list"},{"_id":"QKXQ73BT5IVQIQCNRSHECQ2JI4","additional_properties":{"_id":"UCLEZTTEXVDGBM4RGRFB22OX3A"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"XTTBKJ6UU5CEXC3XUFCPZ3KVDI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978626},"type":"list"},{"_id":"P55PN3SILJXJDXTOJF2HQNUTDI","additional_properties":{"_id":"KEUYWQSLHFD75B72IXY3NON23U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2VCN74YKWBHY7J7CZPQAAGUAKI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978629},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ROSHSUCMTBDL7HR3NIPIEVEI64","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978633},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Equestrian</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"BXFJ2IGRJBAE5IQDPVRKZSTCYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978634},"content":"<b>Michael Murphy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"BELBFMEBBVGK5JO3M6Y622T6CA","additional_properties":{"_id":"TBC2TUM47JHQPEXFP26ENWIURM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CVZYKHHCU5GAXFQP2ZJAMKLMUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809605},"type":"list"},{"_id":"VLISDNYIUBHHJHOWAKH2IMRQ3U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978642},"content":"Paris will be a second Paralympics for Michael Murphy, again riding Clever Boy, after the pair competed in the individual and team dressage events, joined in the latter by Kate Kerr-Horan and Tamsin Addiso. Murphy and Clever Boy also won two bronze medals at the 2022 World Championships in Herning and silver at last year’s European Championships in Riesenbeck.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EXK77BCTENFHPI6OHNZQFUZNGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978643},"content":"<b>Kate Kerr-Horan</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"54Y4E4RG3YBBLYUHO3HM46UU3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"V2UHBU3ZDRHWNCB5U3F5ZULGPU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NEYB523K3NFU7I5RYNZQQZUZZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978644},"type":"list"},{"_id":"NAWIOCKY7REYNKA5STCUN3EESA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978651},"content":"A member of the Irish high-performance team since 2011, Paris will be Kerr-Horan’s second Games. At the 2022 World Championships in Herning, Kerr-Horan and her horse Serafina placed 13th in the individual and seventh in the team dressage events.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2UWI33IHVBAJDGO27SD2OKWEKQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978652},"content":"<b>Jessica McKenna</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"OUVN5ROOYFNUL6G2NDPOBVPFEQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"BBUGMN6G7JHJBE24IAZV5CJAIE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"XE7WAK6A4VH5TKQANS2WWDI7I4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978653},"content":"<b>Age:</b> 23","type":"text"},{"_id":"4D5FSPZVZZC3RI3VL7RYPK6VPA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978654},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YCNVHO3I7RGGRHQWEN37PTJKK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978660},"content":"McKenney will be making her first appearance at the Paralympic Games following her international debut in Addington, England last year. Last September, she and her horse Davidoff 188 travelled to the European Championships in Riesenbeck, placing sixth overall in the Grade III individual dressage event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HYTU2RAKM5C3DK7WX5VQOMPLQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978661},"content":"<b>Sarah Slattery</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AHDT52JIENVJNROUBNMRWB4H2E","additional_properties":{"_id":"Y6J3MW4TCRFI7PEZDQDY6XU4NM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GGNCCUIJU5D2BLTYVEM74XCEXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978662},"type":"list"},{"_id":"LHMMMYCHZBAUXJW6A4RQBYNDZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978669},"content":"The daughter of showjumper Tom Slattery, Sarah will be making her Paralympic debut in Paris. Slattery is the 2021 Irish Winter National Para Dressage champion, and last year, with her new horse Savona, came third in the freestyle and grand prix events in the CPEDI3* in Belgium. She’s also had a successful 2024 to date, taking a personal best in the grand prix B test in Belgium, and was a member of the Irish team that placed second at an event in Hartpury in July.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FVW5IG4GMRG5LPJZMBC77FKQ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978670},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Powerlifting</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"LUCOPLK6WNBXFBBDIYMSMHJNWQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978671},"content":"<b>Britney Arendse</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CNVXW2BH4DZDHY323QNHEHSZSY","additional_properties":{"_id":"KM5JSGZFRRBH5H3V7R4KLEJMZA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CJETST5JDVBJXB2B22ZXNEVM2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809646},"type":"list"},{"_id":"PQKH72OUZVD2NNSW6J5H3L4OY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978677},"content":"Arendse made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, finishing seventh in the 73kg category. She goes to Paris having set a new personal best of 128kg earlier this year, and will compete in the up to 79kg category at the 2024 Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6Z4PGYVGGRFABM6PW5J3DSEQIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978678},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Rowing</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CRNC4LM67FDF5JFRFS5JOXHFVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978679},"content":"<b>Katie O’Brien</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"Z2JI4RTLMNGRLIVFFGPHW246ZE","additional_properties":{"_id":"ER4XRO2DKJA5HDUQKACNKMLYWU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YCG2Z5PK65BRPOVWIKB4SCAU4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809655},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DJQTOERZBFHVDHUNIZMILYYKW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978685},"content":"Inspired by the rowers at the London Paralympics, O’Brien took up the sport in 2012 and has enjoyed significant international success since then. Her first medal at the World Championships came in 2019, when she earned bronze in the PR2 W1x category, but trumped that result in 2022 by winning gold and setting a new world record in the same event. O’Brien will compete in Paris in the PR2 mixed double sculls event having qualified for the Games with a fifth-place finish at last year’s World Rowing Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"435KDV62TVDK5JAO22GQN5D3CQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978686},"content":"<b>Tiarnán O’Donnell</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"B6KDZLZKWRCVRGBECOT6WHTCUY","additional_properties":{"_id":"AB4WOM2QS5GQPG3ZZNTSKKTY6E"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SS2Z2NR3PNG5BF66LXF3NCMBPE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809663},"type":"list"},{"_id":"35QTBZZVSNAUTH7WYXL2KWSG4U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978692},"content":"After making the transition from wheelchair basketball to rowing, O’Donnell will partner O’Brien in the PR2 mixed double sculls event. Despite his relative short time in the sport, he’s already secured his first international medal, taking two silver medals at events in Switzerland and Poland earlier this year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CPCNDB7BA5BRJOJ5RVPCITGDI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978693},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Triathlon</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"74HTILYBPNBWFE2AORVVPUPTII","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978694},"content":"<b>Cassie Cava</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"SA4N7GKZZ6QR7VS4LBBDAAY2XQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"URVD53OYF5EGTBDM2JBXMA2BBQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"6CATVIPG2JFNJB32YKFDET5H6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809672},"type":"list"},{"_id":"B37GJQEB45BFDCUWCFDUYHGZXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978700},"content":"Cava competed for Team GB up to 2017, and Paris will be her first Paralympic outing for Ireland. Soon after switching to Team Ireland, Cava won the PTS4 category at the World Paratriathlon Series event in Edmonton before going on to win bronze a the World Triathlon Grand Finals in both 2018 and 2019.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AZU5HWMJLBDFRIBHJJFXJFFAGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978701},"content":"<b>Judith MacCombe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CPNJWY2Z37PGNP2NVTY47F75VI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2IPUQNGSOZFETN6MZM7V3LJ2EQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"LVBBTJPZ4VBMXFW2SVL47JWPEM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978702},"type":"list"},{"_id":"B32TSMXVPBAKXLURYHUNTGYRAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978707},"content":"Judith and her twin sister Chloe will both be making their Paralympic debuts in Paris, competing against each other in the PTBI 3 event. Judith and her guide Eimear Nicolls have surged up the rankings having taken up the sport just five years ago, qualifying for the Games by having ranked ninth in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WVX4P3NUKJEXFOYFWOW76BDWHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978708},"content":"<b>Chloe MacCombe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"LODN4JRE2ZAMHM6A6TRQZTUS7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978709},"type":"list"},{"_id":"GLSVVHI5LBD4DLNIV5372LQPN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978714},"content":"Twin sister to Judith, she will compete alongside her guide Catherine Sands at her first Paralympics. Chloe qualified by virtue of being third in the world rankings, and is a silver medallist from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UTRKFYFLWFACTKEELUDTKH3AY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978715},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Guides</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"PSLTHSYLBFEFZJDAXUHFXUW7AQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978716},"content":"<b>Eimear Nicholls (Judith)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"DZTOZAKVJGS3WEWKFWLRKCQ6LY","additional_properties":{"_id":"MAXMO3CTEZGHFMJXJTEXHWQEQQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"3SKRD5PTI5E63FJN3TFWITVSHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809696},"type":"list"},{"_id":"N6AUO4VOTOLIWKA7DKABZU7YCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"3RHI2T366VFSHIOHPBEE4SXU34"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4LZYWZUNUJF4FLMM2P7JDAR6OQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809701},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ONN6JSF6TFGXBHKEZWSK22ADXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"36MGJMBNPVFODFUDXQDTRFBM64"},"type":"divider"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Muireann Duffy"}},"name":"Muireann Duffy"}]},"description":{"basic":"From archery to triathlon, the Irish team is full of talent and looking for medals in Paris"},"display_date":"2024-08-24T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics 2024 - Meet Team Ireland","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"26GMYYTLSJH4JNCW6XE5XJ4OPA","auth":{"1":"72d1de54478c6c6bce74644c3382f9e236ddf6289b5e6bd980e5b13516d2dd5d"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/26GMYYTLSJH4JNCW6XE5XJ4OPA.JPG"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/athletics/2024/08/24/paralympics-2024-meet-team-ireland/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/athletics","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Athletics"}}}},{"_id":"5DIMS6VSXVG6JJ7GN6Z5XKZ4IY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":660,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/066475dd-6afe-4f4c-a5fd-7dbaea4ac6ac/versions/1724424804/media/e1b74132e3982ddf4f0155d030e48df8_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/24/ronan-grimes-fully-committed-to-one-last-spin-on-competitive-carousel/","content_elements":[{"_id":"BXRKRY3TP5CBZFOYVIQ4ZT25SU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412918},"content":"One day, while he was walking into the library in Trinity College, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/ronan-grimes/\" target=\"_blank\">Ronan Grimes</a> was stopped by a stranger.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IIXKXSRRFREMPEGKOU4UQ5OZAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168034},"content":"He noticed a difference in Grimes’s gait. By then his club foot was no longer a conversation piece, or a source of ridicule, or an amber light in his life. It was blended into everyday living: not fixed, not broken, not perfect, not a drag.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GKXZVMLJUJHEPL7D7JAZLILBQM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412919},"content":"“This man was a mature student and a father,” Grimes says now. “His son had been born with a club foot. He obviously spotted straight away that I had this atypical walk. He was really worried – asking about my quality of life, and ‘Can you do this and that?’","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPOTXM3NRZE4RA3PLSOPJNCFTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412920},"content":"“That kind of hit home. When your child is small and you’re the parent of somebody with a club foot, it’s huge. To me, at that stage, it wasn’t impacting me at all. Grand, you’re not running anywhere, or I wasn’t playing any sports but in terms of getting around, day to day, I wouldn’t have thought that anybody would notice I was walking differently to other people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U65RRG64Q5FM7CLNEZFWFVQ4RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412921},"content":"“After years of never even talking about it – nobody in college had ever mentioned it or anything – that was an eye-opener.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SG5TIXXDLFHZJCKZY42RA2OEZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412922},"content":"When Grimes was a child his club foot commanded a different status in his life. It was too obtrusive to be hidden or brushed off. Grimes says they will only perform surgery on a club foot if it is “severe”. By the age of three, he had been operated on twice. Neither surgery produced the desired outcome.","type":"text"},{"_id":"73PFMH23AFEQDDBXLOQSIIIIXI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412923},"content":"After that, they couldn’t operate again until his foot had grown to a certain size, and he would be 11 by then. In the meantime, he was busy being a child. Hurling is the biggest sport in Athenry, and he grew up next to the club’s training pitches. Every child wants to fit in, and hurling was the simplest way to be part of the gang. But playing hurling didn’t make him look like the other kids; it magnified the difference.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JBJ5A5QJQBDC3JU6KXYKULL534","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412924},"content":"“I was kind of big enough for a child. I was well able to throw myself around. When you look back on it, I wasn’t really able to run, I’d be tripping over my leg. I kind of always wanted to do it because I didn’t want to miss out, but I don’t think I ever enjoyed it because I was just so self-conscious.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2D4ZL6SGVVE7BCUNWUQPD3ZSIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412925},"content":"“When you’re a young child, and you’re different in any way, it’s huge. It’s something other children can see very easily. I always nearly wanted to prove myself that I was as good as people, but sure I couldn’t run around a pitch.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2WENK4EIORA5NAEBCFTVRU7S7U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412926},"content":"Cruelty has many digital trampolines now, but among children it has a different take-off and landing. His Mam and Dad used to confront the parents of the children who mocked him or bullied him, but that kind of policing has a double-edged quality.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y32MHXCMMJFZXILKJAIS6SV3YA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412927},"content":"He was going into his final year in primary school when his foot was operated on for the last time. In secondary school everything was better. Most of the kids from his primary school class went elsewhere and Grimes landed in a co-ed school. The operation was a success. It was a fresh start.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OOZO5EJUFCX5FWSSFPCKAS6EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412928},"content":"“Instead of being in an all-boys school you’re with girls. I think that just changed the whole dynamic. I can’t remember now what the foot looked like before. I imagine it would have been growing downwards as opposed to forwards. I can’t even remember if I used to have pain walking around or not. After the operation my gait pattern was a bit more normal. I got more confident I think as I got older.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XI6RCN454VG2LBZ4XSLWHY3FK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412929},"content":"“I played no sport through secondary school. Even if there were lads kicking a ball I’d be so frightened of breaking my ankle or something in my left leg that I steered away from it. But I really focused on studying. That was nearly my competitive outlet. In college it was similar enough. I loved going out but when it came to exams, I was hyper-focused for a three-month block to try to get good results. I was always channelling a competitive edge into other parts of my life I think.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JZ66GYERLZG4PGQ4E4TUPQP26U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412930},"content":"Fifteen years ago Grimes bought a bike. He was living in student accommodation in Dublin and grew tired of waiting for the Luas. His relationship with the bike was platonic at first, but those feelings changed.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FZIJ47TJPFDYNATHVL26JROBWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412931},"content":"As part of his undergraduate degree in pharmacy he spent time at a plant in Ballymacarbry on the Waterford-Tipperary border and during that time he lived in Dungarvan. For months he didn’t know many people. Then he noticed a cycling club taking off from the square in Dungarvan at weekends and he mustered the courage to introduce himself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKLMEIOCQKTITOVKBMLBLT7SC4","additional_properties":{"_id":"HIOITEAVFZADJNXTUZVRETRCHQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2DRORFV6ZJAOVA2BKCWPY23VTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412932},"content":"“It’s funny, at that age – 21, 22 – I was more looking forward to weekends where I would go out cycling with the club than weekends where I would go out drinking with the lads. Really quickly it became something that was my big passion.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WY5F54WJGBHDVD4OCN2FG7RTGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412933},"content":"When Grimes returned to Dublin to start a PhD he joined Orwell Wheelers. Before long he was competing in “able-bodied races”. He still hadn’t been fitted properly for a racing bike. One of his feet was size nine and the other was size five. His legs were a different length.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZPLPXANNNG75NEZY3ZOZBHCP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412934},"content":"“When I was in Dungarvan a lad said to me: ‘You have to set your cleat up a bit differently,’ but I nearly got a bit thick with him. Saying like, ‘Mind your own business, I’ll do what I want with it’. I would have done that first year of racing without going to a bike fitter.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AO24GOQ7VRBK5DPAT7QJWRZRA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412935},"content":"Ten years ago Grimes entered the world of para cycling. Just two years later he represented Ireland for the first time. Without a coach, or even a power meter on his bike, he finished in the top 10 at a World Cup race in Bilbao. His potential was obvious.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U3N3QVPXPFASNLSF3BVK3XEB74","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412936},"content":"Neill Delahaye was one of the leading para cycling coaches in the country and Grimes emailed him for advice. In truth, he was casting a line into the water. Delahaye bit down on the hook. From there, his career went into orbit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25JCHLES6FGGXNZ3TGRFEL3EYU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412937},"content":"By 2018 he had qualified for funding on the carding scheme; a year later he won his first world championship medal; a year after that he won his second.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D5A4QO4PHVD7PGTTNOBCPMA25U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168055},"content":"“Every year I had this small step and progression that kept me going back for more. In 2019 I got a world championship medal on the track and I was like, ‘The Games are next year and I’m only going one way’.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NBODL3RM5AQZOVUESLRRNYAZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412938},"content":"“I medalled at the track worlds again in January 2020 and then Covid came. But then, you’re like, ‘I might actually be on the top step [of the medals podium] if I keep going’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XUX4R377VRGVDEWNTWCFPTKZ4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412939},"content":"The Tokyo Paralympics were delayed by a year; his form held up. In the training camp in Portugal before the Games he was clocking times that would have won at least silver at every world championships. In Tokyo he lined up in four events, expecting at least one medal. He finished fourth, sixth, 11th,15th. In the backwash he thought about stepping away. He was in a funk.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKR4QHCIKNHCNHMKRWETBH6CTM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412940},"content":"“When it’s the first time that you go through such a major upset in your mind you’re instantly just trying to distance yourself from everything. As soon as the Games were over I was kind of going, ‘That’s me done. I’m going to finish’. I was kind of thick, I think, really.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BWYBAJTSFBEXDHBL3H3HGX4SLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412941},"content":"When his emotions returned to room temperature he started to analyse what happened. In the time trial he was seeded to go last and there was a psychological component to that he hadn’t reckoned with.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WKCS5IXGEFCRFDJO4WJS6YORL4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412942},"content":"“I just saw the times going in front of me and I was like, ‘Oh God, I won’t be able’. It was a weird experience. I think on the day I got the best out of me that I could have. I went faster than in training. If you go faster than you’ve ever gone before and as fast as you’re expected to go, there’s not much more you can do. But I think I was just too focused on what other people were doing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"74QAC63M7G2LDWBHMMWTOTCECI","additional_properties":{"_id":"YSLMJB7USNCDLFIHDLAQTY5LJY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"O6ELYARKXJGPTI7A52JMSKNJOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412943},"content":"“Looking back on it now, I should have been really proud of it. But when you’re chasing medals that can be an issue. You can’t appreciate a good performance – or I suppose it’s hard to do that.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FZFDKH3UJVDYDDHZ4AQWC56TFQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412944},"content":"In the time trial he finished sixth; in the individual pursuit on the track, he reached a ride off for the bronze medal and ended up finishing fourth. In defeat, nothing is right.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FT3TNKYWJZACJL2ADGJYAZB4AQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412945},"content":"“In that moment I was thinking, ‘Maybe you spread yourself too thin. If I focused on one thing I would have been better’. I wondered if I had spent the previous six months not working would I have found a second or two in that ride off?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SI2T4HLNUZC2XFFB7FRFY36L4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412946},"content":"A month after the Games he was back in training. A year later he won gold at the road race world championships in Canada. In the same season he was European champion. At the end of the year he was shortlisted for RTÉ Sports Person of the Year. It was better not to stop.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6EUKFEV4OVH4XOT7WIP7662DZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412947},"content":"So, what events will he be contesting at the Paris Paralympics?","type":"text"},{"_id":"BOYGDFPD5FGZZJHZ6PG64WMLRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168067},"content":"“I’m doing the same [as last time],” he says, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve learned any lessons.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WMFDMWGW6FE2JA7YDJOVD4MCUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412948},"content":"That claim doesn’t hold up. At the end of last year, Grimes left the place where he has worked for the last eight years. Since January he has trained full-time. With his partner they did the sums. His funding has been at the top rate of €40,000 a year since he started winning medals at the world championships. Their mortgage was young and manageable. They had enough to get by. Everything was poured into this; one last spin on the carousel.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VJ3SU2G3G5F43E732LFMLKDTJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412949},"content":"“I’m a bit older [35] and I had a career developed before I got into this, so it’s hard to justify giving something up. It’s just kind of more for yourself to look back on. Whatever happens this time I’m happy enough to finish and say, ‘There’s not much more I could have given.’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MMMOWI2E2BH2FDHKOQAKQ7PNFA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412950},"content":"His family will be in Paris. His parents have never seen him compete in the flesh. Last chance. <i>Allez.</i>","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Denis Walsh"}},"name":"Denis Walsh"}]},"description":{"basic":"After just missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, cyclist Ronan Grimes has given his all in preparation for Paris swansong"},"display_date":"2024-08-24T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ronan Grimes fully committed to one last spin on competitive carousel","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BW42J5LCSIVBKQOYY5BVQFRJSI","auth":{"1":"0adf35e8f6f5304d55723371f39fde27d95e83a29c0bca114b06e15714a2b55b"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BW42J5LCSIVBKQOYY5BVQFRJSI.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/24/ronan-grimes-fully-committed-to-one-last-spin-on-competitive-carousel/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}}],"count":588,"_id":"f62b1b49076aac09ac6f0cc430493a5290388b14d5bb6045b196726705f7e4b5"},"expires":1734013057852,"lastModified":1734012755933},"{\"feedOffset\":0,\"feedSize\":50,\"includeSections\":\"/sport/cycling\"}":{"data":{"content_elements":[{"_id":"74TVGT42CNGTLM5NUQMXHVTMYU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":105,"audio_url":"https://beyondwords-h0e8gjgjaqe0egb7.a03.azurefd.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/58502ce8-fe17-45b6-9ae2-c01ccbe96c76/versions/1733322782/media/c1737749c72a0d1d12358cfa634245a4_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/12/04/cyclist-remco-evenepoel-undergoes-surgery-after-horror-training-crash/","content_elements":[{"_id":"QNWTGMIHRJG5FPCD52MHXWWCWE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265686},"content":"Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel is on the road to recovery as he underwent successful surgery following a crash during training, the Belgian said on Wednesday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JZQJ2EEDV5HZZJJBQXFHSBTSU4","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265687},"content":"The 24-year-old said he had suffered fractures to his rib, shoulder blade, and hand, contusions to his lungs, and a dislocation of his right clavicle leaving all his surrounding ligaments torn.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UHRO7DL2T5HA7BTLMAGYNZXFSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265688},"content":"Evenepoel crashed into an open door of a postal vehicle while he was on a training ride in Oetingen on Tuesday, Belgian media reports said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U6D7HW54MZHHJLB7UMAAMNTOWA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265689},"content":"“The comeback starts now. After a scary accident on training yesterday, I underwent surgery last night and everything went well,” Evenepoel posted on Instagram. “...It’s going to be a long journey but I’m fully focused on my recovery and I’m determined to come back stronger, step by step.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"PLNRUJJ5LJHEBHFXNXCBDLF5UM","subtype":"instagram","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"2YF57YQ7QRH33MSYG7XP52AJFE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265691},"content":"Evenepoel, who claimed gold in the men's road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics this year, was taken to the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht and was then moved to a hospital in Herentals, where his injuries were assessed further.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EG5UBAL4IRE4JHKKGXSONDV3RY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265692},"content":"“I’m very grateful for all the help and support I received the last 24 hours. From the emergency services, the neighbours that helped me in the first moment, the medical teams in Anderlecht and Herentals, and our team doctor,” he added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FRN742GYFDF5G2UUW7SM2ABLI","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265693},"content":"\"Also a special mention to my wife, and my family for standing by me in these difficult moments and to everyone for their supportive messages. I also want to express my support to the woman involved in the accident.\"","type":"text"},{"_id":"QZDRNFTSNNDA5DKGGRSOL24ECQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1733320265694},"content":"The impact of the incident also broke the Belgian’s bike, reports added.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[]},"description":{"basic":"The 24-year-old Belgian claimed gold in the men’s road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics this year"},"display_date":"2024-12-04T14:27:52.405Z","headlines":{"basic":"Cyclist Remco Evenepoel undergoes surgery after horror training crash","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"7CGCNLY6WUUGFYHK6AW54ONGLU","auth":{"1":"afce1f2bf7a57d5b7a50b00cfa4633cd9f7b85a4b41cbb6f82e1872f6ddd2312"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/7CGCNLY6WUUGFYHK6AW54ONGLU.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/12/04/cyclist-remco-evenepoel-undergoes-surgery-after-horror-training-crash/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"6GXC4LMMJBEBHJ65G2YQOZ5GFA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":86,"audio_url":"https://beyondwords-h0e8gjgjaqe0egb7.a03.azurefd.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/2d721fa9-2476-49ce-b9d1-3c39e074a490/versions/1733243116/media/c4f09262d557611d72b3ee6ec7cc876c_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/12/03/remco-evenepoel-suffers-multiple-fractures-in-crash-during-training-in-belgium/","content_elements":[{"_id":"D7DHWNGBGFDSFGIV652KC5Y57I","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385222},"content":"Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel suffered fractures to his rib, shoulder blade and hand, his team Soudal-QuickStep said on Tuesday, following reports of a collision with a vehicle in Belgium.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DCVABTHYIBC2PPL6H5YUXZLO6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385224},"content":"According to Belgian media reports, the 24-year-old crashed into an open door of a postal vehicle while he was on a training ride in Oetingen.","type":"text"},{"_id":"N6TENB3E3BFWFAG26YAA4Q3JQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385225},"content":"“Following an incident while training today, Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital where it was revealed that he has sustained fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and his right hand,” a Soudal-QuickStep statement said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MYBCYOFALFAIHCS4Y2NGDQT2KE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385226},"content":"Evenepoel, who claimed gold in the men's road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics this year, was conscious after the incident with the impact breaking the Belgian's bike, reports said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HRX5QRYJ3BHZTPUXZIMQTWO4LA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385227},"content":"“Remco has pain in his shoulder and his hand. Our doctor is working on it,” Soudal-QuickStep’s manager Patrick Lefevere told Belgium’s state-funded sports website Sporza.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QAAGJGBR75CPTIBUOGL5GKR24U","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385228},"content":"“His bike broke in two in that incident. But it’s better to split his bike in two than his arm.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZPZA5WKSOFBGPFYGXBIW6YTLLY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385229},"content":"In an update to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel’s father, Patrick, said: “He has already sent us a message, so we hope everything is okay.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YC3GR7C4PJCS7FLSEFQYYRCGLI","additional_properties":{"_id":1733242385230},"content":"Evenepoel was taken to the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht after the incident and will now be moved to a hospital in Herentals, where his injuries will be assessed further. 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She fought back to rejoin Brand, but then was gapped in one of the sand sections.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFP5UPL45JCD5HBYZYCJ5XP7WM","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672271},"content":"“I don’t know if she had a problem again with her bike or something, because in the beginning she looked strong and confident coming back,” Dutchwoman Brand said of Van Empel. “But maybe it cost her too much energy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DGAGXRYWCNCVLOG3RGDCKALDEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672272},"content":"Both Vanthourenhout and Brand took over as leaders of the World Cup after this second round.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5OXYE7233ZAHNJGXZYIT3UZY2A","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672273},"content":"Greta Lawless was best of the Irish, taking a fine 10th in the junior women’s World Cup race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PD45IEX6F5CG3KIYIPOKYDYZYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672274},"content":"“I didn’t really expect it,” she said. “I had exams this week and I was sick the week before so not the most ideal run up. 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Dean Harvey placed 20th in the under 23 men’s contest.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JJBCAVMLPBG63MUQXFV3IY5DUA","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672276},"content":"<b>UCI Cyclocross World Cup round 2, Dublin:</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"F4N7WZG3C5ECDD6Z33YJHDFN5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672277},"content":"<b>Elite men’s race:</b> 1 Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), 2 T Aerts (Deschacht – Hens – FSP), 3 Felipe Orts (Ridley Racing Team)","type":"text"},{"_id":"PJEYUYEIINCPVBB4A4V6WZS4FY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672278},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 30 Darnell Moore","type":"text"},{"_id":"AWAZMPP2CRBPDMGIIREIUNJTWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672279},"content":"<b>Elite women’s race:</b> 1 Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) 2 F van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3 Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM)","type":"text"},{"_id":"JTDRGU2MWZGN3BBYHKEDLIF46A","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672280},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 38 Ester Wong","type":"text"},{"_id":"TOQBNNKHRBFMROUDP5Q7AD5VZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672281},"content":"<b>Under 23 men:</b> 1 Jente Michels (Belgium), 2 Aaron Dockx (Belgium), 3 David Haverdings (Netherlands)","type":"text"},{"_id":"TVERX4JDWRCMXNWXWT6BFKEJAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672282},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 20 Dean Harvey","type":"text"},{"_id":"YGZSV3O5BNA65JMKZ6FJBYXGPQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672283},"content":"<b>Junior men:</b> 1 Soren Bruyere Joumard (France), 2 Giel Lejeune (Belgium) 3 Lennes Jacobs (Belgium)","type":"text"},{"_id":"RDDJWR7LGNAMTNSEA3EIYIBGYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672284},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 20 Curtis McKee","type":"text"},{"_id":"QUK4MAJ6W5AWJPJ7C3WLKCUUPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672285},"content":"<b>Junior women:</b> 1 Lidia Cusack (United States) 2 Lison Desprez (France) 3 Rafaelle Carrier (Canada)","type":"text"},{"_id":"V2C6SPWIWFHIRFQTPJIJXN7QHU","additional_properties":{"_id":1733080672286},"content":"<b>Best of Irish:</b> 10 Greta Lawless","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Greta Lawless impresses by taking a fine 10th in the junior women’s World Cup race"},"display_date":"2024-12-01T19:33:39.445Z","headlines":{"basic":"Michael Vanthourenhout and Lucinda Brand victorious in Dublin Cyclocross World Cup","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"3OTXWSMVWMJC2C5W3GCXTHLDF4","auth":{"1":"f7671084bcd11ed6258bf2c19e8626f984f6d93e30b107a82f1f9a9b1af1e38e"},"focal_point":{"x":3388,"y":334},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3OTXWSMVWMJC2C5W3GCXTHLDF4.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/12/01/michael-vanthourenhout-and-lucinda-brand-victorious-in-dublin-cyclocross-world-cup/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"Q4G2IF4SXVDKJPWVFZXACAET7Y","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":991,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/1859e8dd-7cd8-4188-8030-54296c484099/versions/1732894086/media/523015459911082da761683a1fb82d8a_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/tennis/2024/11/30/conor-nilands-the-racket-is-the-best-sports-book-in-a-year-dominated-by-autobiographies/","content_elements":[{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Best</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"QN6QDAYMLJDYNAWJKLUECCLDZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218638},"content":"<u><b>The Racket by Conor Niland and Gavin Cooney (Penguin, €15.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"T2NWODWUHZF5PN7MO34GXGVFEI","additional_properties":{"_id":"5OXDPQ6CZNGPFBIM4FUIB6254I"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"EAN677ZKUBF6DF54CEMCMMPXTY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218639},"content":"We have had some brilliant Irish sports books over the past decade, without having all that many stone cold classics. This is a stone cold classic. The story of Conor Niland’s life in professional tennis, told along with Gavin Cooney of The 42, recently became the third Irish book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. And deservedly so.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LIPELKNKRRBBFL5RTJBANJMJSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218640},"content":"Niland is the best Irish tennis player of the open era. He was born six weeks after Roger Federer – not for nothing is the book subtitled On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%. The story, then, is one of getting closer than almost everyone on the planet to the sport’s gilded inner sanctum without ever quite making it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MMDC5ERAXBGQFBPRGH4QFBYQCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218641},"content":"Some of it would break your heart. The drip-drip of him throwing away his one match at Wimbledon after leading 4-1 in the final set is harrowing, all the more so because the prize for winning would have been a Centre Court match against Federer. The travel, the injuries, the grimly observed differences between the haves and have-nots – all of it would grind anyone down.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7NUQ6YQRP5DDPJAVZHJAXT4G3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218642},"content":"But this is no misery lit adventure. It’s very funny throughout because Niland and Cooney have packed a lifetime’s absurdity in here too. Like the time he played a set against the 15-year-old son of one of this sponsors, the weirdest match of his life. “Am I really allowed to beat up on my sponsor’s son? Or will he wonder why he’s spending his money on a guy who can’t beat his son easily?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AXPCU2NTC5HZFNTTCUNI6A5W4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218643},"content":"Niland retired in 2012, injuries finally calling a halt. The fact that he has let a decade pass before writing this book has done it a world of good. The tone isn’t bitter or maudlin – Niland has more perspective than that. He has painted a wonderfully detailed picture of a world most sports fans know next-to-nothing about and kept his sanity while doing so. That’s a win, all by itself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XXMVENZ5CBEC7CT3CFDRFTJAZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218644},"content":"<u><b>Obsessed by Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Reilly (Penguin, €24.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"3ZJYIDVQQ5BSTDQSWRCJ7M6DFA","additional_properties":{"_id":"EO6FGPFXLZFRJMGQ537GN3MG7U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MRF4QB2UYVE2NM54LUIB2JNI3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218645},"content":"There is a fantastic tension that runs throughout <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/johnny-sexton/\" target=\"_blank\">Johnny Sexton</a>’s autobiography, made all the better for the fact that he probably would have got away without dwelling on it at all. On the one hand, he was (is) a demonic competitor, a relentless setter of standards, a person who calls out deficiencies when he sees them. On the other, that doesn’t always make for a particularly pleasant person to be around.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPP44OW6HFBTVPSGWWIOG2ZFD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218646},"content":"In someone else’s hands, that side of his character could have been dealt with in a single chapter of a book that, let’s not forget, chronicles one of the greatest ever Irish sporting careers. Sexton and Peter O’Reilly could have thrown in a couple of anecdotes of him losing the rag, leavened it all with a bit of self-deprecation and moved right along to telling everyone about his drop goal against France in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WF37N3XB4JH25D43KDMC2OZKG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218647},"content":"But what makes this such a rewarding read is that fact that Sexton is willing to paint himself in an often unflattering light. His spikiness, his abrasive nature, his unwillingness to float along – these are a feature of his make-up, not a bug in the system. So much of the book is him wrestling with this side of himself. How did he get like this? Why does he have to be this way?","type":"text"},{"_id":"2ZKCU2MIHVC3POXAXEGQG25DFY","additional_properties":{"_id":"W4PYHJY4BJDJZLKVPNK6ZG7BJE"},"content":"Obsessed. The Autobiography by Johnny Sexton: One of the best Irish sports books ever written","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"R2A52XEAJBCGDJPVGYYPLTG4EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218648},"content":"“Be yourself everyone – except you, Johnny,” was <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/andy-farrell/\" target=\"_blank\">Andy Farrell</a>’s instruction at one point, making it clear to Sexton that he had to change his nature as Ireland captain, become more of a chameleon, work out who he can’t lose the rag with and who needs to be spoken to more softly. In the next breath, Sexton growled at John Cooney for a mistake in training but later rang him to apologise – “Though it went against every fibre of my being”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ERBXONWKRGHLJGVKW3OJKV5UM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218649},"content":"The push-and-pull of that, the constant unsparing questioning of himself, lifts this book above the vast majority of the autobiographies of his contemporaries. A brilliant portrait of one of Ireland’s most fascinating people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZPMZNNSHFECFPK2S3DA7HT6RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218650},"content":"<u><b>My Story by Joe Canning and Vincent Hogan (Gill Books, €21.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"6HAXHRPFUZBNBEJQVCHM3B5DWI","additional_properties":{"_id":"Q2M6K7KI7JF6VDQODF5E7SCJ54"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"T6FR676VXRDFFGH3V7IWF4PNLU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218651},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/joe-canning/\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Canning</a>’s father, Seán, has the best line in the former Galway hurler’s autobiography. At one stage, Canning is writing about the fact that he has kept a number of critical articles and headlines on his phone, years after they were written. He accepts that this doesn’t really say anything good about his ability to let things go.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WGID42VM3NADNHUQ56PZ2RQ24U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218652},"content":"“My father has this expression when he hears me giving out,” Canning writes. “‘Christ Joe, everybody can’t be a prick!’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PEH5QJMPRFI5OHDWO2T5Q3GMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218653},"content":"This is not to say that Canning’s book is a whingefest or an exercise in score-settling. It’s not that at all. The picture of Canning that emerges from his autobiography is of a man who has always known that his talent would mean finding an accommodation with the outside world – and one whose instinct is to feel uneasy about striking that bargain.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HOJQHVQGOJFMVJKACDW6K67CZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218654},"content":"Consequently, there is a sometimes contradictory sense about him. He has always battled to retain his own privacy and to keep his head generally down. But at the same time, he’s not one bit shy about loading up both barrels and picking off targets when he feels the need.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HH7WMH7WVNDHDGUMFTAKLODTBI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218655},"content":"Ger Loughnane gets a clip or two unloaded on him here, various clubs and county board members in Galway as well. Even Micheál Donoghue and his backroom, the men with whom Canning won his All-Ireland – catch a few strays in the book’s closing chapter, on account of them taking over Dublin and coaching against Galway in the championship.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L2XX2H5S4FEJ3B5TMJXDTV7C3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218656},"content":"Expertly put together along with Vincent Hogan, the picture of Canning that comes out of the book is someone who got everything out of his hurling career while staying true to himself along the way. That was never a given.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KKEKOL5G4BB2XAYBNBHGCG4WJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218657},"content":"<u><b>Whatever It Takes by Richie Hogan and Fintan O’Toole (Gill Books, €21.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"BQLLHPV6NNANXINX2BJEOYOQOE","additional_properties":{"_id":"4LOINULKFBD6RGPQXXTKLBAM6Y"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"L54HZ2YG5ZGLJJDLPTZP6MDQCM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218658},"content":"Richie Hogan doesn’t have a lot of time for waffle or flannel or even really shades of grey. Right throughout this pacy, enjoyable autobiography that he has written with the help of Fintan O’Toole of The 42, Hogan is at all times admirably straightforward. You prepare, you hurl, you win or you lose. You go again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WHYSCQA5EJGTPIDT2TWJKWAGQY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218659},"content":"That’s why it feels such a betrayal towards the end of his years with Kilkenny when, after a few dire seasons with injury, he is back fit and firing but can’t get on the pitch. It doesn’t seem to matter that he is lighting up training – Brian Cody and his management can’t be convinced he’ll last the pace. Hogan has it out with Cody – he eventually gets on for the last 10 minutes of the 2022 final and scores his last ever point in Croke Park.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WAVANMH26VEPZDFE6ICQBBKENM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218660},"content":"That Hogan’s back dogged him throughout the second half of his career will come as surprise to nobody. But the extent of it and the lengths he had to go to in order to be able to train and play is jaw-dropping at times. His back spasms have left him lying on the ground in the middle of the street or panned out on the cold floor of a dressingroom toilet, just to be able to get in position for throw-in.","type":"text"},{"_id":"W2OYPRFKDJAEPI5ZBNV5UJ5FLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218661},"content":"His relationship with Cody is fascinating. He’s not shy about expressing his frustration that Kilkenny never developed along with the game’s tactical changes and confronts the Kilkenny boss on a few occasions in the book with the sort of candour that others would have baulked at.","type":"text"},{"_id":"C7NPDEUMFJBQ7ITPC3ALMVMHQI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218662},"content":"Throw in some very funny moments – Cha Fitzpatrick’s Cancún adventures would make for a screenplay in and of themselves – and it’s a highly entertaining addition to the Kilkenny canon.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OS7IWXRM5H65NKAATNWOOTQCM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218663},"content":"<u><b>States Of Play by Miguel Delaney (Seven Dials, €15.99)</b></u>","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNPGCL2IWFA5LABBT76UYAW2S4","additional_properties":{"_id":"GPTVHHATINC23NQXEE6XIEVTUU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RUEBPOSWDBEKZOQWSC6G6J3ATI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218664},"content":"The boiling frog analogy can feel a little overplayed these days but sometimes needs must. The hijacking of professional football by corporate greed and state-aided finance has been such a gradual process that it can often be difficult to assess exactly where we stand with it all. That’s what makes a book like this so necessary.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YF26YOBFQBG3TKQJPW5M34E5HE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218665},"content":"Miguel Delaney is the chief football writer for the Independent in London and his book is an exhaustive account of how the game got itself into state it’s in. It charts the rise of uber-capitalism within soccer, initially in England but throughout Europe and the world as well. The changes over the past 30 years, from the setting up of the Premier League to the involvement of nation states are all in here, expertly gathered into a coherent timeline.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CMLAUX6N65E4DA47NMPIGNOALM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218666},"content":"How Sportswashing Took Over Football is the subtitle but it feels like the term is there as a hook, rather than the whole. While the story of the involvement of the oil nations of Middle East is told here in great detail, it’s only one part of the overall disaster. Football was never meant to be about geopolitics and yet here we are.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BSQNGCJAEJFHXN7TAZRKRCT5XE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218667},"content":"“There can sadly be no illusions about [football’s] role in the 21st century,” Delaney writes towards the end. “It has been a force for autocracy, populism, vested interests, commercialism, hyper-capitalism, ultra-liberalism, the fragmentation of the working classes, the overclass, culture wars, tribalism, soft power and hard power ... It doesn’t need to be like this, though.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AIVNU2IMDJCXZLGRSZTMLVL3XI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218668},"content":"Football needs this book to be read and heard. Part-investigation, part-primal scream, it’s a monumental piece of sports journalism.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Rest</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"EADASPVDK5HTLAHNM5MFCWVTOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218671},"content":"With integration (apparently) coming down the tracks, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the LGFA is as good a time as any for <b>Unladylike by Hayley Kilgallon (New Island, €23.99) </b>to hit the shelves. An in-depth history of women’s Gaelic football, it is rich in detail and beautifully illustrated.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QNGV2XL2TVFT5F2VTYOTAFE3KA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218672},"content":"On a completely different historical plane is <b>Lost Gaels by Peadar Thompson (Merrion, €28.99)</b>. A meticulous and heartfelt work, it is a collection of accounts of the lives of GAA members who died during the Troubles. Like all matters to do with the conflict, it is a complex book about which readers are entitled to have mixed feelings. A vital slice of oral history, all the same.","type":"text"},{"_id":"STFALYRARZCUDCPRBPHHETRJF4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218673},"content":"Two other GAA books are worth a look. <b>The Epic Origins of Hurling by Joeys Alumni (MCH, €32.00)</b> is a translation of scholarly Irish work done by Brother Liam Ó Cathnia of St Joseph’s in Fairview, Dublin in the 1980s, tracing the initial stirrings of the game back in the 1700s. And <b>Our Finest Hour by Edwin McGreal (Mayo Books, €28.00)</b> is a phenomenal collection of yarns gathered in across every club in Mayo (47 football and five hurling), each telling the story of the greatest day in their history.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WZVXNKQIIRHP7GPYKMVL7MT6GM","additional_properties":{"_id":"RH2WQ5MOARFIBIRYGEWIJKMEGY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RDNSCO3AERE23DNPMD3QYJ3G4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218674},"content":"On the soccer front, <b>Munichs by David Peace (Faber & Faber, €23.20)</b> is a fictional retelling of the 1958 Munich air crash and its aftermath. Epic in scale and depth, it has been gloriously reviewed in most quarters. Turning real life into a novel isn’t to everyone’s taste – and Peace’s insistence on repetition as a writing flourish can be a bit grating at times. But there’s no denying his sincerity in honouring the men who were lost.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QUUHWDOOOJHVJFJ747TTJ5CVIY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218675},"content":"Elsewhere, two titans of the TV football game have books out. <b>The Hamilton Notes by George Hamilton (Merrion, €22.99)</b> is the great commentator’s follow-up to his 2021 memoir. His sunny, warm character shines through a collection of travelogues, anecdotes and recollections.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HF53VK64FNEQPE5ELICDDWXPH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218676},"content":"In a similar vein, <b>Saturday Afternoon Fever by Jeff Stelling (Headline, €15.99)</b> is a delightful jaunt through the Sky presenter’s career and if the yarns maybe aren’t always as funny as Stelling himself imagines, there’s more than enough of them to keep the whole show rolling along.","type":"text"},{"_id":"53XDJHKRHZBNFDSTU4IRTX6PNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218677},"content":"This being the 150th year of the IRFU’s existence, a couple of timely skips through history have hit the shelves. <b>Blood And Thunder by Liam O’Callaghan (Penguin, €22.99)</b> is the livelier of them, a deeply-researched social history of the game in Ireland that isn’t afraid to poke at the stuffed shirts that have run the game over the years. <b>Together Standing Tall by John Scally (Gill, €27.99)</b> is a more official affair, an oral history covering the games and players from down the decades.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KFFJ4INJNRFUPAKB7GDWKML2FI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218678},"content":"Next, two very different autobiographies by two very different Irish sports personalities. <b>Bend, Don’t Break by Frank O’Mara (O’Brien, €17.99)</b> is the former middle-distance runner’s story of his fight with Parkinson’s disease. Though it’s a bracing, uncomfortable read at times, you are left in total admiration for O’Mara in his battle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DOWBQ6EF2VGJFKM7RESFYN7Z3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218679},"content":"Davy Russell hasn’t faced serious illness but like most jockeys he’s had no shortage of injury to overcome down the years. They’re a feature of <b>My Autobiography by Davy Russell and Donn McClean (Eriu, €22.00)</b>, along with the people he’s fallen in with and out with over the course of a long career. Russell has always been one of the most interesting jockeys in the weigh room and the sense you get here is that he leaves it with very few regrets.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2VVTPGKIE5BPBGZTXTIYBBFRLM","additional_properties":{"_id":"GTGG5KL36JCYBONA6PV5SI3YTU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SP36BI3MGZA2XJZBTGECWBZ2YY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218680},"content":"To finish, some books that are mercifully NOT autobiographies. <b>Death Of A Boxer by Pete Carvill (Biteback, €23.20)</b> is not quite This Bloody Mary Is The Last Thing I Own but it’s fishing in similar waters to Jonathan Rendall’s 1997 classic. Carvill interrogates boxing and specifically he goes rooting around in the psyche of those who get into the ring, even though they know it can end in their death. Even if it’s a little disjointed at times, it’s always thoughtful and always probing, chasing the elusive why.","type":"text"},{"_id":"77IJR6ZO3VDGXF4YNAVEH4OVRI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218681},"content":"<b>A Farewell To The Fairways by Dermot Gilleece (Red Stripe Press, €19.99)</b> is a gorgeous sign-off from the doyen of Irish golf writers. Gilleece graced the pages of just about every paper in town over the course of six decades and this is his reflection on it all. The words are exacting and precise now as they ever were, needless to say.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CMJRM72JIBC7TDKAAWFWLXULAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218682},"content":"On which note, <b>The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2024 edited by Jane McManus (Triumph Books, €24.00)</b> isn’t to be missed. Get it for the Sally Jenkins masterpiece on Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert – Bitter Rivals. Beloved Friends. Survivors – which genuinely worth the cover price all by itself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTKY4SVQHJDGLFBENPT66TYHQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218637},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>The Kids</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HSCMGTWYTJBNXHVKXVGVVOUYAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218685},"content":"Never has there been a greater spread of sports books aimed at young people, from illustrated histories to biographies to YA novels and beyond. <b>The Story of Irish Rugby by Gerard Siggins (O’Brien, €19.99)</b> is the perfect primer for a young person just getting into the game, artfully written by Siggins, author of the popular Rugby Spirit series. Beautifully illustrated by Graham Corcoran, it’s a must for any rugby mad youngster.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MLRSKZ6KWNGQDJKXNCXOGKDOPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218686},"content":"<b>Ireland’s Call by Paul O’Flynn (Gill, €14.99) </b>is a lightly fictionalised retelling of the 2024 Grand Slam, aimed at the 8-11 year-old age range. It keeps to the general story of the Six Nations campaign and scatters a few imagined conversation between players and coaches throughout.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M5XFAKKDRNCR7DGYXYMDFOR6ZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732877218687},"content":"And for younger readers – or older ones who want to read to them – <b>‘Twas The Match Before Christmas by Julianne McKeigue (O’Brien, €16.99)</b> is a lot of fun. A reworking of the most famous Christmas poem of them all, it’s set in Croke Park and illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"Johnny Sexon, Joe Canning and Richie Hogan all have highly readable offerings and Miguel Delaney’s book on the hijacking of modern football is not to be missed"},"display_date":"2024-11-30T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Sports Books of the Year: Conor Niland’s The Racket the best in a year dominated by autobiographies","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"HSQIAFL7CBDJFPMAUYCWFBEUM4","auth":{"1":"57955f1488272f7f96f48ea653fd839cbf4942161db89faa479143c41e53601b"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/HSQIAFL7CBDJFPMAUYCWFBEUM4.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Racing"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/tennis/2024/11/30/conor-nilands-the-racket-is-the-best-sports-book-in-a-year-dominated-by-autobiographies/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/tennis","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Tennis"}}}},{"_id":"G24KP7LDSBBO5JUOTBJYYSDF3M","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":829,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/539f9165-1a54-4053-b528-c104d7e5c49d/versions/1732272511/media/e2cf7ae506a15e6ba525b76df89c757e_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/23/the-bird-shaped-obsession-that-drives-james-crombie-one-of-irelands-best-sports-photographers/","content_elements":[{"_id":"WPTQVDNLEZCPJJVT7A6GYB3NZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571234},"content":"James Crombie knew nothing about birds when this all started. Couldn’t have told you a starling from a swallow. When a friend told him he should take some pictures of the murmurations around Lough Ennell, his first job was to go away and google what the hell a murmuration was.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YDXBPRGVFBHPJP5NM7MIMKUTKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571235},"content":"That was four years ago. Ireland was in the maw of the pandemic and the normal run of his day job as a sports photographer had slowed to a crawl. He was looking for something to divert himself and also to distract his buddy, who had recently been through a family tragedy. And so began, in December 2020, a project that would produce the most famous photograph he is ever likely to take.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7YHHZAMPCNB43OVG4KHQMIXGPA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571236},"content":"Crombie’s astonishing bird-shaped murmuration didn’t just go viral, it went global. It appeared first on the front page of The Irish Times on March 4th, 2021 and from there, it went everywhere. To parts known and unknown – National Geographic, CNN, The New Scientist, everywhere else.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KZNPGYDFNBHR5PGRKXD4HZYCOI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2LWP7EWSTFATFKEGLSXGGOGWIY"},"content":"Lough Ennell murmurations seen on video just as James Crombie captures the famous photo","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"I3REI6Z5INC7FAQZQGTK4ZF2KQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571238},"content":"“In the three years since I took it, I’d say not a day goes by without someone mentioning it to me,” Crombie says. “I’ve taken pictures since then that I personally think are better but they will never get the attention that that picture got. I go to the UK and run into photographers over there and they go, ‘Here’s the Bird Man’. Every weekend, it happens somewhere.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKGCAZR765DNBEXXXWW25XDJUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571239},"content":"“Which is fine and great – it’s not as if I’m hiding from it. I’m publishing a fecking book off the back of it! But it is funny trying to live up to it. And I don’t think I ever will or ever can, really. I spent the year after I took it half-annoyed because I was going, ‘How am I going to get the next thing that causes that sort of reaction?’ I felt this pressure to deliver something else as good as it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OAGE3QJUJATZILFW5VIH2KU6U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571240},"content":"But as everyone who ever did anything good knows, reaction is an unstable pleasure. It’s a dopamine hit. It doesn’t last and it can’t be why you do it. Crombie took The Bird photo on his 50th night going to Lough Ennell. He kept going back for another 250 nights over the following three years. Why?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3PI6MUVQPKXVYUPQAJVZYBHDVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"2L4SUKSP55C7NCO4QYRJJJESQ4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"JT3P5DQV3ZHVFAYL6VEZ54664U","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571241},"content":"Well, he did it because it became a way to spend time with his friend. He did it because he made another friend, a local farmer, along the way and the three of them became ever so slightly obsessed with these birds. He did it because it was a change of pace too, because there’s only so many kicks you can get from the rolling schedule of live matches.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BDFEAKMND5CZ5OQW4VSOMRWKJA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571242},"content":"“It’s funny because I get completely consumed by sport. Last weekend I was at the Aviva and there were 50,000 rugby fans there. And then I was in Twickenham with 82,000 people and then I was in Cardiff with 52,000 people. So at the weekend, I worked in front of nearly 200,000 people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3XPKJFAWRRDQPMCKCVLSQBNZYU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571243},"content":"“And then on the Tuesday night I went to the lake where there was nobody. It was quiet and peaceful and I just thought, I love the contrast in that. I kind of need that as well. Because you go from game to game, they often just become the same thing at a different venue. I’m as mad into it as I ever was but I know it’s not possible to produce amazing photographs from every event you go to. I know that sometimes you do a match in cruise control.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FIMLZ7OPJG2RJDZ2VLCCRFNZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571244},"content":"“So to go down to the lake and just be there, knowing that nobody is going to care what I produce or if I don’t produce anything, I like that. I’m there on my own, I’m not on the phone, there’s no pressure.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JLGWYMQDGZD6LCL7BWRZWIBX3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571245},"content":"Crombie has won plenty of awards down the years, twice taking the overall PPI Photographer of the Year gong. And yet, much like with the starlings, he ended up being a snapper almost by happenstance. He did an aptitude test in secondary school and somehow the career guidance answer that came back said he should be a fishmonger. He ended up in IT and went to London for three years, working in a bank. That was never going to be it, either.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5SNCONO2LVHJY4RC7QVZUAJAUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"5PGTKKJSEZFXJMJDMSLUFIRGNA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CCDEAOW35FEXNFL7ZOXPZ3IXQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571246},"content":"All the while, he was interested in photography, as a hobby as much as anything. He came back to Ireland and tootled about in a couple of other jobs for a while until a chance came along to take part in a reality TV series called No Experience Required. The idea was that various companies – among them the Inpho sports photography agency – would audition people who had never worked in a particular area before and at the end, take them on to the staff for six months.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HT73SWP3MNGIFODXJTSM5TW7KA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571247},"content":"“I always joke with Billy [Stickland, founder of Inpho] that if I hadn’t won that show, I’d be earning 300 grand a year now and have a second villa down in Spain. But no, I chose sport and photography instead. And it’s been amazing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"J63UGHRMHZG4NMYDLHGSYMRQ5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571248},"content":"“I would say it took me 10 years to get comfortable with it. I was obsessed from the start. For most of that first six months, I was sitting in the office obsessed with how the other lads were cropping pictures, obsessed with settings, obsessed with the equipment. Eventually, near the end, one of them said to me, ‘Here, are you not going to go out and take any pictures? They won’t keep you on if you don’t.’","type":"text"},{"_id":"O5Y6JHVT7RHR5LEM2E4HGFT7EA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571249},"content":"“It nearly hadn’t occurred to me that I could go out and take them, weird as that sounds. I half-thought I had to stay in the office. So I went out every night to a different football match – Dublin championship, intermediate games, junior games, down to Wicklow for more games then. I still have those pictures and they’re brutal. But that’s how it started.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2WBDUKYNAZFAVGKTUWNKKOY7SI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571250},"content":"The bulk of the job is matches. Rugby, soccer, hurling, football, wash, rinse, repeat. He brings an analogue radio with him to every match – digital radio commentary is always about 40 seconds behind the action. It means that he can be looking around during a game, staying engaged but still able to find pictures away from the pitch.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5Z5KWLJQGVFRBLH3ABMB27QFNM","additional_properties":{"_id":"4WK5YTBCLJBCXPOVFBWEBPZUAQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SX3G4MQSENFHPDC6JHRXIALT7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571251},"content":"“I think you need to keep some element of nervousness when you go to games. You don’t want to be too comfortable. If Dublin or Limerick are attacking in the last play of an All-Ireland final, your nerves have to be high because you don’t want to miss the shot.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M56DQVFNCZHSRFV5WIXMY3L5VE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571252},"content":"“I remember this year with Clare and Cork in the All-Ireland final, the Clare guy pulled the Cork guy’s jersey – I got a great shot of it. The jersey is nearly off him. I really thought, ‘How is that not a free?’ This is going to be the pivotal shot. And it didn’t become the pivotal shot because the free wasn’t given.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7HYUXRLKBE5TL3ANMYUONBF6Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571253},"content":"“Those last shots are where you have to be nervous. I’d say something like that happens maybe 10 times in a year. You know it, you can feel it in the stadium, the last play is so important and you don’t want to mess it up. You need that little bit of edge.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GINBGRWVKZCDHFL25TXYHDGOKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571254},"content":"The murmuration project was entirely without edge, of course. Which was kind of the point. Crombie is married to Ann – they’ve been together since they were teenagers and have four kids. Having a day job that takes him away at weekends and sometimes for weeks at a time is bad enough. Heading off to hang out with a couple of thousand starlings for 300 nights over four years requires a fair bit of understanding on the home front.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OFBPU25H6VBFRCA6OWVP4DLRZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571255},"content":"“I would definitely say it’s selfish on my part. I’m gone a lot with sport in the first place. And then to find another reason to be away, it’s a lot. But I met my wife when we were 17. We know each other that long. She manages me, as much as people would have managed Paul McGrath back in the day. Occasionally she’ll say, ‘Right, cop on here.’ But she knows me better than anyone.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2O726S5CQRCTRLICMWPKWS6ZJE","additional_properties":{"_id":"RGDSYRHTXJA5VPGTIHHQ76YMGQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"UTPUWOGV4NBT5DTXS2YT3K7MKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571256},"content":"When the book arrived a couple of weeks back, Crombie’s initial reaction surprised him a little. Delighted and all as he is with it, he couldn’t help being sad at the whole thing coming to an end. Or at least an end of sorts.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TAFXVJWI45FQNG2NYRHSGNLDLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571257},"content":"The starlings have been coming to Lough Ennell to roost in winter for as far back as anyone can remember. It’s about half an hour’s drive from his house. He’ll never not be able to head out with his camera to shoot them. Will he ever snap another picture like the one he did three years ago? Probably not. Will he ever stop being asked about it. Equally probably not.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PRS4ORNROZAGLOCVHHYO6KOT7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571258},"content":"One answer that has never been properly nailed down is the why of it. Why did those thousands of starlings form themselves into the shape of a bird of prey that evening in April 2021? Murmurations are for protection, that much is well known. But why that particular shape for that particular millisecond? Pure coincidence? Or something deeper?","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRV42PVP3FBF7HLACXOQJPLKJA","additional_properties":{"_id":"GCCIAYMVNBBKZKOJJ6FOXMYT3A"},"content":"How Ireland won relay gold in June 2024: Ten photographs that tell the story of a golden night for Irish athletics","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"6YJALFHY3FCFNI2V6EIM5ISCNM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571259},"content":"“I’d like to think it’s something deeper,” Crombie says. “There was another shape that looked like a water wren that same night, within three or four minutes of the one I got. But I’m pretty sure it’s just by chance. I’ve had comments over the years saying it’s a sign of the end of the world, praising Allah, praising God, whatever else. I don’t know.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZBH6HLWSENCPVC3FO7YGWPMCNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571260},"content":"“I don’t think they did it on purpose. If I was standing at a slightly different angle, it wouldn’t have looked like a bird. We just happened to be at the exact perfect angle. So I don’t know. It was probably just pure chance.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5GFT2JUJNVFYZP2SKHN6ERPVSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571261},"content":"♦ <i>Murmurations by James Crombie is published by Lilliput Press</i>","type":"text"},{"_id":"QPPNCSYXZJCMJJMHPPFHFGBFBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571263},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><u><b>The art of sports photography: How It Works</b></u></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"WAK347OGJ5H2LOGAVRX6YNAKLU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571264},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Fionn McGivern (2) watches Kilkenny v Clare, July 2023</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"C3ZS43T4DFGZVJL7NZT2UAMP7I","additional_properties":{"_id":"TANYOHGPHZGN7HFGMJIPNK5ZK4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GY6OIZLS5VAUJJDU7OTXJSORCE","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571265},"content":"I was watching this little kid for about seven or eight minutes while the game was going on. I was very relaxed that day. I was looking for something different and I remember spotting that little kid out of the corner of my eye. I had the game going on in my little analogue radio so I knew I could turn and get anything if I needed to.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KQXRS2RJTVF5NMEXUWDDZRMD5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571266},"content":"But this little lad was just there and I followed him for about seven or eight minutes, maybe nine. Just waiting for him to get into that perfect stance, the way he is in the shot. I got a great buzz out of it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T6RVSHG7E5CHTGM65P6ZFZSXJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571267},"content":"The kid was from Antrim. His parents were massive Kilkenny fans. They were down for the game. Somebody found them afterwards and did a story on them and they ended up getting tickets for the final because of it. The kid ended up being interviewed on Kilkenny radio. That one was good fun.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TERUBBZQXBBW5OJGWMT7TATVMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571268},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Supporter at Covid-era club championship match, September 2020</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"WKYH26EULJC53CBW5ZMXK5X7DQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"7DJA2QWJBRBK5DUT6ZA6FBTSDM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ZPRHSIW7UZBHRLWTFZ5TIZJZUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571269},"content":"Sport had just started back but no crowds were allowed at games yet. This was a Roscommon semi-final between St Brigid’s and Boyle. I was taking pictures of it when I saw this head poking up over the wall behind the goal. So I said I’d go out and have a look.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OGSLXOEIQFCPTPTRDCXSFC5Z6Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571270},"content":"I got out into this graveyard behind Dr Hyde Park. This guy had carried his ladder all the way through the graveyard and propped it up. I didn’t want to disturb him in case he fell off so I took a few snaps and happened to get this one just as Boyle scored.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SWVPBHFZUFGJRNZHRQRS54QIIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571271},"content":"I went over to him then and asked could I publish the photo. “Oh Jesus no,” he said. “I’m not supposed to be here.” There were still restrictions at that stage on how far from your house you were allowed to go. But I said I wouldn’t use his name and would only show him from the back so he was okay with it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7MJDUH5N6FDD3IWQ4VG52CWUQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571272},"content":"A few weeks later, his daughter got on to me and asked could she get the original. Apparently it went viral and everyone recognised him. He ended up doing a two-page spread in the Roscommon Herald.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JUQWNP6PJVGELOVE3YBLGZB4PQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571273},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Connacht bench at a Challenge Cup game in Siberia, January 2016</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"OU3RZX3H5VFNPJ345V6ZT5KFK4","additional_properties":{"_id":"BOQMHUSUFVAD3LPVGMOXNYIVAM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AFPKXQKOWRFEFOGF62HR3CMJMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571274},"content":"This was a mad adventure. Enisei-STM were the first Russian club to play in the Challenge Cup and Connacht went to Siberia for the game. We were told there could be up to 30,000 at it – we turned up and there were about 400 there. It was the coldest I’ve ever been, the harshest conditions I’ve ever seen a match be played in.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3T2VO6K5ENF6DN4MCXLU5LLDRI","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571275},"content":"I had about a dozen layers on me and I was still frozen solid. I saw the Connacht bench from the far side of the pitch but it took me about 10 minutes to walk around because I nearly seized up with the cold. They had blankets and hot water bottles and hot chocolates for when they came off the pitch.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XLAHJY22SZAXDDO3E25X46IWSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1732207571276},"content":"It took us about a week to get home. The charter plane Connacht had hired hadn’t moved for four days and was completely frozen solid when we got back to it. So we had no way of getting out of there. By the time we did, our five-day visas had run out. We had to fly to Moscow to get our visas renewed just to leave the country. Players got processed first, officials next. I’d say I was pretty much the last one out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"It started as a pandemic distraction but ended up producing probably the most famous photo the Westmeath man will ever take - the murmuration that went around the world"},"display_date":"2024-11-23T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"The bird-shaped obsession that drives James Crombie, one of Ireland’s best sports photographers ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI","auth":{"1":"9c9585a82889598a9b724aeaa7c117136eb5fae92b5527345c4515158f27bbc0"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI","auth":{"1":"9c9585a82889598a9b724aeaa7c117136eb5fae92b5527345c4515158f27bbc0"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/XRDS27Z7URWUAPI5LG2H6L7FUI.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Racing"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Soccer"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/23/the-bird-shaped-obsession-that-drives-james-crombie-one-of-irelands-best-sports-photographers/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/gaelic-games","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Gaelic Games"}}}},{"_id":"RTTPKAET2RA3RAEJJOBRZPMM3U","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":509,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/ac159224-ed65-4212-a342-0c5ba9f8cc46/versions/1731685733/media/7e87a8d229f8a1772794aa25af075030_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/11/16/lara-gillespie-climbing-the-cycling-ranks-and-finding-that-extra-gear-despite-adversity/","content_elements":[{"_id":"O2W2NNLT3BA5PEBKTBE54YLPJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1731616006400},"content":"<b>The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for October: </b><a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/lara-gillespie/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Lara Gillespie </b></a><b>(Cycling)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"SZI663E57FC4BBPKDKPHCOSXOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731060},"content":"Being tough on yourself is, no doubt, a basic requirement for athletes competing at the elite level of sport, just so they keep pushing to squeeze every last drop of potential out of themselves. Lara Gillespie can take it to whole new heights, though.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DP4KL3OYXJCEXA2SI4FUWAVJRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731061},"content":"You note how emotional she appeared to be after <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/lara-gillespie-speeds-to-bronze-medal-at-track-world-championships/\" target=\"_blank\">winning bronze at the Track World Championships in Denmark last month</a>. So you ask if that was because she was thinking back to the dark days when even being able to cycle again seemed improbable, never mind winning world medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P7P5PG3HVRBEJDRCEMSZREKSBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731062},"content":"“No. My only emotion that day was annoyance that I didn’t win. I definitely wasn’t thinking, ‘oh, that was amazing’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"S3JB22NY3JFJJJXAUQUQFRHK2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731063},"content":"Ah, Lara.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5CYWOSAPDBF4BFWDWWTERMGXNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731064},"content":"She laughs. “I am hard on myself, yeah, but I think every athlete does have a bit of that in them. And I think that’s how you keep getting better.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OWHNOFS6XBAPXGJCGHIXCYFSBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731065},"content":"It’s a fair indication of how much the 23-year-old has gone through the last few years that she describes breaking her shoulder a couple of weeks out from the Olympics as “a bit unfortunate”. For most, it would have been a calamity, for Gillespie it was just another hiccup on her journey.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NC7LTETKWJH5DIDXIMC656OX5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731066},"content":"After the year she’s enjoyed, she probably deserves to be spared yet more questions about all her health and injury battles, but they put in context the measure of her achievements through 2024, on both the road and track, and demonstrate just how much of the warrior there is about this Wicklow native.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZNDXWOJF5ANNG2UIVLMGJW43E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731067},"content":"The gist: A debilitating gynaecological condition that eventually needed surgery, glandular fever, a torn hamstring, a dislocated collarbone, that broken shoulder, sundry injuries from crashes, and, just to cap it all, Covid as she was shaping up for her Olympic debut.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JSIVYNA3UFFYPL7MLPKORWH4SA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731068},"content":"So, after being annoyed with herself in Denmark for finishing just four points behind gold medallist Julie Leth and only one behind the superstar that is Lotte Kopecky, she reflected on her path to that podium and gave herself a break. A brief one, any way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B4CEM3XHCRFD7CPPS3CD4YAKS4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731069},"content":"“Yeah, I do feel proud about getting through all the hard days, and I’m endlessly grateful to the people who helped me along the way. When I was sick back in 2020 and 2021, I couldn’t even get out of bed, that’s how mentally draining it was. Sport is my life, it’s what makes me feel good, so when I’m not able to do it, it’s really, really hard on my brain, my nervous system, my whole body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L3ZAAMIMZFAQXP5QRU2M23OE7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731070},"content":"“And there was definitely a period when I really didn’t think I’d ever be racing again, so there’s not one day that goes by when I’m not grateful to be back on the bike. Everyone experiences hard times, though, but once things start going good again, you kind of forget about them. But yeah, I really overcame a lot of obstacles, so 2024 was quite a big step considering I’ve only been healthy for a year or two.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MA6LDSOQMFDMLOVUFMLDGE3IX4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731071},"content":"She was, she says, able to put the “disruptions” to her career “to bed” last year, but you’d need a supplement to detail the highlights of 2024 — among them: <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/04/23/lara-gillespie-takes-biggest-road-race-success-of-career-with-italian-win/\" target=\"_blank\">winning two stages plus the general classification in the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa</a> in April, sprinting to victory in the Antwerp Port Epic race in May, being part of the first Irish team pursuit squad to qualify for the Olympic Games, smashing the national record en route to a ninth place finish, and being <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2024/06/06/lara-gillespie-inks-first-worldtour-contract-in-major-career-boost/\" target=\"_blank\">given a contract by UAE Team ADQ which saw her step up to WorldTour level </a>in June. And then there was Denmark.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PVMTADI77BG7TK5LR35RWTIWB4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731072},"content":"“It was a dynamic year, but I absolutely loved every moment of it. I wasn’t just participating, I was actually able to compete at the highest level and I felt like I learned so much. My bronze in Denmark was definitely my big peak of the year, it was incredible to be in the top three in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YJYG24ZSNFFT7JTUUQGFOULVJU","subtype":"instagram","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"MK32O6TO4NG3REC64S6UKZWIBA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731073},"content":"“But I was so proud to be part of that Olympic team too, the four of us traipsed around the world trying to qualify, and for us to achieve that, when we can’t even train at home, was something special.” That velodrome in Abbotstown can’t be built quickly enough.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ETKEU3TZNVGEFFSWPIZ72P64HI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731074},"content":"Needless to say, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/2024/08/12/irelands-olympics-were-emotional-deeply-achingly-and-beautifully-so/\" target=\"_blank\">she was hard on herself after her fifth, 10th and 11th placings in her various Olympic events</a>, but she was hardly off the bike when she had Los Angeles 2028 on her mind. Before then, though, she has a jammed schedule, starting with the UCI Track Champions League — “basically like the Diamond League in athletics” — which gets under way on November 23rd. This is why she’s in Spain this week doing some personal training, rather than being back home in Wicklow relaxing after a hectic year. Cycling is unrelenting.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HR444YNX2FDC7DI7767MR4CGSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731075},"content":"But after a hugely successful junior career, at European and World levels, Gillespie is savouring the chance that has finally come to realise her potential in the senior ranks, her signing with ADQ opening up a whole new world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PYDJB6UHZZCTFFNHDOEWYSD7JM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731076},"content":"“That was massive for me, you can’t get any higher than that. I’m so excited to be a part of it because every single rider on the team is a champion in their own right. It’s a whole new chapter of discovering what suits me [and] what type of rider I am. I’m learning a lot about myself and other people are learning maybe not to put me in a box.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DLZQRC4GTZCTJPGAPVOILNIACM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731077},"content":"“A lot of times this year I surprised myself, and my coaches too. They only thought I was a sprinter or a track rider, and then I would do a big 40km solo breakaway and they’re like, ‘woah, where did that come from?’","type":"text"},{"_id":"CRH4YDJZWNBHZCPKS6IDLVSOJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731078},"content":"“So yeah, I’m learning about myself, what I can be. And I always think I can be the best. That’s just my nature. Every athlete should go into every race thinking they can win — otherwise, what’s the point? Maybe that’s why I’m so hard on myself because I know that’s where I can be: winning.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZRBCIRNM6FWD6XGYSAKQRZLHBI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2MIGHCRE5VCJXFXUL53MZ6XTCU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"FFLSXQENYNFJPBKDJNVFO7MG5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731079},"content":"A German connection is helping. Not least in transporting her bikes and all her worldly possessions when she’s travelling the circuit. “Yeah, 99.9 per cent of the time I’m living out of a suitcase, I don’t have a home base, I’m moving from training camp to race, training camp to race, to race, to race, it’s life on the road. And I love it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MPSWEF4O3VDRTKAEIB65GLLMEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731080},"content":"“My boyfriend, Luca Spiegel, is German, he’s an elite cyclist too, and dating a cyclist works out really well because you’re not feeling bad for being away the whole time — he understands. We both got to experience the Olympics and the Worlds together, so that was really special. And it also helps because the German team transported some of my bikes and stuff to the Worlds so, logistically, that helped a lot.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2BHDXGVXOVBL3HEDP4GZD4YEGI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731081},"content":"No regrets about giving up ballet, Irish dancing, football, hockey, athletics and swimming? “Ha, no. But I do miss them sometimes, I miss that proper team environment. Although I got those feelings back in Abu Dhabi a couple [of] weeks ago with ADQ, it was really cool because you could feel a team click.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DT7IO5WLIRHJXGA5FGUY25BTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731082},"content":"“I still do a little bit of dancing, it makes me feel good, and I have a little jog here and there. I’ll go back to them someday, maybe when I’m a mom, but for now it’s cycling.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AN67PP5JU5CFPDYBGM5DN6N4LE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731611731083},"content":"<b>Previous monthly winners</b> — <b>December</b>: Fionnuala McCormack (Athletics); <b>January</b>: Lucy Mulhall (Rugby); <b>February</b>: Mona McSharry (Swimming); <b>March</b>: Rachael Blackmore (Horse racing); <b>April</b>: Róisín Ní Riain (Swimming); <b>May</b>: Rhasidat Adeleke (Athletics); <b>June</b>: Ciara Mageean (Athletics); <b>July</b>: Kellie Harrington (Boxing); <b>August</b>: Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Gaelic football); <b>September</b>: Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly (Paracycling).","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Mary Hannigan"}},"name":"Mary Hannigan"}]},"description":{"basic":"‘I am hard myself ... but I think every athlete does have a bit of that in them. And I think that’s how you keep getting better’"},"display_date":"2024-11-16T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Lara Gillespie climbing the cycling ranks and finding that extra gear despite adversity ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ","auth":{"1":"f9832386002c528d0adebacc429a2b65866318ce0ce4b9db571655dcde407d10"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/11/16/lara-gillespie-climbing-the-cycling-ranks-and-finding-that-extra-gear-despite-adversity/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZGZ56D2JSRENJDJREYIZVEK7WE","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":349,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/16696ad1-8eff-4f00-bfdf-8cc343ad1719/versions/1731088520/media/feef627c9fad19f465477a19413265f3_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/09/no-sporting-comeback-is-entirely-risk-free-but-always-worth-the-gamble/","content_elements":[{"_id":"PNBY4Q6DTBCQBLUF2BT4F7NMZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806368},"content":"Just because you live in the Dublin Mountains doesn’t mean you’re far enough away from hearing any of the rumours coming down from <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/donegal-gaa/\" target=\"_blank\">Donegal</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7TYEKJLW4ZGHXBYTX77EQZ3LXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806369},"content":"As a matter of fact, a close neighbour with strong ties in the highlands reliably informed me a few weeks ago that <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/michael-murphy/\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Murphy </a>was unquestionably still playing the best club football in Donegal, and <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/author/jim-mcguinness/\" target=\"_blank\">Jim McGuinness </a>will have him back next year, just wait and see.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z7RDAC3NKZBMDMQA3Y2WCLQWJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806370},"content":"The problem with any of these sporting comeback rumours is that there’s no knowing the exact source. What is certain in Murphy’s case is that he was done with intercounty football, announcing his retirement this time two years ago at age 33 and building a wall of reasons — including starting a <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2024/10/17/michael-murphy-played-well-gaa-football-is-as-good-as-any-game-in-the-world-we-set-out-to-improve-its-chances/\" target=\"_blank\">popular column with news organisation </a>— as to why he wouldn’t be changing his mind on that. Forget about it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JVRWOKPPUFBGNKVE376YLC3B5A","additional_properties":{"_id":"57KKULA4JNF4NJF3OXRBQI6ZII"},"content":"Michael Murphy ends intercounty retirement to rejoin Donegal footballers","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"Z5BZNVEBB5D5XH3NUZ6XTAIG6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781987},"content":"So when the Donegal county board announced on Wednesday that they were <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/06/michael-murphy-ends-intercounty-retirement-to-rejoin-donegal-footballers/\" target=\"_blank\">“happy to confirm the return of All-Ireland winning captain Michael Murphy to the Donegal squad for the 2025 season”</a>, well that had the famous McGuinness power of persuasion written all over it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NLKY4VDCWBC6DGHR34MWH2KMSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806372},"content":"As sporting comebacks come and go in this country this is big, and while Murphy is still only 35 — or as repeatedly pointed out this week the same age as Paul Conway from Galway, who has just been named the 2024 Footballer of the Year — his two-year absence from the intercounty game must be of some concern.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JKUEAKUVFNFATLQHML5QMYPKLI","additional_properties":{"_id":"OYY7ISJQRJAMNENSOZQMOY36WI"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"NYNJLS7KZ5HA3PBI52SXKM67TU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781990},"content":"The drive for any comeback on this scale needs to come mostly from the within the player. With five Ulster titles and five All Stars along with his 2012 All-Ireland, Murphy has nothing more to prove. The talk of the new playing rules having something to do with his decision, and Murphy himself was part of the draft process, may carry some weight, but this is not an entirely risk-free exercise.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TLSDOXMLDFE3DELFHRBCHZ4CCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806374},"content":"Compare it to the other big sporting comeback of recent years, when Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton showed up unannounced for a league match against Louth in Croke Park in March 2023. Like Murphy, Cluxton had been two full years away from the game. Unlike Murphy, he was 41.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZVW2JQOGZFWNFHCFVP2Q44MJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806375},"content":"There are lots of people who will tell you that Dublin would not have won back the All-Ireland that same year without Cluxton, but that comeback was his decision and his alone. His was possibly unique too in that he may not have seen any risk involved.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GLQTKBOQQFCSTHUTPL3Y5WCVRQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"WMY56ZAZANCIPJ3FB5EFZFRZLE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"KK2AMR52UFFXBFS4CDNA7YXKRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1731082450758},"content":"One of my favourite stories of the football comeback is that of Kerry defender Mike McCarthy, who retired at the end of 2006 after a towering performance over Mayo in the All-Ireland. When Jack O’Connor made his own comeback as manager in 2009, he tried repeatedly to lure McCarthy out of retirement, had effectively given up, until McCarthy showed up at training one evening. Just like that.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBTIVCQ6HJCN5LX3FNHOZCQ6XY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806377},"content":"F Scott Fitzgerlad said that in American lives there is always room for a comeback, but you just can’t come back all the way. Every sport has its own set of comeback possibilities, effectively depending on its level of physicality; and in boxing we know no great career is complete without at least one comeback too many.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNIIEX3DD5AXRF2VR3KHO4WTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806378},"content":"In a sport of sheer athleticism, such as athletics, once that power of peak performance starts to fade it’s never coming back. And as tempting as it must have been for Usain Bolt to extend his career beyond the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, when he was just shy of turning 31, most people will say he choose wisely. When about two years later Bolt touched base with his old coach Glen Mills about the possibility of making a comeback, he was politely told to forget it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PYANOB5LVCE3P7XHCOR235CPI","additional_properties":{"_id":"JW3PEIC3URBJFIRBU3G2HBU42E"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"OXVEEZIEDJEOHHJKBFH5BIMBO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085781998},"content":"“When you retire, that’s it, we’re not going to do any comeback tour,” said Mills.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DYRXZA7QZZFJ7NSELKGXBQCWLM","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806380},"content":"There are athletic comeback possibilities in other ways, and after Eamonn Coghlan retired after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, 12 years after finishing fourth in Montreal in 1976, he was already getting on past the peak of his running power too.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WE24YH6UVFGXZKLKJYQIYAINRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806381},"content":"Still, after a couple of mildly fattening winters Coghlan felt he simply had to get back on track in some shape or form, so starting with the 1993 season set himself the goal of becoming the first man over 40 to run a sub-four-minute mile. Just when it seemed that might prove slightly more difficult than Coghlan had imagined, he ran 3:58.15 at the Harvard Indoor Track, at age 41, and never raced competitively again. But what a beautiful sign-off.","type":"text"},{"_id":"APCFWVKN4ZHEVMGVQ5DWYFLR3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806382},"content":"Behind every sporting comeback there is also the question of what price? Lance Armstrong will forever stand out on this one, given his comeback from cancer to win the Tour de France on seven consecutive occasions, from 1999 to 2005, selling 30 million yellow bracelets along the way, before then announcing his comeback from retirement in 2009 when he finished third in the Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ET2VCBVKJRC5DD7RBJXQUPU22I","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806383},"content":"There is no reason not to believe Armstrong might never have been caught for his systematic doping regime during those seven Tour wins if hadn’t returned in 2009 to try to win one more. But it was all the ammunition that US anti-doping needed to try to nail him one last time and so Armstrong’s sporting comeback would instead prove the ultimate sporting downfall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SIGDXRDPXFACTNTPRYMNWSKELQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"M3QS47527JFNDOUMKGCM5SKZ7I"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"ADCXTIBNJJCRZETDXNAMHV2XKE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731085782004},"content":"“Listen, I deserve this,” he told Oprah Winfrey on that revelatory January night of 2013. “It was win at all costs. When I was diagnosed [with cancer] I would do anything to survive. I took that attitude — win at all costs — to cycling. That’s bad.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HGEBUMPDC5HXJIF7MFU5NNCLZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806385},"content":"“I see the anger in people, betrayal, it’s all there. People who believed in me and supported me and they have every right to feel betrayed and it’s my fault and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologise to people.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"RZZH4MVYNZBUVBXK5LPSIE3HBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1731081806386},"content":"Armstong paid the ultimate price for his comeback, but there was an element of greed about it too, which is also why any sporting comeback should also be driven by modest ambition. Such as walking back up the steps of the Hogan Stand. In Murphy’s case that’s not risk-free, but certainly worth the gamble.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Donegal’s decorated Michael Murphy the latest sporting talisman to roll the dice a successful return"},"display_date":"2024-11-09T06:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"No sporting comeback is entirely risk-free, but always worth the gamble","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LAA5PTZEMBANIN3HTF7HG55JPA","auth":{"1":"ba4de126c28c7117d99358e8d2e6179738bfec018c9a82eb618247a3fd9279bc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LAA5PTZEMBANIN3HTF7HG55JPA.jpg"}},"subtype":"columnist","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Athletics"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/gaelic-games/2024/11/09/no-sporting-comeback-is-entirely-risk-free-but-always-worth-the-gamble/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/gaelic-games","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Gaelic Games"}}}},{"_id":"4ARTUHILDFGMDNP7LTXVWUIPNI","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":160,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/49b766c4-1ac8-4307-95f2-8b65641fac15/versions/1730895222/media/ea1cd9a4429044894f6bb2b010989a71_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/11/06/olympic-federation-of-ireland-confirms-two-candidates-running-to-be-new-president/","content_elements":[{"_id":"PUGRZ2CLVJDNHNV4CTT4D2UTMU","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475542},"content":"The <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/olympic-federation-of-ireland/\" target=\"_blank\">Olympic Federation of Ireland</a> (OFI) have confirmed that two existing board members will contest the election to replace Sarah Keane as president at their extraordinary general meeting in Dublin on December 5th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L4ZZY34C4FDEFDXTFIWUZIO3G4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475543},"content":"Keane is stepping down from her position having been on the board since 2014. She will have completed two successful terms as president, having first assumed the role in 2017 at a time when the federation underwent a major governance review following the 2016 Rio Olympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VQGMHK3XFVDARPY5L6VCYC2W5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475544},"content":"It was agreed under the restructuring of the federation that all those elected could serve a maximum of two four-year terms. Keane will continue in her role of chief executive of Swim Ireland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KPZ2X7J3S5FRPGG6M7CQODUEEQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475545},"content":"Board members Moira Aston and Lochlann Walsh have put their names forward to replace Keane. Aston is chief executive of Canoeing Ireland and has extensive sports administration experience, having also worked with Athletics Ireland for 12 years in senior roles, while Walsh has a 20-year track record in sports administration, from grass roots to the chair of the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs).","type":"text"},{"_id":"BSZFMGO5WJAC5PSL75U3I5FBWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475546},"content":"Sarah O’Shea is unchallenged in her bid to become vice-president, with six non-officer positions also to be contested on the night for the four-year period 2025-2029.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UAEDUAJDURBP5HDBUOJ3LIK524","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475547},"content":"OFI chief executive Peter Sherrard will combine his current role with a new general secretary position, from the date of elections, for the purposes of international representation.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VWPQP3AKLVD3HCGF4FI2RX7CEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475548},"content":"In all, 14 candidates have been nominated for the positions of non-officer members, including three existing board members and two former Olympians in John Menton (athletics) and Sonya McGinn (badminton).","type":"text"},{"_id":"X2CXCPBXPZAE3P3DCJPZKIJZ2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475549},"content":"Also challenging for a non-officer position is Roddy Guiney, whose father Dave competed in the 1948 Olympics in London, along with Aston, Eric Brady, Michelle Carpenter, Georgina Drumm, John Feehan, Aaron Guli, Eadaoin Keane, Aidan McLaughlin, James Quilligan, Siobhán Scarlett and Cecile van Steenberge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7LPCJV5U5VAGZNCSWFQY7A442U","additional_properties":{"_id":1730889475550},"content":"In addition to these elected positions, the OFI board contains two independent directors (Nigel Cowman and Sean Hawkshaw). A further two independent directors may be co-opted in the next Olympic cycle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Sarah Keane will be succeeded by either Moira Aston or Lochlann Walsh"},"display_date":"2024-11-06T12:08:34.086Z","headlines":{"basic":"Olympic Federation of Ireland confirms two candidates running to be new president","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"2S7RAEAELJDAFDTOX6IC3LIPSM","auth":{"1":"9e3549d5d8d8c2505da4a347b8b65c1826543128fc2bf834a4c915ebae528c43"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/2S7RAEAELJDAFDTOX6IC3LIPSM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Athletics"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/11/06/olympic-federation-of-ireland-confirms-two-candidates-running-to-be-new-president/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"VJ5HICQTYJFO3MUBGKZND3DEUU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":253,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c32b1aea-dac5-4e73-83da-f8f35aaf9c76/versions/1730725334/media/835dcfee056d8beb88a93fa9e7e2c282_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/soccer/2024/11/04/bohemians-secure-247m-in-government-funding-for-dalymount-park-redevelopment/","content_elements":[{"_id":"YJ7VOTMCYFBGFJ25ZRYRZBNFS4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578798},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/bohemians/\" target=\"_blank\">Bohemians</a> have been allocated €24.7 million in funding for the development of a new Dalymount Park. It is the largest grant of the €173 million announced as part of the Government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).","type":"text"},{"_id":"KC3JCFWD4RFZREW4GSGEUAAKAA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578800},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dublin-gaa/\" target=\"_blank\">Dublin GAA</a>’s long-awaited Centre of Excellence at the Spawell facility in the south of the county has been allocated €7 million, while several multi-sport projects are also included in the list of 35 successful applications.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PN6BM6YPMFC3BJZT3WHTNZKW7Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578801},"content":"The overall Dalymount Park redevelopment is estimated to cost approximately €40 million, so the injection of almost €25 million is hugely significant in progressing the stadium plans.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KFDMDVBRSNGFLMXMSDIWHNLGYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578802},"content":"The existing ground is to be demolished, with a new four-sided enclosed 8,000 capacity Uefa Category Three stadium to be built. 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There will also be four GAA pitches, a hockey/multi-sport synthetic pitch, and a cricket practice area with catch-nets, all of which will be floodlit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKBI7FQ6B5G6ZEITVMVL7J5IKU","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578810},"content":"“This is a major stepping stone for Cavan GAA, Cavan LGFA and Cavan Camogie who signed a landmark memorandum of agreement for the shared use of facilities, earlier this year,” stated Cavan GAA.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WRBRTU4ZFD4FAF7VWS2I5QXO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578811},"content":"Among the other multi-sport projects to be allocated funds are Sallins Park in Naas (€3 million), East Coast Hub in Gorey (€4.9 million), Shannonside Centre in Leitrim (€3.3 million), Hyde Park in Dalkey (€4.6 million), Letterkenny Regional Hub in Donegal (€8.7 million), Mayo Sports Campus (€7.5 million) and City North Arena in Limerick (€7.5 million).","type":"text"},{"_id":"W5M2ENGWRFFK7KIC6K64XPVAUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578812},"content":"Ministers Catherine Martin and Thomas Byrne were in attendance at Dalymount Park on Monday to announce the timely pre-election funding.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRTR5NAR2NDJNCCEFWCDA6ORSA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578813},"content":"“The advantages of engaging in sports, regardless of age, are profound both mentally and physically. To meet our ambitious goals of increasing participation in sports, it is essential to have facilities like these,” said Minister Martin.","type":"text"},{"_id":"466D6VCYTRGNFMHPP5LZARRLG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730723578814},"content":"Applications for the 2024 round of LSSIF closed on July 1st. 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The nine-stage race includes over 17,000m of climbing, as it plots an increasingly hilly course across country to the French Alps.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NQ5MTS344VBZDHU6CL6L3CYOH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120458},"content":"Climaxing with three mountain stages and a summit finish on the 2,000m Col de la Madeleine, the final day’s trawl, to Châtel Portes du Soleil, takes the women’s peloton over the Col de Joux Plane, one of the most brutal climbs in France.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GVZZBVMOBRH7HNEIBX4S57X5QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120459},"content":"Demi Vollering lost this year’s Tour Femmes to rival climber Kasia Niewadoma by the narrowest of margins but has finally completed her move to the French team FDJ-Suez. She has signed what is thought to be one of the most lucrative deals ever in women’s cycling, and Vollering is likely to start the race as the favourite.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LE6WCPXV2NBIBJP55JIV5GP4BM","additional_properties":{"_id":1730215120460},"content":"Niewadoma’s four-second overall win on Alpe d’Huez in August was one of the most thrilling finales in the long history of stage racing, but Vollering’s challenge was blighted by bad luck and internal wrangling. 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We have a small but mighty team and all of us and the staff have put so much effort this year prepared for the Olympics and for our performance and development.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DBXG4FANAJG5NJMKOMDJ4XF6HA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396000},"content":"“I felt my coaches and everyone here believed in me and that really drove me on the extra bit. I’m very grateful.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"T627ZOWW6RGBDCPI4O4OWBFTIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396001},"content":"Still just 23 years of age, Gillespie is one of the best young Irish riders in the sport.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITAFFOSACMG5SZEDORWRPM6UOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"6QLZLSAN2VCXXGWNILNJNM25GI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"6OFZ7AWELBBWZA6YRUS4NSOZJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396003},"content":"She was part of the team pursuit squad which became the first from Ireland to quality for the Olympic Games, and which shattered the national record en route to ninth in the competition. She was also tenth in the Omnium there.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HA6JP4XVPBGBNHLO5A2BSOVZAI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396004},"content":"Gillespie was one of several Irish riders competing in the track world championships in Denmark. She was fifth in the elimination race on Thursday and then eighth in the multi-discipline Omnium competition on Friday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2NKU7IKYOZH4DLJLWY4DPVBMNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396005},"content":"She teamed up with Mia Griffin in the Madison race on Saturday, placing seventh.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NMLKFAHVTRF7DCJMGYWRB57OUI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396006},"content":"Lucy Bénézet Minns was the third member of Ireland’s world championships squad in Denmark. She is still a junior rider but finished 16th in the women’s individual pursuit on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EVF5XXD3RNEHJPS7LASDNGOZW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396007},"content":"Gillespie will exit the championships on a high after her achievements. In addition to being a highly promising track talent, she has plenty of potential in road racing. She won two stages plus the general classification in the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa in April and then sprinted to victory in the Antwerp Port Epic Ladies race in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LDHLEKMLTFHBLNAL3K33GVV2FI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396008},"content":"She was competing as part of the UAE Development Team but her results secured a rare midseason transfer. Gillespie stepped up to the WorldTour level in June when offered a contract by UAE Team ADQ, and recently took placings of fifth and seventh on stages in the Simac Ladies Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MVFXQQYYAZGCLFXK2VGVKBWJZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729439396009},"content":"She will compete with that team until at least the end of the 2026 season.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Enniskerry rider clocked up 39 points, just four off the total of gold medallist Julie Leth"},"display_date":"2024-10-20T15:50:11.551Z","headlines":{"basic":"Lara Gillespie speeds to bronze medal at track world championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"SNI53BQQRBMGNJPKYXKFAESVXM","auth":{"1":"b9c2dd7d824a5f59b808f433a7d36f6a26467c99bf2f4f6a9406291215c30cfa"},"focal_point":{"x":3213,"y":156},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SNI53BQQRBMGNJPKYXKFAESVXM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/lara-gillespie-speeds-to-bronze-medal-at-track-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"2O4RZGOL6RC6BFW47VF4CAQ62A","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":139,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/7e680b1a-b569-420e-ab42-fdf0ee7c220e/versions/1729423359/media/1e958c2b12895a102b8a4e54c92814fa_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/chris-hoy-has-two-to-four-years-left-to-live-after-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/","content_elements":[{"_id":"D524IPQAGBCWNF7TKHPWTP7QIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662707},"content":"Chris Hoy, the six-time Olympic gold medallist, has disclosed he has “two to four years” left to live after a terminal cancer diagnosis.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FXJOQ2B2DVCCBGVOHL2RW2L2U4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662708},"content":"The 48-year-old Scot told the Sunday Times that a scan in September showed a tumour in his shoulder.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IHNYIVLXVFENIS7WGN6K23RF4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662709},"content":"And a second scan two days later found the main cancer to be in his prostate which has since metastasised to Hoy’s shoulder, pelvis, hip, ribs and spine and was stage 4.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q7TBGFLBW5EETLVL6FRNQ7QPZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662710},"content":"Hoy had announced in February that he was being treated for the disease.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VGVGP3F7C5AW3OPOWFRSAKQGNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662711},"content":"The 11-time track cycling world champion told the newspaper: “As unnatural as it feels, this is nature.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZRPREONKBJDS7OJGQBPMRR2XHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662712},"content":"“You know, we were all born and we all die, and this is just part of the process.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5L4GXTBQIJCHNMWGGBMPJKRZYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662714},"content":"He added: “You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKUKIDVNT5EIHMSJUE4NH4AQ4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662715},"content":"The father of two said his chemotherapy had “no guarantee” of shrinking his tumours but on “the sliding scale” of predictions it achieved the most promising results.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZHZOBTKNZGYZE5SNBNXKAMUZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662716},"content":"Of the men who first trialled in 2011 the medication he is taking, a quarter are still alive.","type":"text"},{"_id":"APL2H5EIFZF4JOED3S4MIX4HVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662717},"content":"Hoy, whose grandfather and father both had prostate cancer, added: “One in four may sound like a terrible stat. But to me that’s like, one in four!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5K6VXFOQS5F47O4KQGKA6QLOT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662718},"content":"“I do have faith that there are amazing things happening all the time,” he added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"46AIYB6M45BOZERTC5EZFRZIOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662719},"content":"In his new book All That Matters, the former track cyclist discloses that his wife, Sarra, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IFN6WZ6ASNGHBPNIAMLT3QM47Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662720},"content":"The couple, who married at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh in 2010, have a son and daughter.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRC7ADBC6FDC7N34GMGEZ47TGQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662721},"content":"Hoy wrote of Sarra’s diagnosis: “It’s the closest I’ve come to ... why me? Just, what? What’s going on here? It didn’t seem real.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FBMCSI63BGPBEC677YHRRLLWQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662722},"content":"“It was such a huge blow, when you’re already reeling. You think nothing could possibly get worse.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5GIZTA4DNHRDDF4GYGSYYIFMM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662723},"content":"“You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IE7CDJ5ORCWFGWKWTJYDIDE4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729422662724},"content":"On his wife’s optimism, he said: “She says all the time, ‘How lucky are we? We both have incurable illnesses for which there is some treatment. Not every disease has that. It could be a lot worse.’”","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"name":"Nadeem Badshah"}]},"description":{"basic":"Six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist, 48, says he has stage 4 cancer which has metastasised from his prostate"},"display_date":"2024-10-20T11:17:28.437Z","headlines":{"basic":"Chris Hoy has ‘two to four years’ left to live after terminal cancer diagnosis","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"DMZVS3C2SNMQM7D4I4E2PYXTWA","auth":{"1":"b485175c4cee66da79a65552c05d83118d0a3b0e55e9fa16f1777ed2fce5687d"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/DMZVS3C2SNMQM7D4I4E2PYXTWA.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/20/chris-hoy-has-two-to-four-years-left-to-live-after-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZAJF36HFPRES3EYMYVGMAOBKAA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":1402,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/439d07ae-076d-4896-9193-6167a8a74e00/versions/1729258173/media/64fb4384040d3899755f0f2dbb42f1b6_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/19/the-trials-of-stephen-roche-there-are-things-ive-done-the-last-few-years-im-not-proud-of/","content_elements":[{"_id":"FXDIVZGJABEIDIIOJVYI74MMME","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145785},"content":"To get from Nice to Port-Fréjus, where <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/stephen-roche/\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Roche</a> suggests we first meet, the motorway sweeps up and around the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/france/\" target=\"_blank\">Cote d’Azur</a>, bypassing familiar names such as Sainte-Maxime, St-Raphaël, and Saint-Tropez.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BVCBZYTZHVE6PIMBUFQKTIKCBA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145786},"content":"These are some of the same places where Roche announced himself to the cycling world in 1981, including when at age 21 he arrived, drenched in class, from the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dublin/\" target=\"_blank\">Dublin</a> suburb of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/dundrum/\" target=\"_blank\">Dundrum</a> and became the only person ever to win Paris-Nice as a first-season <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">professional</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"33SSEI7UFNDKHH4DYQ4EBNNSVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145787},"content":"The plan is Roche will let me know when he’s on route from Grimaud, to aim for around 5pm. It’s about two hours after that when my phone rings.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRDQWI6BFRAB3I3EO7IAHRUBXA","additional_properties":{"_id":"26EUTQCRD5ETFB4INWYZYX6TQM"},"content":"Tadej Pogacar becomes first male cyclist since Stephen Roche to win triple crown","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"CIW4BSYNGRAUHPBUWKVFG5IMGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145788},"content":"“You’re not going to believe this,” Roche says, panic in his voice. My first suspicion is he might be giving me the slip, but it turns out one of his two Weimaraner dogs – the one named Shamrock – had just bitten a neighbour, entirely out of character. The police were called, and Shamrock had to go to the vet, all that carry on.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3RJYX4A7IJBAPOOVOD2RNO7F4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145789},"content":"It strikes me later that Roche frequently uses such expressions of wonderment – “believe it or not ... would you believe … ”. When we do rendezvous at the originally assigned spot, he is utterly apologetic for the delay.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OOI2OYF4TP7MXWKPJELGZJZI7I","additional_properties":{"_id":"IPJAVXX7CZCT5NFLCG6B5QYHEA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2GA2CG2SUVAQZGZNSURH3QZ4D4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145790},"content":"He appears healthy and upbeat, showing no visible scars despite the complete meltdown of his business and much of his reputation over the past five years. After first losing his cycling holiday business of over 20 years in Mallorca, which left him with heavy debts, Roche ended up losing his hillside villa in Antibes, his pension, all his investments and many of his closest associates.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O7H675NXPREFXLL4XQURSMVXLE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145791},"content":"He appears slightly smaller than anticipated, his piercing blue eyes set against the soft Mediterranean tan of his face and neat silver-white hair. He admits he’s a long way off his once racing-fit physique, but then he turns 65 next month. One thing Roche hasn’t lost is his charm, or his curious enunciation of words, as if he’s speaking English to a foreigner.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4EEX7QF4MBGSVCP223YTGJZ2OI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145792},"content":"“Would you believe, I fell over with the dogs there recently, when they pulled on the leash, and I was outstretched on the ground, tore some ligaments in my shoulder. So I haven’t been able to get out on the bike for very long.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRPEGSL2APLIZQQ3FJPCSGDTME","additional_properties":{"_id":"Q6FCD74NJVGQTGEKDIUQJLWLZQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7IC2Q2BPWNBIRC2ITUOKZDV734","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145793},"content":"“Apart from the weight, and this shoulder injury, I’m okay. The last few years, all the moving around, that was taking a toll on my mind, the mental side. But at the same time, there’s not much point in moaning any more about my issues, what’s happened has happened. It’s time get on with it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VLHHP4RFZ5ES7LK7WK4HAGZPRY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145794},"content":"“Morally, it was difficult to pick up the pieces. I think I was always an athlete, number one, not a businessman. When I retired from cycling, 30 years ago, I was in the same situation, had to start from scratch again. I have to kind of re-enact some of the same mentality, otherwise I’d be still down there,” he says, pointing to the ground.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NP7WHGV5SNCZTGHDGP4RVHNMWU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145795},"content":"It’s not the first time he’s been in a battle to salvage some of his credibility, even his legacy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OWJ5NEME25CPDC5BUVTNRVZNII","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145796},"content":"It’s easy to see why Roche has made this heavenly part of the world his home, and it also becomes clear from our conversations that he’s still trying to find some peace of life and mind here all over again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XZ3DMRHLCFAEROXHEIXERHYGW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145797},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Casting a shadow</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JAMZ7YA4TNCBJG5JQ7Y7SMDVTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145798},"content":"On the short walk for lunch at Brasserie Jacques on the Fréjus marina, Roche is recognised by five or six people, not always instantly, but it’s a suitable reminder that he wasn’t just a sporting icon in Ireland. In 1987 he became only the second rider in history to win the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in the same season. His face was known all over Europe.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QCUDCAZAQVDMFI45M4ZBCEKI7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145799},"content":"He tells me there’s a big bike show in town this weekend, which may explain things, yet once we sit down the sense is that plenty of people are glancing over at Roche thinking ... “is that him?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NZI6ORU2PBFABIK2LDHZMWAIHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145800},"content":"As a prop, I’ve brought along The Ascent, by Irish cycling journalist Barry Ryan, the excellent account of the rise and rivalry between Roche and Sean Kelly at the height of their cycling superpowers during the 1980s – and which also details the questions that remain about his association with Prof Francesco Conconi, given the evidence he’d doped riders at the Carrera team with EPO in 1993, including Roche.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BRAZIJAUTREIPOW45JABJQ5EVY","additional_properties":{"_id":"XSQJFOSU7RBDPAXT5TNUNAQDXA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GJ2LK2KJ5VBTBJHY6NIVAR5KWA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145801},"content":"Roche shakes his head to say he’s never read it. My ploy to broach this subject is to tell him how, after texting a friend to say I was in the south of France to meet Roche, he replied with a one-word message: “Druggie”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2RS4GWOKIJHUNHCPBP6KBRRFOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145802},"content":"So how does <i>that</i> sit with Roche all these years later?","type":"text"},{"_id":"4MRDNVFYONE2NLKQZ2DMNBRDGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145803},"content":"“Of course it’s difficult, but there’s nothing you can do about it. At the same time, if people took the time to read everything about the Conconi case, they would see there’s nothing there. It’s a big smoke but there’s no fire really.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DV7LTFL2N5EODP74VU6WGDR52A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145804},"content":"“I was never, ever, ever convicted of doping. Never, ever even questioned about doping. Now you go on Wikipedia, you see that ... [his page includes a section with the heading “Doping”] I’ve been trying to get that removed, and every time I do it comes back.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2MXTE2TNXVCYHGLGAOSN2J2KXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145805},"content":"There is no doubt Roche is still deeply entrenched in his belief that doping had zero role in his cycling career, although he addresses the matter by turns with stern intelligence and childlike naivety.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CFGTTT7SWFEJ5GPBOXY532DQDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145806},"content":"“My first thing was never look at what other people are doing. I had my own programme of vitamins and minerals, whether in tablet form, powder form, or some injection form. And I never wanted to go to bed at night worrying about someone knocking on my door, saying you’ve got a positive test.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5AYXPQBD6NGNRPIZM2XPH55TQE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145807},"content":"“That’s why I never got involved in any conversation around doping, because it wasn’t something that concerned me.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNAVCZNANFBX5D3QIK7DGLJRVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145808},"content":"Surely it concerned him when one of his own Carrera team-mates, Guido Bontempi, tested positive for testosterone during the 1987 Tour?","type":"text"},{"_id":"F56NIP6O7JBD7H7AW2XWKNZXEY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145809},"content":"“Whether it was himself that administered it, or the advice of a doctor, I don’t know. I never looked at what other guys were doing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"F7WBQPIDKZB7VNJYPSPZZM2SOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145810},"content":"The Conconi files first came to light at the end of 1999, six years after Roche had retired following 13 years in the peloton, when Italian newspaper La Repubblica broke the news that police in Ferrara had raided the offices of Conconi as part of an anti-doping investigation, uncovering computer files which showed that along with former Carrera doctor Giovanni Grazzi, Conconi had treated athletes with EPO in 1993. According to their evidence this included Roche.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7C66J2SR55AOFGR3G55EM5GNA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145811},"content":"“Well, I met Conconi once only,” Roche says. “When I first went to Carrera, in 1986, they were using the University of Ferrera for medical tests, so I met him for the first and only time there.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I7K3KRDGQBB4FPXAOSQL5O6XUU","additional_properties":{"_id":"3J43N7UJ6ZFZ3BFD5EIWA5XL4E"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"V7ZAIENISRCTXIU4AJXFNVK3N4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145812},"content":"“In 1987 there was another doctor, Grazzi, a pupil of Conconi, who was the official doctor at Carrera. So he’d come to us once every three or four months, do our blood tests, bring them back to the university, then tell us we were low on iron, on vitamin B or whatever. End of story.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"W5BCYSL6NBDHNGRFBYAEIUY4M4","additional_properties":{"_id":"6CV7BHOPFNDZZJ4A3RVWIYCXK4"},"content":"From the archive: Some drugs in cycling are a matter of life and death","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"GXUYG3S6OZERZI26VWK2JRU5A4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145813},"content":"Would he entertain any possibility that something could have been administered to him without him knowing?","type":"text"},{"_id":"QXFIIFJP3NCOZBW7JENJK5OWVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145814},"content":"“No, never. For example, when I went to Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt, in Munich – and he’s still like a father to me, an amazing man – when I went to him with my knee problems, in 1989, he takes all these vials down, puts them into my knee. I took one home, had it tested, and it turned out to be extracts of calf liver, that kind of stuff.","type":"text"},{"_id":"X3KA3SBCXRCQBICXNZEDSJYEDE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145815},"content":"“So later, I was back in his office again and I told Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt I knew what was in there. And he was shocked, and said ‘Stephen, I’m 40 years in this business. I would never, ever give anything if I thought there was something wrong with it.’","type":"text"},{"_id":"42KTZZUQTZBVPHETKJ36T3A5QY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145816},"content":"“But I would never, ever take something from anybody, even a drink, if I thought something was wrong with it. That’s why I can say today that no one might have given me something I didn’t know about. Impossible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GXCLFF62SNDLHNIVK22O2AH3GQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145817},"content":"Roche is also adamant the first time he heard anything about the Conconi files was when he got a phone call from his biographer, David Walsh.","type":"text"},{"_id":"F77KJWNJ6NCV7DLJMXTNWAMJ64","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145818},"content":"“I think it was New Year’s Eve of 1999, and David said he’d proof that I’ve taken EPO, had these files from Conconi, and it’s going to be front page news tomorrow. All that kind of s**t.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FKVZBWENZFE3FCDRU5TG4X5CPE","additional_properties":{"_id":"2MD5JBGMTVAP7EWSR6YNBCBTGU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AQJMPXAMXVFVPJZ5VHZ67SQV3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729258388257},"content":"“The headline was very, very damaging, but if you blow up the details, anybody can see it’s totally impossible they were actually genuine results. All the values were all different on the same day even.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T2TO66DNCBGVLEGXZG2P7W5KBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145820},"content":"“Then they start relating all these surnames, that one name ‘Ronani’ was related to me. But why would I get into a programme at the end of my career, when nothing was riding on it?","type":"text"},{"_id":"RVTJ4GHWEZDOPM5FXQ7FVWQPUI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145821},"content":"“In the end the judge came out and said after four years she cannot get the information that is needed to determine what has been going on, so she must conclude all these riders are on a programme.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5KMQWMZNFZCNRO64EYRKF4LW2A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145822},"content":"Three weeks after that news broke, Roche went on The Late Late Show, alongside Walsh, and the planned 20-minute segment ends up being extended to around 50 minutes by host Pat Kenny.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DINOGEXUMBDW5BUEEYEG3LCEUA","subtype":"youtube","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"FB32ZQ76WNDHFBP5SCYBEU363M","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145823},"content":"“Well, that’s my problem, I’m a bit too open sometimes, but it was very intense. With these things, you’re never going to come out okay. People will interpret it the way they want. What can you do? I did try to take it further, was asked for 50 grand up front, just to start [the legal process]. For me, you could fight it, but not everyone is going to see the results. What’s said is done. But it was very damaging. Even today it is still very damaging.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5YSRRKW3M5H7FJUFGZ3J5BVRRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145824},"content":"“I never got a single phone call, nothing. I would have thought I would be at least interviewed to give my opinion. So in those conditions, you think it will just go away, because there’s nothing there. It’s easy to say now in hindsight I should have put up that 50 grand and fought it harder, but for me, I’d done nothing wrong.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NKXEPYFDIZHSZITXF4TSQXEIOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145825},"content":"Does he regret not being more outspoken on doping?","type":"text"},{"_id":"56A2CTT3LFDUVNQS5D5RA6MXTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145826},"content":"“Well as a cyclist, I was never in that circle, because I wasn’t into doing anything. I was straight. People believe or they don’t believe. I know by saying it now, maybe people go ‘ah, he’s a hypocrite’ ... f**k it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZABX4GQM5RBT5OCAEV2CUDQH7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145827},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Business woes</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JRQOXVM4AZF7FI3DF2LW4IJIPM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145828},"content":"Like any tale of collapse into bankruptcy, what Roche tells me is complex and frightening. Things suddenly started to implode in 2018, when his company, Shamrock Events, which had organised his cycling holidays based out of two hotels in Mallorca since 1999, went bust.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BI2DOZLBLBG6RM543GF3KYVK34","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145829},"content":"In early 2019 the owners of the Ponent Mar and the Hotel Son Caliu petitioned the Spanish courts for the involuntary bankruptcy of Roche’s business, claiming unpaid debts of €392,446, before in 2022, Roche was ordered to repay €750,000 for negligently bankrupting his Majorca firm and removing assets to bankroll his lifestyle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7AIHV4ZTVGYHB66EKRPG6GV2E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145830},"content":"He was banned from acting as a company director in Spain for seven years, although on appeal Roche got this reduced to two years, and his debts also reduced to under €400,000. It was still quite the fall from grace for a company that was once doing about €1.8 million in annual turnover.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B34VVPAKQJNX3LZXBREHN7MIJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"UENO337LGRHPPJTQBVW4XCPTPY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"RZJX5KGTS5F5JJVUFI5H3TAU7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145831},"content":"“But in and around then, I made a couple of bad investments,” Roche says. “I wanted to grow the business, because a lot more people were getting into cycling tours, and one of the things was to buy my own unit, in Palma, my own cycling base.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RJDEQXEZVZHRXPBQVXFCCTWGY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145832},"content":"“So for me, there was no problem pulling out a couple of grand for a deposit. I can always put it back in.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LQWRELL5ZFBPPGXN44B3GSYJPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145833},"content":"Around the same time, Roche invested €120,000 with a friend in Paris who was building a new luxury car company. He also had a share in a site near Saint-Tropez, originally valued at €6 million, of which Roche owned 10 per cent.","type":"text"},{"_id":"G7FEGJCIX5AZPFRMHIMWKEIB7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145834},"content":"“Then the site didn’t sell – a big problem with the planning on it – so it was wiped out. Well, it wasn’t wiped out, but it became a garden; the buyer ran away and we lost the money.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JERGMKZRA5HF3G7V7ZTTM7CF5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145835},"content":"“Then with this garage in Paris, we’d a theft – four cars were stolen and the insurance wouldn’t pay because the garage front door wasn’t conformed to the security measures.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CCV6S37K6NCGZEJZYXLOAQN6TE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145836},"content":"“For the new unit in Palma, because I couldn’t get the money together to complete that sale, I lost my deposit (€50,000). Everything just snowballed. I’m panicking, then of course you start back-pedalling, trying to sort things out. I knew the pressure was on then, financially, started ducking and diving, while trying to fill the holes, and it just didn’t work out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NE6UBKOGKBFCBMVENB5JKLZZHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145837},"content":"“I still don’t agree with it, but I’m settling for it [his debts being reduced to €400,000]. The problem was, I was totally negligent as to what actually was happening. A lot of people around me were close to me, I wasn’t really told ... someone should have grabbed me by the ear and said ‘Stephen, fix this’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CZKLZKQ2GVGUHJZQUE7BN7556E","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145840},"content":"He adds: “Nevertheless, I am guilty of a lot of stuff. But nothing was done deliberately or maliciously. It was circumstances and panic, being surrounded by the wrong ... not wrong – some people who were too close to me, that weren’t really painting the right picture. And I didn’t know what situation I was in. So I made some bad decisions.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NB5XVNKR3ZAP3F5W3LCDFQ5GZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145841},"content":"The big regret, he says, is not facing up to his problems sooner: “And also that I didn’t show my face earlier. People were telling me horrific things, like ‘don’t show your face in Spain, don’t get on a plane, Interpol are looking for you’. All this kind of stuff.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JFZ67WVNI5ELTIFIFR6PQIHUNQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145842},"content":"“The one thing I should have done, and would do tomorrow if it happened again, was go there and sit down, and say ‘what can we do?’. Instead, staying away, things got worse.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"4G63IIZBINFXXEPZ37W7GMZB4Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145843},"content":"Indeed, worse was to come, when Roche lost his hillside villa in Antibes, worth in excess of €1 million.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D6KMPU66GNBCBNF3KF66PL77UQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"R4XE2YHTSVEGTKHDLFYGFG5BIU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"42VVVQMDWRG5RIQV4FLQVAICTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145844},"content":"“That was separate again, but the result of it. I had a mortgage there, interest-only mortgage, because we were also running a business there, Airbnb, so this was my pension down the road.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NGNQ5OJCFCQ5GI565ZWYCVWHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145845},"content":"“When the loan came up for renewal and the articles come out about the Spanish court case, the bank just said, ‘you understand, Stephen, we cannot renew your loan’.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SHUZQFNALVGE7HNSEVHIFGINDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145846},"content":"“And this is coming out of Covid, no international buyers, so I found a guy who wanted a quick sale, I dropped the price ... meantime, the banks are charging me late repayment penalties, 10 grand a month. So I came out of it with my hat. It was really, really bad.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2V7VEXTCNFF43C3DHPURAGYLJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145847},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Family ties</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"UWJUHOXHUZCERCYGALTCO5Z7SA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145848},"content":"In 2022, in the middle of his financial crisis, Roche lost his father Larry and younger sister Carol within six months. His father had lived to 86, had never been badly sick in his life, He was taken to hospital with a nosebleed, where they discovered some kidney issues, and he died a month later.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GE45PXP6SVD4RLVT6XU56AC6XU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145849},"content":"Carol had always been careful to carry out cancer screening tests, one of which showed up a tumour in her colon; she was told she might only have six weeks to live; she died six days later, at age 61.","type":"text"},{"_id":"72ZEASR5ONDZXDOQZVRE7ZHQVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145850},"content":"“Of course that was very hard on everyone,” Roche says, welling up. “I have lost a lot, not just financially. And the lows have been very low. But at the same time, I’m not dwelling on that, have tried to use the lows to make me stronger, to fight back again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"V4NQ5NTHZ5BOZBGF5NWHLYLJOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145851},"content":"“Sometimes it’s still difficult to come to terms with how things could have crumbled so quickly. The signs were there, why didn’t I pay more attention? I was so focused on making things right, then I became unreliable.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ZZ3KTDLZ5EB5BPKAMRZYXZCEA","additional_properties":{"_id":"WQHH3LKZ3RFIDOE2GR645DNZIE"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"TE6QLZKUJNGVBE33EOVK2W5TVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145852},"content":"Roche has had breakdowns in relationships before, including his split and subsequent divorce in 2003 from his wife Lydia, who he married in 1980 and who is mother to their four children, Nicolas, Christel, Alexis and Florian.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DKCV3HIUMRFYHBLSHSFSKQZGKE","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145853},"content":"Earlier this year, his ex-partner of 10 years, French citizen Sophie Desobry, won a court action against him, claiming she was owed €300,000 for works she contributed to on the villa they shared in Antibes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RWRB7YF5ZNHA3A6JWUJYLZJM7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145854},"content":"I later meet his wife, Hungarian citizen Csilla Roche-Henschl; they’re currently living in rented accommodation in Grimaud, next to Sainte-Maxime. To bring the subject back to cycling, I ask him, where is the memorabilia from his all-conquering season of 1987? His pink jersey, yellow jersey, rainbow jersey?","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZDAL5OBZAFEETPSPELRDAYWTSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145855},"content":"“Well, a lot of it is still in Spain, locked up in Palma. One of the hotels where I was working confiscated it, which wasn’t very nice, and now no one can find it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5FCAMNL7LFD4LL35TFWDCZCXDQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145856},"content":"“But I’m not looking for any sympathy. I still love the work, sharing the passion of cycling [through the tours], still get a kick out of it. So there’s another chapter yet. There’s still a lot of stuff there that I couldn’t tell for the moment. To maintain credibility, and also some of my dignity as well.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HP2FEUYCEBG57O7NCXYK32E2YU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145857},"content":"“There are things I’ve done the last few years that I’m not proud of, there were certain situations I tried to manage as best I could, and now I can say they were the wrong decisions. But I can’t undo them.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LR4ZW4YBSZCQRPURGDTOSDMQEU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145858},"content":"I ask him what plans he has in place to help repay some of his debts.","type":"text"},{"_id":"A2OKUYN2J5AKXD25GPCVGUHBOU","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145859},"content":"“So I’m still hoping to win the lottery,” he says (repeating that more than once). “And go back down there someday, put a cheque on the table, but say I’m only willing to give you the cheque if you return my memorabilia.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3KDPS5B7RADNATTJGU7EV2EYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145860},"content":"“I am using some of my contacts now, to help a developer with planning, and I get some reward for that. And I enjoy that ... [and some] corporate stuff, and some cycling tours around Nice. I’m going to build that back up a little bit, we have three cycling tours next year, on the far side of Nice, associated around the pro cycling events, such as Paris-Nice, cycling and wine tasting. And trying to rebuild the website.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YY5GRLK4OFCVXBCKJDS4GHPK4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145861},"content":"He’s hopeful too of rebuilding the full trust of old friends and family: “It’s difficult, because of my lifestyle, but it’s a work in progress, and I’m hoping with time things will sort themselves out. Because of the way things happened, they also have taken a little bit of a distance.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RXJTSWIN6NHJBGVK4J72KODU3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145862},"content":"“But I’m not angry or upset with anyone. You make your bed, you’ve got to sleep in it. Nicolas, Christel, Alexis and Florian, they all have their own ideas of what happened but don’t really know, and someday when things finally turn around, I can sit down and tell them my side of my story.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KYK2SXPWRJHGNF3N3WYLFUM4JI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145863},"content":"“The problem is, time is going on – things have taken a lot longer to fix than I’d anticipated. But I have not put anybody off. I’ve distanced myself from nobody; anyone who has distanced themselves from me, it’s their doing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZY4YLVBLFZEDBFTXB5RCC5NCB4","additional_properties":{"_id":"CDQUCSMV3JBNTJPQEZ7KBYDVV4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NOZQHR4H2ZAARNUITZHRQTHQDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145864},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>New beginnings</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HPNYJ5RF5FHSNNMR4LTD5CN2UA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145865},"content":"Roche isn’t the first rider to use the word “depression” to describe his experience after retiring from cycling at age 33 and, looking back now, he says the physical void became as troublesome as anything financial.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNTDNCPJRBGNVIAZBGWX3ACL5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145866},"content":"“Basically, I first saw cycling as a chance to do something. But it wasn’t financially driven. My attitude was, the more races you win, and the less time you spend worrying about making money, the more money you’ll make.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EAFMXC72CZC57D73MOCZB7Z4ME","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145867},"content":"“I was already earning good money at 16, in Premier Dairies, worked nights too, and had my own car at age 18. Then when I retired from cycling, for the first time there was no pay-cheque coming in. That was difficult to come to terms with, but what made it harder was, after I finished my last race, I had all these business cards in my pocket, from all these people telling me how great I was, how easy it would be to find a job.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VM4NFUIEFVEPJGQBGST5JGNUEM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145868},"content":"“But no regrets about retiring too soon, no. Things were getting incredibly dangerous. Young riders coming through, pushing and shoving their way about, no respect for the older guys.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R3M3WVBUKJGZVBX4I37QFKKTC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145869},"content":"“In my last Giro, in 1993, I remember we got to the mountain stages, the last week, and when it came time to go on the descent, I’m hesitating ... ‘is there gravel on that corner?’ Before, I didn’t even think: I [would] get to the descent, and I’d be gone.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QZH4IHP7LVHLJCPCQGHGBQQHEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145870},"content":"He originally moved his family back to Ireland in 1996, buying a large house off the Ballychorus Road in south Co Dublin. Then, after three years, disillusioned with opportunities here, including for his children, they all packed up for France again.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CG7FODNV4VEHFBJ653TLZINRVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145871},"content":"“It’s a bit sad but, again, no regrets. I’d invested in some property, in Ireland and in France, but still needed money coming in. Which is why I went into cycling holidays, which were only getting going properly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XWLZ2YZ3B5DMNHLFN45SXPVX3U","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145872},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"QX5VXXKHLBFTBILJKRYT2MOMEA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145873},"content":"“But not being active was the big thing. One day when we were living in Dublin, and I hadn’t ridden a bike in a long while, I just realised something was missing. So I pulled out an old bike with flat tyres and rode down to my old friend, Peter Crinnion, living down in Kilmacanoge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T64CHJ7Z2BG35KDYO4N5CI5O7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145874},"content":"“There was a little hut of a shop on the way back into Shankill, and I stopped there, bought a bottle of Lucozade, three or four Mars Bars, sat there eating them all, and just thought, ‘this is what I’m missing’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"5SP2ZOMRSFDDFN4QPCTZSPABZA","additional_properties":{"_id":"XR5JDCIXJ5HZDIU3DUG32NJBUI"},"content":"Roche goes to the limit and beyond in bid for Tour de France glory","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"VGYD7BTGANG4XC6NN7CKDOQZ6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145875},"content":"Roche had hardly been seen anywhere in public for several years, until three weeks ago when he appeared at the finish of the World Championships in Zurich, where Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian superstar, became only the third ever male winner to win the Triple Crown in the same year, after Eddy Merckx (in 1974) and Roche (in 1987).","type":"text"},{"_id":"3L4L3WY3BRB4JALBBU6FFVGVXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145876},"content":"So who invited him there?","type":"text"},{"_id":"ATIYR2DGFZFLXJO3VM23RHEZQA","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145877},"content":"“I invited myself, actually, I felt it was important. Well, not important, but it’s taken 37 years, it may not happen for another 37 years, and I thought associating myself with that is not a bad thing for me right now. And on the back of that I’ve already been invited to the Tour route launch in Paris later this month.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BCHFMYVW6FATNPSQ5UNSP4OVPI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145878},"content":"In what capacity?","type":"text"},{"_id":"EPFUHRYI6ZE6VHMXREG463IPKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145879},"content":"“Well, as an ex-winner.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEVV55YBI5DQ7MTQFTRVNROMWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1729202145880},"content":"No denying that whatsoever.","type":"text"},{"_id":"V34BDHLQS5EGHJGCHGK7Q6ZHC4","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"premium"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Ian O'Riordan"}},"name":"Ian O'Riordan"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Irish former world champion cyclist has lost his holiday business, his villa in the south of France, pension, investments and many of his closest associates. Does he have any regrets?"},"display_date":"2024-10-19T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"The trials of Stephen Roche: ‘There are things I’ve done the last few years I’m not proud of’","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"OXPELBLELBDOXN5YD7KSZR56E4","auth":{"1":"16e093915e6b6900a6064004a408f606bb1b38cde8fa37ea684d8230661f83a4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/OXPELBLELBDOXN5YD7KSZR56E4.jpg"}},"subtype":"showcase","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/19/the-trials-of-stephen-roche-there-are-things-ive-done-the-last-few-years-im-not-proud-of/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"54G4YVPMSNALLJGN6YBR4MHU7I","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":113,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/2bd41024-29bd-42ea-804d-1b336a65e0a0/versions/1728242250/media/fbb7352b41007f3ba61c47bd7806c796_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/06/ronan-dunne-makes-irish-cycling-history-with-fourth-overall-in-downhill-world-cup/","content_elements":[{"_id":"MZYZBCWR4JC35BHQIO7QXTWRJM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ronan Dunne took the best overall World Cup result for Irish mountain biking on Saturday, finishing fourth in the 2024 UCI downhill series.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SODCBKK3BFE4LP7HXSA7WCBSAE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunne (Mondrager Factory Racing) went into the concluding round in Mount Saint Anne in Canada sitting third but had said beforehand that a top five overall finish was a big target. He was 12th last year, the best Irish result at a World Cup ahead of this weekend’s showing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"26Z2G3OMFFGRJHAKQIW4YQUNNQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was a great season for me,” Dunne said after Saturday’s race. “I am super happy with how it went, finishing fourth in the overall. I was coming into this last World Cup pretty nervous, sitting in third place. My goal was to finish top five and it is super easy to lose out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"74HYUF6CINFMJNSKRAG7M2VVW4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was definitely a dream come true to finish fourth. The race went pretty well. I got fifth place in qualifying and then just a slight mishap in my final run, but I still secured a top 10. That gave me enough points to finish fourth.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"EJKNFE3I5RGQLFBJORDRJMGAAU","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Red Bull-sponsored rider placed 10th in Saturday’s final round, with Henry Kerr (Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli) the best Irish rider in eighth. Dunne had previously won the Poland round in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H33DAXNN7NGTBPJU2LH5BT666Q","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I was just nervous coming in,” he said. “It is nice that it is over now and we have six months off before a big season next year. I am super happy with how it went, it has been a dream come true, really.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UO6H45NXKFCE7K3BWUZAN3Z7PM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Meanwhile Marine Lenehan had a superb performance at the gravel world championships, winning the amateur 19-34 years race on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Dunne ‘super happy’ after concluding round of downhill series in Canada"},"display_date":"2024-10-06T19:12:11.571Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ronan Dunne makes Irish cycling history with fourth overall in downhill World Cup","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BOVSHTEBDFCTHGDCCRYTQ2H6MQ","auth":{"1":"93e3efff68b3056d97d6d03b365241a2d3dadebe1cc072203a08acb1e058c5d4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BOVSHTEBDFCTHGDCCRYTQ2H6MQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/06/ronan-dunne-makes-irish-cycling-history-with-fourth-overall-in-downhill-world-cup/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"TK5K5OAJLZDM7F2FIH5QT6D7QY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":324,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c3a1476d-43ca-4ff2-90b1-5b07f6e5eba2/versions/1728039035/media/d4d237fb52e63ee337c502931369d7d9_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/05/rising-cycling-star-ronan-dunne-is-going-downhill-fast/","content_elements":[{"_id":"UKGSBM7HA5DW7JPW2SOATFC4KY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561323},"content":"Ronan Dunne put things in stark terms back in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H563N7WYZNGYVBZ776BRTVTG3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561324},"content":"“I don’t normally look at the times, but this time I did,” he said, speaking before his final run at the UCI World Cup Downhill race in Poland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GUDNY3AGKFHHRCOTMII52NBD54","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561325},"content":"“I saw the time Bruni scored and I thought, ‘okay, let’s get to it, we’re not bluffing.’ I was ready to fight someone. “I had the mindset that I’d be going for a helicopter trip or coming down in first. We didn’t take the helicopter trip, we took the win.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CQ3I2SKA4BGLLGHPGVVJZRJNJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561327},"content":"The helicopter trip Dunne is referring to is being airlifted off the mountain if things went wrong. Instead, he beat world number one and current series leader Loic Bruni by 0.064 of a second to land the first World Cup victory of his career. It was a stunning success and now, months later, he is third overall before <a href=\"https://ucimtbworldseries.com/events/mont-sainte-anne\" target=\"_blank\">the final round this weekend in Mount Saint Anne, Canada.</a>","type":"text"},{"_id":"FNJPM2C6RJAPPN7DYPJONRSIYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561329},"content":"“I can’t believe it, it is pretty crazy,” he explains. “Last year I got 12th, which was the best overall position for an Irish rider ever. So it’d be pretty cool to top off with a third place, or even a top five.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OUCGSIYIJFFD7CYU5SHA4ZQ2GM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561330},"content":"The Mondraker Factory Racing competitor has had a breakthrough season. He won the Red Bull Hardline race in Australia in February, raced to that World Cup win in May, and then scooped another Red Bull Hardline event in Wales in June.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4WUNLWEDWNA65ARBIFST5ASV2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"34HST3P7PFD2HOPZFZT7C5IPEI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ISWROUMMGZCYXCXDCA5ZEYYHYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561331},"content":"Each result is a big triumph in downhill mountain bike racing, which sees riders speed, skid and even soar down highly technical, highly dangerous courses on runs that last several minutes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LL2WC2RLN5FZNA3DIWPTYEPWHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561332},"content":"Dunne describes the Hardline races as more extreme, with bigger jumps and greater risks. But while those two victories were of big satisfaction to him, the World Cup is what really stands out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"22TZ3DKGAFCPBKHDOUULLQKOZU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561333},"content":"“Winning that was definitely pretty special. You can say you’re the fastest in the world on that day, which is pretty cool. It’s just so hard to win one of those races.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HKLCYQ2XYBGHBPJUA445Z2N3Y4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561334},"content":"“It’s given me real hope for the overall series,” he adds, referring to future years. “Now you’ve won one, you can be a contender for more races. It’s been pretty sick.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LVY2DK34IRDFFDMR3W3BCFTP5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561335},"content":"Dunne’s win came months after another by fellow Irishman <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/oisin-o-callaghan/\" target=\"_blank\">Oisin O’Callaghan</a>. The success late last year in Snowshoe, West Virginia, was the first-ever elite downhill World Cup victory by an Irish rider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L5UPUNVJWZFCXJ2HAUMHMVONFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"AGDCHL47ORFQXEHPASBJV5T26I"},"content":"Meet Oisín O’Callaghan, the downhill boy racer at home in cycling’s rainbow jersey","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"D7YVX7JGE5D2ZGKFJZI4JXZCXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1728041570674},"content":"Former world junior champion O’Callaghan<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/cycling/2023/10/01/irelands-ocallaghan-and-dunne-claim-stunning-one-two-finish-at-uci-downhill-world-cup/\" target=\"_blank\"> finished 0.496 seconds ahead of Dunne on that occasion, who nabbed second.</a>","type":"text"},{"_id":"SDPAYFDCGBARZLXCXHLNF5FLOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561337},"content":"They are 21 and 22 years of age respectively and are two of the most exciting young talents in the sport.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4WOAWG7W5JDJRBOVKHGHKN3TEY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561338},"content":"Red Bull had been paying attention and, following Dunne’s World Cup victory this year, agreed a contract with him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNHFLRVWVZGRXFLX4JIE2V6BSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561339},"content":"“I’ve always adored the brand, really,” Dunne explains. “It’s been a dream of mine for the past few years to become one of their athletes.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NE5XYF3QIVCBPDT5HKJS5BEX4E","additional_properties":{"_id":"5VR6QEZ4LFCWBDD6HZ623DVRLA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YIEI3CX5EJGZHBBUJMGL422NN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561340},"content":"The brand has huge clout in mountain biking and backs some of the biggest names across a range of sports. Securing the contract should make a considerable difference to his career in the coming years.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GS43UAVXMZDNBF5OUWFIZWJGCU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561341},"content":"World Cup leader Bruni is also part of their stable. He’s a big fan of Dunne.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XYDED24RSFG5VC3YVG3NLSCOC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561342},"content":"“Congrats to Ronan for his amazing season. It’s been really cool to see him progress and get better,” he says. “He has always been quite a loose unit, just sending it [throwing caution to the wind] and going for wins.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5DBYTDLU5FCINKU55XS3HDQLII","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561343},"content":"“This year, changing programme, I think he understood how to make race runs a bit more consistent, and a little bit more efficient.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ULMKNRLWGJGCZIAPXYNGCQ2ADU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561344},"content":"“It’s been cool to see he had it in him. His mindset was always quite fierce. When he won his first World Cup this year in Poland I was second by a small margin. It was really cool to be battling with him in that race and battling the whole season, pretty much.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5WVL73V4FD6NOFILPGTLLEULE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561345},"content":"Bruni is well clear in the overall standings and now looks to have the World Cup sewn up. Dunne sits third, with his closest rival very close to him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QGPVPGRCTJBNJIB3LJ27C2KFGY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561346},"content":"With double points on offer for this final round in Canada, he knows a big clash is brewing over the weekend.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CBOGA6C66ZGD3BE4CTJEPQ3UPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561347},"content":"“It’s kind of all or nothing, really,” he says. “The guy in fourth place, Finn Iles, is a Canadian and won there previously. He is only seven points behind me, so it should be a pretty tight battle.","type":"text"},{"_id":"X27LFTDK3JA6NBMU72VMZRAG4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561348},"content":"“First is secured, Loic Bruni has won that. And second place is pretty far ahead. But third and fourth is where our last battle is.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HUFERQ7Z2FFWRLVUXGQ7GNR7PI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561349},"content":"“So to be considered in that category is pretty amazing. If I make third in the overall, it’d be crazy to say you are the third best mountainbiker in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HB3MUD3AFJEI5OJBL7QGM2EGUM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727967561350},"content":"“That would be pretty cool.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Enniskerry rider sits third overall going into final round of cycling’s downhill World Cup"},"display_date":"2024-10-05T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Rising cycling star Ronan Dunne is going downhill fast","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"KGUUJJZHNFAEZOT6OWMKTNY57I","auth":{"1":"17e48e793fd96da3e92f2ef9ad8de68d5f2f4325966b752393732b1ef92013cd"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/KGUUJJZHNFAEZOT6OWMKTNY57I.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/10/05/rising-cycling-star-ronan-dunne-is-going-downhill-fast/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"RROYJMM7VNAN7MTURUKONTE5OM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":291,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/2a832bec-6143-49c9-9e17-49106282165b/versions/1727632735/media/c6b38e51f93c7b881a0b05eed656acda_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/29/tadej-pogacar-solos-home-to-first-world-championship-road-title/","content_elements":[{"_id":"TQVXJLW6TVFSHKFM7ZKDQGNJ7E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727631928723},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/tadej-pogacar\" target=\"_blank\">Tadej Pogacar</a> made history in impressive fashion on Sunday at the road World Championships in Switzerland, joining Belgium’s Eddy Merckx and Ireland’s Stephen Roche as the only winners of cycling’s elusive triple crown.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NTOJX37HR5GMVBH46RWVLYAUO4","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Slovenian won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France earlier this year and needed to take World Championship gold to match their feats, but did it the hard way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ORFPD7NJU5ACPMLMKBNUEOPALU","additional_properties":{},"content":"He attacked with over 100 kilometres remaining in the 273.9km race, bridging across to an early breakaway containing his team-mate Jan Tratnik and causing panic among his main rivals behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O2SYI3MDQJDOLHXJZ2FQ5MZ5EY","additional_properties":{},"content":"He then went solo with 50km to go and fended of the persistent efforts of Irishman Ben Healy and Latvian Toms Skujins to get across.","type":"text"},{"_id":"242F76OFJVHL3LMYW5F5YCW3VI","additional_properties":{},"content":"The duo were caught with 16.5km remaining by a group containing defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Olympic double champ Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and others.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6DEYSU5UAFHKRJXTGOVYP4VZYQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Pogacar was just 42 seconds ahead there but while the duration of his effort had left him looking vulnerable, the stop/go racing behind plus his own stubbornness saw him stay clear to the finish in Zürich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DW6LLN5P2VCF7MBFUCG6YYTPGY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Australia’s Ben O’Connor jumped away in the finale to take silver, 34 seconds back. Van der Poel won the sprint for bronze, 58 seconds after Pogacar’s victory celebration. Healy was a fine seventh after being one of the standout riders on the day.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VBA2OTD4HBFFTC3RTFFUDBRCJM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I cannot believe what just happened,” the 25-year-old winner said. “After this kind of season, I put a lot of pressure on myself for today. I had pressure from myself, from the team. We came here for victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YHNAYBOLQZBW5D6ZFUZFB2KM3U","additional_properties":{},"content":"“The race unfolded pretty quick. There was a dangerous breakaway in the front. I maybe did a stupid attack, but luckily Jan [Tratnik] was there with me. I never gave up until the final, it was an incredible day. I cannot believe what just happened.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SADO3WHJFZB6JOJ36TQQ5ARB4I","additional_properties":{},"content":"Healy was one of the strongest riders in the race, beginning his effort with Skujins with over 59 kilometres to go.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKJKC6PF5ZGOPH776FH4EZE4CE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Despite a chase of over 40 kilometres, he remained solid after their recapture and launched two stinging moves inside the final seven kilometres. Both were brought back but he impressed nonetheless.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y6RMOZTTERB73OQ5YUS6VI5ZJA","additional_properties":{"_id":"XCXN3OD5T5HFPACRNSZ4UIOF4E"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BIJUT2XMGFG7ZDWQQN5WB2LV6E","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was bloody hard, to be honest,” said Healy. “Thank God I was with Toms Skujins, because he was insanely strong today. I did what I needed to do, but I didn’t quite have the legs. So thanks to Toms.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VTGEI2N4LZDD3EZR7ZPILYZSBM","additional_properties":{},"content":"The statement was a modest one; he was stronger than he suggested, showing form similar to his long breakaway during the Olympic road race in Paris, plus his aggressive Tour de France debut in July.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UIVICDCXWZB5XFNVTVSTE6M3UM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I just wish I could contribute a bit more and maybe we would have stayed away. I did what I could and then tried to play my cards in the final as well. But it just wasn’t to be, unfortunately.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"G2LFFLGZWNHNJP22RE4FJXYSF4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Still, mixing with the world’s top riders provides further confirmation that he is now on their level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"M2S3NXDCSJB2FNFV6QD73NS474","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am really, really happy with that. I laid it all on the line and it almost paid off, so that’s all you can ask for, I think.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"E3ULYMEPWNH7HK6HOYKD6PLZH4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Fellow Irishmen Archie Ryan, Eddie Dunbar and Conn McDunphy helped him early on. McDunphy was caught out by a crash and a dropped chain on the climb, while Ryan took a very solid 21st. Dunbar wasn’t in the same form as when he won two stages in the Vuelta a España, finishing 67th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L6PHI2TCOVFMHNY5ARCPSZ4CZ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ryan is a first-year professional and will take great encouragement from his performance, given that he was prominent on the climbs deep into the race and helped set Healy up for his big attack.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IJQCSW5XU5FLTEKKBDVQIHGFCY","additional_properties":{},"content":"All attention is on Pogacar, though, who continued a formidable season. Healy was impressed by the manner of his win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PITCK2V6NRHSPA7LNSHIICQY6Q","additional_properties":{},"content":"“What can you say? Just absolutely insane,” he said. “I don’t think anyone expected him to go from 100k out today.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6TJJQ4JFWJBVVLJDNHHG3J7E64","additional_properties":{},"content":"Seventh by Healy was one of the standouts of a strong Irish campaign. The road championships in Switzerland were combined with the paracycling worlds, and Irish duo Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly won both the tandem road race and time trial. Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal took third in the road race and fourth against the clock.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HU52OVEE3FC6RGBFCSNLQIQQE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Irish riders clocked up five other top 10 finishes, including Seth Dunwoody’s fifth and Conor Murphy’s 10th in the junior men’s time-trial, plus Darren Rafferty’s sixth and brother Adam Rafferty’s 10th place in the under-23 TT. Lucy Bénézet Minns was also 10th in the junior women’s road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Unstoppable Slovenian adds rainbow jersey to Tour de France and Giro crowns; Ireland’s Ben Healy finishes seventh"},"display_date":"2024-09-29T15:55:09.237Z","headlines":{"basic":"Tadej Pogacar becomes first male cyclist since Stephen Roche to win triple crown ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"PIBKFAL5TB7XF3DOWH6VUURC74","auth":{"1":"a27889f02a3b8800e2f953f44bb5d083700829b6e39c8a3a2d87cbbf3869a6bb"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PIBKFAL5TB7XF3DOWH6VUURC74.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/29/tadej-pogacar-solos-home-to-first-world-championship-road-title/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"LO7NVPTZKNB6HIROIPSTFHFYOM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":208,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/32aa98e8-a1f2-42d7-acb6-2bc3eaa0fa5e/versions/1727454196/media/5384b158c332e4fdd858a6c3f65d17b4_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/27/eighteen-year-old-rider-muriel-furrer-dies-after-fall-at-world-cycling-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"T4GE23T4LJHFFGXLBDSBSVOWJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767745},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/darren-rafferty/\" target=\"_blank\">Darren Rafferty</a> had a strong performance in a highly-competitive under-23 road race at the UCI <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">Road World Championships</a> on Friday, racing to 12th in the 173.6km event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PU7NFOQZ6FCCNC7SYYK3KADCWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767746},"content":"The Dungannon rider finished sixth in the time trial on Monday and hoped for a strong showing in the race. He was supported by Jamie Meehan, Liam O’Brien and Dean Harvey and bridged to a chase group of favourites with 44 kilometres left.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FRUBPEM25EG7KIOPW374XL4CU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767747},"content":"Rafferty has however looked fatigued after riding and finishing his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, several weeks ago, with that event coming towards the end of what has been a draining first season as a professional.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DSEBK4IRLRDNXNVWH427VSLOOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767748},"content":"He faded on a tough climb with 24km remaining and finished 2′48 behind winner Niklas Behrens (Germany) and Martin Svrček (Slovakia), who sprinted for the win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJST6MVWCFFGXDI6ZMM2PYOAOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767749},"content":"The day was marked by tragedy when news came that Swiss competitor Muriel Furrer had died after a crash during the junior women’s road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E2ZRL463RRHTDN2GDBYT4JE7FQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767750},"content":"“The 18-year-old rider fell heavily yesterday, Thursday, during the women junior road race, and suffered a serious head injury before being flown to hospital by helicopter in a very critical condition,” cycling’s governing body the UCI, wrote in a statement. “Muriel Furrer sadly passed away today at Zurich University Hospital.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"F36VB2J7EBC7HGLTJBD5QKTZAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767751},"content":"The UCI expressed condolences to her family, who reportedly said they wished for the championships to continue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SPARGHOCGVEORCJO6GW3T2KQ7M","additional_properties":{"_id":"LTIJCFWXRFAEXAOBW33I6AUZ5U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SJEWOIVS3VCYJAYX67F3OI5EAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767753},"content":"Saturday sees the elite and under-23 women’s road race take place. National champion Fiona Mangan and sisters Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien will represent Ireland, the latter taking the place of Megan Armitage. She was originally selected but later withdrew from the squad for the 154.1km event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7WBV6GGNKNGR5ENGLJCK4N4TIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767754},"content":"The action concludes on Sunday with the elite men’s road race. All eyes are on Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), who is seeking to be the first rider since Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Ireland’s Stephen Roche in 1987 to win the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the world championships road race in the same season.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AQ36QAPQENEJ3DAMWCELYUMOOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767755},"content":"He dominated the Tour and the Giro, and was in fine form when he soloed to victory in the recent GP Cycliste de Montréal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3TKQI52PUFFTDKRH5HPGQZF37E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767756},"content":"Irish hopes in the 273.9km race will be represented by Eddie Dunbar, Ben Healy, Archie Ryan and Conn McDunphy. Dunbar will hope to have carried over some of the form which earned him two stage wins in the Vuelta a España, while Healy is one of the best Classic riders in the world when in top shape.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6TBIKXKKTFBTJEKRCQOWT4LEJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767757},"content":"Like EF Education EasyPost team-mate Rafferty, Ryan has had a fine first season as a professional. He won a stage and finished second overall in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in March and was fifth overall in the Lidl Deutschland Tour in August.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IOPS56TFVRDQXLEXGWW64VRZZU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727452767758},"content":"McDunphy was a strong second in the Rás Tailteann in May and will likely play a support role for his more experienced team-mates.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"UCI confirm death of 18-year-old Swiss cyclist after suffering serious head injury in Zurich"},"display_date":"2024-09-27T15:57:00.503Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Darren Rafferty finishes 12th in under-23 road race at World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ARZKUZFNOJEODP2ZAZVE35TO6Q","auth":{"1":"b1f55d17ae75ab0f4101cbf1e7f8d68df62ed635c95cc7b5883a08410decaa16"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ARZKUZFNOJEODP2ZAZVE35TO6Q.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/27/eighteen-year-old-rider-muriel-furrer-dies-after-fall-at-world-cycling-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"YABUDD3U2VFFPNDKK4DZHDW2XM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":351,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/39b108c8-ddc5-4f16-98a9-bf660c6698df/versions/1727382269/media/b07ea4b3f1d1cff537464333568a8ad2_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/boxing/2024/09/27/boxing-beaten-to-the-punch-when-it-comes-to-sports-capital-grants/","content_elements":[{"_id":"NVKEDNTA4FAFLKUKSOD2BTINAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881524},"content":"It takes a doctoral thesis to understand the minutia of how the sports grant allocation system works, who gets what and how criteria are weighted.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PE4D6IWZANFMPHCVH27C7EMYNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881525},"content":"It seems, like the Irish tax system, it can be maximised if a federation or club has wealth, an organised administration with individuals who have skill sets or capital to invest into their projects. 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But not every sport has them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KTABE5WR2VDKPMG5Q6DDBJLUHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881526},"content":"This week millions were flying around, €230 million in all, with every niche sport and each governing body hoping the gods of the application system were winking down at them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UGKZYU4GBFHM7K6KJPAGEPF77A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881527},"content":"On Wednesday every blazer and alickadoo in the country was poised over their Smart Watch waiting for the wrist alert that told them what grant they did or didn’t get and in what category it was placed.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YD5FV6HWZBEQHBWNUM3QOFTKSA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881528},"content":"Even they probably don’t fully understand why Clonmany Shamrocks Sports & Athletic Limited are deservingly given a “New Mower, Defibrillator & Storage Container” worth €70,000 or the enlightened Carrigtwohill GAA Club in Cork are getting €17,285 for PV Solar Panels, while another club down the road gets nothing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LY6A2HAOQFFKREBNK5XRLZL27Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881529},"content":"What people do notice is, when the dust settles, it seems to be to the tune of a few million euros here and few million there, disproportionate across sports. Socio-economic disadvantage, female participation, technical merits of the project and level of self-funding, they all come into play. Or do they?","type":"text"},{"_id":"B4O5XGITPFH4XABLSKTW4G7GBE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881530},"content":"Apparently, the possible bingo windfall also depends on how expertly clubs fill in forms to make the successful application and whether they own or rent their premises. In short, owning is good, renting is bad.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HUBCGLJFJJHQNDNTCQRP35YELI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881531},"content":"Either way, it has become a competitive event with some of the governing bodies and clubs at the standard of Olympic medal winners at doing it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XPOSPTRCX5E3VDGX4K76UP5GNY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881532},"content":"Unwieldy and skewed towards sports with a high level of capital holding said one sports official, in an unscientific poll. A nightmare, said another. A third said their organisation had to run a series of workshops on explaining to members how to fill in the forms and empower them about how to correctly apply.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NNIOOHTEQVEC5OEN2PI5X3XEXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881533},"content":"You don’t need to be a solicitor said another, but it probably helps. A code breaker at Bletchley Park on the Enigma project might help too.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P5HVOTOFMZHFPK3HDVMYPM5DWM","additional_properties":{"_id":"PCBAW5N65VH27EBOHX6PARWSS4"},"content":"<iframe title=\"Value of grants by sport\" aria-label=\"Table\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-3SRhD\" src=\"\nhttps://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3SRhD/3/\"\nscrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"531\" data-external=\"1\"></iframe><script type=\"text/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script>","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"PHIGQRK6QRCWTHHALVEV6PJL7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881534},"content":"Whatever way it works, people look at the figures and the smorgasbord of subventions, grants and allocations across the sports and the perception is that there must be an inbuilt bias about the process. That’s the look, one of a process that delivers lopsided, unbalanced outcomes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ATYMM7TJCVB55DWJOTWHZNNE3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881535},"content":"Sure, there is buttock-clenching awe over the fantastic sums some sports get and a general feeling of delight that at least the money is finding a good home. But there is also a familiar sense of dismay about the left behinds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPXPIEPQ55CR5JRY6H4VGU6YRY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881536},"content":"So, chapeau to the form fillers of the GAA and soccer, whose combined allocation of €138 million, 60 per cent of the €230 million, eclipses all the other sports federations combined. You square it off as okay because your sister is in a soccer club and all your cousins play hurling and sure you dabble a bit yourself across several sports, although your main one is not soccer or GAA.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZVX4H6F25BJJPRLHIBBMEAJ5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881538},"content":"Add in rugby’s €10 million and €11 million going to golf and four sports take a €159 million slice of the cake.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3HJEZYR5VBCOVOYWPJJ4Y5CYQY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727376433086},"content":"Journalist Sean McGoldrick highlighted one of the stark anomalies on Twitter/X this week pointing to boxing, which is the most successful Olympic sport going back to the foundation of the State. The sport has produced 19 medals since then and given us the likes of double Olympic champion Kellie Harrington. Yet.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GWYPFZQ7CRCH3C2XCS5NPVNVIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881540},"content":"Yet the sport gets €830,914 while the GAA gets €96 million. Again, congrats to the GAA, they have got the grants thing lit. Every time it comes around, they are bang on the bullseye.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTQ7V7N7MFAKNA6E2W6KQI2MQM","additional_properties":{"_id":"3CPEURPTPBCWBCRSJY7CWZVNOQ"},"content":"<iframe title=\"Allocations for capital applications\" aria-label=\"Table\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-vIuCb\" src=\"\nhttps://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vIuCb/2/\"\nscrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"618\" data-external=\"1\"></iframe><script type=\"text/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n\n<\/script>","type":"raw_html"},{"_id":"AIVPMWQ3W5CTZJ7QUHNL2EANGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881541},"content":"Then people begin to do their rough mental arithmetic and work out that boxing has around 20,000 members while the GAA has more than 500,000 members. It is a bigger organisation and that’s maybe a reason for the disparity.","type":"text"},{"_id":"N7E3I5E4QRCNVBMTFVF46OJEIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881542},"content":"Except GAA is not 96 times larger than boxing. It is about 25 times the size. That at least rules out two criteria. It is not numbers that’s involved nor success at the Olympic Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OVJXP7FMWFHK3E54NKYROIUMDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881543},"content":"A key criterion when applying for bigger regional projects is the level of self-funding available. It’s another inbuilt piece of bias that rewards sports with money to invest, and leaves you wondering how much other criteria, such as socio-economic disadvantage, are worth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YT2TMOO7WJB3FFWVRMMNP3QJD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881544},"content":"The question is whether the system is proportionate or evenly balanced. Boxing as a sport often tends to flower in disadvantaged areas, and it also reaches out to participants from diverse cultures and backgrounds, such as immigrants and the Traveller community. But boxing lacks investment capital and facilities.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKLRDJVU6RGSZM736WBA6A6MPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234824},"content":"On the flip side, tennis, for example, has facilities that can be upgraded and tends to own those facilities. Tennis clubs are also often found in non-disadvantaged areas.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3VDJWJ6IXBDHNJSKAFPM77VUOU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234825},"content":"With no player at this year’s Olympic Games or in any of the Grand Slam events, tennis received €6,579,430 in this year’s grants. Hats off to them, they have clearly cracked the code.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7J7PSNCFSVEW5E2UZ55UZJK7DA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727374234826},"content":"But allowing sports like GAA, soccer, rugby, golf and tennis to dominate the funding chart just compounds the chasm between the sports.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTCSCKMB3RH33L44OVKTXFZQNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727367881547},"content":"The system, while largely transparent, is far from satisfactory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U63PP6QYQZHLVOTXMPYRSKTEAE","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"premium"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Johnny Watterson"}},"name":"Johnny Watterson"}]},"description":{"basic":"Despite producing 19 Olympic medals, the latest being Kellie Harrington, the sport gets a derisory €830,914 out of a €230 million funding pie"},"display_date":"2024-09-27T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Boxing beaten to the punch when it comes to sports capital grants ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LF3RSJQ5N5CVLF6DLIVR3BMDN4","auth":{"1":"6691fd364a23590d00e79860c993dd2ea77fbfc4e293d42c451836edd139275a"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LF3RSJQ5N5CVLF6DLIVR3BMDN4.jpg"}},"subtype":"columnist","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Boxing"},{"name":"Hockey"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Rugby"},{"name":"Soccer"},{"name":"Tennis"},{"name":"Golf"},{"name":"Gaelic Games"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/boxing/2024/09/27/boxing-beaten-to-the-punch-when-it-comes-to-sports-capital-grants/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/boxing","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Boxing"}}}},{"_id":"SDXO734IM5EURKK477K4MYDJ2U","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":105,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/5a6e2c81-908a-4417-b09a-8e86ef07bfd7/versions/1727373578/media/b6839d32f02e6fbd7a39899010fdfe5a_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/26/benezet-minns-takes-10th-on-dangerous-day-at-cyclings-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"L2WZL2KHCZDKDCQLKSZNLSIXLQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872841},"content":"Lucy Bénézet Minns was best placed of the seven Irish riders in action at cycling’s World Championships on Thursday, finishing a fine 10th in the junior women’s road race in Zürich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XXK5OP3ZQJAJVGF7J4YD76K6Q4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872845},"content":"She raced home as part of a group 1 minute 26 seconds behind a trio led home by British talent Cat Ferguson, who also won the time-trial on Tuesday. The race was run off in wet, slippery conditions. ","type":"text"},{"_id":"U5E4ADYQKRGATNS5X54MCQACWA","additional_properties":{},"content":"Minns said she was out of position early on and used a lot of energy to get back to the front group.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TXH4BGMEERH2VOP3Y43NMMFUIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872850},"content":"“Then I was just cooked. It was really sketchy in the wet, the roads were just like an ice rink. I didn’t fall off this time, I’m pretty happy about that.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SIALSDTH3ZGXVAGZIQDNWMZXUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872853},"content":"The tough conditions saw Aliyah Rafferty and Áine Doherty finish further back, placing 38th and 79th.","type":"text"},{"_id":"47CCJGYZUZGC5LIODVX7G6BX6E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872855},"content":"Seth Dunwoody was best finisher of the four Irish junior men, placing 26th behind the race winner Lorenzo Finn of Italy. The race was marked by many crashes including Albert Withen Philipsen (Denmark), who fell while in contention to defend his title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P3O3DURSHFDGNK7I52DOZBPLAA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872859},"content":"Muriel Furrer (Switzerland) fell during the women’s event and was described by the UCI as being in a very critical condition due to a head injury.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PDVEZSRITBCA7MS6R5RRQGK5GY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727369872862},"content":"The championships continue on Friday with the under-23 men’s race. Brothers Darren and Adam Rafferty compete after netting sixth and 10th in Monday’s time-trial. They will be joined by Dean Harvey, Liam O’Brien and Jamie Meehan.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer in a very critical condition after fall in senior women’s race"},"display_date":"2024-09-26T17:15:11.286Z","headlines":{"basic":"Bénézet Minns takes 10th on dangerous day at cycling’s World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"PKYRVKHZWCSJFS4FESZIRIGOT4","auth":{"1":"1d2738840ba043877518e6486ebbd6e5becd7557775feb503aafa8fc83908bcd"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/PKYRVKHZWCSJFS4FESZIRIGOT4.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/26/benezet-minns-takes-10th-on-dangerous-day-at-cyclings-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZTPOZVI7WRFRTLFVEUMNN6TCFA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":292,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/b39a2da7-5cb7-431f-b2b1-7de24881db3f/versions/1727269210/media/e5865a5e3c914e288d88b47b2321361e_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/25/katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-again-at-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"LOTVDUIWUZAS7C5V24OBWOSL7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487437},"content":"Irish duo <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and Linda Kelly have won their second gold medal at cycling’s world road championships in Zürich, Switzerland, soling to a sensational victory in the women’s B (tandem) road race on Wednesday morning.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4R6UWPEPVREA3J2YUU7ANOZMVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487438},"content":"The duo attacked on the penultimate lap of four, having earlier gone clear with Ireland team-mates Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal, plus big rivals Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2IPVEIYCGNBR5AVABKV7Q6Z3S4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487439},"content":"Dunlevy and Kelly forged ahead of the other two tandems before the start of lap four, crossing the finish line three seconds ahead there and continuing to build their lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KCRPNY2ONVC4NOM4MAVIVU773I","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487440},"content":"Unwin and Holl ultimately finished 1 minute 23 seconds behind with Healion and McCrystal taking a fine bronze, 16 seconds further back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SCNBY653MRFEXH3AVMKGSXG6WQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am absolutely over the moon,” said Dunlevy, who has the sight-limiting condition retinitis pigmentosa. “To have two bikes on the podium, us and then Eve and Josie, it was just textbook. It was what we were hoping for, what we were dreaming of.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QJWKO3NJ2ZBYZDLYUJLRYBW6G4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We were hoping to get that in Paris and we didn’t, we came away with silver. I was disappointed in Paris not to defend my title. But to do it here at the worlds, I am so proud of us. It was an amazing race. I really enjoyed the course, it was a bit of everything, and just really exciting.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VC5VRG7MOJFGHHTNOUAMQSFM7Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487441},"content":"Dunlevy and Kelly won gold in the time-trial on Sunday, having done the same in the Paralympics TT in September.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I3CAPBPA2VDBPJUZUPOQUILC5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487442},"content":"They were beaten by Unwin and Holl in the road race in Paris, making Wednesday’s victory all the sweeter.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEE3UOBWKFBXBFOAHDRLVN7QME","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487443},"content":"The Irish duo also won the road race last year in Glasgow, successfully defending their title this time around.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UCWRLAYWORAEDANOD5SCUCRBSY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunlevy suffered a fractured collarbone in the run-up to the Paralympic Games, and herself and Kelly had several other crashes. The latter suffered from concussion in one race, while illness also affected their build-up.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R6SMSX76RZH2HHV53XDHV7A3JM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We did have a good think about it afterwards when we got home,” Kelly said. “Before we got here we had a chat with our coach and a chat with our team-mates as well, Eve and Josie, just talking about tactics and power and speed and what you do around the course. And the type of course it is as well.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WR3VISFSZZBN5MTP6KPUAL4ZKI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We did play to our strengths up the hills, and also going very fast down the descents as well. We were hitting 70 to 80ks per hour, a lot of turns. We are just so happy to come back and do the double two years in a row.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UKKMWY4TUVBAXF4JJ2I7H2FAPE","additional_properties":{"_id":"IS4TKEPFOVAEFM2RYOYKCY4AWY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BXB3ZAW3QNBQXBGX2DEL2XKZAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487444},"content":"Healion and McCrystal will savour their bronze medal and the achievement of putting two Irish bikes on the podium.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VJNXBNLPKNBQHNLTIE3UBMY6E4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487445},"content":"McCrystal is bowing out of international competition at 46 years of age. She partnered Dunlevy for many years, securing three Paracycling gold medals plus several world titles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NTUFUG7RGBEXBICEYJK74FXWYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487446},"content":"She then switched to racing with Healion in road events as part of a tactic to chase more medals and also to share her experience and build towards the future.","type":"text"},{"_id":"STOH5E3OEFA2BI2VO4GGS3MEPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727268487447},"content":"The bronze medals are a fitting reward for a lot of hard work. They were fourth in last year’s world championship road race, fourth in the Paralympic Games road race and again fourth last Sunday in the time trial, but stepped up a level on Wednesday for McCrystal’s swansong event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DGYRWORYQFFYNLYKYNYASWGE2A","additional_properties":{},"content":"As for Dunlevy, she is 42 years of age but will continue in the sport. It’s not yet clear if she will keep racing until the next Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028, but she will be back in 2025 chasing more gold medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D3KJ4HN4MJDMVOZE35F434AIKM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“[We will have] a long deserved break,” she said. “It’s been a long, hard year for us. We have had crashes on the bikes, illness ... mentally it has been a tough year. Mentally it’s hard to prepare yourself for these races. It takes a toll on the body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IXYMPAKBG5AWXOS33YF6GSMHYI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“So we’ll have a nice break and get back to it again for next year.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"6MMV33I4GFEDDJ3OH7TSSYPGZE","additional_properties":{},"content":"What will help with motivation is having had such a good season. She and Kelly raced to gold and silver in Paris, with one final collaboration between Dunlevy and McCrystal also securing silver in the team pursuit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ILTWIAWMVD4NKSJ2ZIPPTLXIY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunlevy now has two more gold medals to her credit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NNSQKZM3HJAXRKVJVKVMQK57XE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It’s a dream, really,” she said. “Three months ago I was in a hospital bed, so to come here and to get three medals in Paris and then be double world champions here, I am kind of lost for words. It means an awful lot. I am very happy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OIWTINSTXZGFLCQXKQJQCD3YWE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Next up in cycling’s road world championships are the junior road races on Thursday. Lucy Bénézet Minns, Aliyah Rafferty and Áine Doherty go in the women’s event, and Patrick Casey, Seth Dunwoody, David Gaffney and Cal Tutty will line out in the junior men’s race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal take bronze in Zürich after string of fourth-place finishes"},"display_date":"2024-09-25T11:54:03.986Z","headlines":{"basic":"Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win gold again at World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UPPSSM3LBVFPLH3NT7OTXJ56BM","auth":{"1":"c7cfb8273e053480876b12ccccdb204c08c6a77ac38bbf0ad8b41c63083b4193"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UPPSSM3LBVFPLH3NT7OTXJ56BM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/25/katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-again-at-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"BI5N6EEYHJDGFHMGUSN3HUB7VE","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":112,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/8e68429a-a171-49d4-b62c-ccc5d67e7bf6/versions/1727117173/media/4c6d692f9472bc62e53700536ef6e9ca_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/23/seth-dunwoody-and-darren-rafferty-close-to-medals-at-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"B4JNJ6DHARB4DJCQNFI3KBL4RA","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785779},"content":"Irish riders had a fine showing on day three of the UCI road world championships in Zürich on Monday, with Seth Dunwoody fifth in the junior men’s time trial and Darren Rafferty sixth in the Under 23 race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7TUVQ5IISRAJ5B33RNNU5VDB5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785780},"content":"Dunwoody continued the fine form he has shown this year to finish 24 seconds off race winner Paul Seixas (France), and 17 seconds off a podium place. Compatriot Conor Murphy was 10th, a fine performance for a first year junior.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2MLGWCWQOBHTHDMIWPZR62FYHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785781},"content":"“I managed to squeeze everything out of my legs today,” said Dunwoody. “Although not as much as I had expected but I can still be proud of this result. It’s my first major time trial championship and I hope to be at many more fighting for medals.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SWZ5FYNHBZHRVCIWOY46IKNIP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785782},"content":"Rafferty finished fifth in the under 23 TT last year and, having turned professional with EF Education-EasyPost this season, hoped to build on that. However he found he was lacking a little zip in the race, quite possibly as a result of riding the Vuelta a España at 21 years of age.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6M6VM7YUGRHU3NWT7PUNMMPGEI","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785783},"content":"“It has been a long season and I have done a lot of races. It is nice to be able to come here, represent Ireland and give it my best. Unfortunately it was not enough, but it is always nice and there is another opportunity on Friday,” he said, speaking about the road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7VJMZVTIMRCFTBJOX4FQCT627Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785784},"content":"Brother Adam had a fine performance in his first year as an under 23, netting 10th. Spanish rider Iván Romeo won.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AUYBTDQM5NBDTL7BWYJVJ23USM","additional_properties":{"_id":1727115785785},"content":"The world championships continues on Tuesday with the junior women’s time trial. Sister Aliyah Rafferty and Lucy Bénézet Minns will represent Ireland. The latter was fourth last year.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Dunwoody continued fine form he has shown this year to finish 24 seconds off race winner Paul Seixas"},"display_date":"2024-09-23T18:27:59.329Z","headlines":{"basic":"Seth Dunwoody and Darren Rafferty close to medals at world championships ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"N2DK5DEMY2UKQGVPCYPROQ2HQA","auth":{"1":"d7286a95d00c844afb396fa295a03f87e5b071f2b9fe0ab0a327d386b2cdba17"},"focal_point":{"x":2341,"y":421},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/N2DK5DEMY2UKQGVPCYPROQ2HQA.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/23/seth-dunwoody-and-darren-rafferty-close-to-medals-at-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"O7P7ZRRCOVCOJFHZUYWK2BNZOA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":203,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/813be2c1-3838-4d05-9fc1-0bd141d69ce4/versions/1727015241/media/e126eccca38e554d2f01cf5492c04737_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/22/irelands-katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-at-world-championship-time-trial/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JFIVIEGQ7VAZ5LDNF5FUVGBZ5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1727000677642},"content":"Paralympic champions <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and Linda Kelly added another gold to their 2024 haul on Sunday, winning the women’s B individual time-trial at cycling’s road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IX4SY7TWEZA7DJUBBPQBWKYC3I","additional_properties":{},"content":"The duo smashed their rivals on the undulating 29.9km course, completing the distance 1:09.7 quicker than Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl. A second British duo, Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall, were at 1:38.44 back in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITKUWZ4UMZCRRMUK73QAR2WU5Y","additional_properties":{},"content":"Irish riders Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal took a very solid fourth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"732J37BVUNBBREITBQ35MS6C4U","additional_properties":{},"content":"The victory by Dunlevy and Kelly sees them successfully defend the world title they took in Dumfries in August 2023.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GDNIH45HJRFBXIWM4BC2LSN2GY","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We really enjoyed the course,” said Dunlevy. “There were uphill and downhill sections so we knew, based on our race in Paris, that we would get time hopefully on the hills. We had to go over on our power on the hills and just really deliver a good solid ride. We’re delighted.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R54WB4X2ABHJNBBDS7DJCR3HA4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“You have to just attack each bit that you’re on, not think too far ahead when it comes to the time-trial.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MS7ZYCHLTVGTLJXJOSDMR3GRU4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Kelly pilots visually-impaired rider Dunlevy, and plays a key role in picking the right lines through corners in order to maximise speed while maintaining safety. She could see that they were closing on big rivals Unwin and Holl during the time-trial and drew encouragement from that.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4O6AMVXXX5AKFJHXHNQF4WPITE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Towards the last seven, eight kilometres we passed the British bike. It was such a nice feeling.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WZKSFKDBJRDXNNW4QMMTBEJEWQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"They are next up in the women’s road race on Wednesday, and will hope to repeat their victory of last year. Healion and McCrystal will also be in action, with the latter due to retire from international competition afterwards.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HYMVN7ZR5RHLRKVVASBP6QHSFA","additional_properties":{},"content":"She partnered Dunlevy for many years, clocking up multiple world titles and three golds, plus two silver medals, in the Paracycling Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"F6TLBKFPQNH7HAKY2PSPJCPSQ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"The quartet are the only paracycling riders among Ireland’s 24-strong squad at the UCI road and paracycling world championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"52JWK5AGOJEORPPIM2FUMRXK7U","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland had no competitors in the elite men’s and women’s time-trials on Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"INNVGB4HVJAN7BUHDUZTR6HZYI","additional_properties":{},"content":"On Monday, Seth Dunwoody and Conor Murphy line out in the junior time-trial, while the brothers Darren and Adam Rafferty compete in the under-23 equivalent. Aliyah Rafferty and Lucy Bénézet Minns will then contest the junior women’s time-trial on Tuesday. Bénézet Minns was a superb fourth last year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IR4VGYKF45EVFOVRBLTJ746DDY","additional_properties":{},"content":"The road races will take place later in the week. Following the paracycling tandem road race on Wednesday, the junior men and women will be in action on Thursday, with the under 23 men racing on Friday. The latter group will include Darren Rafferty, who took a fine fifth in the time-trial last year, and who recently competed in the Vuelta a España.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RXV6WES75FDKVNHTMLDSUZBT2A","additional_properties":{},"content":"Sisters Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien join with national champion Fiona Mangan in the elite women’s road race on Saturday, while double Vuelta a España stage winner Eddie Dunbar, Ben Healy, Archie Ryan and Conn McDunphy are the Irish riders in the elite men’s road race next Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Irish pair defend their title in Zurich as Josephine Healion and Eve McChrystal finish fourth"},"display_date":"2024-09-22T10:55:40.939Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win gold in World Championship time-trial","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UK2NVHDBU4H6KKVQ2ZTRFX6EWQ","auth":{"1":"ec6a04957978cf095a4f33bb9c23edb2d31e259c3e53c20ae89345b5863ab45c"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UK2NVHDBU4H6KKVQ2ZTRFX6EWQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/22/irelands-katie-george-dunlevy-and-linda-kelly-win-gold-at-world-championship-time-trial/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IAWQVV26FNF2LEF7DTUCWLIDYU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":664,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/cfde3690-c684-4dff-9408-f2338ebb9574/versions/1726825465/media/bf32463772e2a347beba025ff62c8f31_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/21/after-losing-his-leg-to-an-israeli-sniper-alaa-al-dali-found-his-way-out-of-gaza-and-into-the-world-championships/","content_elements":[{"_id":"R3W4LZ4SARAR7OIIEQUQAZJADM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465157},"content":"Alaa al-Dali was watching the protest in his full cycling gear when he was shot in the leg by an <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel-defence-forces/\" target=\"_blank\">IDF</a> sniper. He was standing beside his bike, 300m from the fence that separates <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/gaza-strip/\" target=\"_blank\">Gaza</a> from <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel/\" target=\"_blank\">Israel</a>. It was March 2018 and he was 21 years old.","type":"text"},{"_id":"33PC6JGPUZBM3JVLKZMISFZ4C4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465158},"content":"He had already qualified to compete in the Asian Games later that summer and was on track to become the first ever <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/palestine/\" target=\"_blank\">Palestinian</a> cyclist to compete at the Olympics. But the gunshot caused 22cm of devastation to Dali’s right leg and meant he’d have to get it amputated. No leg, no Asian Games, no Olympics. It was more than just his tibia that the sniper’s bullet tore through.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VVE5H22AJNEZ3FTJZJ2DR6ZLBU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465159},"content":"Six and a half years on, a small miracle will land next week. On Tuesday morning in Zurich, Dali will roll out for the time trial in the C2 category of the UCI World Paracycling Championship. Three days later, he’ll take his place in the field for the C2 road race. He won’t win but he will compete, in defiance of the odds, in defiance of everything. You don’t need to be on the podium to claim a victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZIASXT4HYVAKHLVWR3HW3ZBJR4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465160},"content":"“It will be the first time the Palestinian flag is flown on the international cycling stage,” says Karim Ali, co-founder alongside Dali of the Gaza Sunbirds Paracycling team. “It will be the first time any Palestinian has made it to a competition at this level. It’s an honour to be taking this step. It’s huge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FMSUO32C4BDNRMQGQUL6EKN4TM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465161},"content":"“Alaa only got out of Gaza in April. His family is still there, including his two young kids. He has travelled to eight countries through the summer and qualified for these championships even though he has had no permanent place to stay. In the space of five months, he has done something that takes some teams and countries years to achieve.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DPSLDF5VWJEU5PPMSCW5LA5WCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465162},"content":"That he has got here at all is down, at least in part, to Mark Rohan. The Westmeath man, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/news/motorbike-crash-survivor-mark-rohan-wins-gold-back-in-saddle-1.526329\" target=\"_blank\">a double gold medallist in handcycling at the 2012 Paralympics</a>, lives in Portugal now and coaches from his base in the Algarve. In Zurich next week, his stable comprises two Norwegian cyclists, one Icelander and one Portuguese, as well as Dali.","type":"text"},{"_id":"54NIZFWLPZGALNPSD3MTSS35QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465163},"content":"“It was very ordinary in how it came about,” says Rohan. “I read about the Gaza Sunbirds and basically sent them a message saying something along the lines of, ‘I don’t know how I can help but I’d like to.’ I’m coaching Alaa but it’s as much coaching his coach Hassan as anything.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GKWVNDRHPRFMBOHZTES4G3S5RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465164},"content":"“What they’ve done is amazing. They really had nothing. I mean, nothing. They were getting aid workers to smuggle bike parts into Gaza for them. People were taking bikes out of skips in Israel and trying to get them into Gaza so they could work on them and make them raceable. They didn’t even have cleats to fit into the pedals – they were wrapping some of the cyclists’ feet on to the pedals with duct tape. It’s been such a hard slog for them.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FSLAO3RYDNBTBCZEPNXVFOOMMA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465165},"content":"It started with Dali getting shot that day. The Great March of Return was a nine-month-long protest by Gazans in 2018, where thousands turned up daily to demand the right to return to their ancestral lands from which they were displaced in 1948. Dali made a point of attending in his cycling gear – he was having major difficulties in securing the right to leave Gaza to compete in international competition. He has always assumed that made him a target for the IDF sniper.","type":"text"},{"_id":"62FYMW3S6VDR3NM6BPXTVQBILU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465166},"content":"The official UN report on the demonstrations found that the IDF deliberately shot at the legs of protesters and that 156 amputations took place as a result. Dali’s was one of them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PRBUASEJDZFD5DGFP42BIAQDYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465167},"content":"“I begged the doctor to try his best before amputating it because my dreams as an athlete are tied up with these legs,” <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/6/2/riding-despite-gaza-palestinian-cycling-champion-alaa-al-dali\" target=\"_blank\">he later told Al-Jazeera</a>. “I spent eight days in the operating theatre. Every day I had a surgery on my leg. I felt so much pain and bullet fragments infected it all. I needed to make a choice – either the amputation or losing my life. After thinking a lot, I gave my consent to cut the leg. It was a very hard decision to make.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SCMF7LSTKRHT5DYTW6LUD2OUMY","additional_properties":{"_id":"YRKS2XR5LJEKZKQXFCACPRKGOI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CQDEONF225AHTIH4WPS57ZQLJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465168},"content":"Undeterred, Dali took a few months and decided to become a paracyclist. More than that, he decided that since the Gaza Strip had one of the highest concentrations of amputees on the planet, there had to be a way to pull together a paracycling team. A short film telling his story was shot and made in Arabic. The job of translating it into English landed on the desk of a 19-year-old student in London, a Cypriot Palestinian called Karim Ali.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BYH5BHXGBJEX3P7MVQ2THXORHM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465169},"content":"“Translating is a pretty intimate experience,” Ali says. “You really have to listen to what the person is saying. What emotions are they feeling? What are the exact words or phrases that they use to describe their situation? I felt very close to Alla after translating his story. And as a result of that, I decided I wanted to help him. But I was super young and I didn’t know much about the world.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"CM6FFM4VEFCU3NVHAMCKIKG22Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465170},"content":"That was how the Gaza Sunbirds were born. Over the next few years, with Ali in London and Dali in Gaza, they cobbled bits and pieces of gear together and got up and running. They were, from day one, a paracycling team rather than a cycling team. They were a place where amputees could come and learn to ride a bike. And, in time, to race a bike.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HPIDWLHHXZA37HGW4GEIRMEAOA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465171},"content":"“Our mission for year one was just to show that it is possible to train somebody under war circumstances,” says Ali. “It wasn’t to achieve any numbers. It was to see if it’s possible to get bikes, to train any number of these guys consistently for any period of time. That was it. That was the whole objective. There was nothing else. It was like an early proof of concept – as in, is it even possible to cycle in Gaza?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NJLRR6Q4NCDPG4WZQBC5HSBPU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465172},"content":"“How difficult is it to ride a bike? Very difficult if you only have one leg.. Amputations in Gaza, they’re progressive conditions. People get one amputation, then another, then another, then another, then another. Then they get complications in their limbs because the prosthetics are never correct.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GABSRMUDLZHUJJ7RS7RIQ4TYB4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465173},"content":"“So even if you have a good leg, how good does that leg stay when your entire body weight is on it? And if you’re prone to an crash and you get seen in the hospital or you get partial medical treatment for it, how can you continue to cycle on it? Maybe you can live a regular life with a slight leg injury, but then can you go and do professional sports?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VOKPBYLCMBFYTJAGW3PF5IGDLM","additional_properties":{"_id":"IGKKK5UAFRBDVOJKTTWRQSP3OI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"HHYGKMK4C5HRVKSAZEXZERKGOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465174},"content":"Bit by bit, they built it up. This time last year, the Gaza Sunbirds had 22 athletes, ranging in age from 12 to 50. They were getting a better supply of bikes and trained five times a week, up and down the Gaza Strip. The best of them, Dali included, were aiming to compete at the Paralympics in Paris, at the time just 10 months away.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZMWK3JMVMRBBJD6DJR3RJBFBE4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465175},"content":"Then October 7th happened.","type":"text"},{"_id":"B43IZWAWBREP5FZAVR3NAUPYMM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465176},"content":"Every day since, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/israel-hamas-conflict/\" target=\"_blank\">the world has watched Gaza be turned to rubble</a>. The Israeli reaction to atrocities carried out by Hamas has made life on the strip intolerable. The death toll, as of this week, is 41,252 people, including 16,500 children. The UN says more than half of the homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. More than 90 per cent of the population have been displaced since this phase of the war began.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2PV3VIZLKZEXDG6JOTVDQCXEMY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465177},"content":"In a particularly grim irony, cycling became the best way to get around Gaza. With fuel supplies cut off and 65 per cent of the road bombed to pieces, the Sunbirds went from being the most immobile people in Gaza to among the most mobile. With life as a sports team immediately suspended, Ali and Dali came up with the idea of morphing into a delivery service.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3J26D5DYMFDUTJZJYHCPMCGDDU","subtype":"twitter","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"LBWTJQUQJBCHBEPUNPWTZVDAWA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465179},"content":"“Alaa said, ‘Why don’t I get some bread and cycle around bringing it to people?’” Ali says. “We made a video of it and put it out on the internet to see if we could raise money to help people. We set up a Just Giving page. The video was kind of weird but it worked. We’ve kept doing it ever since.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZGMWFQW6NNG7BFFANKSZ4E464E","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465180},"content":"All the while, Dali still wanted to try to get to the Paralympics. To do so, they would have to get him out of Gaza and into Europe where he could take part in some qualifying races. It took three months for him to make it across the border into Egypt, along with three other cyclists and two coaches.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WKTLMZAVVDK3HOAXYBA7DLBBM","additional_properties":{"_id":"FVC5RRU6YJDCFAXPCNGG55J4WI"},"content":"Bohemians v Palestine: ‘In Gaza, our fields and our stadiums have been demolished’","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"N4UKZNVNHFBLLFWQQWI7KMK4WQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465181},"content":"Everything since has been life on the hoof. They got to Ostend in Belgium to take part in a World Cup race in May. Dali finished last in his category but at least they were on the map now. That night, however, the news came through that the Israelis had begun their assault on Rafah and closed the border crossing they had squeezed out through only weeks earlier. There was, literally, no going back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NIRCCEK3KFENZNX3RWQ2O5QXYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465182},"content":"Four of the group of six decided to apply for asylum in Belgium, there and then. But Dali and his coach ploughed on, to see if they could get a wild card into the Paralympics. They raced in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, all to show their hunger for a spot in Paris. But when it came down to it, the IPC didn’t grant him a spot. It was always going to be a long shot and this one didn’t hit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7KJRZ4DQB5GF3IO7OZ4LAX4SCQ","subtype":"twitter","type":"oembed_response"},{"_id":"JO2TYFY4U5G2VGCGHFGMONGLDM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465184},"content":"But along the way, he qualified for Zurich. Having spent the past two months living in a church basement in Padova, Italy, they drove the six hours north on Wednesday. They don’t know what the future holds past next week. Maybe Dali keeps competing where he can, maybe he waits out the war and tries to get back to his family. Nobody really has a clue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XV5OC2LRMZANJAMTPUOLT43RQM","additional_properties":{"_id":"EYHOMGV5ANDNFPBKSIPPZWGGDA"},"content":"‘We don’t have a life’: Palestinian shepherds struggle to graze amid growing settlements","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"2S526KJFZVDHTHYSVT2XEFQS54","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465185},"content":"For now, all they know is that on Tuesday and Friday, he will take his place among the sleek machines of the world’s best paracyclists and start pedalling his one good leg.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YWNYW7QK7VAMLNYLQGBIW6ZL3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465186},"content":"Whatever the road in front of him holds, it can’t be harder than the one behind him.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JYK26ZUUMJFFJJXJBF4USB3YVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726761465187},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Malachy Clerkin"}},"name":"Malachy Clerkin"}]},"description":{"basic":"In Zurich on Tuesday, the Palestinian flag will fly on the global cycling stage for the first time as the founder of the Gaza Sunbirds takes his place among the best paracyclists in the world"},"display_date":"2024-09-21T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"After losing his leg to an Israeli sniper, Alaa al-Dali found his way out of Gaza and into the World Championships","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"ADV47ZPAIBEU3FTZ3V3UIAB3EQ","auth":{"1":"40877ecb5e835768028e657cfd5368d8cbe374060496fa0e8bd5cf90de5b1033"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ADV47ZPAIBEU3FTZ3V3UIAB3EQ.jpg"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/21/after-losing-his-leg-to-an-israeli-sniper-alaa-al-dali-found-his-way-out-of-gaza-and-into-the-world-championships/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IXU4FPHWQJB5PPMVXAJNPX6J6A","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":641,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/1e846b57-75f6-4861-bf45-a4c2f9cd4a34/versions/1726152954/media/eb7403de05b5951a65b05dd8c917676c_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/life-style/people/2024/09/13/what-next-for-katie-george-dunlevy-no-irish-athlete-can-touch-her-medal-numbers-yet-la-2028-not-certain/","content_elements":[{"_id":"SJQ3M4KZ2VF2VNEZZ7BLCV3CLQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125272},"content":"First it was medals, now legacy is creeping into the thinking of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy/\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a>. There is an abundance of the former, with the latter beginning to enter the conversation. Dunlevy will have a more serious discussion with herself following next week’s Para-cycle Road World Championships in Zurich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BLATVQ7WYVDUJOXJP6FEDBUEGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125274},"content":"But after the fireworks of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paris 2024</a> the most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete of all time is at a crossroads. As she tells it, the answer is in her aching bones, the wilfulness, the solitary training regime and the hunger that have always provided an edge to what she does.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BUZ3RRXFZJC3NHJJ3MTW3I7MZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125275},"content":"The coming year will be one of self-discovery. She must divine if there is another <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> available to her 42-year-old body in four years’ time in Los Angeles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WD2GQDPMS5FXFLFMS62QM2ETP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125276},"content":"Either way, Paris represented another triumph, with three more jewels encrusted on to her crown to bring her overall Paralympic medal haul to eight; four gold and four silver. In World Championship competition, Dunlevy has 15 medals – six gold, six silver and three bronze, from road and track. No other Irish athlete can touch those numbers, yet LA 2028 is no certainty.","type":"text"},{"_id":"53FTSSYHAFA2FO4TX73GREY7RM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125277},"content":"“It’s whether I have that drive still in me,” she says. “To get to the top is hard but to stay at the top is much harder and I have been [there] for 10 years, ranked number one in the world on the road.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VVOMP5YEKVGNZCUOJOE37CFD54","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125278},"content":"“It’s your whole life. Everything else is put to the side. You have to be very selfish. It’s you, training away on your own and you don’t have anyone around you. I wouldn’t have my coach with me. I wouldn’t have pilots with me. I’d be training months and months on my own, especially the year after the Paralympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"75KP6M4ASNASXKE56OO5HRWXDQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125279},"content":"“It’s whether I can train indoors for six months. That’s one of the things. I don’t want to do it halfheartedly. You have to give the extra bit because competition is fierce.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JYHM4ZKGOJE5RCZ3KRPHHLHDYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125280},"content":"Pilots are the eyes on the tandem racing bike on which Dunlevy competes. In Paris they were Linda Kelly and Eve McCrystal in her visually impaired B category. Her sight has been degrading since she was a child.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CQDTU5ENMVCBRH6PRWMKGHADVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125281},"content":"When she was not yet 12 years old, it was a routine visit to the optician that first revealed serious issues. English-born Dunlevy had worn glasses from the age of five. But that day was the first time she had heard the words retinitis pigmentosa. Further inquiry and a visit to a hospital in London confirmed the fears of her parents and the genetic disorder.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QPJM5WWNA2URPLX4LFYM2Z7VTA","additional_properties":{"_id":"VA7KS6PNQZDGHBJJUHQED2JJ5U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5XKNBPJX4BBSVMSEU43K55VTQA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125282},"content":"The cells in her retina were breaking down and over time her vision would deteriorate. Her family were told she could lose her sight by the age of 30, as many affected by the condition do, to the point of blindness.","type":"text"},{"_id":"77ALFJHZLJAYBJED7JYMZQUFEU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125283},"content":"On the Paralympic scale, hers is a B2 classification which is not as severe a visual impairment as B1 but more severe than B3. B2 is significantly and limited vision, either in how far or how wide one can see. The diagnosis changed the course of her life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3JHRKCSHBBDPJH54T6EA5NYRTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125284},"content":"“I didn’t understand because I was used to seeing what I could see and didn’t know what everyone else could see,” she says. “It’s the same now. I know I can’t see some things and I’ll walk into stuff and kind of go, ‘Yeah, I can’t see well.’ I don’t know what everyone else can see so it’s [about] adapting.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UH3ULYMQ3NA3DGBJX47GX6OXYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125285},"content":"“My family decided to send me to a special school in Kent for the visually impaired and blind. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want help. I didn’t understand what was going on. But the school was great. I was getting into activity and sport whereas the mainstream school I was in, I was left at the side of the PE class.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DQ6ZR45R3NAY7EUSMQ7NSYILQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125286},"content":"At the new school, Dorton House, she was drawn towards physical activity, had high energy for “doing things”. Previously, she sat out PE because she ran into other kids or didn’t see the ball thrown to her. As a low-self-esteem child, the new situation was a confidence-giver and Dunlevy was driven towards competition.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ARGTHKCXJKFX2ZWLV7CPKPKC7A","additional_properties":{"_id":"TNJ6AH3JZRC4XC34PAQDBROGJY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"WY3ZFUF4YFCZFFFPYTOZLS2QZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125287},"content":"First it was running and rowing, and at 17 Britain selected her for the Blind Sports European Championships, where she won bronze in 400m. At university in Southampton she became more serious about rowing and received a call from a British rowing coach to try out.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DLIDQSYJUNE5FH2ENX35YA44E4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125288},"content":"“Visually impaired. A woman. Sporty. I was like, well, okay, maybe,” she says. “I went and did a test indoors and then Iearned to row at my second year in uni.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"I5XLDGD3Y5EOJFHEVL3ICOWWJQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"7SY2P4PN6ZFXTIMAUNBLAIEM6U"},"content":"Raucous Dublin Airport homecoming reception for Team Ireland Paralympians ‘brilliant to see’","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"FK3SIXJNJBFX3JTZN6PONFVZ5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125289},"content":"Several years were spent trying to push into British boats, and she did in 2004 and 2005. Then eventually a rib injury kept her out of the 2006 World Championships. The boat she missed won and she couldn’t break in for the 2010 World Championships. For the rest of the journey serendipity was at the tiller.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2STL4ZLGMVFU7DZB2WQNHRJZAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125290},"content":"Ireland then was trying to get a rowing squad to qualify for London 2012 and Dunlevy’s dad John, being from Mountcharles in Co Donegal, provided an opportunity. In 2011 she did the trial and missed out. Again. Enough, she said to herself. She couldn’t take it any more.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OKMXUFEMZRHIDG2NV2GATGQMUU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125291},"content":"However, paracycling coach Brian Nugent threw a lifeline. With her core strength and cardio, he asked if she wanted to try out cycling. A couple of months later Dunlevy arrived in Ireland. She tried out and was selected for the World Championships at the end of the year. It was 2014 and she was on her way.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FHABBL6BXNEPTENHUK65I5RX5I","additional_properties":{"_id":"ZT2AVZMXLRD3JLPYNNOK337BVY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OYIOL3KFO5DOVHRADCMFS56J5A","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125292},"content":"A slew of World Championship and Paralympic medals later, her world is a different place.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZ2VVW4LUVCKZCYYXNEISD6ZKY","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125293},"content":"“Every [Paralympic] cycle, the promotion and coverage, is so much better in the world [now] but also back in Ireland,” she says. “The number of athletes competing, and the number of women is increasing every Paralympic Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FG7HWABD3RASBPCLKV56WT5N5M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062633},"content":"“Years ago, in Ireland you probably would not have been able to name a Paralympic athlete. But now you would. The communication is better. It is elite sport; we are just disabled. Visibility is important but there is definitely a long way to go. Not to put down any of the Olympians but they showcase them more.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CU7BLU6HQ5EOFLCD4RB43QGRLU","additional_properties":{"_id":"CQFSU6VK7BA7XN4V62NSNDWOAM"},"subtype":"pullquote","type":"quote"},{"_id":"TJ7TR33TW5ESREGKQPPZY3SXIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062635},"content":"“I think you find at a lot of awards the Olympic medal would seem higher than a Paralympic medal, which shouldn’t be the case. So, a silver Olympic medal would be seen as something higher than a gold Paralympic medal. Right. You just go, eh, what do you need to do as a Paralympic athlete to been seen? So, there are barriers.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q7JU7EXTQBDNHCINSHZ26U7NQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125295},"content":"Dunlevy seems more acutely aware of the “legacy” element now as she faces into a brief stint of training leading towards Zurich.","type":"text"},{"_id":"75D7UB7RMRGITNAAPBTJHTJLDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125296},"content":"Her first World Championships in an Irish vest was a road race in Greenville, USA, in 2014. Since then she has won medals every year on the road and track, at Paralympic or World Championship level. That Zurich may be her last has sharpened her mind to other things.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2NQA3AVUDFBF5HZMUBTTU2S2FM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125297},"content":"It will, she says, come down to a feeling, a desire. Only she will know when her body and mind are telling her to stop, if the same levels of vitality and drive are there to allow her not to just step out and compete against the best in the world but to beat them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LBK3DB7ASW2OB6HMZ2NGJEUK5Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"E73GONEHQFCNZCRG24AWYFXRLI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7XHRGPVTJJHQFCWV7ZHWZT4PC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062639},"content":"“I’m getting old now,” she says. “I’m 42 years old. I haven’t got the same energy and my recovery is very different to what it used to be. I’m managing injuries all the time, so you are putting energy into that as well as getting yourself into the best physical shape. I’d be in pain most days. It just takes its toll on the body.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IGK4DTSH2ZG35KMNNOUN2U5F4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125299},"content":"“But one of the reasons to carry on is definitely to inspire visually impaired children and the LGBT community, just to give anyone hope to be themselves.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"GWKNBCPZMNAWBJWFIW72TY4QE4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062642},"content":"Dunlevy says she wants “to give back”.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OYRAB6SJ4REKZCVDAPAS7C3L2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1726153062643},"content":"“I want to go to schools – and will do in a few weeks – to show my medals to the children and let them hold my medals because I didn’t have that as a kid,” she says. “If I can inspire anyone just not to give up, that’s my job done. It will have been worth it.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"NXVMIQCEVRE4RNTGDAELNBANKM","additional_properties":{"_id":"MOURAXTPUVAXZMSWEAVCZV2DUY"},"content":"Paralympics: Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly win silver in women’s B road race","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"ABRQAYGY75CFRIF5QQOZYA4NU4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125300},"content":"By her own estimation, she “came out really late – at the age of 29″.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TGQQGO6S4FDZVHCWHSJ53RPPYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125301},"content":"“Coming out, I denied it. I was very confused. I didn’t know what it was,” she recalls. “The visibility wasn’t there as much as it is now. It wasn’t in schools or anything and there was no one around me like that. So, I thought that I have to be going out with boys and I have to marry a man, so I hid it even though my family are amazing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5XIKCNDOVDFHJVQRW5334XMOA","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125302},"content":"“So, if I can help people out there to be themselves ... I know I’m very fortunate and know not everyone has that support in their lives and don’t have a supporting family. It can be very lonely.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ADZDR6TOTNER5AFSTRYZGGJRLM","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125303},"content":"Exhausted and back in Crawley, the town in West Sussex where she lives, the competitive fires still burn. Paris barely over, Dunlevy is instinctively thinking of a recovery ride on the bike. Her return to Ireland for a homecoming with the recent gold and two silver medals, and a lack of sleep, are the sweeter pains of success.","type":"text"},{"_id":"573YXREICJEUZAPLHMYFFBC454","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125304},"content":"After a planned Late Late Show appearance on Friday night and the World Championships, there is also talk of a trip to southwest Donegal where she spent childhood holidays with her five sisters in Mountcharles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKLRQ2CBTRDEVD3QSKUOTLBEK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1726144125305},"content":"Only then can she sit back after a life of competition and heaped gold medals and ask herself the question of what to do next.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Johnny Watterson"}},"name":"Johnny Watterson"}]},"description":{"basic":"The most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete of all time on what keeps her going, family support and coming out out ‘really late at the age of 29′"},"display_date":"2024-09-13T07:29:26.878Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympic cyclist Katie-George Dunlevy: ‘I want to inspire visually impaired children and the LGBT community to not give up’","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"YH4WXBZOUPBE4PPIF5AR7AINVI","auth":{"1":"6279c4b862462b8ce9d683f32534fd3b77e01750945c58489edcf3560050f835"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YH4WXBZOUPBE4PPIF5AR7AINVI.jpg"}},"subtype":"showcase","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"People"},{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Life & Style"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/life-style/people/2024/09/13/what-next-for-katie-george-dunlevy-no-irish-athlete-can-touch-her-medal-numbers-yet-la-2028-not-certain/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/life-style/people","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"People"}}}},{"_id":"RBUZ3SXLOFAN3ORBA54YLRG2BY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":191,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/de3f715c-318e-4713-9267-66716feb5b32/versions/1725824852/media/8e65c1d5a9fdbcbf65c986d5c8558311_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/08/primoz-roglic-reigns-in-spain-with-record-equalling-fourth-vuelta-title/","content_elements":[{"_id":"2JFYOKNJMNEVHAGNJMOD54ALAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597090},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/primoz-roglic/\" target=\"_blank\">Primož Roglič</a> finished off the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana/\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a España</a> strongly on Sunday, taking second in the final-day time trial in Madrid to seal his overall victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"K3Q5UXS7SFDSPDLEAPG2236EXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908762},"content":"The Slovenian rider finished 30 seconds behind the time trial specialist Stefan Küng in a fast, flat 24.6km race against the clock far better suited to the bigger Swiss rider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7PXSABIUBCBJGAGK3VQVAM7KE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908763},"content":"Roglič beat all of his general classification rivals to extend his overall advantage, ending the three-week race 2′36 clear of Australian rider Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and 3′13 in front of Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar Team).","type":"text"},{"_id":"CBVPPWERWJDK3CSZAG4AHNH4QA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908764},"content":"Irishman <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a> defended his 11th place overall, ending the race 14′40 behind Roglič.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NC4ZOLGOBNBRPHZNGJWTDDQCWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908765},"content":"More importantly, he took two stage wins, triumphing with a brilliantly-timed final kilometre surge on stage 11 and then winning the hardest mountain stage solo on Saturday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"P2XENOU4LVA4LNMMLRCBZBTCVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908766},"content":"The performances were the biggest of his career and show he has fully recovered from a run of injuries and moved to a new level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTG3W7NJPFGADKN5O6XG4RWRZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908767},"content":"“I’m feeling really good,” Dunbar said before Sunday’s final stage in Madrid. “I said jokingly yesterday morning it’s a shame it’s not a week longer. I’m really happy.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QACDDKMI6FAPTOTRG4DFIG3WV4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908768},"content":"Dunbar told The Irish Times before the race that he was short on racing fitness due to injuries this year, but that he expected to ride into form.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HQZ2GIZAVVAQPA2Z56IJOQDR3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908769},"content":"“I haven’t done any World Tour racing really since the Tour de Romandie, so I’m definitely probably a bit underdone compared to last year’s Vuelta,” he stated then. “But that mightn’t be a bad thing come the third week.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JPBLHAHPELCGPDHRU2NHRPWJ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"NUXNNZNPUNFBBP36UEZAFIUCFQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5YD5OXABYZHYVLTQ4FE2D5KDSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908771},"content":"That’s precisely how things panned out and with the upcoming world road championships taking place over tough terrain in Switzerland, he should be in a strong position. He is likely to line out in the time trial on September 22nd and then to contest the road race seven days later.","type":"text"},{"_id":"23ETCAUSEVDXZF2NZTMHWZ3VNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908772},"content":"Dunbar’s Vuelta success has been a considerable boost to his confidence. The Corkman was stunned to take the first of his stage wins, but the assured manner of his victory on Saturday and his reaction afterwards shows how far he has progressed psychologically during the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SZD333DSJJF3PMTJ55XGGDKZPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908773},"content":"He took victories in two stage races in 2022 and was seventh overall in last year’s Giro d’Italia, but will emerge from the Vuelta knowing he has reached a new level.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U43VR2LG7FC53PQQVGZJWIXRHY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908774},"content":"That will spur him on in the world championships, and also during the 2025 season.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D3TJBJRX4NCAHPG2YLAUG7N3VY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908775},"content":"The same can be said for Darren Rafferty, who made his grand tour debut in the race. Still just 21 years of age, he was asked to perform team duties for EF Education-EasyPost squad and had very limited personal opportunities.","type":"text"},{"_id":"54GR3QML65GY5CAHTDXOKJRSMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908776},"content":"He showed his strength on many occasions and played a fundamental role in helping team leader Richard Carapaz to fourth place overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6IFT5JXSE5FYTFYW3X5PUKPPC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908777},"content":"While he didn’t get the chance to chase a stage win, Rafferty will emerge from the Vuelta much stronger than before and should reap the benefits in 2025 and beyond.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UYNWZFGCAVF7JFFNAKPLEYT3ZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908778},"content":"As for Roglič, he will hope his fifth career grand tour victory will be followed by a long-sought Tour de France success next summer.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7WIC7UCOSBGOXA43B4PH3K5WVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908779},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"2JFYOKNJMNEVHAGNJMOD54ALAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597090},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"LRQW2UK5CNCQ5MZGYXSLSHGP5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597091},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"R227OHZTH5FKXAAE76GKNWFV3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597092},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"MG73XNN6WFB6PHTUVNGSH6LKFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823418846},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z2LMRX5SLREMFBEJLKR5EAKAP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597093},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"N5ZKEEXEANBJJFOUV7Z3QWHFVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597094},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"YIJIFITMARA27JG5OQTJR5CAZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597095},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"CKS6IIW2ZVC3ZMCOIIUNOASGVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597096},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"V2CQ5VYHVNEWDPPHKAWPUQNHDY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725819597097},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"MD2YPMPPGFD7TB2QBQKI3ICD64","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908789},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"OX5IXI56VREI7JW36QTUP4ND6Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908790},"content":"","type":"text"},{"_id":"VGQ5RSOYPFFJRJYDS5MW43KEQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725823908791},"content":"","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Corkman finishes 11th overall after claiming two stage wins, including victory in toughest mountain stage"},"display_date":"2024-09-08T18:35:06.378Z","headlines":{"basic":"Vuelta a España: Primoz Roglic reigns in Spain as Eddie Dunbar celebrates superb race campaign","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BAP4WHDNL5FE3CW2PFYFNSJ3TY","auth":{"1":"093d37b4b7761675ce87b8017b41c347487e87f8b2252be86e3726047cb8db36"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BAP4WHDNL5FE3CW2PFYFNSJ3TY.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/08/primoz-roglic-reigns-in-spain-with-record-equalling-fourth-vuelta-title/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"7SEHK5X3QVBSZBU4PGPZVN2UGU","additional_properties":{},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/09/08/mia-griffin-wins-ras-na-mban-to-become-first-irish-champion-in-11-years/","content_elements":[{"_id":"T5I7HLKVLVBAHPVGW5Y7AUAV3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575691},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/mia-griffin/\" target=\"_blank\">Mia Griffin</a> sealed a superb overall victory in <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/cycling/\" target=\"_blank\">Rás na mBan</a> on Sunday, becoming the first Irish winner of the race in 11 years.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TF2NSFSAZVHGJCI52UFGS3NKOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575692},"content":"The Das Hutchinson Brother UK rider followed in the wheeltracks of Olivia Dillon with her success, further highlighting her talent after being part of Ireland’s team pursuit squad at the Paris Olympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTPXQU3T4RBUPJ25MC5EPYKWL4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575693},"content":"She finished six seconds clear of the Dutchwoman Noor Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy) and 11 ahead of defending champion Manon de Boer (NWVG-Uplus).","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3SAH2SVNRCODCNO47P56ZMN74","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575694},"content":"Fellow Irishwoman and team-mate Caoimhe O’Brien was fifth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNO6X7FSHJA45EYPLRNDDXDN6Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575695},"content":"“It feels kind of crazy,” said Griffin. “I came into this week not really knowing where the body was at. I didn’t really expect to be going for the GC (general classification), I expected to more focus on stage wins.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MVHLPHXALVAP7GWONL5NUVDMCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575696},"content":"Racing on home soil with the majority of the stages based in Kilkenny, Griffin got off to a flying start with victory on day one. She was second to O’Brien on stage two, won stage three and defended the overall lead from start to finish.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L76ISZ7J4ZANPIUORUOG3D4MFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"F7AAVPPSUFGFXEA26VROOKJKYU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"DY27CDQYONFY7JDASYLHOKE74M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575698},"content":"Sunday saw two stages: a morning 2.5km time trial around Kilkenny Castle, and an afternoon criterium in Kilkenny City.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GBB7OTCJSRAQPCKMRL44BFKKYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575699},"content":"Dekker was the winner of the former, beating De Boer by 1.36 seconds. Griffin used her track speed to fine effect, taking third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SLXFRKTT6FEGVHJEOAXL6XFNSU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575700},"content":"Her team-mate Lucy Lee won the criterium, outsprinting Dekker to the line after they went clear with two laps remaining. Aoife O’Brien was best of the Irish riders in fourth place, while Griffin rolled in as part of the peloton 11 seconds back, making sure of her final overall victory.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NT52OGFNNZCORCR4ILR5YRXMZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575701},"content":"She thanked her team-mates, saying they were vital in controlling her rivals, including De Boer. “I was wary of Manon going, and she went really hard a few times,” she said. “The fact that we could keep that under control was incredible.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JB4EUCGRKRA6NNNTNAMUX6ZXBY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575702},"content":"In addition to her overall victory and two stage wins, Griffin also took the points classification. O’Brien was best young rider in the prestigious international event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5TVHO4IYFE7JMYZXDFXO5KKDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725825575703},"content":"Elsewhere, Irish riders had a superb showing in the Loudenvielle round of the UCI downhill World Cup in France. They were fifth and sixth respectively, just over three seconds behind the winner Benoit Coulanges (Dorval AM Commencal).","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Kilkenny cyclist finishes ahead of Noor Dekker and 2023 winner Manon de Boer"},"display_date":"2024-09-08T17:43:59.217Z","headlines":{"basic":"Mia Griffin wins Rás na mBan to become first Irish champion in 11 years","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"4TCJHO25RZB6TMDOLBR7CQNJOE","auth":{"1":"50e4ca7cdff8aa0772131611ba8c9693041a29fdc99c1a7873bcb02a12137702"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4TCJHO25RZB6TMDOLBR7CQNJOE.JPG"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/09/08/mia-griffin-wins-ras-na-mban-to-become-first-irish-champion-in-11-years/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"VTBDOGKMDNEHRI5J5J2TCD6VTY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":173,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/10af759c-d024-47e6-ae20-03616300f1fe/versions/1725731339/media/4f5d2d8afec104bd2697caaf18461273_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/irelands-eddie-dunbar-claims-best-win-of-professional-career-at-vuelta-a-espana/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JFIVIEGQ7VAZ5LDNF5FUVGBZ5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725724021706},"content":"<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a> clocked up the best win of his professional career Saturday, taking what was his second stage victory in this year’s <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a España</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MNIRW6HQXRH2ZHY7BTZ2WTII2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362149},"content":"The 28-year-old Cork rider had previously triumphed on stage 11 of the race but his success on the penultimate day was in more impressive circumstances, beating some of the world’s best riders on the final summit finish of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QRASWR46G5CA3FC63F55P4YSIM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362150},"content":"Dunbar attacked five kilometres from the summit of the category one Picón Blanco, gradually drawing clear of the group of general classification contenders. He then caught and dropped lone leader Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) with 3.5 kilometres remaining.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LTLJ7TTMWVBTJIY4KQTU6UJ474","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362151},"content":"While proven Grand Tour riders such as Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) and David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) put in big accelerations behind, Dunbar hovered several seconds ahead of them and was able to fend off all efforts to bring him back.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PQ5FJISZRBC2PNCA6JWQ72JE7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362152},"content":"“I always knew it was going to be a really difficult stage but with the way the last three weeks have been ridden I just thought that a lot of guys would be tired today,” Dunbar said. “Especially GC [general classification] guys who have gone to the limit every day.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2VCNZTXVDZAPRPEE6FERNDQJGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362153},"content":"“I’m a bit behind on GC, I knew that if I stayed with them and did everything right in the last week, I’d have a chance to maybe get the stage win today. I was never going to be let go in the breakaway, but I always believed I could win today.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XP3SFC5KRBFYNPZK4LBLGCG2LE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362154},"content":"He reached the line seven seconds ahead of Mas, and 10 in front of race leader Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Given the difficulty of the climb and the standard of his rivals, it is his best win to date.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QWPUKPOWWVDAJLKBUSXW74TOSM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362155},"content":"“I knew if I just kept pacing myself and kept riding at threshold, if someone was going to come across it was going to take a big effort,” he said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PTUOKQN3JBEUXPAN3W75VDVVRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362156},"content":"“So I paced myself really well. It wasn’t until about 200 metres to go that I thought I could probably hold them off, when I looked back and saw a bit of daylight there.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"ML7NTARS5NGFNK3RM6IBPQLUXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362157},"content":"Roglic’s team was hit by what Spanish media reported as a case of salmonella, with a staff member hospitalised as a result.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OVT625PZTBAU5MHX3D53XLCCTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362158},"content":"The Slovenian appeared a little off his usual level but holds a 2:02 advantage over former race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) heading into Sunday’s final stage time-trial in Madrid.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2PW2HOAGZBAZRP6YXTNMYUL754","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362159},"content":"Mas is third, 2:11 back, meaning former Olympic champion Roglic has a substantial buffer and looks set for a record-equalling fourth Vuelta title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QZWQ6AC3Y5HH5K2JASI2KOIN3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725814362160},"content":"Dunbar is up two places to 11th overall and has a big morale boost in advance of the upcoming road world championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"28-year-old from Cork pulled away on the gruelling climb to the finish line to win his second stage of the race"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T16:04:58.54Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar claims best win of professional career at Vuelta a Espana","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"RW4LFN6S2UJ62MJQKPZTFEZC3Q","auth":{"1":"eccc85c03dbc00c1d16d479eb7938dcbe773c531e191f7a8813c1823eb134c16"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/RW4LFN6S2UJ62MJQKPZTFEZC3Q.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/irelands-eddie-dunbar-claims-best-win-of-professional-career-at-vuelta-a-espana/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"EJ52CY5SGVCPNORANF6723HCIM","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":245,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/34fc2b77-9cfd-4266-9a87-f8374bd52a57/versions/1725645702/media/8afcf6ad40b9a52a1fdcbf3f41d39707_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/more-than-the-games-alice-tai-measures-up-again-as-she-reaps-medal-haul/","content_elements":[{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Four-medals and counting for Tai</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"IWEX3HSX5JAZZMNZKLVOQUPHDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243280},"content":"Alice Tai is having a Paralympics to remember, the British swimmer having won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze – and she still has another event to go, Saturday’s 100m butterfly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UWKA2PNEUBGTFPTOCMQHYFHTMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243281},"content":"If you’d told her in 2022 that she’d experience this level of success, she’d most likely have laughed. It was then that she had her right leg amputated from below the knee because the clubfoot with which she was born was causing her so much pain.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6W7ASW5HYVB6LENWGG4GAF4KIY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243282},"content":"That, then, meant that the 25-year-old effectively had to relearn how to swim – and in the earliest stages of her return to the pool, she had her doubts that she’d ever get back to the kind of form that won her a bronze in Rio and multiple world titles.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6ZOB7B77AFAK5CA7GAG7XE7EJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243283},"content":"“I called my coach and I was like, ‘I am going to have to retire, I am not getting back down to my times, I am 20 seconds off in the 100m, I’m swimming really slowly.’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7SBASKIEKFHZNC5QVVQS7DRPYY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243284},"content":"But?","type":"text"},{"_id":"NRD7S32N35FYRGPNY5OOGZAVNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308684},"content":"“It turns out I was swimming in a 33m pool, not a 25m pool and I hadn’t realised. I was doing 30 per cent more distance than I was meant to.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"QD4672SCEVGAJI4D2D3UXGBIQU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308685},"content":"It’s as well she didn’t retire.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Metelka tips his hat to unlucky Atkinson</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CWMR55XFGNBDXB4XE7JVD37JDU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243286},"content":"We’ve seen plenty of athletes suffer misfortune in Paris, but near the top of ‘the unluckiest’ list must surely come British cyclist Archie Atkinson who crashed with just two laps to go in the 4000m individual pursuit when he was leading Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka by six seconds. Atkinson had to settle for silver in the end.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FNC3EKNP2JHLZAOIHBAS3GYRUM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243287},"content":"All of which prompted perhaps the most honest post-gold-medal-winning interview with any Paralympian at these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XE33RDU3D5ENTDM2PJZMHOVKZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243288},"content":"“I won with massive luck, come on,” said Metelka. “The luck is like from here to the Eiffel Tower and back. Clearly, he’s a better rider, he’s stronger, I was six seconds down – you don’t recover from there. I won because Archie fell. I was incredibly lucky. I mean, when was the last time something like this happened? When T-Rex was around?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VNPXUU4SAJLFS6P5PHBLTQMSOI","additional_properties":{"_id":"CYXS4ATUVBAHPAZ245UQ5RGHTE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Cyprus pays homage to Karolina</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"TV27IAFLM5EHHEVFF45RKO77QY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243290},"content":"How excited was the Cyprus’s Paralympic Committee about Karolina Pelendritou winning a bronze medal, at her sixth Paralympics, in the SB11 100 metres breaststroke on Thursday night? Very.","type":"text"},{"_id":"R63CX56QARFK7AQTDBIBQGP7QM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243291},"content":"Their statement: “Cyprus, do you understand what a compatriot of ours has done? Cyprus, have you understood that from the loudspeakers of a packed stadium here at La Defense Arena, there was a special mention of her name? Cyprus, have you realised that Karolina Pelendritou has won two more medals? There is a whole rest of the planet which has bowed down to the talent, to the single-mindedness, to the strength, to the will of Karolina Pelendritou!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"HLD3FUG6HFCX7KM3GURVLBBTWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308694},"content":"Sweet, Karolina.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Word of mouth</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"“Cyclists, we’re a weird bunch – the worse it is, the more we want of it.” –<b> After he and Mitchell McLaughlin finished eighth in Friday’s gruelling Road Race, Damien Vereker (44) insisted he’d be back for more in LA. A weird bunch, all right.</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"M477JO57TIA7JIELP5GUKPFRDM","additional_properties":{"_id":"XKYSU4JLPFDULFANQ7EGLYTKHA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>In numbers</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"P2WBI5BCHFHUJGLYY4IJASPRKM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639779518},"content":"<b>8 –</b> Four gold, four silver, that’s how many Paralympic medals Katie-George Dunlevy now has. Some career.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MB76Z2TKMZFVLMLWZZ4W64YBJE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243274},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Persistence pays for Britain’s Bywater</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"45G6QIHLBZF2NJ4UMXSLS43TFY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243293},"content":"Having been on the losing side in Paralympic semi-finals in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2020, Terry Bywater was a touch on the elated side when Britain beat Germany to reach the final of the wheelchair basketball event against the United States tomorrow.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZQSIA6LO6FFBJHBOFY54WM7F3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725639243294},"content":"Reflecting on that losing streak before the Games, Bywater made mention of another sportsman who has struggled to collect silverware during his career.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IXZCNK2GI5DN3MT2NQIZLB4SAM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642308703},"content":"“I don’t want to be the Harry Kane of wheelchair basketball,” he said. Poor Harry.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Mary Hannigan"}},"name":"Mary Hannigan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympics: British swimmer Alice Tai had her leg amputated below the knee in 2022 but has come back as strong as ever"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Alice Tai measures up again as she reaps medal haul","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"OSIOYAD7JDMEXM4GYNXQ5HJWOU","auth":{"1":"102d1635c24ef5f395542d68fe08af3d8bdfc495105d346870e8f8bd344d0b09"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/OSIOYAD7JDMEXM4GYNXQ5HJWOU.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"analysis","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/more-than-the-games-alice-tai-measures-up-again-as-she-reaps-medal-haul/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"IQY2HYZAW5F2TB6D6BOJLPPQVU","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":480,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/07d6a72b-23c5-401a-af0f-acf7673a0ff4/versions/1725647805/media/608648b6be7d9667040056de2ab12dbb_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/paralympics-female-athletes-light-a-flame-of-hope-firing-the-art-of-the-possible/","content_elements":[{"_id":"36QS32DDNRBOPKOVQKF24MORZA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365710},"content":"It seems fitting that Team Ireland’s last three athletes in action at the 2024 <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> today are Richael Timothy, Mary Fitzgerald and Britney Arendse.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZWUNZ6K7BEHXF6GMVIKAEAZH4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365711},"content":"For these have been a Games where Ireland’s female Paralympians led the charge in terms of medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GYFKZG4IVZEAZDJBN4K6OXDZ3A","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365712},"content":"All six of Ireland’s podium finishes in Paris so far were achieved by women, all of whom have a vision impairment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZHOMFPCEFHHDDODTZXCPVEI2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365713},"content":"It is certainly no precedent for there to be more Irish female medal winners than male – it was also the case in Rio 2016 and Tokyo last time out – but this will be the first time since the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 that no Irish men medalled.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WXKFYL3KZVG27JAM2A2MO6CJME","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365714},"content":"Measured in the currency of gold, silver and bronze, these were the Games of <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy/\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> (one gold, two silver), <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/roisin-ni-riain/\" target=\"_blank\">Róisin Ní Riain</a> (one silver, one bronze) and <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/orla-comerford/\" target=\"_blank\">Orla Comerford</a> (one bronze).","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPICMQYUHNHIPDKOGNTDDCV5FY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365715},"content":"But they were also the Games of Dearbhaile Brady (17), Shauna Bocquet (20) and Deaten Registe (20) too – three Paralympic newcomers who qualified for finals in their maiden Paralympics.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y722KJAZP5A65BEJ5O5B2KBWGY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365716},"content":"And they were also the Games where Ellen Keane, Eve McCrystal and Ronan Grimes bid farewell. As some folk arrive, there are always others preparing to leave.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FFLUZWBRWURLQ4N4VFJGRFTGFE","additional_properties":{"_id":"KTRV4U62WJE4PEFZJQMIRV3B64"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"R4IVRV7C3RDLRA5FS66AZOJJSI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365717},"content":"They were the Games of fourth-place finishes for Ireland – Keane, Greta Streimikyte, McCrystal and Josephine Healion, Ní Riain twice.","type":"text"},{"_id":"O2DBJK3PCFFZHJQRBAF35QYXIQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365718},"content":"They were the Games where Irish twins Chloe and Judith MacCombe competed in the same event, and at the end of a gruelling triathlon, just two places and a gap of only 45 seconds separated the sisters.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2BJ6S65OBZAD5KXYTQJ36UVLO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365719},"content":"But of course it’s not what these Paralympic Games <i>were</i> that ultimately matters, rather, it is the flame of hope for the future they ignited within homes right across the world for people with an impairment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TPRJBHD3JBHMFDHGYP4UMSIWMQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365720},"content":"The performances, more than the victories and losses, of more than 4,400 elite Para athletes over the last fortnight highlighted not what is impossible, but what is possible.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6AB4SCWLGVDDNBNGOQ3VMB32XY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365721},"content":"On Wednesday afternoon, while talking with members of the Irish media just moments after winning gold, Dunlevy took a brief pause mid-answer.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GIKC74HJBRDP3FL6W2OBUVCNPY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365722},"content":"“I’ve got a message,” she said. “I said to the gang in Paralympics Ireland, all of the medallists from Ireland are women, and we’re all visually impaired women.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7MMPNOVP45DNTGAYIHHVHMLGT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365724},"content":"“For any young children at home with a vision impairment, if they’ve seen any of our races, hopefully we can inspire them to believe in themselves and to dream big. Hopefully we’re inspiring the next generation in whatever they do, sport or anything else.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"LYRCQLG2X5F2XAB74VMXS6T3HU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365725},"content":"Paris was Dunlevy’s fourth Paralympic Games, and few understand the impact Para athletes can have on kids more than the 42-year-old cyclist. She has lived it.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7NVDXN7EQ5DF3LSBKZ7UYTKLVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365726},"content":"“Even my younger self, I didn’t have anybody to look up to, any idols, so if it just inspires any child with vision impairment to just believe in themselves, then that’s my job done,” she added on Friday after claiming silver in the road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BBA4WPJIH5CEHA2624PGAFIPME","additional_properties":{"_id":"3RCUEN3PSJH5JJWDCESR7P3OSY"},"content":"Sign of buoyant times as athletics clubs in Dublin struggle to meet demand","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"G4W6ECUPRRBVLBB3QEWEQFCATU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365727},"content":"It is fair to say it has been a good summer for Paris – both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been a success. The strategy of repurposing venues and incorporating iconic landmarks as part of the show was an unqualified triumph. No white-elephant stadiums were hurt in the making of these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KSWLDN33NJE5PN6LF2EPDMM35I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365728},"content":"The La Défense Arena, which is normally home to the Racing 92 rugby team, was reimagined as a swimming venue.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SG3JPNPQ2VGE5K2NWU2DQCH4HA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365729},"content":"The Paralympic opening ceremony took place at the Place de la Concorde. Athletes emerged from the Champs-Élysées and paraded through the largest square in Paris, which had been transformed into an open-air amphitheatre.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LZXN55NQEJGDHCLGPS6JYMN6JU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365730},"content":"The Grand Palais hosted wheelchair fencing and taekwondo, Château de Versailles was home to equestrian, wheelchair tennis took place in Roland-Garros, the Para triathlon started and finished on the stunning Pont Alexandre III.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TNDTEWWEMBBX7B3C3UFHPQNJRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365731},"content":"The Games truly took place in the heart of the city.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3LIGX2DC45AZHCZ73CQVHLD4MQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365732},"content":"A temporary, 12,860-capacity stadium was installed at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Boasting one of the most stunning backdrops of a venue anywhere on the planet, it hosted beach volleyball during the Olympics and blind football during the Paralympics. If Instagram did stadiums!","type":"text"},{"_id":"W7Z2ADF7QZH53HLQBLQT3R37DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365733},"content":"The organisers put on quite the show, but the 45,000 volunteers were the day-to-day stars. They were hailed as the “hidden heroes”. Heroes, no question, but hidden they certainly were not. It was impossible to move around the city without spotting the volunteers in their bright uniform of bottle green, lime and blush pink.","type":"text"},{"_id":"A7EBIY2SQNFDFIGW447HZYFVTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365734},"content":"They were omnipresent, helpful, cheerful, positive, joyful. It was inconceivable to be grouchy in their airspace. If the organisers created the physical structures, then the volunteers created the mood of the city – they gave these Games real energy, real soul.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LDWFS36OM5ECXGSMHIRSNY3D5Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365735},"content":"Unless there is further success today, Team Ireland will return to Dublin on Monday with six medals. It would be the lowest medal haul since Beijing in 2008 (five), but just one shy of the seven garnered in Tokyo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5E5SAKTI4YUFHLMMXQ2OO2YERE","additional_properties":{"_id":"VOGLAL4EEVAHDIGIPQT4DGPQRY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"L4NNUSELTFAYVF57MO7RHLP3KU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365736},"content":"Prior to Paris, the chief executive of Paralympics Ireland, Stephen McNamara, expressed a hope for between eight to 10 medals. By that metric, Ireland came in below expectations.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T63TLQHX6FGA7PEKPPI4627CTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365737},"content":"But there were significant positives to take from these Games – not least the career-defining form of Ní Riain and Comerford.","type":"text"},{"_id":"RKUFHXSA6BEMLGNLWROLYLBP6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365738},"content":"Ní Riain, at the age of just 19, swam in four events, qualified for four finals and won two medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JJMJSDOHMRB3JJH5BMWRGT3JIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365739},"content":"At the age of 26, and having appeared at two previous Paralympics, Comerford truly arrived in Paris as a world-class athlete.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VBUNAIX5BZASPAKGCGRQ2BIYA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365740},"content":"There are similarities between Ní Riain and Comerford, most strikingly their unflinching determination and belief they can and will be better, stronger, faster. That ambition fuels them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MDKBNH6EHFC7LIR3BU4AHV7JEE","additional_properties":{"_id":"M4SHC4TMQFCGBPQBFPEKM452EM"},"content":"‘There is lots more in the tank’: Orla Comerford happy with Paralympics bronze, for now","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"6PDRPH257VBM7GCUBJQFGSV4HY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365741},"content":"The LA cycle begins in earnest now, the wheel keeps turning. There are people who watched these Paris Games unfold and have been inspired to research what Para sports options might be available to them.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2UMM2H3X6JEXPGPN2URN5K5FLY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365742},"content":"How do you measure success? How do you measure achievement? What do you remember from these Paralympic Games?","type":"text"},{"_id":"3Q5LYBUTXBAPXAW2SGY4CDZBJ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365743},"content":"Right now, sitting in a hotel room on the edge of the city centre, certain images spring to mind – Lu Dong and Guo Jincheng, neither of whom have arms, cutting through the water in the swimming pool like torpedoes; several triathletes getting lifted out of the Seine after a 750-metre swim and carried to their prosthetics, which they immediately fit before hopping on a bike for a 20km cycle and a 5km run; blind football under the Eiffel Tower as France played Colombia – the fans in the stand all singing “Allez les Bleus” but falling silent at kick-off as the players use the sound of a bell in the ball to figure out where it is, the ability of those players to dribble, shoot, their acceptance that getting mowed down is just part of the gig, and always having a willingness to immediately spring back up and go again. Football, reimagined.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJYWOEMG7NGPTBSPH5PCLF7C7Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365744},"content":"Perhaps it was best summed up by Orla Comerford’s mam, Siobhan. Speaking outside the Stade de France after watching her daughter win bronze, she said of the Paralympics:","type":"text"},{"_id":"KVRKLDIVOBEATP63CDOEELVK6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365745},"content":"“This is a wonderful showcase of ability, not disability.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BNQTTMZJARHATJRAZZU6BZHTNU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365746},"content":"The 2024 Paralympic Games end tomorrow.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5QJHSR353FHZTGBXUDXFQPSP5U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365747},"content":"But their legacy will outlast us all.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NETARYDM7ZHDTHR4HB2IOXIV5Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725637365748},"content":"","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Gordon Manning"}},"name":"Gordon Manning"}]},"description":{"basic":"All six of Ireland’s podium finishes in Paris so far have been achieved by women - all of whom have a vision impairment"},"display_date":"2024-09-07T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Female athletes light a flame of hope, firing up the art of the possible","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"3LUKH2NOGBGNK2KPZ6UAYSDH34","auth":{"1":"63c9debc3f24e6649ff9396df6d052e1da0153405b527aeae40ec07cf46f627a"},"focal_point":{"x":2306,"y":2919},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3LUKH2NOGBGNK2KPZ6UAYSDH34.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/07/paralympics-female-athletes-light-a-flame-of-hope-firing-the-art-of-the-possible/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"ZPRF76PSPFHGFO4FRGYPKS47KI","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":348,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/8dfe3027-ff96-48f5-8e6f-c4bb62ae2300/versions/1725652028/media/af1c73af3aed05866d7c3aa18a59a4c2_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/06/mia-griffin-wins-again-at-ras-na-mban-extending-overall-lead/","content_elements":[{"_id":"3YPJW45LGRDDZBA52PBIU3BJKE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Mia Griffin boosted her overall lead in style on Friday, winning stage three of Rás na mBan into Gorey.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OMHJ6TKDFNDIBJM7L5T6LRUUPE","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Kilkenny native clocked up her second stage win in three days, outsprinting Heidi Franz (Monarch Racing), Noor Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), plus her fellow Irish riders Aoife O’Brien (Ireland) and Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) in the bunch gallop to the line.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ED735KHLBD4HI43METY2JDMLY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Griffin also took the intermediate sprint in Kiltealy, gaining an additional time bonus.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QBWYW2MSLVB6RPUGQ36AHADWUU","additional_properties":{},"content":"That pushes her overall lead to 12 seconds ahead of compatriot and her Das Hutchinson Brother UK teammate Caoimhe O’Brien. British rider Robyn Clay, also with the squad, is third, 23 seconds adrift.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XDBIWOKRLBFGRFYTNKKFCQZXXI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“We were all in for the sprint to keep me and Caoimhe as far up on the GC [general classification] as we can,” she said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7ADL5FVOYJDCFMQXC2A35C3GVI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“And then the intermediate sprint, I got that. I was happy to do that and to give myself a bit more of a buffer.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XU2LOBQM5NGJZB4RRNT6PZFXVY","additional_properties":{},"content":"The 104.4-kilometre stage began in Kilkenny and took in two categorized climbs. Sliabh Buí, the first of these, blew the peloton apart and whittled the lead group right down to the strongest competitors. Defending champion Manon de Boer (NWVG-Uplus) beat Griffin’s teammate Lucy Lee to the summit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SGIX6BJG5RAQRGZDUZQUVGUAGE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Another Das Hutchinson Brother UK rider went clear after this point, with Frankie Hall and Jazmine Lavergne (Primeau Vélo Groupe Abadie) opening a lead of a minute and remaining clear over the day’s second climb, where Hall was first to the summit. They were caught with five kilometres remaining, with Griffin blasting home to win and to bolster her advantage in the overall standings plus the points competition.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2FYXUQ2I6RFZZDOYIG3NACNC44","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I nearly crashed after the intermediate sprint but I kept it upright. I got to the finish and Lucy [Lee] and Robyn [Clay] did a really good job with the leadout.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FHRH5SFFWBA4PMJYBA2S6BVI6E","additional_properties":{},"content":"The prestigious international race continues Saturday with a 101km stage from Kilkenny to the top of The Rower, concluding with two ascents of that climb.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CYW7VKFSKVFCRILJZ65L57HF3M","additional_properties":{},"content":"<b>Rás na mBan</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q767GDFUUBBYRG7WPAQO24M2HU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Stage 3, Kilkenny to Gorey: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 104.4km in 2 hours 50′36, 2 H Franz (Monarch Racing), 3 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), 4 A O’Brien (Ireland), 5 M Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei), 6 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK), 7 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active), 8 R Clay (Das Hutchinson Brother UK).","type":"text"},{"_id":"UEWZVS2QUFGTNHEDDQ5V6SDLD4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Intermediate sprint at Kiltealy: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK), 2 A O’Brien (Ireland), 3 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK).","type":"text"},{"_id":"LABKFULDOZAPZEJWEVGFSMX2CU","additional_properties":{},"content":"<b>Mountain primes:</b>","type":"text"},{"_id":"I27TGH3PARA45CN3PGXZPNXLY4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Category 2 climb at Sliabh Buí (km 70.8): 1 Manon de Boer 9 pts, 2 L Lee 7, 3 H Franz 5, 4 K Hill 3","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFMWLNZPGRBCJFY6A5XYXSXBE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Category 3 climb at Ballymore (km 91): 1 Frankie Hall 5, 2 J Lavergne 3","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZVQQS7QSZJBRNHCUX5GJTDDITM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Paddy Doran best Irish team: 1 Cycling Ulster 8 hours 58′34, 2 UCI Cycling Club 8′40","type":"text"},{"_id":"PFQQX5XZ4RBTNHEXXJVNVIXOOY","additional_properties":{},"content":"General classification after three stages: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′18″, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 12″, 3 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 23″, 4 H Franz (Monarch Racing), 5 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) 25″, 6 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy), 7 A O’Brien (Ireland) at 26″, 8 M De Boer (NWVG-Uplus)","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y4KXLCVPZRGQ7F6HCGYCNHEVMQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Points classification: 1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 29 pts, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 23, 3 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 18, 4 A O’Brien (Ireland), 5 N Dekker (JEGG DJR Academy)","type":"text"},{"_id":"UZHYN2YP65HINI7BZP6QQYS3OU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Mountains classification: 1 Lucy Lee (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 24pts, 2 M de Boer (NWVG-Uplus) 22, 3 H Franz (Monarch Racing) 11, 4 K Hill (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) 11, 5 F Hall (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 5","type":"text"},{"_id":"BPPYKTMXBNGK7BBHNDXT7J6ZZQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Young rider: 1 Caoimhe O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′30″, 2 R Clay (DAS Hutchinson Brother UK) 11″, 3 A Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) 13″, 4 A O’Brien (Ireland) 14″, 5 A Thomas (Primeau Vélo Groupe Abadie) 17″","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKY6U6R6IRCGJL2Y443GH5QNI4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Best Irish rider:","type":"text"},{"_id":"ARYWZSWVQRHR5OKRNIX4N5RR24","additional_properties":{},"content":"1 Mia Griffin (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 7 hours 22′18″, 2 C O’Brien (Das Hutchinson Brother UK) 12″, 3 M Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei) 29″, 4 E McDermott (UCD Cycling Club) 1′58, 5 G Fox (Greenmount Cycling Academy) same","type":"text"},{"_id":"U4ADIQIGC5H7RJFNBW7O6WNZRI","additional_properties":{},"content":"Team general classification: 1 Das Hutchinson Brother UK 22 hours 8′21, 2 Dan Morrissey Primor by Pissei, 3 Ireland at 1′29, 4 CCB p/b Levine Law Group same, 5 Monarch Racing at 3′34″","type":"text"},{"_id":"7X7XLIQ2XVBKJPV4OI6LKWI3RE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Paddy Doran best Irish team: 1 Cycling Ulster 23 hours 11′04, 2 UCD Cycling Club at 8′03","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"The Kilkenny native clocked up her second stage win in three days"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T19:41:57.883Z","headlines":{"basic":"Mia Griffin wins again at Rás na mBan, extending overall lead 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mountains of northern Spain secured Slovenian Primoz Roglic victory in stage 19 of the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana/\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a Espana</a>, as well as the leader’s red jersey, on Friday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CDQ66IV2FJGMTDXQKOPIVWA63U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205918},"content":"The 34-year-old had lost the red jersey to Australian Ben O'Connor after stage six but has since chipped away at the lead before reclaiming it with an impressive performance in the mountains of the La Rioja province.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UVTUXSRCNJHXBGVLGDPIAWPDSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205919},"content":"“I had some really nice memories from this climb and I didn’t miss this opportunity, I’m happy,” Roglic said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4FWVR7WNZJB5TJLLXBSU6245XM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205920},"content":"While a leading group maintained a narrow lead over the peloton for most of the race, none attempted a breakaway before the 11km climb leading up to the finish line at Alto de Moncalvillo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VW4GAJLVIRA3NALCUQEY7NZV3M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205921},"content":"Roglic saw an opportunity halfway through the demanding ascent and seized it, never looking back. He crossed the finish line alone, 46 seconds ahead of Frenchman David Gaudu, who took second place. Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose finished third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YGVSMXRX2ZC2FFYYUNTTS23S7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205922},"content":"O'Connor, knowing his lead was in danger, tried to keep up but finished 12th. Roglic now has a one minute and 54 second overall lead over O'Connor.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QKFOJ5YGIJGJRFLSQCJXBOZDZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205923},"content":"“I was a bit broken at the end. I actually felt pretty good until halfway,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2DR7TSBINJGSHNPRSAC4QF6TC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725642205924},"content":"“I wasn’t really surprised, but I didn’t expect myself to be so bad at the end. I was a bit average to be honest. But that’s just the reality.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"VE24HJRYZRDQVFSZLSAEIEEZJY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar was 61 seconds behind Roglic, but it was another impressive finish at this year’s Vuelta that saw him take a stage victory. The Cork cyclist in now 13th in the overall ranking.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BNY3C2XMVJCW5NFVMRKOPLHFKM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“The guys did a really good job all day, keeping me out of the wind. 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When not involved in sport, his day job is designing prosthetics for disabled children in Bosnia.","type":"text"},{"_id":"56XM7MSBUFGAZC25H7NUH35M4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471041},"content":"Goncin, who was born in the Balkan state, played a key role in Canada’s 79-67 victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. But despite relishing the stage and the atmosphere, basketball is not the biggest thing in his life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DNOSDHREEBDRDIEM7BOC4XH43Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471042},"content":"Goncin fled Bosnia with his parents in 1994 to escape the Balkan war. However, at the age of 15 he broke his leg because of cancer. The leg had to be amputated and that’s when his other life began.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4SUFX3V3CFG4NBS7HGUKVZWEIA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471043},"content":"Goncin discovered wheelchair basketball after the accident. He had to adapt and find a new direction in life. He also dedicated himself to his studies, earning a degree in biomechanics and then a master’s degree in exercise physiology.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SOLIP6MDDJFE3ON2NQ3JWFAZYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471044},"content":"He explained that his experience as a teenager helped guide him to his current line of work.","type":"text"},{"_id":"73QMTSCV5ZDM3LEPG24QDSBZUE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725553683697},"content":"“My prosthetist, when I first lost my leg, had a big influence on me. 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The workshop services are provided free of charge by the century-old German company, Ottobock, which has been associated with the Paralympic Games since 1988.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTXGNNDYXRAHTDKFMB246YHMIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471048},"content":"Peter Franzel, head of the repair centre explained: “We repair equipment of all brands, from walking prostheses for everyday use to wheelchairs for racing.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OW6NNJ544FDG5B2BTXTSYYN7JQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725553683703},"content":"He and his team expect to carry out more than 2,000 repairs during this edition of the Paralympic Games. Three hundred repairs alone were carried out in the first three days.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KJIJDGLIARBTDOTHL6ANIA27PQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471049},"content":"In total, 160 Ottobock employees from around 40 countries are on hand to handle repairs in the Paralympic Village and at the competition venues.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HC3CCG3PUPY2EVASAQI2Q5RHTE","additional_properties":{"_id":"ATD36EUX5BGTJBSHZ252GOA55A"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"BGS4RVKBOBAL5BVTV7YZIPRI5E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471045},"content":"Unhappy Story as women’s race distance halved","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZVTQWXBE3FB3JEWCMOFFSPAWIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471054},"content":"Britain’s Sarah Story has hit out at Paralympic organisers after winning the women’s C5 time-trial, the 18th Games gold medal of her career. She was annoyed that the women’s race was shortened to 14.1 kilometres, half the distance of the men’s equivalent (28.3 kilometres).","type":"text"},{"_id":"KNSTZFMDNNFSLN2UMSRB4TB52E","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471056},"content":"She said: “You have to ask the organisers, but there’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. And having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it in para-cycling after what we had in Glasgow last year is a real disappointment.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CYQF4XIWZBFVPNEGQZZ4NIOA2Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471057},"content":"“I’ve had to put that disappointment aside and just concentrate on what I can control because I couldn’t control the race distance. 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After finishing first in the para-triathlon on Monday, Parker was facing a lofty task to match a feat last achieved by Eric Russell, who won a gold (shot put) and two bronzes (discus and pentathlon) in 1980.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FAE7TZDLDFAFDIO2SRVFAJOSZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471061},"content":"But the remarkable Parker was undaunted by the historical challenge facing her in the Parisian satellite town of Clichy-sous-Bois and could well have finished first with a gold to her name, but instead finished 9.5 seconds behind American winner Katerina Brim.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2RTZARGNH5EZZBGOICW5X6HUMI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471050},"content":"Number: 250,000","type":"header"},{"_id":"5ZUGJPEG2VBSLB2FWWWIWWTXXA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725551068904},"content":"The number of followers that Brazil’s ‘rocketman’ swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, or Gabrielzinho as he is known, boasts on Instagram, a fan base that has seen him win three gold medals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"66REQRUG5ZHYDJKXLGFOILHRKA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471052},"content":"Quote of the Day","type":"header"},{"_id":"EOYZXGD4OFDNLEXS5BGEYZXPZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725549471053},"content":"“They’ve been the perfect Games for me. Carrying the flag, lighting the cauldron, and winning that gold medal. It’s a winner. It’s not too bad at all.” – France’s 38-year-old flag bearer Alexis Hanquinquant, who has gone on to win two gold medals, the second of which was in the triathlon defending the men’s PTS4 title he won in Tokyo.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"John O'Sullivan"}},"name":"John O'Sullivan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Team Canada wheelchair basketball player Nikola Goncin designs prosthetics for disabled children in his native Bosnia"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Goncin busily giving back to the land of his birth","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"LQMZWCGHZKV4E2EB6YZHDKL3WI","auth":{"1":"93232340ed43d359870d75b251833edabace1b2a52e7926db931cf24ac6e26e4"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/LQMZWCGHZKV4E2EB6YZHDKL3WI.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/athletics/2024/09/06/paralympics-more-than-the-games-goncin-busily-giving-back-to-the-land-of-his-birth/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/athletics","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Athletics"}}}},{"_id":"VKCOYKOL6FASTC27XY5RRBM57Y","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":214,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/c56bdd2f-80fa-4032-b904-d482fabc5eee/versions/1725559916/media/d3d59dfc4ff67eb411911c3babb5903b_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/2024/09/06/paralympics-day-9-irish-in-action-and-best-of-the-rest-as-katie-george-dunlevy-chases-gold-again/","content_elements":[{"_id":"ELBEFFIGTVFIFHXUKV4KPFQHX4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098063},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Irish in action</mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"J4UI44KSGJCHRBIS6QKKGOB6MI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098075},"content":"<b>8.30: </b>Para Equestrian team event (Sarah Slattery, Michael Murphy, Kate Kerr-Horan)","type":"text"},{"_id":"3N2VKHUN65GKVCPNURMEZ32VP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098076},"content":"<b>8.30:</b> Men’s road-race, C4-5 (Ronan Grimes)","type":"text"},{"_id":"KQJ7CYDDIZBF3P7AGFXTFCGTNM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098077},"content":"<b>9.18: </b>Men’s S9 100m butterfly heats (Barry McClements)","type":"text"},{"_id":"QAASMKPUWZBV3LJQARFDDFPEVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098078},"content":"<b>9.43:</b> T20 1,500m final (Aaron Shorten)","type":"text"},{"_id":"RQWWZC6XVJH7NBSXRLZVT7W36A","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098079},"content":"<b>12.0: </b>Men’s road-race B (Damien Vereker with Mitchell McLaughlin)","type":"text"},{"_id":"UN6JCSTMSRBEXM65TWUQVBVIYE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098080},"content":"<b>12.10:</b> Women’s road-race B (Katie-George Dunlevy with Linda Kelly, Josephine Healion with Eve McCrystal)","type":"text"},{"_id":"P57SH4TPINE6DP6AUQKUUUVGFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098081},"content":"<b>*5.34pm:</b> Men’s S9 100m butterfly final, B McClements (*subject to qualifying).","type":"text"},{"_id":"22PVNDNICRDZ3NUEN3IRSLYGYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725557209758},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Team Ireland</mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CFODE4IHUBDX5N2RADXFA73E4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098065},"content":"Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly will be looking to follow up Wednesday’s gold medal performance in the time-trial with another in the Women’s B road-race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DPXVS5KKLZFL3CB5GOPXCQB7SI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725558440729},"content":"It starts and finishes at Clichy-Sous-Bois with just the 99.2 kilometres in between. Dunlevy won this race with Eve McCrystal – the pair won a silver on the track in Paris – in the last Paralympics in Tokyo.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6U7GO3YLWVCLHNC6OGYFDBKUDY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098066},"content":"Josephine Healion and McCrystal will also contest the B road-race. In the men’s version of the event over 127.8 kilometres, Ireland will be represented by Damien Vereker and his pilot Mitchell McLaughlin, one of 12 bikes set to contest the medals. Ronan Grimes competes in the C4-5 road-race, in a peloton consisting of 29 bikes.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4LGLUDZWDJCFJBCLAQC7L4ICNA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098067},"content":"Ireland’s Barry McClements will be up against the in-form Simone Barlaam in the S9 100m butterfly with the Italian looking for an equally dominant performance to the one he enjoyed in winning the S9 50 freestyle by over a second and en route to breaking his own world record. He is now looking to translate that form to the S9 100m butterfly, with McClements one of his rivals.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L5OX2CTR4BFNPJEHR2KQ6EXDZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098068},"content":"Carlow’s Aaron Shorten, the sole male athlete on the athletics team, competes in the T20 1,500m. The St Laurence O’Toole’s athlete debuted at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris last summer and has been training with renowned running coach Feidhlim Kelly’s group since the start of the year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BIWDTUAICBHR7AZWQ7JCCBQH7I","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098069},"content":"In the Para Equestrian team event Ireland will be represented by Sarah Slattery (Grade 5) on Savona, Michael Murphy (Grade 1) on Cleverboy and Kate Kerr-Horan (Grade 3) on Lykkebo’s Don Akino.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GCOBFVU27ETWUZ7LGP6HPB3JNA","additional_properties":{"_id":"KFIXEVC6JBDGFBRDEBC5OGLV4M"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"7HCL2FGNQBGMBNYWVDKGGTNA6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098070},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\">Worth a Watch </mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"2CBGXQKORZF6JH53HKPQ42TEEE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725557209766},"content":"American Ellie Marks has a remarkable backstory. Due to compete at the 2014 Invictus Games in London, a respiratory infection left her in a coma in Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q3UGRRB6EFH63J5C5CWSC6ECFM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098072},"content":"She recovered and after winning four golds at the Invictus Games in 2016 presented one of the gold medals to the hospital staff who saved her life. She made her Paralympic debut in Rio, winning breaststroke gold, and in Tokyo claimed S6 backstroke gold and will aim to defend her title.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LW65UX5DJRAF7F36X4QBV45V2M","additional_properties":{"_id":1725550098073},"content":"Italy will hope for another Para-athletics clean sweep in the T63 100m (8.22pm) where Ambra Sabatini, Martina Caironi and Monica Contrafatto finished in the medal positions in Tokyo and again at the 2023 and 2024 Worlds.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"John O'Sullivan"}},"name":"John O'Sullivan"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympics Day 9: Katie-George Dunlevy with her pilot Linda Kelly will feature in the 99-kilometre Women’s B road race as will Josephine Healion and Eva McCrystal"},"display_date":"2024-09-06T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics Day 9: Irish in action and best of the rest as Katie-George Dunlevy chases gold again","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games/"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"IZIFNCICAUCZ56XPAZHVEXXS34","auth":{"1":"eb7536768a05aba3d1f194aba25bbe779bb3dcf63b6480d22942a6cc7fe41285"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IZIFNCICAUCZ56XPAZHVEXXS34.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Sport"},{"name":"Cycling"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/2024/09/06/paralympics-day-9-irish-in-action-and-best-of-the-rest-as-katie-george-dunlevy-chases-gold-again/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Sport"}}}},{"_id":"CJ6TLTLZZJEJNEDIQNML33W5XA","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":131,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/256362eb-c50e-44ec-a583-a9040a5b6bfa/versions/1725563977/media/313a23c1ea925c69ddd525f5722aabc7_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/05/caoimhe-obrien-edges-mia-griffin-for-second-irish-stage-win-in-ras-na-mban/","content_elements":[{"_id":"C737SFGK3FCT3N2H4L4JMDR2PY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446795},"content":"Caoimhe O’Brien scooped another Irish win on day two of Rás na mBan on Thursday, outsprinting team-mate and compatriot Mia Griffin to the line in Mountrath.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FOKHX4SM5VHGDPH3INHV3UY5FM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446796},"content":"The Das Hutchinson Brother UK team riders were head to head on the finishing straight, with O’Brien getting the edge over Wednesday’s stage one winner Griffin.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JO7W5YUZU5ELHG62AJ36ZYHWFI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446797},"content":"O’Brien picked up a time bonus during the stage and ended the day level on time with Griffin. However, the latter holds the overall lead on countback.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VLVIHW3QIFGZ5L24JTHZVXYNVQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446798},"content":"“It is so special,” O’Brien said. “I remember being here four years ago and getting dropped on every single stage. The gap to where I wanted to be was so big and so to be here is very special.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"UWGAFHW62NBIFHK2Y53FF426PU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725561446799},"content":"Last month O’Brien won the Emptinne and Brasschat kermesse races in Belgium and said that having confidence in herself has made the difference. 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O’Connor maintained his five-second lead in the overall standings.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IH5SNQTLP5AEBPQJTIDOTTFVOE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was quite a tough day. 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Italy’s Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula) and Britain’s Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) came home in second and third place respectively.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25BJUKNICNDYBHFQKQWHG7GNXU","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar finished the stage in 23rd, seeing him hold on to 15th in the general ranking, while Darren Rafferty was 48th, bringing him up to 71st overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3XRJQWPIHND37MZLIHP33HC2BA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308295},"content":"Primoz Roglic, who trailed Ben O’Connor by 1 minute 3 seconds at the start of the day, began to build a lead over his title rival on the uncategorised final climb. At one stage, it looked as though Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) would take the red jersey, but O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale) dug in to keep the overall lead by just five seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"LUPK55CI4RBQTE5MD7XDE4T2JU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308296},"content":"The green jersey wearer, Wout van Aert, was forced to abandon the race after a heavy crash. The Belgian rider, winner of three stages of this year’s Vuelta, injured his right knee after falling on a slippery descent with more than 50km of the stage from Luanco still to race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H6Y65CVHQVAIBNVW3TCLYMZA2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308297},"content":"Van Aert (Visma Lease-a-bike) received treatment from team medics but was unable to continue. The green jersey now goes to Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while fellow Australian Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) leads the mountain classification.","type":"text"},{"_id":"S7BRGKYXAVCG5CJN4XHQP2YZOY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725382308298},"content":"Wednesday’s 17th stage offers some respite for the race leaders with just two category two climbs along the 141.5km route to Santander. – Guardian","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"name":"Guardian sport"},{"name":"Reuters"}]},"description":{"basic":"Eddie Dunbar finishes 23rd to hold on to 15th in the general ranking"},"display_date":"2024-09-03T17:12:56.577Z","headlines":{"basic":"Ben O’Connor clings on to Vuelta red jersey as Wout van Aert crashes out","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"UC76HHG5O5CMLOTTQG5ACPMIOM","auth":{"1":"373cff9a901bd1c2b26083811a0f33ef7f4af0121220ee7f6e6294f2dc3fafbf"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/UC76HHG5O5CMLOTTQG5ACPMIOM.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/03/ben-oconnor-clings-on-to-vuelta-red-jersey-as-wout-van-aert-crashes-out/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"WJYHQB2WZFEWFFMJZKKZZG3OM4","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":344,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/6cbf7684-ef3a-47ca-92f8-3e06d17ec7e5/versions/1725222101/media/3be65aadd6dc16305199135f645af424_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/silver-lining-at-the-end-of-the-track-for-katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal/","content_elements":[{"_id":"7EJV4M73FJAWTGJUIVMR3QTWZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409267},"content":"At the end of the track, there was one last silver lining waiting for <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a> and pilot<a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eve-mccrystal\" target=\"_blank\"> Eve McCrystal</a>.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FRIOZX6YKRE6VDW5Z5WNAJ5G54","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409268},"content":"Signing off with a medal was the fairy-tale. Occasionally, it seems, they do in fact come true.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6WNGWYXGKJCRTMTCJYXGCSGO74","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409269},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal were warming down on their stationary bikes in the middle of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome on Sunday midmorning when the giant screens overhead confirmed their time of 3:20.481 had secured them a spot in the gold-medal final later that day. They had made it as the second-fastest qualifier in the B 3,000m individual pursuit. At the very least, they were guaranteed silver.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YA66GEH47ZFRXDXP3ZQ2YVN7PY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409270},"content":"They both immediately sunk their heads into their hands. Shocked. Thrilled. Overwhelmed. They had dreamt of going out like this, but sport and life had knocked them off the bike enough times for them not to entertain fantasies of such a last dance together.","type":"text"},{"_id":"K2SDQXACXNF2FHH4AHAFQENNSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409271},"content":"But in the mixed zone after the qualifiers, the moment seized the cyclists – McCrystal couldn’t keep her emotions at bay any longer. She tried to wipe her eyes, tried to regain her composure but the tears kept coming. Eventually, she just let them. You want to know what it meant? It meant everything.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QBJC6G7GMZDDDKITOKMPWNFTRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409272},"content":"“She [Katie-George] has been sick. This morning she woke up and said, ‘I’m not feeling great.’ As a pilot I was like, however s**t I feel as a tandem pairing you have to take each other’s s**t, so to speak,” sobbed McCrystal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AR2PIGQZFZBRHD5NW3PWZY72I4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409273},"content":"“We’ve always backed each other, if I’m injured or if she’s injured, the other one will always give that 10 per cent extra that you’d never have ordinarily. Today is probably the most nervous I have ever been in my whole entire life.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T3SAQBUHTNAYPAREXXNZ5D3YLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409274},"content":"“It’s just the 10 years, it’s just the kids and work, I’m a single mother, it’s been f***ing hard. I lost my father and it’s just all ... I think I just kept grief and everything in. To retire, I can retire now so f***ing proud.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JGXV7F32C5DWFJBRS76GGETUNQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409275},"content":"“I’m so emotional and I’m the f***ing strong one in this relationship, I’m the bitch in this relationship!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"Z5WTNFZ4LRDQRFNV7IT52M4DOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409276},"content":"At that moment, one wondered if it would be possible for them to regain focus and deliver a performance in the final just over two hours later. Deliver they did.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BGEV2DZDMIIFT2VQ7RIKGUUMGM","additional_properties":{"_id":"PSV4JODELBFKBPJV3YSTLH2ZTA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"K7WMXOCFINEWDHEPEWOB6ZIWZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409277},"content":"“When you’re so close to gold, you’re slightly disappointed you didn’t get it but we’re absolutely ecstatic with silver,” said McCrystal after the decider.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YHFVMKJMYFGOPPCQO5R2VGTHTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409278},"content":"“The staff that we have around us, I just want you to mention them. I just want to say thank you to every single one of them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today with a medal around our necks.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"YRXYIF5TLVBSNDZYJRARV5MBCY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409279},"content":"The story of Irish cycling has had a fair dusting of Cool Runnings around it over the years, Irish cyclists just rocking up to velodromes across the world, competing and winning medals in big tournaments. Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, it’s pedal time. Having waited forever for a velodrome, two are now promised.","type":"text"},{"_id":"47LUXRQDF5G6NJLXKY3F67D57Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409280},"content":"If you have never been to a velodrome, it’s like sitting inside a large sauna, fully dressed, with dance music pumping over the PA system while riders look for the temperature to be ramped up even higher.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKIDC64MTNCGZCBKATCPCPDYTI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409281},"content":"Most spectators appeared to come prepared for the sauna saddle showdown in Paris with sleek mini-electric fans, though some debonair locals opted for a traditional brisé fan. They all looked so suave and dignified, and unsweaty.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2ZAX7WGEYJHANLDIODZLMEKNQM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409282},"content":"Meanwhile, the Irish among the 3,350 in the velodrome were marked out by ruddy faces. Every now and then they would exchange exasperated eyerolls with each other, wondering why somebody couldn’t just open a bloody window.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PROHTFW7FZBZJM4P4YZHCIKPVI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409283},"content":"Among the Irish contingent present were McCrystal’s daughters, Ava (16) and Nessa (14).","type":"text"},{"_id":"PYHGDX76YFBNVNXQNA53AMNDAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409284},"content":"“From when my kids were born, they have seen me training in the kitchen on turbo trainers, every single day,” added the full-time Dundalk-based garda.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZVYRJ7ORVVBEFAYW2NHDIAWHPQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409285},"content":"“For all of them to see all of our hard work, that resilience, that determination, for them to see that and then a medal, I can’t put that into words. I am 46 years of age!”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AZLZKRV6SJC2DC6XXA4Q5KLXTY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409286},"content":"And while they will both race on the road later in these Games, the fact this was the last time Dunlevy and McCrystal would ride together was not lost on those in the arena. They were afforded a standing ovation when they went to meet friends and family at trackside.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7UGYHKQ3FUPWNFMFSLAR53RRUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"2VHT6FEYURBY7NNFSYF2OJCHUQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YHX7PTLRYBGVLHVED6RWYRTZTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409287},"content":"“We are in our 40s, and we are up against 20-year-olds. Age is a number,” smiled Dunlevy. “My dad was crying his eyes out. It makes me very grateful to see my parents cry, I don’t see them cry very often.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"X23FFEGBBZGGPF4PM74AQUD6KE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409289},"content":"And as if winning a silver medal in their last race together wasn’t enough of a prize, the pair reckon the ride to finish second in the qualifiers on Sunday morning was possibly their most complete on track over the last decade.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MN6PRO4CQRAT5PNT7ATA4KHHHI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409290},"content":"“That first ride was the best performance we have ever done in our life,” said McCrystal. “It wasn’t a national record, our national record was in hotter conditions on a faster track with a swirl on the track, so as a ride goes that was our best ride.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"7AZDT7V2FBGBNJ6BKDKOVLKNOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409292},"content":"It is hard to imagine one without the other, this crew of para cycling trailblazers. They won medals, they changed perceptions, they altered the landscape.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XYYSYEMVYFDTXK7OKYAQGJAMOI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409293},"content":"“Six days a week, every single week, for a decade we have trained,” added McCrystal. “We have never ever faltered or taken our foot off the gas. We have committed every single day.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"PKGKLLJTMJFG3DAJQTLCNVKAQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409295},"content":"All the way to the very last one they had in the saddle together.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XGA7LTLLDFD2RHRTA2JCI5MPMI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725214409296},"content":"In the end, Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal got to cycle off on a silver lining.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Gordon Manning"}},"name":"Gordon Manning"}]},"description":{"basic":"Paralympic Games: The duo were not expecting a fairytale ending to their 10-year partnership, but their last race together was a dream come true"},"display_date":"2024-09-01T20:10:18.19Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics: Silver lining at the end of the track for Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"},"basic":{"display":true,"text":"Paralympics 2024"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"4ATJUIYIB3IGWNT67YBPWCLEVE","auth":{"1":"cf66eb5f9b2f0969e45f399134e159c257ecee55f3c3f74f04b43dfb783b411b"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4ATJUIYIB3IGWNT67YBPWCLEVE.jpg"},"overline_logo":{"_id":"4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE","auth":{"1":"2e77a34483541c9b257abbd8698930e49953358834bca47ff7fa69b555d644dc"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/4WQZGI5GWRGTXK2TLAJRO2BPLE.png"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/silver-lining-at-the-end-of-the-track-for-katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"O5AO6YY3ENH3FOQNVAGKCFFI7E","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":265,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/f36f2375-1506-4ee1-a0f2-dcfa90f434b5/versions/1725214417/media/ccf1da622dc9c42b460128a697462407_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/09/01/katie-george-dunlevy-and-eve-mccrystal-scoop-silver-to-end-golden-partnership/","content_elements":[{"_id":"3VKMGNAZWBH2LLF7FUC3EGPPXA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113091},"content":"Standing on a podium together for the final time, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eve-mccrystal\" target=\"_blank\">Eve McCrystal</a> reached out for <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/katie-george-dunlevy\" target=\"_blank\">Katie-George Dunlevy</a>’s right hand and in unison they punched through the muggy air inside the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome.","type":"text"},{"_id":"44MU4K5SRRGK5IIKSROUXSVJMY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113093},"content":"Having spent 10 years beautifully in sync, there was no point changing the habit of a sporting lifetime right at the very end.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HIBYLKHHFRHNRO4OPH2FIO3OSE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113094},"content":"On Sunday, in their last ride together as a tandem pair, they claimed their sixth <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/paralympic-games\" target=\"_blank\">Paralympic Games</a> medal, winning silver in the B 3,000m individual pursuit to sit alongside the two golds and one silver won in Tokyo, plus the one gold and one silver mined from Rio.","type":"text"},{"_id":"PZ6B2HJ2P5DWLNZZ7FNAIGWP3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113095},"content":"Both cyclists will also compete on the road later in these Games but they will not be on the same bike. This was the end. Sunday brought the curtain down on one of the great Irish sports partnerships, and it ended in a very un-Irish way – successfully.","type":"text"},{"_id":"C3CFGR2GOJFQJFNF3RN5TRYEOY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113096},"content":"Having earned a place in the gold-medal race with one of the best rides of their storied career during the qualifiers, they subsequently led for much of the final against Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7EN2DIDW3JBP5BBCB2X2GYQDLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113097},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal still had their noses in front after 2,000 metres, but the British pair delivered a storming finish to reel in the Irish duo over the closing laps and win by 2.166 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GNLNHL4YFRA7RPTQQ24R23N6YY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113098},"content":"Dunlevy and McCrystal posted a time of 3:21.315, with Unwin and Holly coming home with a 3:19.149 after an epic final. But there was no dejection from those in green afterwards. If anything there was gratitude they got to go out on such terms, racing all the way to the line.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q6GFMTZSFFB4LOEEDZPIHOR4VY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113099},"content":"When it was over the Irish pair circled the velodrome on a lap of honour before embracing family and friends at the side of the track.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NINQHPDZDNHH5SAKHNF65FGEYQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"GWFY4KUI2FGABBBLYMVWU67CU4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ZGW2GYLCVNA2FGWYN534KYVDWY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113100},"content":"Gold would have been great, but the colour of the medal was almost incidental. A podium had seemed beyond them leading into the event. Dunlevy had suffered a broken collarbone in May and there was an unspoken sense in cycling circles that perhaps their halcyon days had come and gone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"TM437TZSDZETZBT2W6JA5EUD3E","additional_properties":{"_id":"NCMCQF3QOFBDTBUUZSLY4COTV4"},"content":"Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal are golden again in the Tokyo rain","type":"interstitial_link"},{"_id":"XBZK6Z62NNDRNAGVMID6SMYYQ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113101},"content":"And yet, here they were again. Punching upwards, the only way they have ever known.","type":"text"},{"_id":"QGB2CSS2P5H3XLVBK5BH5PUKSY","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113102},"content":"“We’re like sisters, we fall in, we fall out, we have a lot of respect for each other,” said McCrystal, who at the age of 46 is retiring as a Para pilot after these Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6BYWWTMDOBAV5NOPNLFDWBBP34","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113103},"content":"What they have achieved together will ultimately outlast both of their careers. On and off the track, something special happened in their fusion.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4ML7HHQ5G5EDPMB5TXHYO3K4QI","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113104},"content":"“We have gone through some really tough times together,” added Dunlevy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7PYYS7U5KFGSNGJCZXHJLXXXBE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113105},"content":"“You don’t really go through that with anyone else, really, we know what we have gone through and what they are giving, and mentally and emotionally what they have gone through.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IFIHVRLZLBC5XLSH3DAX2PTXWU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113106},"content":"“There are times when we have been training individually but we always come back together and we know we have been training hard at home.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WG6JB4MMTZEGBJZ6REC4Z5Z5IQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113107},"content":"“And we have a special bond which we will have forever, those memories and special moments, nobody else will know what that feels like except for me and Eve.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BGEV2DZDMIIFT2VQ7RIKGUUMGM","additional_properties":{"_id":"QFIQYUFN55C5ZO52V67DWBGNHA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"ARTT656N7NDCVLCLXPPO2FJGP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113108},"content":"At the end of the podium presentation, they again clenched hands and waved to the crowd.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MFOEN55NVRDSXBCJJGD7FQCHOQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113109},"content":"“We’re 10 years together, it took us a few years to get to the top,” added McCrystal. “It’s really hard to get to the top and it’s fricking harder to stay there. You have so much pressure. I don’t think we ever felt external pressure from people but it was pressure that both of us felt to stay there. That’s just so hard to do as an athlete.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HQS4KJ4QRVGMLMEROQ6QGMM4EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113111},"content":"“When the two of you are together you constantly don’t want to let each other down so you’re fighting every single day – that’s the fight for the last three years coming out there in a medal.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JFF3XVZ26FCWBC5PQ2XG3UXWVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113112},"content":"“We’ve always just trusted each other. Even with her collarbone, I was like, ‘She’ll be back.’ Collarbone, whatever.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"OJT4PC3725BFVFWKLLYRMN3MXE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113113},"content":"At that, she smiles over at Dunlevy, who returns with a knowing grin. After a crash during a road race in Italy in May, Dunlevy required surgery and raced on Sunday with four pins and a plate in her left collarbone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"I4GLWUW7SBCA3DUKRPUZYNKDHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113114},"content":"She drags her top down off her shoulder to show the scar.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DV3WEGJCW5A3NMF2EN3ORZLXWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113115},"content":"“I could get them removed, but I don’t know,” she added.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZZ55NYFGRVDWBMWKU2GGWK42O4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725204113116},"content":"“At first when I did it, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I really didn’t know [if I’d make Paris]. But then I just thought, ‘It is the arm, I didn’t break my hip or my leg’. I could still pedal with one arm, so I just got on with it. 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Pablo Castrillo pushed through the pain barrier to take stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday, his second stage win, while Primoz Roglic took more time off race leader Ben O’Connor.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AJBDQIT3TBAY7M54VBSPPL6ZKU","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681947},"content":"Castrillo (Kern-Pharma) was part of a leading trio on the gruelling Cuitu Negru climb to the finish and made his move with three kilometres to the end of the 143km ride from Infiesto to Valgrane-Pajares.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5VM27JKD2FFM7L4MPDHU6BQSTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681948},"content":"In the final kilometre he glanced over his shoulder to see Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) appear through the fog, but Castrillo found another burst of energy to hold off the Russian, with Pavel Sivakov of France coming in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3LDQ6DHYHVC7DGMNH5IKNCVLT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681949},"content":"“When Vlasov came in, I took a little 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grimaced their way to the end, hunched over the bikes, but the Spaniard, as he had done on stage 12, held firm to take a second stage win on his maiden Grand Tour.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IKDX36DEH5HUXMPUQW6MSGH5Z4","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681955},"content":"O'Connor dug deep, limiting the damage as much as possible, and lives to fight another day in the red jersey, and will welcome Monday's rest day before tackling the final six stages.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EOB5R6P7RJCEVBIPHJD4Y6IBAQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1725209681956},"content":"Tuesday’s stage 16 will be a 181.5km ride from Luanco to Lagos de Covadonga.","type":"text"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[]},"description":{"basic":"Primoz Roglic took more time off race leader Ben O’Connor"},"display_date":"2024-09-01T17:10:40.723Z","headlines":{"basic":"Castrillo climbs to Vuelta stage 15 win as Dunbar finishes 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He kept Slovenian Primoz Roglic at bay, maintaining a gap of three minutes and 16 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NWOXPFXMA5B4BM7CANPONTH5S4","additional_properties":{},"content":"“It was a tricky start, it was actually really hard. And then we just controlled the race, made some pace on the final climb,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YZDABLRY25GMBJHGDWBDTPC374","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/eddie-dunbar/\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Dunbar</a>, winner of Stage 11 on Wednesday, finished 26th on the Thursday’s stage and remains in 18th position overall on general classification. Darren Rafferty finished 106th on the stage and is 86th on GC. 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Since the Vuelta last year I’ve had a lot of downs and not many ups. They were difficult moments mentally and physically, coming back from injury,” said Dunbar, who turns 28 on Sunday.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4R7RBF7CBZHOLFHWEFT7SMNZAU","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I’ve had numerous times in my head where I thought that I might not have a future in the sport just because of the crashes and the injuries I have had. This year after the Giro when I injured my LCL, I thought that could be the nail in the coffin as they say, in terms of my cycling career.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"X4XFUGT3XNGHRGXDOCVRUGVHQE","additional_properties":{},"content":"Dunbar said that family and friends kept him going, naming his partner Niamh in particular.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JD554JPBUFHLBHF4RRZPOUFDZA","additional_properties":{},"content":"The Cork man started this year’s Vuelta hoping to race for the general classification but had to reassess when he lost time due to tough weather conditions.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JPBLHAHPELCGPDHRU2NHRPWJ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"7FQIX7BYVZGM3IKQ34ALJLYJSU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"KD5EJHOWQRHMPDNAWMSFBZBBQE","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I actually have really good legs, but when temperatures are over 40 degrees like last week, it just doesn’t work for me, unfortunately,” he explained.","type":"text"},{"_id":"4UCVITCZPFC7LCKQK76TFVE4RI","additional_properties":{},"content":"“That’s not an excuse because there are very good bike riders who handled the heat very well last week, chapeau to them. They were the hardest conditions I’ve ever raced in for sure.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25XKQQYX3VFGDB3SHXP4FFFGNU","additional_properties":{},"content":"“Growing up in Ireland, I got used to racing in 12 degrees, so 40 degree heat isn’t my forte. But today makes it all better.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"3IACB75VNVGIXPPL4GV6UJERHI","additional_properties":{},"content":"The stage was held on undulating terrain with several short, steep climbs. Dunbar prefers bigger mountains but made the most of the route, getting into the day’s big break and then biding his time when his team-mate Filippo Zana went on the attack on the final hill.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HSBI6KNNR5AWNP62NIRBMPGVU4","additional_properties":{},"content":"That move was reeled in and Dunbar then waited until the final kilometre, launching his winning surge.","type":"text"},{"_id":"KDXCK3ETLRC5RFY2DIS352FEZ4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) was caught out by a powerful attack by three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar Team) on the final climb. He faded and ultimately conceded 37 seconds, seeing his overall lead reduced.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Q5IZPA2NUFCKTMT4WYOR2LDFEQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"However, he remains three minutes and 16 seconds ahead of Roglic, with Mas now at 3.58. Ten stages remain and he said that the upcoming terrain should play more to his strengths.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3MA2U3TP4NGBXN3AN6OWN7V6IM","additional_properties":{},"content":"“I am excited to get into the mountains again. It is hilly here but the punchy finishes here are super hard. If I am not at my best, it can be difficult.So hopefully once we get to the mountains I can be to how I was a few days ago in Granada,” said O’Connor, who is in search of his first grand tour win.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBDUYS2IFRB4PHQG5R5ZKWEGP4","additional_properties":{},"content":"As for Dunbar, the stage saw him move up to 18th overall and with cooler weather likely for the rest of the Vuelta, he could make further progress. Chasing a second stage win might well be a bigger priority, though.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JKKGYA7HQRHZTDDWOTLUQOMIIM","additional_properties":{},"content":"Either way he will finish the race with much better confidence and morale than before.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Shane Stokes"}},"name":"Shane Stokes"}]},"description":{"basic":"Irish cyclist finished ahead of Belgium’s Quinten Hermans and Britain’s Max Poole, attacking on the last kilometre and beating the chasers"},"display_date":"2024-08-28T16:48:07.463Z","headlines":{"basic":"Eddie Dunbar wins stage 11 of Vuelta a España for his first Grand Tour victory ","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"5469"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"BJGCFC3P3NYQUT63LKSHEZ447M","auth":{"1":"ceb00752beadea4391ce7600bbce02646522f77cd92062b0ff04aac55c964910"},"focal_point":{"x":1808,"y":232},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/BJGCFC3P3NYQUT63LKSHEZ447M.jpg"}},"subtype":"default","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/28/eddie-dunbar-wins-stage-11-of-la-vuelta-a-espana-for-his-first-grand-tour-victory/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/cycling","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Cycling"}}}},{"_id":"OC4GRCX2MJCCZBOGWHVZIZH2L4","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":115,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/5469/podcasts/6c966586-da44-4eeb-8371-dd939ea74b0c/versions/1724779728/media/0a6892d46c6ecc5decbf6c6f970bd706_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/27/wout-van-aert-wins-a-third-vuelta-stage-as-ben-oconnor-holds-on-to-red-jersey/","content_elements":[{"_id":"JRF7HASBWZBWPLQRFM73UNJR3I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230509},"content":"Wout van Aert won the 10th stage of the <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/vuelta-a-espana\" target=\"_blank\">Vuelta a Espana</a> on Tuesday after a last-ditch sprint took him past Quentin Pacher who finished in second place, three seconds behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"W2IBTLFY5FCR7LPREDHSMFTHZY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230510},"content":"Belgian Van Aert and Frenchman Pacher broke away from the rest of the group 30km from the end and Van Aert outsprinted his rival to claim his third stage win of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WTCQPWNDVJAVNGJIC5JBIQOA3E","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230511},"content":"“It’s not too often that I can win when my family visits me on a race so it makes it extra special and really nice,” said Van Aert.","type":"text"},{"_id":"76GMRXGZN5AETG2UH4G2CN3WJI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230512},"content":"“It was really my aim to be in the breakaway but I had a hard time on the first climb. I almost gave up but I gave it one more try just before the top.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"DEMY22LUVVCMLAZFHMLA4N6RYI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230513},"content":"Spaniard Marc Soler came third after winning a sprint against Belgian William Junior Lecerf and Juri Hollmann from Germany, just over two minutes behind Van Aert.","type":"text"},{"_id":"5YOJ5FW5EJBFPFVEICXA4G227Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230514},"content":"Australian Ben O’Connor, who finished 22nd, retained the overall lead. There were no significant moves among the top contenders, as O’Connor maintained his lead of three minutes and 53 seconds over Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ML4JZAX3DJFV3GGUJYKZFLVHAI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230515},"content":"“In the end, it was the perfect scenario. It was a really hard start, it took a long time for the break to go. A lot of guys in the top 10 were interested in the breakaway so I think we did a good job today to control the start,” O’Connor said.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MYTPRUZJKZAZHMPNOLCIB3ONI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724777230516},"content":"“I think tomorrow, the finale will be a little more decisive. The final climb is a hard one so it will be interesting to see.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"L4PJH22OQZBNVP2JDIOVOIVFRQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"Eddie Dunbar moved up a place on general classification to 22nd after coming home 26th on the stage, while fellow Irish rider Darren Rafferty finished 74th on the day and is 87th overall. 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Adam Yates went all alone to win stage nine of the Vuelta a España on Sunday while the Australian Ben O’Connor finished third and held on to his overall lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6DUHRZTZIVBDZAZLJANY2YCI5A","additional_properties":{},"content":"Yates was part of an early breakaway group but, with 58km still to race, the UAE Team Emirates rider went off alone and held off the challenge of Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), who finished 1min 39sec behind.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XLRCNLJ7PBBNRE434E7Z6T5RLE","additional_properties":{},"content":"O’Connor outsprinted Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull–Bora – Hansgrohe) on the line to take third on the stage and claimed four bonus seconds to increase his lead over three-times former champion, Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, to 3min 53sec.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WVNXEJV42NGP7CKUTGRSTHHKII","additional_properties":{},"content":"Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar finished 27th and is 23rd in the 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climb.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EKEZQCGMD5FDZHLJBRLLRJVZIY","additional_properties":{},"content":"Carapaz attacked from the peloton and went on a solo chase, while the lead group splintered further with just three riders remaining as they went up Alto de Hazallanas for the first time before Yates went alone.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YYE77SVIQFG6JNDYRHAWOCGK6Y","additional_properties":{},"content":"Yates managed to stretch his lead while, behind in the peloton, Roglic’s team upped the pace to split the main bunch, but O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), who had seen almost a minute shaved off his lead the previous day, held firm.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7AXD6REZTFFKTB2JZAJH3M5CE4","additional_properties":{},"content":"Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) attempted to get away, looking to protect his third place overall, but he was caught with one kilometre to the finish and O’Connor showed he had plenty left in the tank as he took third place, with Roglic in eighth.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ITZBXAPK3NCWPHCS7IMF4TT2XQ","additional_properties":{},"content":"After a rest day on Monday, stage 10 on Tuesday will be a 160km ride from Ponteareas to Baiona, another mountain stage. – Guardian","type":"text"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[]},"description":{"basic":"UAE Team Emirates rider claims first Vuelta stage with Ben O’Connor third to hold on to overall lead"},"display_date":"2024-08-25T18:17:43.47Z","headlines":{"basic":"Adam Yates solos to Vuelta a España win on gruelling stage nine to Granada 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champion Primoz Roglic attacked on the climb to the finish to win stage eight of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday, taking valuable time off Ben O’Connor’s overall lead.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SRZJU2YSSREC5NHVJ7QM5F77TQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430664},"content":"Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had to work hard to shake off the Australian in the red jersey but the Slovenian's pace finally paid off and he took his second stage win of the race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VQX5Y2LXRJB6NLCXCWSC6XRH4U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430665},"content":"Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) was beaten to the line by Roglic and had to settle for second place, with his compatriot Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) coming in third.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3GPDE7HLLFBRJFWBT4UGVNHGIQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430666},"content":"O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) crossed the line in 17th place, 46 seconds after Roglic who also earned a 10-second bonus. The gap to the leader is now three minutes 49 seconds.","type":"text"},{"_id":"L7SKECFGEBDPZIA2ISZ2VBWLWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430667},"content":"It was expected that Roglic would attempt to make up time on O'Connor on the 159km ride from Ubeda to Cazorla, a medium mountain stage but with a sharp uphill finish, and the Slovenian showed his strength when it mattered.","type":"text"},{"_id":"7G5OCT5XMNDPHFBGXB74EERGRA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724517430668},"content":"“The opportunity was there, and I went for it. It was hard, hot. 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Kerrie won silver at the 2016 European Championships, a year after placing ninth at the World Championships. She is trained by two-time Olympian Jim Conroy.","type":"text"},{"_id":"SBITCMIFDNDABOUDBMBSOFPNYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978474},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Swimming</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"PSZSEDN3MRGDNIT4FQGVW7YBUA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978475},"content":"<b>Róisín Ní Riain</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AN5LQJ3VA4ZWK3S7KYADBEATUY","additional_properties":{"_id":"I5GO4T7TP5CITOLUDUHOHS6LKE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"JCQYBNUS75DLXCGZNSLPGE35HU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978477},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IRFGACA7IBFJVPGLK2F5X2I7NM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978482},"content":"It’s Ní Riain’s second Paralympic Games after taking to the pool for six events in Tokyo, qualifying for five finals. The University of Limerick student is the current World Para Swimming Champion in the 100m backstroke and holds the world record for the 200m backstroke, which she set last year. Ní Riain also heads to Paris after a strong showing at this year’s European Championship, where she won two gold, three silver and one bronze. She will be competing in four events in Paris – S13 100m butterfly and backstroke, SB13 100m breaststroke and SM13 200m IM.","type":"text"},{"_id":"N4IYYQYQKZDD5ONDYRWOR4XRDI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978483},"content":"<b>Ellen Keane</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"KBHP3E7VF2FEHTAELBUNMSX56M","additional_properties":{"_id":"ZW5G5RUJGZG5VHLW3XJYYOSGTU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"FKYRHZKX7BDJPDZIBAT6OER644","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978485},"type":"list"},{"_id":"LXE3HDRVGVHFRHCJIHFEZAOMD4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978490},"content":"Paris will be Keane’s final Paralympic hoorah after deciding her fifth Games will be her last. Keane claimed her first Paralympic medal in Rio in 2016, winning bronze in the SB8 100m breaststroke, following up with gold in the same event in Tokyo. She competes in two events – SB8 100m breaststroke and S9 100m backstroke.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E6AQCOAFTVC5DKJ37ZQWDJNLNI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978491},"content":"<b>Nicole Turner</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"HFXMCMPCICJXETHBHLZAOWHY4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"X2EYVT5IEJFKNEXZSXD46IU6VE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4BBXXCKDONHYDFORVC2M7M7MDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978493},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DJH2AUHOAVAFBBDUJ7TFNUJB3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978498},"content":"Despite barely being into her 20s, Paris will be Nicole’s third Paralympics having made her debut in Rio aged 13, qualifying for the final in each of her five events. Turner put herself on the podium the next time around in Tokyo, claiming silver in the S6 50m butterfly. She’s also coming into Paris in fine form having won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the European Championships in Madeira earlier this year. She competes in two events – S6 50m freestyle and butterfly.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HJHGLNSUGJGM5JCV3PCEVGOH6M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978499},"content":"<b>Deaten Registe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CEBIAN6I5ZVWIO3AVYLME2URTU","additional_properties":{"_id":"HWAMLB4CEFCPFOQX5O5IC5UQKI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"K55T3XWNZFCL3ILU5TSCNECIVE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978501},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ZWM3TKFZNZGQXL6ESZQK2QBKVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978506},"content":"It is a first Paralympic Games for Deaten, who only recently made his international debut at the European Championships in April, placing fourth in the 100m breaststroke final. He competes in one event – SB14 100m breaststroke.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CE6MPEBSYJDCBA5RTIACCRSPDE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978507},"content":"<b>Dearbhaile Brady</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"JXYE3PO4MEILZ24WNNXRI6YXGA","additional_properties":{"_id":"VFRIWQAO6JDVDFC4RU4TZJPY7Y"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"HBH4AWSO2NC5VNZKKBCVSOGQ7U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978509},"type":"list"},{"_id":"JK4FV5X5QVG6DDMJLQHYZ77VT4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978514},"content":"Another Paralympic debutant, Dearbhaile<b> </b>made her first major appearance for Ireland just last year at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, placing fifth in the S6 50m butterfly. In the same event at this year’s European Championships she won bronze, sharing the podium with her Ireland team-mate Nicole Turner who won gold.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DFCI7P4LTRHFBBZBQJE4MVDLYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978515},"content":"<b>Barry McClements</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZTKCGYNJBYRXESZYSHILS7NMH4","additional_properties":{"_id":"6R4OLGSTDNCXJAVKTISJERSLN4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SV4NRQO7BNGR3EMJ6LUKUXJ6DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978517},"type":"list"},{"_id":"FMP34YQZKJCBFDSM3COVBK4GDA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978522},"content":"McClements has shown he is made of stern stuff to recover from a fractured femur suffered last September in time to get to his second Paralympic Games. Has already proven his talent on the international stage, winning bronze in the S9 100m backstroke at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and bronze in the same event at this year’s European Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"E7T45OVBDBGK7O6RHS6Q4A4LWI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978523},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Table Tennis</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"MCWR3E3U6FAT7CNGZL7AXZVNYA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978524},"content":"<b>Colin Judge</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"TRL7O6MMP7OS7NK3ZGX4SZT64A","additional_properties":{"_id":"RT3Q6Q6KPFGX5PE6QSSIF2O5DI"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"PK6DGPJB3ZGETCOZC4N6N4PWN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978526},"type":"list"},{"_id":"4JL6R5OI3NC4HPADTQUVQT2UC4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978531},"content":"Judge, who is appearing at his second Games, is a bronze medallist from last year’s European Championships and French Open, and continued his podium finishes with silver at the Czech Open earlier this year. An actuary by trade, Judge counts eight-time Paralympian Michael Cunningham among his training partners.","type":"text"},{"_id":"63DAKO2L3VE5JIEYXXJH2H5LKA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978532},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Athletics</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"6IIORIDPF5DPDG5O6MSZPNZH2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978533},"content":"<b>Mary Fitzgerald</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"GV5KDYOQT5AWG7B3ASVX2YDXAY","additional_properties":{"_id":"A5IKWRCZ5JBBFN4NKRQK75C6DY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AVIE33K24FGE7COO34P7D4NT2Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978535},"type":"list"},{"_id":"XHM7CXQW55FYFDBRMZ7WZ2HXAE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978540},"content":"A second-time Paralympian, Mary Fitzgerald<b> </b>placed sixth in the women’s F40 shot put in Tokyo. Fitzgerald entered the Irish fold after joining the high-performance squad in 2019, and went on to finish seventh overall at that year’s World Championships in Dubai. She also seems to have hit her stride at just the right time approaching the Paris Games, throwing a personal best of 8.87m in Loughborough back in May.","type":"text"},{"_id":"H65WQ2P435AYHMDYD2NP7QWCRE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978541},"content":"<b>Aaron Shorten</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"VIXMRGKNJCGHMTBX4SPHYYXK5U","additional_properties":{"_id":"UT6UUQ2NPJATZMBYNFJ2X6ML7M"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OMG5SDC5TZESFACDQNJNQ7REP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978543},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IMPTUYQYTFGKNCHIBF3K7MCM4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978548},"content":"Shorten will be competing at his first Games in Paris, a fitting place for his Paralympic debut since it is where he made his first major championship appearance at the Para Athletics World Championships last year. The Games will be a chance to really announce himself on the international stage, having already proven his mettle at home by winning 10 All-Ireland titles in the juvenile ranks.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DTN34Q6W65EX7GLPBFDU3FMZG4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978549},"content":"<b>Greta Streimikyte</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"4FN7XNOT3D5WS2ZJD5AHE7SZ6I","additional_properties":{"_id":"LMMVLG3XO5COTN56Y6CRNEICVU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"5IXGAHJPDFF3ZOORHX62U5B6UA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978551},"type":"list"},{"_id":"KOJBHE2C4NEEVMBQY5JBJ672CM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978556},"content":"Greta has been on the international scene since 2016 when she competed at the European Para Athletics Championships in Italy before qualifying for the Rio Paralympics. At those Games, she qualified for the final of the 1,500m, placing just outside the medals in fourth. Streimikyte made it on to the podium at the 2018 European Championships, winning silver, and qualified second fastest out of her heat at the Tokyo Games, ultimately placing fifth in the final.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y6FQGLA7FNE55ECKBSDHUCKQHE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978557},"content":"<b>Orla Comerford</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"42CRANFBTDVPJOKASSTKYEQURY","additional_properties":{"_id":"EI62G7FNT5BUZGAFSPVUVF2D3U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CKQRFG2JDNAC5D22IYRI36X73U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978559},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IZ5Z4L4OUJBNFAUN6W43EP3IZ4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978564},"content":"Paris will be Orla Comerford’s third Paralympic Games having debuted in Rio when she was 18. She was Team Ireland’s first female athletics athlete to qualify for Paris, with her fourth-place finish in the T13 100m final at last year’s World Para-Athletics Championships earning her a spot on the plane. Comerford has also had an impressive season to date, posting her first official sub-12 second 100m race at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in June.","type":"text"},{"_id":"DAZ3WTLQXRBVHNYEJYNI6G3S7A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978565},"content":"<b>Shauna Bocquet</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"NIS7DPWFVZCNPEFKYBCOJFOR2U","additional_properties":{"_id":"STZBAO4KW5BC5BCLPGF2JEEKFM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NZ4ZNDOUOVHFTL4XNP6KU6UW74","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978567},"type":"list"},{"_id":"J7Z62WQJ6RGERFV6SEQTCAUNTA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978572},"content":"Shauna Bocquet is a first-time Paralympian at Paris and is set to compete at three events – the T54 100m, 1,500m and 5,000m – at the Games. Over the last year, Bocquet has set numerous personal bests in preparation for Paris, including three PBs in her Paralympic distances over a single weekend at the WPA Grand Prix in Switzerland in June. She also followed that up with an 800m best at the Wanda Diamond League in London in July to finish fourth overall.","type":"text"},{"_id":"YSI3D5T455F6FBDTR6SVLHBGZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978573},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Cycling</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"P2FTXA6YKBEYHO7VKOXYHPVEO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978574},"content":"<b>Richael Timothy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AAW4VUQ36524F2OCOAXONWHO5M","additional_properties":{"_id":"2XXF4KJ4PJCLTMBADMS752LUQA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"AEYRRULX5ZHOZCUJX2IGI75XTI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978575},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DYSXJJCR7JGK5EDMSNA6K6BT5I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978580},"content":"A former Roscommon footballer and Ireland international in soccer at underage, Richael Timothy made her international debut for Ireland on the bike in 2017 before joining the para cycling squad in 2018. Since her first international medal – silver in the scratch race at the Manchester Para-Cycling International in 2019 – Timothy went on to take bronze at the World Track Championships in 2020 in the non-Paralympics scratch race. At the Tokyo Games, Richael competed in four events – the road race, time trial, individual pursuit and 500m time trial, which she will do all over again this time out in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OIZLKR46JRG4XHDVHXGQHWZ62E","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978581},"content":"<b>Katie George Dunlevy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ENTTUOJJFLMYONID6XJ55J26EM","additional_properties":{"_id":"E7OPBGYQJVEZJEWERZD3ALQDSU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"Z3LVYFE3KBD2TA5KDNBA4VNKZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978582},"type":"list"},{"_id":"PNXL24W45BB4ZP6DNUIWHKN2WQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978587},"content":"Katie George Dunlevy is a multi-Paralympic and World Championship gold medallist in tandem events. Along with pilot Eve McCrystal, she won two gold medals and one silver at the Tokyo Games, adding to her haul of one gold and one silver from Rio. Accomplished on both the road and track, she’s set to compete in four events in Paris.","type":"text"},{"_id":"NA65NQM7NVC6LETZBIG2HSF5DE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978588},"content":"<b>Josephine Healion</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"U76FS3LAE5IBGKE7OFAM2USVQE","additional_properties":{"_id":"2SPDEU4ACJGFZFK5DYLYWUHYZQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"TCYZOCCLABG7LKXDDPY5MQBB4M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978589},"type":"list"},{"_id":"RS6CE4JG7FB4DIARRSUPB45RGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978594},"content":"Both a track and road cyclist, Healion has formed successful partnerships with pilots Eve McCrystal for road events and Linda Kelly on the track. Healion and Kelly earned bronze in the road race at the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in 2022. Paris is Josephine’s first Paralympics and she will compete in the B 1,000m time trial and the B 3,000m individual pursuit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"37TBF5RYUFGB3MY6RZWXHQ3Y6U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978595},"content":"<b>Ronan Grimes</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"RAW3FEU4ERBULLJBEBQ2ODAP5I","additional_properties":{"_id":"Y6UHDIYFOBC2NK5TSDVQ5BH7HU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"OR6F4CY22ZE6FKKBOQHD76AGTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978596},"type":"list"},{"_id":"IGDAXUZF2NFVHH47BJJ64G7GAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978601},"content":"Grimes is one of the most decorated members of the Irish para-cycling team, with numerous international road and track medals to his name. He won gold in the C4 road race at the 2022 World Championships, and also took first in the time trial at the European Championships the same year. Grimes goes into the Games having won a silver and two bronze medals at last year’s track and road World Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"OMUZWNZWJZFK7JLLN7K7VRO5NM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978602},"content":"<b>Martin Gordon</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"Z67TTR6NRFDRDGA7AWO4WO2PAY","additional_properties":{"_id":"X3EOEHAPOJGDBOYT4YMLMI65UA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"LMAY5HGBC5GHFMJIWA2LEGXCO4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809567},"type":"list"},{"_id":"NTOXNCIRANFQHBYCZHKCYL2AGA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978608},"content":"Gordon made his debut for Ireland at the Para-cycling World Champions in 2017 and went on to represent Team Ireland at the Tokyo Paralympics. Now paired with pilot Eoin Mullen, they placed fifth at last year’s World Championships in the tandem sprint.","type":"text"},{"_id":"T3WKI26XEBEC5B56G435O4OEVU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978609},"content":"<b>Damien Vereker</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"ZE2WDPH2NPYT3L2N3Q3JOF362Y","additional_properties":{"_id":"NRL42YQCOJDUDDBOLOSS7YQT5Q"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"WA4TVXHRDBG43G4ALP4JTXQMAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978610},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YEAZG3KE7FGFTK2RD5YQONN6YE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978615},"content":"Having competed at the Rio Games, Vereker is back for his second Paralympics. He will compete in four events in Paris – the B4 4,000m individual pursuit, B 1,000m time trial, B individual time trial and B road race.","type":"text"},{"_id":"MNF7VICPTJGDVBDM4YEUPLFYI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978616},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Pilots</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"RFHTF4BTVVDBBCBDJB2VJ77KQI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978617},"content":"<b>Eve McCrystal (Katie George Dunlevy & Josephine Healion)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"KAHLCCQIM7DA7VGGCUWVWI432A","additional_properties":{"_id":"AXKQUNAI35CKZHMLUBZDKZPWEM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YOS5QKQMJVEJFEMIWQYYQXIV4Q","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978618},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YDI3HPNNAFBRTZMYMUEEG2Y24U","additional_properties":{"_id":"7Q5VNFNXMZBFRLWJYJO3XNUYA4"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4ATLF5VEFZFPNHGXNRGUXZD5MU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978622},"type":"list"},{"_id":"QKXQ73BT5IVQIQCNRSHECQ2JI4","additional_properties":{"_id":"UCLEZTTEXVDGBM4RGRFB22OX3A"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"XTTBKJ6UU5CEXC3XUFCPZ3KVDI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978626},"type":"list"},{"_id":"P55PN3SILJXJDXTOJF2HQNUTDI","additional_properties":{"_id":"KEUYWQSLHFD75B72IXY3NON23U"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2VCN74YKWBHY7J7CZPQAAGUAKI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978629},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ROSHSUCMTBDL7HR3NIPIEVEI64","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978633},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Equestrian</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"BXFJ2IGRJBAE5IQDPVRKZSTCYM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978634},"content":"<b>Michael Murphy</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"BELBFMEBBVGK5JO3M6Y622T6CA","additional_properties":{"_id":"TBC2TUM47JHQPEXFP26ENWIURM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CVZYKHHCU5GAXFQP2ZJAMKLMUQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809605},"type":"list"},{"_id":"VLISDNYIUBHHJHOWAKH2IMRQ3U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978642},"content":"Paris will be a second Paralympics for Michael Murphy, again riding Clever Boy, after the pair competed in the individual and team dressage events, joined in the latter by Kate Kerr-Horan and Tamsin Addiso. Murphy and Clever Boy also won two bronze medals at the 2022 World Championships in Herning and silver at last year’s European Championships in Riesenbeck.","type":"text"},{"_id":"EXK77BCTENFHPI6OHNZQFUZNGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978643},"content":"<b>Kate Kerr-Horan</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"54Y4E4RG3YBBLYUHO3HM46UU3Q","additional_properties":{"_id":"V2UHBU3ZDRHWNCB5U3F5ZULGPU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"NEYB523K3NFU7I5RYNZQQZUZZQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978644},"type":"list"},{"_id":"NAWIOCKY7REYNKA5STCUN3EESA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978651},"content":"A member of the Irish high-performance team since 2011, Paris will be Kerr-Horan’s second Games. At the 2022 World Championships in Herning, Kerr-Horan and her horse Serafina placed 13th in the individual and seventh in the team dressage events.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2UWI33IHVBAJDGO27SD2OKWEKQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978652},"content":"<b>Jessica McKenna</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"OUVN5ROOYFNUL6G2NDPOBVPFEQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"BBUGMN6G7JHJBE24IAZV5CJAIE"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"XE7WAK6A4VH5TKQANS2WWDI7I4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978653},"content":"<b>Age:</b> 23","type":"text"},{"_id":"4D5FSPZVZZC3RI3VL7RYPK6VPA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978654},"type":"list"},{"_id":"YCNVHO3I7RGGRHQWEN37PTJKK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978660},"content":"McKenney will be making her first appearance at the Paralympic Games following her international debut in Addington, England last year. Last September, she and her horse Davidoff 188 travelled to the European Championships in Riesenbeck, placing sixth overall in the Grade III individual dressage event.","type":"text"},{"_id":"HYTU2RAKM5C3DK7WX5VQOMPLQQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978661},"content":"<b>Sarah Slattery</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"AHDT52JIENVJNROUBNMRWB4H2E","additional_properties":{"_id":"Y6J3MW4TCRFI7PEZDQDY6XU4NM"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"GGNCCUIJU5D2BLTYVEM74XCEXU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978662},"type":"list"},{"_id":"LHMMMYCHZBAUXJW6A4RQBYNDZM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978669},"content":"The daughter of showjumper Tom Slattery, Sarah will be making her Paralympic debut in Paris. Slattery is the 2021 Irish Winter National Para Dressage champion, and last year, with her new horse Savona, came third in the freestyle and grand prix events in the CPEDI3* in Belgium. She’s also had a successful 2024 to date, taking a personal best in the grand prix B test in Belgium, and was a member of the Irish team that placed second at an event in Hartpury in July.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FVW5IG4GMRG5LPJZMBC77FKQ3Y","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978670},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Powerlifting</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"LUCOPLK6WNBXFBBDIYMSMHJNWQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978671},"content":"<b>Britney Arendse</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CNVXW2BH4DZDHY323QNHEHSZSY","additional_properties":{"_id":"KM5JSGZFRRBH5H3V7R4KLEJMZA"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"CJETST5JDVBJXB2B22ZXNEVM2U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809646},"type":"list"},{"_id":"PQKH72OUZVD2NNSW6J5H3L4OY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978677},"content":"Arendse made her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, finishing seventh in the 73kg category. She goes to Paris having set a new personal best of 128kg earlier this year, and will compete in the up to 79kg category at the 2024 Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6Z4PGYVGGRFABM6PW5J3DSEQIE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978678},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Rowing</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CRNC4LM67FDF5JFRFS5JOXHFVM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978679},"content":"<b>Katie O’Brien</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"Z2JI4RTLMNGRLIVFFGPHW246ZE","additional_properties":{"_id":"ER4XRO2DKJA5HDUQKACNKMLYWU"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"YCG2Z5PK65BRPOVWIKB4SCAU4I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809655},"type":"list"},{"_id":"DJQTOERZBFHVDHUNIZMILYYKW4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978685},"content":"Inspired by the rowers at the London Paralympics, O’Brien took up the sport in 2012 and has enjoyed significant international success since then. Her first medal at the World Championships came in 2019, when she earned bronze in the PR2 W1x category, but trumped that result in 2022 by winning gold and setting a new world record in the same event. O’Brien will compete in Paris in the PR2 mixed double sculls event having qualified for the Games with a fifth-place finish at last year’s World Rowing Championships.","type":"text"},{"_id":"435KDV62TVDK5JAO22GQN5D3CQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978686},"content":"<b>Tiarnán O’Donnell</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"B6KDZLZKWRCVRGBECOT6WHTCUY","additional_properties":{"_id":"AB4WOM2QS5GQPG3ZZNTSKKTY6E"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"SS2Z2NR3PNG5BF66LXF3NCMBPE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809663},"type":"list"},{"_id":"35QTBZZVSNAUTH7WYXL2KWSG4U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978692},"content":"After making the transition from wheelchair basketball to rowing, O’Donnell will partner O’Brien in the PR2 mixed double sculls event. Despite his relative short time in the sport, he’s already secured his first international medal, taking two silver medals at events in Switzerland and Poland earlier this year.","type":"text"},{"_id":"CPCNDB7BA5BRJOJ5RVPCITGDI4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978693},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Triathlon</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"74HTILYBPNBWFE2AORVVPUPTII","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978694},"content":"<b>Cassie Cava</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"SA4N7GKZZ6QR7VS4LBBDAAY2XQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"URVD53OYF5EGTBDM2JBXMA2BBQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"6CATVIPG2JFNJB32YKFDET5H6I","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809672},"type":"list"},{"_id":"B37GJQEB45BFDCUWCFDUYHGZXY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978700},"content":"Cava competed for Team GB up to 2017, and Paris will be her first Paralympic outing for Ireland. Soon after switching to Team Ireland, Cava won the PTS4 category at the World Paratriathlon Series event in Edmonton before going on to win bronze a the World Triathlon Grand Finals in both 2018 and 2019.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AZU5HWMJLBDFRIBHJJFXJFFAGE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978701},"content":"<b>Judith MacCombe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"CPNJWY2Z37PGNP2NVTY47F75VI","additional_properties":{"_id":"2IPUQNGSOZFETN6MZM7V3LJ2EQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"LVBBTJPZ4VBMXFW2SVL47JWPEM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978702},"type":"list"},{"_id":"B32TSMXVPBAKXLURYHUNTGYRAY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978707},"content":"Judith and her twin sister Chloe will both be making their Paralympic debuts in Paris, competing against each other in the PTBI 3 event. Judith and her guide Eimear Nicolls have surged up the rankings having taken up the sport just five years ago, qualifying for the Games by having ranked ninth in the world.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WVX4P3NUKJEXFOYFWOW76BDWHQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978708},"content":"<b>Chloe MacCombe</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"LODN4JRE2ZAMHM6A6TRQZTUS7M","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978709},"type":"list"},{"_id":"GLSVVHI5LBD4DLNIV5372LQPN4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978714},"content":"Twin sister to Judith, she will compete alongside her guide Catherine Sands at her first Paralympics. Chloe qualified by virtue of being third in the world rankings, and is a silver medallist from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.","type":"text"},{"_id":"UTRKFYFLWFACTKEELUDTKH3AY4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978715},"content":"<mark class=\"hl_yellow\"><b>Guides</b></mark>","type":"header"},{"_id":"PSLTHSYLBFEFZJDAXUHFXUW7AQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724066978716},"content":"<b>Eimear Nicholls (Judith)</b>","type":"header"},{"_id":"DZTOZAKVJGS3WEWKFWLRKCQ6LY","additional_properties":{"_id":"MAXMO3CTEZGHFMJXJTEXHWQEQQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"3SKRD5PTI5E63FJN3TFWITVSHA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809696},"type":"list"},{"_id":"N6AUO4VOTOLIWKA7DKABZU7YCQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"3RHI2T366VFSHIOHPBEE4SXU34"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"4LZYWZUNUJF4FLMM2P7JDAR6OQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724071809701},"type":"list"},{"_id":"ONN6JSF6TFGXBHKEZWSK22ADXQ","additional_properties":{"_id":"36MGJMBNPVFODFUDXQDTRFBM64"},"type":"divider"},{"_id":"YCDY6C2IB5FUNMX3YVDX7FFP3I","additional_properties":{},"type":"list"}],"content_restrictions":{"content_code":"metered"},"credits":{"by":[{"additional_properties":{"original":{"byline":"Muireann Duffy"}},"name":"Muireann Duffy"}]},"description":{"basic":"From archery to triathlon, the Irish team is full of talent and looking for medals in Paris"},"display_date":"2024-08-24T05:00:00Z","headlines":{"basic":"Paralympics 2024 - Meet Team Ireland","native":""},"label":{"audio_project_id":{"text":"8948"}},"promo_items":{"basic":{"_id":"26GMYYTLSJH4JNCW6XE5XJ4OPA","auth":{"1":"72d1de54478c6c6bce74644c3382f9e236ddf6289b5e6bd980e5b13516d2dd5d"},"url":"https://cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/26GMYYTLSJH4JNCW6XE5XJ4OPA.JPG"}},"subtype":"feature","taxonomy":{"sections":[{"name":"Athletics"},{"name":"Cycling"},{"name":"Sport"}]},"type":"story","website_url":"/sport/athletics/2024/08/24/paralympics-2024-meet-team-ireland/","websites":{"irishtimes":{"website_section":{"_id":"/sport/athletics","additional_properties":{"original":{}},"name":"Athletics"}}}},{"_id":"5DIMS6VSXVG6JJ7GN6Z5XKZ4IY","additional_properties":{"audio_duration":660,"audio_url":"https://d22tbkdovk5ea2.cloudfront.net/audio/projects/8948/podcasts/066475dd-6afe-4f4c-a5fd-7dbaea4ac6ac/versions/1724424804/media/e1b74132e3982ddf4f0155d030e48df8_compiled.mp3"},"canonical_url":"/sport/cycling/2024/08/24/ronan-grimes-fully-committed-to-one-last-spin-on-competitive-carousel/","content_elements":[{"_id":"BXRKRY3TP5CBZFOYVIQ4ZT25SU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412918},"content":"One day, while he was walking into the library in Trinity College, <a href=\"https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/ronan-grimes/\" target=\"_blank\">Ronan Grimes</a> was stopped by a stranger.","type":"text"},{"_id":"IIXKXSRRFREMPEGKOU4UQ5OZAU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168034},"content":"He noticed a difference in Grimes’s gait. By then his club foot was no longer a conversation piece, or a source of ridicule, or an amber light in his life. It was blended into everyday living: not fixed, not broken, not perfect, not a drag.","type":"text"},{"_id":"GKXZVMLJUJHEPL7D7JAZLILBQM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412919},"content":"“This man was a mature student and a father,” Grimes says now. “His son had been born with a club foot. He obviously spotted straight away that I had this atypical walk. He was really worried – asking about my quality of life, and ‘Can you do this and that?’","type":"text"},{"_id":"UPOTXM3NRZE4RA3PLSOPJNCFTU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412920},"content":"“That kind of hit home. When your child is small and you’re the parent of somebody with a club foot, it’s huge. To me, at that stage, it wasn’t impacting me at all. Grand, you’re not running anywhere, or I wasn’t playing any sports but in terms of getting around, day to day, I wouldn’t have thought that anybody would notice I was walking differently to other people.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U65RRG64Q5FM7CLNEZFWFVQ4RU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412921},"content":"“After years of never even talking about it – nobody in college had ever mentioned it or anything – that was an eye-opener.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SG5TIXXDLFHZJCKZY42RA2OEZI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412922},"content":"When Grimes was a child his club foot commanded a different status in his life. It was too obtrusive to be hidden or brushed off. Grimes says they will only perform surgery on a club foot if it is “severe”. By the age of three, he had been operated on twice. Neither surgery produced the desired outcome.","type":"text"},{"_id":"73PFMH23AFEQDDBXLOQSIIIIXI","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412923},"content":"After that, they couldn’t operate again until his foot had grown to a certain size, and he would be 11 by then. In the meantime, he was busy being a child. Hurling is the biggest sport in Athenry, and he grew up next to the club’s training pitches. Every child wants to fit in, and hurling was the simplest way to be part of the gang. But playing hurling didn’t make him look like the other kids; it magnified the difference.","type":"text"},{"_id":"JBJ5A5QJQBDC3JU6KXYKULL534","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412924},"content":"“I was kind of big enough for a child. I was well able to throw myself around. When you look back on it, I wasn’t really able to run, I’d be tripping over my leg. I kind of always wanted to do it because I didn’t want to miss out, but I don’t think I ever enjoyed it because I was just so self-conscious.","type":"text"},{"_id":"2D4ZL6SGVVE7BCUNWUQPD3ZSIU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412925},"content":"“When you’re a young child, and you’re different in any way, it’s huge. It’s something other children can see very easily. I always nearly wanted to prove myself that I was as good as people, but sure I couldn’t run around a pitch.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"2WENK4EIORA5NAEBCFTVRU7S7U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412926},"content":"Cruelty has many digital trampolines now, but among children it has a different take-off and landing. His Mam and Dad used to confront the parents of the children who mocked him or bullied him, but that kind of policing has a double-edged quality.","type":"text"},{"_id":"Y32MHXCMMJFZXILKJAIS6SV3YA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412927},"content":"He was going into his final year in primary school when his foot was operated on for the last time. In secondary school everything was better. Most of the kids from his primary school class went elsewhere and Grimes landed in a co-ed school. The operation was a success. It was a fresh start.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6OOZO5EJUFCX5FWSSFPCKAS6EM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412928},"content":"“Instead of being in an all-boys school you’re with girls. I think that just changed the whole dynamic. I can’t remember now what the foot looked like before. I imagine it would have been growing downwards as opposed to forwards. I can’t even remember if I used to have pain walking around or not. After the operation my gait pattern was a bit more normal. I got more confident I think as I got older.","type":"text"},{"_id":"XI6RCN454VG2LBZ4XSLWHY3FK4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412929},"content":"“I played no sport through secondary school. Even if there were lads kicking a ball I’d be so frightened of breaking my ankle or something in my left leg that I steered away from it. But I really focused on studying. That was nearly my competitive outlet. In college it was similar enough. I loved going out but when it came to exams, I was hyper-focused for a three-month block to try to get good results. I was always channelling a competitive edge into other parts of my life I think.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"JZ66GYERLZG4PGQ4E4TUPQP26U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412930},"content":"Fifteen years ago Grimes bought a bike. He was living in student accommodation in Dublin and grew tired of waiting for the Luas. His relationship with the bike was platonic at first, but those feelings changed.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FZIJ47TJPFDYNATHVL26JROBWM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412931},"content":"As part of his undergraduate degree in pharmacy he spent time at a plant in Ballymacarbry on the Waterford-Tipperary border and during that time he lived in Dungarvan. For months he didn’t know many people. Then he noticed a cycling club taking off from the square in Dungarvan at weekends and he mustered the courage to introduce himself.","type":"text"},{"_id":"AKLMEIOCQKTITOVKBMLBLT7SC4","additional_properties":{"_id":"HIOITEAVFZADJNXTUZVRETRCHQ"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"2DRORFV6ZJAOVA2BKCWPY23VTE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412932},"content":"“It’s funny, at that age – 21, 22 – I was more looking forward to weekends where I would go out cycling with the club than weekends where I would go out drinking with the lads. Really quickly it became something that was my big passion.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WY5F54WJGBHDVD4OCN2FG7RTGM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412933},"content":"When Grimes returned to Dublin to start a PhD he joined Orwell Wheelers. Before long he was competing in “able-bodied races”. He still hadn’t been fitted properly for a racing bike. One of his feet was size nine and the other was size five. His legs were a different length.","type":"text"},{"_id":"BZPLPXANNNG75NEZY3ZOZBHCP4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412934},"content":"“When I was in Dungarvan a lad said to me: ‘You have to set your cleat up a bit differently,’ but I nearly got a bit thick with him. Saying like, ‘Mind your own business, I’ll do what I want with it’. I would have done that first year of racing without going to a bike fitter.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"AO24GOQ7VRBK5DPAT7QJWRZRA4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412935},"content":"Ten years ago Grimes entered the world of para cycling. Just two years later he represented Ireland for the first time. Without a coach, or even a power meter on his bike, he finished in the top 10 at a World Cup race in Bilbao. His potential was obvious.","type":"text"},{"_id":"U3N3QVPXPFASNLSF3BVK3XEB74","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412936},"content":"Neill Delahaye was one of the leading para cycling coaches in the country and Grimes emailed him for advice. In truth, he was casting a line into the water. Delahaye bit down on the hook. From there, his career went into orbit.","type":"text"},{"_id":"25JCHLES6FGGXNZ3TGRFEL3EYU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412937},"content":"By 2018 he had qualified for funding on the carding scheme; a year later he won his first world championship medal; a year after that he won his second.","type":"text"},{"_id":"D5A4QO4PHVD7PGTTNOBCPMA25U","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168055},"content":"“Every year I had this small step and progression that kept me going back for more. In 2019 I got a world championship medal on the track and I was like, ‘The Games are next year and I’m only going one way’.","type":"text"},{"_id":"3NBODL3RM5AQZOVUESLRRNYAZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412938},"content":"“I medalled at the track worlds again in January 2020 and then Covid came. But then, you’re like, ‘I might actually be on the top step [of the medals podium] if I keep going’.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"XUX4R377VRGVDEWNTWCFPTKZ4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412939},"content":"The Tokyo Paralympics were delayed by a year; his form held up. In the training camp in Portugal before the Games he was clocking times that would have won at least silver at every world championships. In Tokyo he lined up in four events, expecting at least one medal. He finished fourth, sixth, 11th,15th. In the backwash he thought about stepping away. He was in a funk.","type":"text"},{"_id":"ZKR4QHCIKNHCNHMKRWETBH6CTM","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412940},"content":"“When it’s the first time that you go through such a major upset in your mind you’re instantly just trying to distance yourself from everything. As soon as the Games were over I was kind of going, ‘That’s me done. I’m going to finish’. I was kind of thick, I think, really.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"BWYBAJTSFBEXDHBL3H3HGX4SLA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412941},"content":"When his emotions returned to room temperature he started to analyse what happened. In the time trial he was seeded to go last and there was a psychological component to that he hadn’t reckoned with.","type":"text"},{"_id":"WKCS5IXGEFCRFDJO4WJS6YORL4","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412942},"content":"“I just saw the times going in front of me and I was like, ‘Oh God, I won’t be able’. It was a weird experience. I think on the day I got the best out of me that I could have. I went faster than in training. If you go faster than you’ve ever gone before and as fast as you’re expected to go, there’s not much more you can do. But I think I was just too focused on what other people were doing.","type":"text"},{"_id":"74QAC63M7G2LDWBHMMWTOTCECI","additional_properties":{"_id":"YSLMJB7USNCDLFIHDLAQTY5LJY"},"type":"image"},{"_id":"O6ELYARKXJGPTI7A52JMSKNJOE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412943},"content":"“Looking back on it now, I should have been really proud of it. But when you’re chasing medals that can be an issue. You can’t appreciate a good performance – or I suppose it’s hard to do that.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"FZFDKH3UJVDYDDHZ4AQWC56TFQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412944},"content":"In the time trial he finished sixth; in the individual pursuit on the track, he reached a ride off for the bronze medal and ended up finishing fourth. In defeat, nothing is right.","type":"text"},{"_id":"FT3TNKYWJZACJL2ADGJYAZB4AQ","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412945},"content":"“In that moment I was thinking, ‘Maybe you spread yourself too thin. If I focused on one thing I would have been better’. I wondered if I had spent the previous six months not working would I have found a second or two in that ride off?”","type":"text"},{"_id":"SI2T4HLNUZC2XFFB7FRFY36L4A","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412946},"content":"A month after the Games he was back in training. A year later he won gold at the road race world championships in Canada. In the same season he was European champion. At the end of the year he was shortlisted for RTÉ Sports Person of the Year. It was better not to stop.","type":"text"},{"_id":"6EUKFEV4OVH4XOT7WIP7662DZE","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412947},"content":"So, what events will he be contesting at the Paris Paralympics?","type":"text"},{"_id":"BOYGDFPD5FGZZJHZ6PG64WMLRU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724424168067},"content":"“I’m doing the same [as last time],” he says, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve learned any lessons.”","type":"text"},{"_id":"WMFDMWGW6FE2JA7YDJOVD4MCUY","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412948},"content":"That claim doesn’t hold up. At the end of last year, Grimes left the place where he has worked for the last eight years. Since January he has trained full-time. With his partner they did the sums. His funding has been at the top rate of €40,000 a year since he started winning medals at the world championships. Their mortgage was young and manageable. They had enough to get by. Everything was poured into this; one last spin on the carousel.","type":"text"},{"_id":"VJ3SU2G3G5F43E732LFMLKDTJU","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412949},"content":"“I’m a bit older [35] and I had a career developed before I got into this, so it’s hard to justify giving something up. It’s just kind of more for yourself to look back on. Whatever happens this time I’m happy enough to finish and say, ‘There’s not much more I could have given.’”","type":"text"},{"_id":"MMMOWI2E2BH2FDHKOQAKQ7PNFA","additional_properties":{"_id":1724420412950},"content":"His family will be in Paris. His parents have never seen him compete in the flesh. 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