Town has reason to celebrate as Lynch medals

A PARACYCLIST with strong Drogheda connections was feeling on top of the world last week after claiming a silver medal at the Paralympics in Brazil.

Colin Lynch, who finished second in the Men’s Individual Time Trial (C2 class) in Rio today, grew up in Canada and lives in Manchester but his father is from Drogheda.

In hot and windy conditions, 45-year-old Lynch (pictured below) rode brilliantly to clock a time of 28:02.25 to secure his place on the podium, behind gold medallist Tristen Chernove from Canada and ahead of the Chinese cyclist in third place.

Speaking after the race, a delighted Lynch said: ‘This is something I have worked at for four years and it’s an absolute dream to achieve the one thing I didn’t have in the closet, a Paralympic medal.

‘I knew this was something I was capable of doing. I put all the pressure on myself, but I had a huge amount of confidence. I did every possible thing I could to make sure I performed.

‘If I put in my best ride, I knew I could come away with a medal, there was no doubt in my mind. The one thing I wanted was the Paralympic medal and I’ve come away with that.’

Earlier in the Games, amputee Lynch finished fifth in the Individual Pursuit competition, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal ride-off, while at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London he agonisingly missed out on a track medal by one tenth of a second.

Meanwhile, Drogheda 19-year-old Conor Tuite was part of the seven-a-side soccer team who finished in eighth place after a 2-1 defeat by the USA in their final game.

Also in the squad was Tomiwa Badun who is based in Dundalk but like Conor is studying sport, recreation and exercise at DIFE in Drogheda.

Ireland, who were managed by Bettystown-based FAI development officer Barry Ferguson, had been drawn in the toughest possible group and lost to the tournament favourites Ukraine and the hosts Brazil earlier in the competition.