If Bryan Keane stays inside the top 55 in the world come the May 15th deadline, he will secure his ticket to the Olympics for the first time. He's been a full-time athlete for many years and has put a huge amount of work in trying to get to the Games down the years.
Five years after being hit by a car while out training near his home in Cork, Irish triathlete Bryan Keane is on the verge of qualifying for what would be his first Olympic Games.
It’s been an incredible comeback for the former An Post-Sean Kelly man who rides for well-known domestic squad Aquablue – but he’s not quite on the Rio start-line just yet.
Simply put, the 55 highest-placed triathletes as determined by cumulative scores in world-ranking events will fly to Brazil for the greatest show on earth this August.
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Keane is currently 49th with two events to go before the May 15th cut-off point and knows there is time for a shake-up in the standings yet.
His comeback from injury was far from straight-forward and required months and months of rehab.
He still needs constant manipulation on his hip and knee while an Achilles tendon complaint has been the latest setback.
“It’s much tighter than I wanted it to be. That’s down to injury, but there’s nothing you can do,” he said.
Keane is part of the Aquablue cycling team in Ireland and though he has ridden some road and cyclocross races in the team's colours, sports fans will be much more used to seeing him in his triathlon kit (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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At his age, he knows this is it for him in terms of the Olympics so upcoming events in Mexico on May 8th and Japan on May 15th could define whether he makes it or not.
He has been a full-time athlete for many years and would be a very popular Olympian if he makes it, as looks very likely at this stage.
“There is pressure there,” he admits, “particularly when I missed London four years ago because of the crash.
“I missed two years of my career you could say, so it is unfinished business for sure.”
He’s been nothing if not persistent and he’s grateful for the support of Triathlon Ireland who believed in him from day one, even on the days when his own belief deserted him.
“At one point it hit me: ‘maybe I’m not going to get back, maybe it won’t happen at all',” he said.
“I’ve been dogged, though. I didn’t accept it, and did everything I could. The Olympics doesn’t define you as an athlete, though," he added t0 The Irish Examiner.
“There have been world champs who haven’t gone to the Games, but, at the same time, the biggest show in the world will be in Rio.
“Having missed out in London, it’s about being able to come back and say: ‘no, I can do this.’”
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