Shannon McCurley will make history this weekend when she goes competes at the Olympic Games in Rio.
This Saturday, at 2pm Irish time, Shannon McCurley will take to the boards at the Rio velodrome in Brazil and become the first Irish female track cyclist to compete at an Olympics.
It’s been an incredible journey for the 24 year-old Australian-born Irishwoman.
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She’s an athlete few in the sport at home know much about. And many will know even less about the discipline she'll be competing in.
In short, the keirin starts with riders fighting for position behind the pace-setting 'derny' - a motorbike.
After incrementally increasing its speed, the derny then exits the track with two and a half laps to go at which point the riders race to the finish line.
Here is a little bit more about McCurley
- Her father is from Belfast and her mother from Tallaght. They both emigrated to Australia before she was born, hence her eligibility to ride for Ireland.
- As a nipper she showed real promise in running, setting a state record in Victoria for the 1,500m which also ranked her top five in Australia in her age-group before she veered towards cycling.
- One of her really close friends is competing for Australia in the long-jump (Brook Stratton).
- She gets no funding from Cycling Ireland and is the first female rider from Ireland to qualify for any Olympics on the track.
- She was knocked down by a car before the UCI Track World Cup in New Zealand last year (December 4th-6th). “I don’t really remember it too much. I was hit square from behind but that was two weeks before New Zealand World Cup where I raced really well. I didn’t do any damage, surprisingly, I destroyed my helmet and had a concussion and a bit of a sore neck but that was it, no broken bones or anything. I was really lucky.”
- She had her appendix taken out three weeks before the UCI Track World Championships in London (March 2nd-6th) and still had the stitches in her when she raced.
- To qualify for the Rio Olympics she had to start those World Championships in London, despite being way below her best. She said she entered that event with “nothing”.
“I hadn’t even been on a bike (in a race situation) since Hong Kong World Cup (end of January) before I got to London so I knew I was going into it with nothing,” she said.
- Her first ‘major’ result on the track was a silver medal in the Australian track championships scratch race behind Annette Edmondson.
- A year later in 2012 she won bronze at the European U23 championships behind GB rider Laura Trott who took double-gold at the London Games in 2012.
- As the individual scratch race was a non-Olympic event McCurley had to switch to either the multi-event Omnium or the Keirin, choosing the latter.
- When in Ireland she stays with cousins in Tallaght.
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