Jenkinstown native Eve McCrystal promised she would go to war with Katie George Dunlevy for the dynamic duo’s last ever competitive track race and that’s exactly what transpired with the pair putting it up to Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl in a thrilling 3000m Individual Pursuit final on Sunday afternoon.
Katie and Eve quickly got in front and at one stage they led by over a second and a half as they looked to go hard early on. Gradually however the British pair slowly began to reduce that gap and with 500 metres remaining Unwin and Holl took the lead before passing the finishing line in front in a time of 3:19:.149.
Eve and Katie-George came home just over two seconds later in a time of 3:21.315 having giving every last ounce of themselves. The pair will have no regrets and there will be no wondering what might have been. They went out hard, gave it their all and fell just short against a quality British team. To even make the final was a magnificent achievement given the less than ideal preparations the pair endured coming into the games.
In May, Dunleavy suffered a serious injury in a UCI World Cup paracycling event in Maniago, Italy when she broke her collarbone after falling off the bike following a front wheel puncture. And then a week prior to the start of the games Dunleavy had to battle with a bug which curtailed her final preparations for the race.
Speaking after the race to Paralympics Ireland, Eve expressed her delight with the silver medal while confirming that this was the last time she would race with Dunlevy.
“Yeah, they’re very different. When you’re so close to gold, you’re slightly disappointed you didn’t get it but we’re absolutely ecstatic with silver. It goes beyond what we knew we could do it but we’re up against three British bikes.”
“It lets a little bit of doubt creep in. Underneath it all we knew we could do it but you have to deliver it on the day. I didn’t get to say it with RTÉ there but the staff that we have around us, I just want you to mention them.
“It’s such a small team but we’re treated so well. I just want to say thank you to every single one of them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today with a medal around our necks.”
Talking about their preparation, she said, “It’s very hard. We’re ten years together. It took us a few years to get to the top. It’s really hard to get to the top and it’s fricking harder to stay there. You have so much pressure. I don’t think we ever felt external pressure from people but it was external pressure that both of us felt to stay there. That’s just so hard to do as an athlete.
“When the two of you are together you constantly don’t want to let each other down so you’re fighting every single day – that’s the fight for the last three years coming out there in a medal. We’ve always just trusted each other. Even with the collarbone, I was like, ‘She’ll be back.’ That doesn’t faze me at all. Collarbone, whatever…”
The silver medal was extra special for McCrystal given the fact that her two daughters, Ava and Nessa, were in Paris to witness their mother’s achievement.
“From when my kids were born, they have seen me training in the kitchen in turbo trainers. Every single day. For all of them to see all of our hard work, that resilience, that determination, for them to see that and a medal, I can’t put that into words.”
Sunday’s race marks the end of one of the truly bst partnerships in Irish sport. In just over a decade the duo have won an astonishing 21 medals together on the bike with six coming over the space of three Paralympic Games (Rio, Tokyo and Paris) and the remaining 15 coming via various World Championships. 46 year old McCrystal will have one last dance this weekend in the road race where she will pilot Josephine Healion in the road race before ending what has been one of the great success stories of one of our greatest local athletes.
