AT THE AGE of 35, Corkman Bryan Keane today achieved a long-held ambition of qualifying for the Olympic Games.
The triathlete’s performance in Yokohama, Japan, this morning will double the Irish contingent in the sport in Rio this August with Aileen Reid having sealed her berth last year.
Keane went into this morning’s ITU World Series Race inside the top 55 rankings who are selected for Rio, and he entered the race knowing he simply had to beat his nearest rivals to keep his grip.
Deep down the field after a slow start in the swim, Keane was in 32nd place moving through T2 after the cycling portion of the race. On the final 10k run, Keane kept his pace up, jumping 10 places over the first half of the run with his rivals for Rio back in 33rd and 42nd.
By the final lap, Keane had moved up to 20th place and stayed there until the finish line, where Triathlon Ireland recorded his immediate reaction to his Olympian status, an opportunity cruelly denied him five years ago by a horrible training crash.
“The last four years have been a roller coaster – breaking my knee, injuries and all sorts,” Keane told Triathlon Ireland.
“Another top 20 performance, happy days. I was in control, had a job to do and got it done. There was a bit of pressure going into it, nothing but motivation, eh?”
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