In the women’s B 3,000m individual pursuit at the Paralympic Games held in Paris, Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Eve McCrystal secured a silver medal. They ended the race behind the British pair, Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl, despite maintaining a lead for a significant duration of the contest.
This formidable Irish team, who have collected five Paralympic medals together and would be appearing as a team for the final time, exhibited one of their finest performances. They concluded the qualifiers in second place at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, with a timing of 3:20.481.
Unwin and Holl, however, made a mark by setting a fresh global record with their 3:17.643 timing, securing their place as the fastest qualifiers. They demonstrated their might by securing gold with a powerful end to the race. Their record time in the final was 3:19.149, surpassing the Irish team by 2.166 seconds.
In the build-up to the crucial ceremony, there was a dramatic scenario as the local French squad was eliminated following an unclipping issue. This provoked frustration amongst the local audience at the velodrome. The Irish contingent was rife with joy and relief when their place in the gold medal competition was confirmed.
Dunlevy, despite not feeling quite right in the previous few days, expressed her astonishment on making it to the gold medal event. She remarked on the pressure preceding the race, also highlighting that they were not as accustomed to the track as the other participants. However, she believed they delivered the best performance of their lives.
The delight of having their family members, including Eve’s children, Dunlevy’s parents and cousins present to share the moment was evident. Even with the upcoming challenge for the gold, Dunlevy expressed her state of elation and readiness to bounce back.
Eve’s navigation of the bike was remarkably smooth, leading to high levels of trepidation for both of us. However, we both managed brilliantly and I’m incredibly proud of our performance.
At the Velodrome earlier this morning, Martin Gordon and pilot Eoin Mullen from Ireland set a spanking new Irish record in the men’s B 1,000m time-trial, during the qualifying round, with a time of 1:01.158. A previous record of 1:01.545 was established by Gordon and Eamonn Byrne, his pilot, at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Finishing with a swift average speed of 58 kilometres per hour in their four laps, Gordon and Mullen ranked fifth in the list of the fastest six qualifiers. The top place in the qualifying round was claimed by Thomas Ulbricht and Robert Föerstemann from Germany, who completed with a time duration of 59.480, with an average speed of 60 kilometres per hour.
Unfortunately, Damien Vereker and pilot Mitchell McLaughlin, who also participated in the 1,000m time-trial, could not qualify for the final due to their timing of 1:06.740. The final match is scheduled for 12.51pm Irish time.