Emily Kay has already begun to mentally bounce back at the Olympic Games and said that she and madison partner Shannon McCurley would put behind them the crash that scuppered their efforts today.
McCurley, who was competing in her second Olympics today after being the only Irish track rider to qualify for Rio 2016, crashed with 104 laps remaining in the 120-lap madison race.
The 24-year-old, who is based in Australia but has ridden for Ireland for many years, hit the deck with Italian rider Elisa Balsamo; both of them clearly taking a heavy knock.
While McCurley got back on her bike, the Irish pair missed two laps and their race effort never recovered. They eventually pulled out with about 30 laps remaining; the British pairing of Laura Kenny and Kate Archibald taking gold.
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“Today was a really, really tough, and obviously we suffered a heavy crash early on which kind of pushed us into the red and made the race really difficult for us," Kay said.
"It’s really disappointing because it’s definitely not what we’ve worked for or what we’re capable of and we didn’t really get the chance to show that today.”
But with the omnium race to come, Kay said she was looking forward to that event and was glad to have another shot at competing at these Games, adding she and McCurley had done what they could today.
“We fought to the end and gave it everything we could with the cards we were dealt, so you know, I’m just trying to take the positives from it," she said.
"I get another chance to race again on Sunday and give that my best and try and put down a result and obviously I’m proud to now be an Irish Olympian. A disappointing day but we will refocus and go again.”
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