At 4.30 today in south-west Paris, a seven-year journey will reach its conclusion before a pedal has even turned at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.
For the first time, an Irish women’s team pursuit squad will compete in the Olympics when the qualifying rounds begin.
A journey that started from scratch in 2017 with a talent identification search that drew in camogie players, runners and casual cyclists has finally reached its destination. Cycling Ireland’s goal was always Olympic qualification.
The Irish team of Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe (Erin Creighton is a reserve) have travelled the globe in pursuit of one of the 10 qualification spots over the last two years.
As the only nation competing in Paris that doesn’t have a home velodrome, they’ve had to travel further than most. T
It’s a sport some in the initial programme knew nothing about when they first signed up.
“I remember thinking, ‘What in the name of God is going on, why is that person going up the bankings?’ I’d no idea at all,” said Orla Walsh, who was part of the talent identification scheme.
In another life, Griffin’s mind this week would be on the camogie finals at Croke Park. As a child growing up in Glenmore, Co Kilkenny, that was her religion, but the 25-year-old has been part of the programme since the start. Murphy and Sharpe first competed in the team pursuit in 2018.
The promotion of the multi-talented Gillespie (23) to the senior team in 2019 added real horsepower to the team, who have repeatedly smashed the national record – improving their time over the 4km distance from 4:21.368 in September 2021 to 4:15.698 as of March this year.
Gillespie’s talent has also been recognised on the road with the Wicklow racer recently signing for World Tour team UAE Team ADQ.
Ireland have delivered some strong results this year with fourth at the European Championships in January and winning a silver behind New Zealand at the Hong Kong Nations Cup in March, which effectively sealed their qualification.
Although the Irish quartet finished ahead of the likes of Australia and Italy in Hong Kong, the selections of their rivals have changed almost completely and are no doubt stronger than earlier this year.
Ireland qualified in ninth place for the Games but their aim will be to finish in the top eight in qualifying to guarantee a place in round one tomorrow, when the serious business happens.
A serious improvement on their national record would be required to feature in the medal conversation.
They do have experience of the Paris venue, which hosted the 2022 World Championships, where the girls in green finished ninth; they repeated that result last year in Glasgow.
After the long road to Paris, they’ll be determined to mix it with the best in the business.