Ryan Mullen and Megan Armitage have spoken of their pride at being selected to compete for Ireland at the Olympics in Paris, saying it was a big juncture in their lives to be picked for the Games.
Mullen has been a regular on Irish teams since his junior days, starting in 2011 when he rode the junior Worlds in Denmark, alongside Jack Wilson who was 29th in the road race. Armitage has only been cycling properly for four years and has made an incredible rise through the ranks in that time.
The duo will both be in road race action in Paris - Mullen alongside Ben Healy in the men's race and Armitage the sole representative in the women's road race. But before those events, Mullen gets the Irish road campaign underway this day week in the TT in Paris and both he and Armitage have been reflecting on the enormity of becoming Olympians.
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“It’s a massive privilege and the biggest honour of my career to date to be able to represent Ireland at the Olympics in Paris," said Mullen, a 29-year-old currently riding for Bora-hansgrohe and in his ninth full season at World Tour level.
"I’ve been pulling on the green for Ireland for fifteen years, so this opportunity has been a long time in the making and I’m more than ready to seize it," Mullen added of his TT ride next weekend and aiding Ben Healy in the road race.
Armitage, a 27-year-old former mountain runner from Co Offaly, is currently in the first season of a three-year contract with EF Education-Cannondale. And though a bout of recent illness ruled her out of the Giro, she has thankfully recovered and will take her place on the Irish team for Paris.
“When I started cycling four years ago, I never believed I would have the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Olympics. It truly is a dream come true," she said.
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"I am incredibly proud of the journey I’ve been on to get to this point, and the people who have supported me from the beginning. I hope to do them and myself proud in Paris.”
Healy, who is currently riding the Tour de France for EF Education-EasyPost, Mullen and Armitage are all Olympic debutants, with Healy and Armitage part of a new wave of Irish cyclists to have excelled internationally in the last few years.
Armitage is also the first female road rider to represent Ireland at the Olympics for 24 years, after Deirdre Murphy became the first to do so at the Sydney 2020 Games, where she rode the road race.
After Mullen's TT appearance next Saturday, he and Healy will then line-out in Ireland's two-man team in the men's road race on August 3rd. Armitage will compete in the women's road race on August 4th.
Both the men’s and women’s road races start and finish at the Trocadero, on the opposite side of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. The men’s race is 273km, including 2,800m of climbing. The women’s race is 158km, with 1,700m of climbing.
Confirmation this week that Armitage, Mullen and Healy have been picked for Paris brings to eight the number of Irish cyclists selected. That means Sport Ireland and Cycling Ireland have filled the full quota of qualified places, as expected.
On the track, Kelly Murphy, Alice Sharpe, Lara Gillespie and Mia Griffin have been selected for the team pursuit, with Erin Creighton also filling the team pursuit reserve slot.
As the team qualified for the team pursuit event, that also secured for Ireland a slot in the omnium and madison at the Games. Gillespie will ride the omnium and she will team up with Sharpe for the madison.
