Ireland Team Pursuit Narrowly Miss Out On Bronze Medal At UCI Tissot Track Nations Cup
Ireland have narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit at the UCI Tissot Nations Cup second round in Cairo on Wednesday, March 15th.
The quartet of Mia Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy again put in a series of impressive performances to underline progress already made last month.
They raced against Olympic champions Germany after qualifying for the bronze medal final with a strong performance in the first round.
And setting a time of 4:23.238, Ireland improved upon their earlier first round effort but fell just short of Germany in an encouraging performance.
A qualifying time of 4.32.464 on Tuesday left Ireland in 7th place heading into Wednesday’s first round and were paired with Great Britain in the opening heat.
Ireland stepped it up a gear on Wednesday afternoon with an improved time of 4.23.637 to finish well clear of Britain and secure a spot in the bronze medal race.
Although the times set were some way off national record pace, the open-air velodrome in Cairo meant that conditions were not optimal for breaking national records and was also reflected in the times set by other teams.
The performances come less than three weeks after the same quartet set their most recent national record at the opening round in Jakarta with a time of 4.16.877.
The team twice broke the national record they had set earlier that month in what has been an encouraging start to the year with the team growing in confidence.
A fifth place showing at the opening round and in the UEC European Championships signal a positive start to qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Later this evening, JB Murphy and Erin Creighton will race in the men’s and women’s elimination races.
You can view the full schedule and results for Round Two of the UCI Tissot Track Nations Cup here.