A total of 21 Irish cyclists have been awarded between €18,000 and €60,000 this year and next year by Sport Ireland to help with the costs of their training and competing as they work towards qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
For all of the riders bar one, Sport Ireland has awarded the sums for both this year and next because they met the qualification criteria in 2022. It means those 20 riders are free to focus fully on their cycling careers without a financial concern hanging over them for next year. Cycling has fared well this year, with athletics and rowing the only other sports where more athletes were funded.
Only one of the 21 funded cyclists has been awarded funding for just one year rather than two. That rider was funded at the request of Cycling Ireland after they did not meet the criteria last year. However, in other sports larger numbers of athletes are funded for one year by special request of their national governing body after failing to meet the criteria. For example, nine of the 12 funded boxers will receive money this year under those circumstances, raising hopes that more cyclists may benefit in the years ahead even if they do not reach the criteria.
Advertisement
Our track cyclists and paracyclists - who most consistently secure the results needed to qualify for funding - are very well represented with a total of 13 paracyclists funded (including tandem pairings) and six track cyclists also funded. A welcome addition to this year's funding round are road riders Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) and Archie Ryan (Jumbo Visma Development), both of whom took big results - including wins - on the European U23 and pro scenes last season.
"The 'international carding scheme' provides financial support to athletes for their training and competition programmes," Sport Ireland said the scheme that provides funding to individual athletes. "The primary purpose of this funding is to support Irish athletes in reaching finals and achieving medals at European, world, Olympic and Paralympic level.
Related News
"Under the advancements of the 'international carding scheme' announced in 2022, athletes that achieve criteria in 2022 will be on the scheme for 2023 and 2024 subject to terms and conditions. This will allow athletes to focus on training and performances as they seek qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. There are a number of athletes who did not achieve full criteria but are included on the international carding scheme for 2023 only, following requests from their respective NGBs."
Cyclists funded by Sport Ireland
Track and Road
World Class: Lara Gillespie €25,000, Mia Griffin €25,000, Emily Kay €25,000, Kelly Murphy €25,000, Alice Sharpe €25,000, Darren Rafferty €25,000
International: Archie Ryan €18,000, Orla Walsh* €18,000
Paracycling
Podium: Katie George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal €60,000, Josephine Healion & Linda Kelly €60,000, Ronan Grimes €40,000
World Class: Gary O’Reilly €25,000, Christopher Burns €25,000, Richael Timothy €25,000
International: Martin Gordon & Eoin Mullen €27,000, Damien Vereker & Pilot €27,000, Declan Slevin €18,000
*Funded for one year at special request of Cycling Ireland
