Ratoath teenager Eoin Corrigan is going places in a hurry and he proved his undoubted class last weekend when he was crowned overall winner of the British Indoor Winter Series, despite being just 16 years old (Photo with thanks to Debbie Presswood)
By Brian Canty
A 16-year old Irish BMX rider was crowned overall winner of the British indoor winter series at the weekend, a story made all the more remarkable given he was the youngest rider in the field.
Eoin Corrigan travelled to the UK as part of the Irish development team for the final round of the series.
Of the four races he competed in he was first, third and second twice.
And with his combined points tally, the Ratoath Community College Leaving Cert student beat riders with more than a decade of experience than him.
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“I was pretty happy, it’d probably be at the top of my list of things I’ve won,” he said.
“It’s my first big one where I’ve beaten big international guys so I’m over the moon with it.”
There were four rounds in the winter series and with the best scores from three races in each round counting, Corrigan actually led going into last weekend’s concluding round.
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Competition was fierce, yet despite his age Corrigan didn’t fear his older competitors.
“There was a world number two at the last round (Grant Hill) and because I was in the 17-29 age category I was a bit down on the physical side.
“So I wasn’t able to catch them coming out of the starting gate but I was able to catch them around the track,” he said of his approach.
“It’s a pretty big deal for me; last year I was racing as an U16 in the British National Series and this year I’ll be racing in the 17-29 so to win puts me in a good position, confidence-wise.
“The British nationals in March are now the goal as well as the Europeans later in the year.
“I wanted to go to the world champs but they’re on a few weeks before the Leaving Cert so it doesn’t really work.”
Corrigan revealed his weekly training load could see him rack up to 20 hours with pre-school gym sessions followed by sprints on the bike in the evening.
“Our event might only by 37 or 38 seconds but we’ve to do a huge amount of work to be competitive,” he explained.
“But I want to make a career out of this and do what Kelvin Batey has done.
“I’ve looked up to him since I started so I want to hopefully make the Olympics some day.
“It’s a long road between now and then but I’ll take it one race at a time.”
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