Tandem riders Catherine Walsh and Caroline Ryan today took the best Irish paracycling result to date when they netted a superb silver medal in the track world championships in Manchester.
The duo qualified second-quickest in the blind and visually impaired 3km pursuit this morning. While they went faster than that qualification time in this afternoon’s final, USA riders Karissa Whitsell and Mackenzie Woodring upped their game to set a new world record and secure gold.
Team manager Denis Toomey said he was delighted by the silver medal, and said that the strong campaign by Irish riders gets things off to a positive start prior to next year’s start of the qualification process for the next Paralympic Games.
Earlier, male tandem riders Michael Delaney and Con Collis set a new Irish record of 10.857 seconds in qualifying fourth-quickest in the 200m Sprint competition. This was just 0.4 seconds off the old world record time, which was improved slightly by the British tandem competitors today.
However, they unfortunately crashed during their quarter-final ride against Canada, and had to be content with a nevertheless-fine sixth place overall.
The Irish team took several other top ten results, including Cathal Miller’s fine fourth place in Friday’s 4km individual pursuit for LC1competitors.
Walsh and Ryan were fifth in yesterday’s women’s 1km tandem time trial, while sixth-place finishes went to Enda Smyth (CP4 1km TT) and the male tandem pairing of Michael Delaney plus Con Collis (tandem 1km TT). Including their sprint result today, there were four other top ten results.
A total of seven Irish records and two personal best times were set by the squad.
“There were some very good results over the weekend,” Toomey told Irishcycling.com. “The silver medal today is the best Irish track performance this century, and the best paracycling ride to date. We got fourth the other day, just missing out on a medal, and there were other strong performances. Quite a number of Irish records fell too, so that was great.
“The qualification process for the Paralympic Games starts next year so this shows the riders they are up there. The performances should help in a big way as regards carding, and will make sure they get funded again. The application process has just started for carding and while there’s generally a lot of concern out there that the levels throughout sport could be cut again due to the economy, we think this gives a strong reason why the Irish riders should get the right carding support.”
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Irish paracycling world championship campaign, Manchester (Friday – Sunday):
Silver medal, Catherine Walsh and Caroline Ryan (B&VI tandem 3km pursuit, Sunday) - IR
Fourth: Cathal Miller (LC1 4km individual pursuit, Friday) - IR
Fifth: Catherine Walsh and Caroline Ryan (B&VI tandem 1km time trial, Saturday) – IR
Sixth: Enda Smyth (CP4 1km TT, Friday) – IR
Sixth: Michael Delaney and Con Collis (B&VI tandem 1km TT, Friday) – IR
Sixth: Michael Delaney and Con Collis (B&VI tandem sprint, Sunday) - IR
Seventh: Enda Smyth (CP4 4km individual pursuit, Saturday) – IR
Ninth: Andrew Fitzgerald and Paul Giblin (B&VI tandem 4km pursuit, Saturday) - PB
Tenth: Cathal Miller (LC1 1km TT, Saturday)
15th: Andrew Fitzgerald and Paul Giblin (B&VI tandem 1km TT, Friday) – PB
(IR = Irish Record, PB = Personal Best)
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IRISH TANDEM RIDERS IN FIGHT FOR GOLD MEDAL
Irish tandem cyclists Catherine Walsh and Caroline Ryan are set to take at least a silver medal this afternoon at the paracycling world track championships in Manchester.
Walsh and Ryan were second-quickest in this morning’s qualification session for the 3km pursuit for blind and visually impaired competitors, finishing just over two tenths of a second off the time of USA riders Karissa Whitsell and Mackenzie Woodring.
The two tandems will fight it out for the gold medal later this afternoon.
Meanwhile male tandem riders Michael Delaney and Con Collis set a new Irish record of 10.857 seconds this morning en route to qualifying fourth-quickest in the 200m Sprint competition. This was just 0.4 seconds off the old world record time, which was improved slightly by the British tandem competitors today.
The Irish duo unfortunately crashed during their quarter-final ride against Canada. “Whilst nothing appears to be broken they have been sent to the hospital for x-rays to be taken,” said team manager Denis Toomey.
