Irish track riders make history at Paris Olympics despite not having velodrome

Ireland's women's team pursuit squad made history at the Paris Olympics, becoming the country's first to compete at the Games, despite not having a home velodrome. 

Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy set a new national record of 4:12.447 in Paris, and bowed out in qualifying with their heads held high, finishing seventh out of eight teams. 

The country's debut at the Olympics marked the culmination of a six-year dream for the quartet, during which time they had to travel abroad regularly to train. 

"We exist in the form of two-week training camps out in Mallorca," said Murphy. "For all of us, the majority of the hard work has been [done at home] alone in our garages or out on the road.

"We've been a really vulnerable team throughout the process. There's no real pathway for new riders to come in, so we've really struggled with reserves and stuff like that. We've had to stick it out with injuries, everyone had to buy in."

Ireland's path to the Olympics came after a strong showing in Nations Cup events, including a silver medal in Hong Kong in February, and a fourth place at January's European Championships, where they crashed and Sharpe broke her nose. "A crank went into my face," she laughed. "It might have been Kelly's crank, but I ran over her arm so I think it’s all fair."

The squad ended up claiming the ninth of 10 qualifying places for Paris, a historic feat for a "small but mighty team", said Gillespie. 

"It's been such an amazing adventure and we're so proud to get here," the 23-year-old said. "At home, track cycling isn't a very big sport, so hopefully there's people watching at home and they can see our sport on TV and it will be a bit more known when they see us girls up there racing for Ireland. Hopefully it inspires a few kids to even just try the sport and get on their bikes."

Following the team's success, Ireland is now set to build its first velodrome in Dublin. The 250m indoor track was approved last week and marks a significant milestone for the development of track cycling in the country. 

"I think the next stream of cyclists are going to be really well supported," said Griffin. "I think there's a good foundation that we and our coaches have set over the last few years. We did have an up and down and turbulent time, and I think those mistakes and learning from that going forward will bring up the standard of Irish track cycling to a whole new level.

"As a team we're probably very close because of this. We spend so much time away from our families because we don't have a track in Ireland but it brings us closer together and we're really good mates because of it."

"I think it's incredible that we've gotten to this moment, and I think we can be really proud of our all-women team that put out this really nice ride on the biggest stage. I think we can be so proud and happy with that."

The squad's Olympic campaign continues on Friday, when Gillespie and Sharpe will pair up in the Madison. Gillespie will also ride the Omnium on Sunday.