Anna Turvey on the podium and making history for Ireland at the European Track Championships in Paris. Katie Archibald (Team GB) claimed gold and Justyna Kaczkowska of Poland took silver (Photo UEC)
Having made history for Ireland in Paris at the European Track Championships, Anna Turvey has spoken very modestly about her accidental journey into the annals of Irish sport.
She became the first ever Irish woman to win a medal at an elite European Track Championships when she claimed bronze in the individual pursuit this evening, Friday.
Describing herself as shocked to have medalled, she said she had not ridden the track for a long time.
She only rode the individual pursuit as a stand-in and had not even told anyone back home she was riding.
She left her UK base for Doha a couple of weeks ago to ride the elite TT at the World Road Championships, where she finished in a creditable 28th place.
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And it appears her riding the Europeans, where she also lined out in the team pursuit in recent days, was something of a happenstance.
“I’m ecstatic and shocked, I can’t believe it,” said Turvey, who has been in fantastic TT form on the road in recent months.
“I knew I was going well in the Time Trial, because I had been focusing on it for Doha, but it’s just unbelievable.
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“I wasn’t planning on coming here, but someone got injured so I said I’d race.
“I came straight from Doha, and was a bit scared because I wasn’t on the velodrome for ages, but was okay after a few days.
“I was actually really pleased with the team pursuit this week too. Three of us hadn’t raced one before, and I think we did really well considering that.
“I’m really excited about that, I just said that I might as well do the individual pursuit while I was here and had no expectations; it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
“I’m heading home tomorrow and back to work on Sunday. I didn’t even tell anyone I was coming here. I didn’t think I’d be going back with a medal!”
In her short tenure with the Irish team, which will hopefully be extended long term now, Turvey has developed a reputation as a witty and straight talker.
After riding the TT in Doha she was blunt about how it had gone.
“It was 40 degrees with a hot wind. Within two minutes I had cotton mouth, cotton throat and cotton chest! At the start of the second lap the heat hit hard,” she said at the time.
“I could see my numbers were well down and thought ‘come on, are you really going as hard as you can?’ Then I threw up, which reassured me that I was!”
“Getting to the Worlds was a bit of a ridiculous ambition at the beginning of the year, but I’ve had a great season. I’m better than I’ve ever been.
“This has been a really awesome experience; I can’t quite believe I’m here."
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