Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin Set National Record
Competition in the 2024 Paralympic Games got underway today, Thursday 28th of August. Cycling events began with Track Cycling at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.
Richael Timothy was the first Team Ireland cyclist to take to the track, competing in the qualifier for the Women’s C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit, the third qualifying event of the opening session.
Timothy posted a time of 4:05.247, setting a new personal best by almost two seconds. She finished seventh overall in qualifying with the four fastest times qualifying to race for the medal positions.
Delighted to help Team Ireland get off to a strong start and reflecting on her performance Timothy said:
“I suppose I missed a bit of track time this year, I’m just so happy to have done a PB, that was my goal, just basically go against yourself. That’s all you can do. Obviously, there are a lot of faster girls here but I’m moving towards them and they’re staying the same. The goal is just to keep that going.
“It’s really good to open with a PB, just rid of the nerves and just head into the road then.”
Looking ahead to the remainder of the Games, she added:
“I think the road race is probably my best chance, there’s no thinking involved which suits me, anything can happen on the day while here you’re against the clock, all the sort of stuff, so I love bunch stuff so I’m looking forward to that.
“I’ve two events in-between just again get the warm-up dialled in, get the nerves out of the system and keep going.”
The atmosphere in the velodrome was palpable, and for athletes who made their Paralympic debut in Tokyo getting to experience the crowd was something very special.
“Coming from football I love a crowd, like I have to say anyone shouting it spurs me on a bit. Definitely that show today was great.”
Timothy had an extra something special to celebrate.
“It’s my daughter Lucie’s first birthday today so we planned it perfectly you could say. I’ll go see them now, it’s exciting, they’re going to watch all the events, all Team Ireland and really get behind them because we’re a team at the end of the day so everyone is supporting everyone.”
Richael Timothy in action in the Women's C1-3 Individual Pursuit Qualifier.
Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Men’s B 4000m Individual Pursuit
Next up for Team Ireland was Martin Gordon, piloted by Eoin Mullen, and Damien Vereker, piloted by Mitchell McLaughlin. Both tandem bikes began their Paralympic campaign with the Men's B 4000m Individual Pursuit Qualifier.
Vereker and McLaughlin put in an exceptional performance, not only setting a new personal best by six seconds, but also setting a new Irish national record for the Men’s B 4000m Individual Pursuit of 4:14.817.
Overjoyed with their performance Vereker said:
“To be honest I’m just over the moon, I never expected that time to be honest. When you say okay you might get a three second PB but to get a six second PB. We got the perfect momentum from the start, just kept it going all the way around. Tried not to overcook it but it’s always hard with the 4km Pursuit that you don’t go too hard at the start, just delighted we didn’t die too much!
“The Time Trial now is what I’m really looking forward to, really fast, technical, everything you want, hills, it’s going to be a good test. The road race is another story. I’m looking forward to the road race, I’m mentally prepared to suffer for it and ready to go.”
Competing at his first Paralympic Games, McLaughlin added:
“It’s incredible to ride in, some of the Irish fans up there were amazing, the French fans even when we were going around were cheering us as well, it was great and good to gauge where we were on the track. It’s some buzz out there it’s incredible!”
A relatively new pairing, preparations haven’t always gone to plan.
“For a period of time I didn’t think I was going to get here, just with my injuries and all at the start of the year, it was really tough on the head. We were doing so well at the World Cups, we progressed so much from last year, we were in the fight for podiums, apart from some mechanical sometimes. So I’m really looking forward to a good battle in the Time Trial and the Road Race, I know we’re in a good place to fight for medals.”
Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin.
Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Gordon and Mullen, who are sprint specialists, had a clear plan going into the heats today to help prepare them for their primary event – the Men's B 1000m Time Trial, which will take place on Sunday. They finished in a time of 5:27.642.
They competed in the 4000m Individual Pursuit to fulfil the requirements that all bikes must complete in a minimum of two races at the Paralympic Games. In previous years tandem bikes have used the Road Race as their warmup event ahead of their primary race.
This year, the decision was made to enter Gordon and Mullen in the 4000m Individual Pursuit, with the event providing a warmup ahead of racing on Sunday. The pair got valuable race practice on the track, including starting out of the blocks. They went out hard for the section of the race, as planned, and then slowed down to complete the remaining laps at a comfortable pace.
After the race, Mullen outlined why racing today was beneficial in preparation for Sunday.
“We normally wouldn’t ride in this event, we were coming in to get a hit out ahead of Sunday, basically you could see the other sprint bikes doing the same thing. We had a tumble on Monday, so this gave us a chance to see how our bodies were feeling, a bit of a tester, to see the audience and get that under your belt and then hopefully prepares us for Sunday.”
Gordon reflected on the performance, emphasising the joy and experience of competing in full velodrome.
“Nothing has compared to this, this is my second Games but you can’t compare the two of them, they are two completely different events. Both equally as significant as each other but when you’re hearing that crowd, it’s such an experience and just being here and your family being in the crowd and being so close to home, there’s something extra special about it.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, he added:
“We took a tumble so bodies are still recovering from that, bodies will recover from a bit of a hit out there but by in large we are very happy. We are very enthusiastic for Sunday and look we’ll be there and hopefully every bit as competitive as we want to be.”
Martin’s guide dog Juno has become a fan favourite, he confirmed that Juno would be coming to the Games.
“Juno will be here on Saturday, special delivery with Aer Lingus on Saturday morning.”
As the opening day of competition concluded Cycling Ireland National Para-cycling Coach Jamie Blanchfield said:
“Overall a really positive first day of competition here in Paris. Both Richael, and Damien and Mitchell are coming away with big PB’s in the pursuit. Martin and Eoin got to run through their process for what will be their priority event in Sundays kilo. This was all the more impressive given the pairing had a crash in training a number of days ago.”
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Friday, 30th of August, Ronan Grimes will compete in the Men's C4-5 1000m Time Trial qualifier, at 10:30.
Then at 14:12, Katie-George Dunlevy, piloted by Eve McCrystal, and Josephine Healion, piloted by Linda Kelly, will compete in the Women's B 1000m Time Trial qualifier.
All times listed are Irish time.
Action on the track will continue over the course of the weekend, concluding on Sunday. Road racing will begin on Wednesday, September 4th with the Time Trials.