Mullen strikes in Portugal to power Ireland to unprecedented third medal at Euro Champs

Out of the West: Eoin Mullen has won his first medal at a major championships and Ireland's first ever in a sprint event; bagging bronze in Portugal (Photo: Guy Swarbrick)

Less than 24 hours after Mark Downey came up with the goods in an event he had based his whole season on by taking silver in the points race at the European Track Championships, Eoin Mullen has powered his way to a bronze.

The Swiss-based Galway man has taken the honour in the U23 sprint event in Anadia in Portugal after beating Poland’s Mateausz Lipa in the head-to-head to round out the podium.

Mullen stormed into the finals after initially posting the third fastest 200m qualifying time, before winning all the qualifying rounds yesterday.

The gold was won by Nikita Shurshin of Russia, with Jeffrey Hoogland of Holland taking silver.

Mullen started strong this morning, in the semi finals; winning the first round. However, Hoogland narrowly took the lead in the second and third deciding rounds, denying the Irishman an opportunity to ride for gold.

Mullen clearly enjoyed taking his first medal at a championships and is a real trail blazer in an event with no Irish history (Photo with thanks to Liam Collins)

In the bronze medal ride off, Mullen reversed the morning’s proceedings, with the first round being won by Lipa, before Mullen romped home first in the final rounds, securing Ireland’s first medal in a sprint event at this level.

Aran Islander Mullen is currently based out of Aigle, where he has benefitted from tuition from top sprint coach Tim Carswell.

Cycling Ireland head coach Brian Nugent said he was delighted with Mullen’s medal win this evening.

“This is Ireland’s first sprint medal at this level, which is a great achievement; especially since the sprint is an Olympic event” he said trackside in Portugal.

“Huge credit goes to Eoin’s coach Tim Carswell, and to the UCI for the scholarship opportunity that they offered Eoin to train in Aigle. It’s great to see the fruition of this commitment.”

The Irish team, with 13 riders in total, is the largest national squad ever sent to a major championships and Downey’s and Mullen’s medals follow the silver in the junior women’s pursuit won by the hugely promising Josie Knight on the first day of competition.

The results come after a concerted effort by Cycling Ireland in recent seasons to nurture young talent from the youth ranks via the Neenan Travel and FBD talent teams for boys and girls respectively, into the junior and U23 national set ups.