2022 Paracycling Track World Championships - Reports & Results

Ireland Conclude Paracycling Track World Championships with a 5th Place Finish in the Tandem Sprint

Press Release: 23rd October 2022
Images courtesy of Drew Kaplan

Ireland concluded their Paracycling Track World Championships on Sunday as Martin Gordon and his pilot Eoin Mullen battled to a 5th place finish in the tandem sprint while Chris Burns capped off an impressive week of racing finishing 9th in the scratch race and 6th overall in the omnium.

Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen were first up in the tandem sprint qualifying and set a time of 10.212, qualifying 5th fastest for the quarter finals. The new pairing came close to breaking the national record in the flying 200 which was previously set in 2019 by Gordon and his pilot at the time, Eamon Byrne.

In the quarter finals, Gordon and Mullen faced off against a strong French pairing who got the upper hand winning both heats and progressing to the semi-finals.

The pair ultimately finished in 5th place after beating Japan in the 5th-6th final in a one-off match sprint.

This was Gordon and Mullen’s first time competing together and have learned a lot this week that they can build on for future competitions.

Speaking after the competition, Mullen said:

“Well, the (flying) 200 went alright. We would’ve liked to have done a bit better but for the first time riding the (flying) 200 together in a race, 10.2 isn’t so bad.”

“It was .1 of a second off the national record so I think for the first (flying) 200 that is an incredible platform to build off” Gordon added.

“Overall, it’s been successful for us. We would’ve liked more this morning in the qualifier and a bit more in the kilo (1km time trial) on Friday and I think it’s just taking that hunger away with us for more.” Gordon said.

Chris Burns finished in 6th place overall in the MC4 omnium after finishing in 9th place in the scratch race. Burns came into the final day of competition sitting in joint fourth place in the four-event omnium on 94 points, after producing solid performances in the first three events – flying 200 (3rd), 1km time trial (4th) and 3km individual pursuit (9th).

During the 60-lap scratch race, Burns hit the deck after touching wheels with another rider. Burns was quick to remount his bike without assistance and was able to re-join the group he was in before his crash, ultimately finishing in 9th place.

Commenting on the scratch race, Burns said:

“It was touch and go at stages in the scratch race. It started off well. I came down in a crash and maybe I should’ve composed myself a bit more and waited for the five laps and then went back up, but I jumped back up. It wasn’t the result I was hoping for but it’s still a top 10 in the scratch race, I can’t really complain.”

In his most successful competition to date, Burns comes away from the Paracycling Track World Championships with personal bests in each of the timed events and two national records in the flying 200 and 1km time trial.

Burns has said he has surprised himself this week with what he has achieved

“It’s been an unbelievable week to be honest with you. I’ve surprised myself and it’s just wonderful.”

Sunday’s action is Ireland’s last at this year’s Paracycling Track World Championships after four days of competition at the Saint-Quentine-en-Yvelines velodrome.

Results

Sunday, 23rd
MB Sprint – Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen: 5th
MC2 15km Scratch Race – Chris Burns: 9th
MC2 Omnium – Chris Burns: 6th

Grimes Smashes National Record to End his Paracycling Track World Championship Campaign on a High

Press Release: 22th October 2022



Ronan Grimes ends his Paracycling Track World Championship campaign with a new national record in the 1km time trial, smashing the record he set at the Paralympic Games. Chris Burns knocked a whole eight seconds off his PB as competition concluded for Richael Timothy and tamdem duo Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski.

In his final event of the championships, Ronan Grimes stormed to a fifth-place finish in the final of the MC4 1km time trial this evening. Grimes who won silver in the individual pursuit on Thursday, set the fifth quickest time in qualifying earlier today producing an impressive time of 1:09.252 just two tenths of a second off the national record.

In the final Grimes went even quicker setting a new national record, breaking his record by nearly half a second and for the first time dipping below 1:09. His time of 1:08.666 was enough to secure him with fifth place in the event, putting him in fourth place in the omnium after four events, just two points behind the bronze medallist.

Speaking after the event Grimes said:

“It’s taken me years to get to this 1:08 level today, I’m delighted to finish on a high.

“I’m delighted to have gotten the medal in the pursuit. I think maybe if I had raced a conservative scratch race, I might’ve come away with a result in the omnium but I’m actually happy to have gone out to try win that race” Grimes added.

Images courtesy of Drew Kaplan

Chris Burns smashed his PB in the MC2 3km individual pursuit by a massive eight seconds earlier today. The Banbridge native has been on flying form this week, producing PB’s in each of his events.

Burns covered the 3000 metres in 3:50.661, going a whole eight seconds quicker than his previous best time. He finished in 9th place and still maintains a top five position in the omnium which ranks riders based on four events: flying 200, individual pursuit, 500m/kilo time trial and scratch race. With one event remaining – the scratch race tomorrow, Burns is tied in fifth place in the omnium.

Richael Timothy concluded her Paracycling Track World Championship campaign this morning finishing in 6th place in the WC3 individual pursuit covering the 3000m distance in a time of 4:15.816.

Timothy comes away with two national records in the flying 200m and 500m time trial events and two fourth place finishes in the scratch race and omnium.

“I think it went well overall, I obviously got two fourth places so it’s a little bit hard to take I suppose but at the same time I have progressed since last year or the year before so I’m happy enough with that.

“It’s really good to get to be here before (the Paralympics) but as well for me and the athletes that were beating me by a lot just to get closer, I’m working towards and hopefully next year I can get closer again.” Timothy said.

Getting an opportunity to race in the same velodrome that will be used for the 2024 Paralympic Games and seeing the progress that has been made since last year have been the highlights for Timothy.

“Getting to compete here before the Games has been really good and I think overall just to get a few pb’s and to know that I am faster than I was last year is really good” Timothy added.

Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski set a new competition PB in the tandem individual pursuit to finish in eighth place earlier today. Their time of 4:21.153 was a new PB for them, improving massively on the time they set the last occassion they competed together at the Paracycling Track World Championships in 2020.



The pair had a mechanical as they came out of the start gate which meant they could restart their effort. The second time around the pair got off to a flying start and achieved their goal of setting a new PB.

Vereker was delighted to be back competing on the track.

“There’s a great atmosphere at the track, I love just the feeling of the intensity of the track when you’re on the boards, feeling the speed. Myself and Marcin have developed a kind of non-verbal communication through the pedals so it’s just great you know when to push together and everything, so yah it was really good” Vereker said.

“It’s one of our favourite things to do, the track, it’s so predictable” Mizgajski added.

“Like Damien said, we’ve developed this non-verbal communication, we know when to push harder if we have to push harder and today, I think we rode six seconds faster than we rode in Milton. That definitely is our PB today.”

Speaking about their goals for today, Mizgajski said:

“We set a couple of goals, we wanted to do the first ten laps in a certain time, we did that. Then we wanted to ride a pd, we did that.”

“We didn’t expect that the other tandem, the British tandem would not catch us, we thought they would catch us because on paper they are a way better tandem, but the fact that we were able to hold them for the whole race was great.”



On Sunday, Ireland conclude their Paracycling Track World Championships where Martin Gordon and his pilot Eoin Mullen will contest the sprint while Chris Burns will compete in the scratch race.

Results

Saturday, 22nd
WC3 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying – Richael Timothy: 6th (4:15.816)
WC3 Omnium – Richael Timothy: 4th
MB 4km Individual Pursuit Qualifying – Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski: 8th (4:21.153 PB)
MC2 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying – Chris Burns: 9th (3:50.661 PB)
MC4 1km Time Trial - Ronan Grimes 5th (1:08.666 New Record)
MC4 Omnium - Ronan Grimes: 4th

Schedule

Sunday, 23rd
MB Sprint Qualification – Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen
MC2 15km Scratch Race – Chris Burns

Burns, Timothy and Grimes give it their all on the second day of the Paracycling Track World Championships

Media Release: 21st October

It was another busy day of racing for the Paracycling squad at the Track World Championships in Paris with Richael Timothy narrowly missing out on a medal in the scratch race.

Richael Timothy fought hard in the scratch race to finish in fourth place. Timothy, who previously won bronze in the same event at the Paracycling Track World Championships in 2020 gave it her all and in the end had to settle for fourth.

Commenting after the race, Timothy said:

“It was an easy enough race. I suppose I was on the front for a good bit and probably looking back now I should’ve gone. I might’ve had a better chance, but I think I thought there was longer left then there actually was so it’s probably my own fault really.



Speaking about her performance so far in competition, Timothy added

“I think I’ve done better than what I had expected I suppose time wise and then the scratch race I had obviously hoped to medal in that, and I came as close as I could have.

“It’s been really good, it’s good to get the chance to race. I like the velodrome here so hopefully tomorrow will go well.”

Chris Burns finished in fifth place in the 1km Time Trial matching his qualifying performance where he posted the fifth fastest time while knocking two seconds off the national record earlier today (1:14.383). Burns covered the 1000m distance in the final in a time of 1:15.122 which was enough to see him finish in fifth position.

Burns has shown great consistency so far in the competition and is in a good position for the overall Omnium which ranks riders based on four events: flying 200m, individual pursuit, time trial and scratch race.

Burns was pleased with his performance today.

“It was a very positive and consistent performance. I’m just going out to be consistent and hopefully improve that a little bit but we got the consistency and we’re still in the shout for the omnium so it’s all still to play for.

“Yesterday’s events gave me good confidence going into today. I was really surprised I beat my own Irish record by two seconds, it was a big chunk to take off that so I’m over the moon with that” Burns added.

Ronan Grimes put in a courageous effort in the MC4 scratch race, lighting up the race with multiple attacks only to be caught within the final two laps.

Right from the start gun, Grimes attacked in an attempt to lap the field. He was joined by Devon Briggs of New Zealand and came agonisingly close to reaching the back of the bunch but as the pace picked up, the bunch began to close the gap on Grimes and Briggs and they were eventually reeled back in with 35 laps to go.

After spending some time in the bunch to recover after his effort, Grimes kept the race alive with a few short attacks only to launch a solo effort with 17 laps to go only to be caught by the bunch with two laps to go, ultimately finishing in 8th position.

Speaking about how the race went, Grimes said:

“It was a sixty-lap race and I think from the gun I tried an effort with the kiwi rider, and we got so close to gaining a lap. I’d say we were ten metres before the wheels started fell off – ten metres from catching the bunch and it (the gap) just went out and out. So, we were away for I think fifteen or twenty laps. I came back in the bunch, and I think I gave it another go again by myself with I don’t know how many laps I was away, maybe another ten or fifteen and got caught with two to go. I came nowhere in the end; I tried my hardest.”

“I had good fun today. I went all in for the win and unfortunately, I didn’t come away with anything, but I enjoyed it at least” Grimes added.

Earlier today, the tandem pairings of Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen and Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski competed in the MB 1km Time Trial.

Gordon and Mullen narrowly missed out on a spot in the final after recording the 7th quickest time, with the top six progressing to the final. Their time of 1:03.239 is a solid performance for their first time competing together and can now focus their attention on the sprint event on Sunday.

Vereker and Mizgajski also missed out on a position in the final with their time of 1:06.717and will now turn their attention to their main event, the individual pursuit tomorrow.

Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal were scheduled to race today however due to illness, Katie-George Dunlevy was not well enough to compete.

Results

Friday, 21st
MC2 1km Time Trial – Chris Burns: 5th (1:14.383 New Record in qualifying)
MB 1km Time Trial Qualifying– Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen (7th) | Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski (12th)
MC4 15km Scratch Race – Ronan Grimes (8th)
WC3 10km Scratch Race – Richael Timothy (4th)

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Chris Burns Sets New National in 1km Time Trial and Qualifies for the Final

Media Release: 21st October 2022

Chris Burns has set a new national record on his way to qualifying for the 1km time trial later this evening.

After his record-breaking performance yesterday in the flying 200 metre event, Burns has continued his World Championship campaign in great form today knocking an impressive two seconds off the national record. Burns covered the 1000 metres in a time of 1:14.383, recording the 5th quickest time, qualifying for the MC2 final.

Elsewhere today, the tandem pairings of Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen and Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski competed in the MB 1km Time Trial.

Gordon and Mullen narrowly missed out on a spot in the final after recording the 7th quickest time, with the top six progressing to the final. Their time of 1:03.239 is a solid performance for their first time competing together and can now focus their attention on the sprint event on Sunday.

Gordon said,

“For a first time outing together doing the kilo (1km Time Trial), new pairing and everything I think there was more pluses than negatives.”

Gordon is looking forward to the sprint event on Sunday, his first time competing in this event since Milton, Canada at the beginning of 2020.

“The sprint is a different beast altogether. I absolutely love the sprint and we haven’t had an opportunity to do the sprint since the worlds (World Championships) in Canada the beginning of 2020. There has been no sprint event for anybody because it wasn’t at the games (Paralympic Games) and we’ve had so few opportunities so very excited for that.” Gordon added.

Vereker and Mizgajski also missed out on a position in the final with their time of 1:06.717and will now turn their attention to their main event, the individual pursuit tomorrow.






Later today, Ronan Grimes and Richael Timothy will compete in the MC4 and WC3 scratch races, respectively. After his medal winning performance yesterday in the individual pursuit, Grimes will be looking to add another medal to his collection in this evening’s race.

Images courtesy of Drew Kaplan

National Record is subject to ratification

Record-Breaking Day for Team Ireland as Ronan Grimes clinches Silver at Paracycling Track World Championships

Media Release: 20th October 2022

Ronan Grimes has secured Ireland’s first medal of the Paracycling Track World Championships in Paris winning silver in the individual pursuit as the squad recorded four new national records.

Ronan Grimes rode an impressive heat in the individual pursuit in the afternoon against World Record holder, Jozef Metelka of Slovakia. His time of 4:42.111 over the 4000 metres was enough to see him progress to the gold medal ride off against the Slovakian rider, who qualified fastest.

The Athenry man left it all out on the track against Metelka performing a better ride than his qualifying one despite posting a longer time. Grimes covered the 4000 metres in 4:45.129 and managed to hold off the Slovakian rider from catching him, the first time Metelka has not been able to catch and overtake any of his opponents

Grimes said:

“I’m delighted really. I think today in the individual pursuit, I thought silver would be the best that I ever thought I could get and to come away with it is a great feeling.”

Richael Timothy was first to race this morning in the flying 200m event where she smashed her own record by over half a second to set a new national record of 13.377 in the WC3 category, recording the 3rd quickest time. Later in the day, Timothy produced another recording breaking ride in the 500m time trial, qualifying in 6th place for the finals with a time of 42.066, ultimately finishing in 6th place overall after the final.

Timothy said:

“I had the 200 (flying 200m) this morning which is part of the omnium so it was good to get a good position in that and then the 500 (metre time trial) as well, a PB and national record so it was all I could’ve really done.”

Looking ahead to the rest of her races, Timothy added:

“I have the scratch (race) tomorrow which I really like I suppose. I will look forward to it, it will be my first time since Milton to do one (2020 Paracycling Track World Championships) and then the pursuit is the following day so that suits me as well. That’s part of the omnium so I’ll just try get as good a position as I can.”

Ronan Grimes and Chris Burns followed in a similar suit with their flying 200m efforts, both breaking the national record in their categories. Chris Burns produced an impressive time of 12.078, setting the 3rd fastest time in the MC2 category while Ronan Grimes’ time of 11.695 saw him finish in 7th position in a stacked field.

Reacting to his record-breaking performance, Burns said:

“Yah, it was a good start to the omnium now, you know it’s just the consistency we have to take forward and hopefully do similar in the rest of the events going forward, so the 1k (time trial) tomorrow, then the 3k (individual pursuit) and then the scratch (race). I’m hoping to maintain that top 5 position and take it all the way to the end over the weekend.”

The flying 200 serves as an additional event to make up a four-event omnium, meaning there are no medals on offer for this as an individual event.​

The individual pursuit, 500m/kilo time trial and the scratch race are all individual events and also form the four-event omnium alongside the flying 200.

The whole squad will be in action tomorrow competing in a range of events across the day.

Images courtesy of Drew Kaplan

Results

Thursday, 20th
WC3 Omnium – 200m Flying Start – Richael Timothy: 4th (13.377 New Record)
MC4 Omnium – 200m Flying Start – Ronan Grimes: 7th (11.695 New Record)
MC2 Omnium – 200m Flying Start – Chris Burns 3rd (12.078 New Record)
WC3 500m Time Trial– Richael Timothy: 6th (42.066 New Record in qualifying)
MC4 4km Individual Pursuit – Ronan Grimes: Silver

*All National Records are subject to ratification.

Schedule

Friday, 21st
MC2 1km Time Trial – Chris Burns
MB 1km Time Trial Qualifying– Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen | Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski
WB 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying - Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal
MC4 15km Scratch Race – Ronan Grimes
WC3 10km Scratch Race – Richael Timothy