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So near yet so far: Eoin Corrigan and Aaron Edwards were heading for the home stretch in one of the biggest races of the year at home. Corrigan looked in control until the pair collided and came down; whipping both from the top two steps on the podium at the National BMX Championships.
The newly-built BMX track in Tramore Valley Park, Cork, hosted the Irish championships recently and over a spectacular weekend of racing was the battle for the national junior champion’s jersey.
The final event of the weekend didn't disappoint for drama, with the defending champion Eoin Corrigan (in white) and Aaron Edwards (Propa Clothing Co.) having a great scrap.
The pair, arguably the two best up and coming riders in the country were heading for the final bend when they crashed and were robbed of a certain gold and silver medal at the finish line just a few metres away.
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Both riders struggled on after gathering themselves; with Corrigan finishing 7th and Edwards 8th - second last and last in the final.
It left Matthew Malone of Ratoath BMX to the take the title, though he had ridden a great race anyway to get himself into the medals irrespective of the crash.
Lucan BMX’s Sam Murphy came home for silver, with Jake Lynch rounding out the podium for Ratoath.
The up and coming Eoin Corrigan has bounced back well from his national's disaster and took his latest win in Manchester at the weekend (Photo: BMX Ireland)
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Speaking to 15.ie not long after losing his national champion's stripes after two seasons, Corrigan described being bitterly disappointed.
"I couldn’t believe it, I came out of the last bend thinking I had it won and then got put off the track," he said.
"I was still in the lead and tried getting back on track and then fell right before finish line.
"I’m not annoyed at myself for anything that day as I trained correctly for it and had a good lap leading up to it so I don’t feel I made a mistake which is all I care about.
"It’s in the past now and all I can do is take positives which is motivation to win it back next year.
"It has given me that extra push to train as hard as possible and it could be a good thing as winning it again probably wouldn’t have changed much.
"But the fact that I am that bit more determined to win it back will make me faster and do better at racing at international level so it could have been a good thing to happen to me that day for the long term."
While disappointed, Corrigan has bounced back very well and was in great form at the weekend in Manchester, where he bagged his latest win in the 17-29 years category.
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