Ireland quartet end seven-year journey to make history in women’s team pursuit

Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe made history for Irish cycling on Tuesday as the first quartet to compete for the country in an Olympic women’s team pursuit.

A seven-year journey which started with a talent identification scheme in 2017 reached a climax with a new national record of four minutes 12.447 seconds on the boards of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.

It was not quite enough to see them through to the first round – they finished two tenths of a second outside the top eight – but simply making it to Paris was a significant moment for the only nation competing here that does not have a velodrome on home soil.

“It’s so cool,” Gillespie said. “We’re the first ever team pursuit to qualify for Ireland. We’re a small but mighty team and we’ve all been through this whole qualifying process, which is a lot of stress, a lot of hard work, but it’s been such an amazing adventure.

“We’re so proud to get here, it’s a huge PB for us and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

They smashed their own previous record, a time of 4:15.698 set at the World Cup in Hong Kong in March.

“It’s something we planned for a long time,” Murphy said. “We have a Whatsapp group with our fitness coach and it’s called ‘4:12’, that’s been the target on the dartboard. To work together and see that through is really amazing.”

The lack of a velodrome in Ireland means the team rack up some serious air miles travelling to two-week training camps in Mallorca but otherwise put in the hard yards on the home trainers in their garages or out on the road.

Their unique circumstances throw up serious challenges, but it has helped form a deep bond between the group, which also includes reserve rider Erin Creighton.

“As a team we’re