Duo add a silver to medal haul

EVE McCrystal and Katie- George Dunlevy stormed towards the finish line in their final event on Saturday last, adding a second medal to their Rio success story.

The dazzling duo finished second in the Women’s B Tandem Road Race to claim a silver medal.

A massive effort by McCrystal and Dunlevy saw them just finish behind Poland’s Iwona Podkoscielna and Aleksandra Wnuczek.

The Irish pair came home in a time of 1:59:01, starting well and forming part of a leading pair that were 20 seconds clear.

Sheer grit and determination saw them increasing that considerable advantage to 40 seconds at one stage of the event.

A silver medal each added to their time-trial gold of last week making it a hugely successful games for the pair.

Speaking afterwards Eve explained how tough the event was: ‘It was all together until a steep climb and we just stayed in the front. We had Neil (the cycling coach) he had told us to ride the climb at our own pace and what will be will be and our own pace happened to match the best riders.

‘We were just with them (Polish tandem). We worked well and stayed with them on the ascent but she just pushed it too much on the descent and pushed it too much for me. We kept fighting but we’ll take silver.’

A serving member of An Garda Siochana, Eve has taken time off from the force to focus on the Rio Paralympics. At the launch of the Tony Golden Memorial Cycle in the Crowne Plaza in Dundalk on Friday afternoon, Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan heaped praise on her colleague Eve.

She said: ‘ We are very proud of Eve. She is a great athlete who has made a huge contribution to paralympic cycling and was previously awarded the Coiste Siamsa at the force’s sports’ star awards.

‘Her performance in Rio is not just great for Eve, but for Ireland and for the Gardai, to have one of its members so successful. Eve is very much admired by all of us’.