Martin Gordon and pilot Eoin Mullen set a new Irish record of 1:01.158 in the qualifying round of the men’s B 1,000m time-trial at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Sunday at the Paralympic Games.
However, they were not able to force their bike towards a spot on the podium in the final where they finished in fifth place – the same position Gordon claimed in Tokyo.
Their record-breaking ride came in the morning session at the velodrome where Gordon and Mullen qualified as the fifth fastest of the six finalists, completing their four laps in a new Irish record.
The previous record of 1:01.545 had been set by Gordon and pilot Eamonn Byrne at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
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They couldn’t better that morning time in the final on Sunday afternoon but they still produced an impressive 1:01.520 – which would have been a national record itself were it not for the earlier sprint.
The pair had a nasty fall on Monday but managed to recover in time to participate at the velodrome.
“We didn’t know if we’d be here at all today. Our coaches, physios, doctors and mechanics got us on the start line today,” said Gordon.
“It was an unfortunate accident. One of the other nations’ tandems had a blowout in front of us. They came down, left us with nowhere to go. It was just one of those freak accidents on an open track. We had to go over the top of them. We came down.
“Where we were on Monday, I would have taken your hand off to do what we just did today. I’m pleased.
“To back up the national record this morning, 2½ hours later to go three tenths of a second slower, it’s backed up, it’s a good result and it shows a massive effort on our part.”
Most of the Irish interest on day four of the Games was in the velodrome but there was also action on the water in rowing where Katie O’Brien and Tiarnán O’Donnell competed in the B Final of the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls.
They finished second behind the Netherlands but ahead of Turkey in third. With Ukraine taking home gold, ahead of Poland and Great Britain in the A Final, Team Ireland finished in eighth-place overall.
“We have to be happy with ourselves, we know it’s not the dream finish but there are so many positives to take from this,” said O’Brien afterwards.
O’Donnell added: “The experience overall has been so intense and a bit of a blur, we will take time to look back and plan for what’s ahead but now it’s time to enjoy being Paralympians and I’m looking forward to getting to see some other sports.”
