MARK DOWNEY HAS won bronze for Ireland at the Track Cycling World Championships in Poland.
The county Down rider finished in a share for third in the Men’s Points Race, shaking off a poor start to his ride at the Pruszkow Arena.
Ireland's Mark Downey. SIPA USA / PA Images
SIPA USA / PA Images / PA Images
“That was crazy out there now,” he said after the race. “I’ve had so many ups and downs the last year and a half of my career.
I had a crash on the track, finished fourth in the National Championships Road Race and I was bawling my eyes out after it.
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“I was always there or thereabouts in races, but, I never really picked up that win – I was beaten by inches in the summer at the Tour de l’Avenir – so I’ve had that feeling of being fourth so many times in my career.
I just got that urge with eight laps to go, I said: ‘I can’t feel like this again, this literally can’t happen to me again. If this happens to me again, I’ll get the nickname, the Nearly Man.’”
Wojciech Pszczolarski (left) and Mark Downey after Friday's race. Imago / PA Images
Imago / PA Images / PA Images
Downey’s medal is Ireland’s first UCI Track Cycling World Championships medal since Martyn Irvine won gold in the 2014 Scratch Race, having earlier won silver in the Individual Pursuit.
He added: “That result is just for all the staff at Cycling Ireland and all the people behind me, my family, all the support staff, everyone that’s just got me up every morning, just kept me on the straight and narrow.”
The 22-year-old will ride again on Sunday, joining regular partner Felix English in the Men’s Madison – an Olympic event for Tokyo 2020.
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to discuss the backlash to World Rugby’s league proposal, captaincy styles, sports psychology and more in The42 Rugby Weekly.
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Ireland's Mark Downey wins bronze at Track Cycling World Championships
MARK DOWNEY HAS won bronze for Ireland at the Track Cycling World Championships in Poland.
The county Down rider finished in a share for third in the Men’s Points Race, shaking off a poor start to his ride at the Pruszkow Arena.
“That was crazy out there now,” he said after the race. “I’ve had so many ups and downs the last year and a half of my career.
“I was always there or thereabouts in races, but, I never really picked up that win – I was beaten by inches in the summer at the Tour de l’Avenir – so I’ve had that feeling of being fourth so many times in my career.
Downey’s medal is Ireland’s first UCI Track Cycling World Championships medal since Martyn Irvine won gold in the 2014 Scratch Race, having earlier won silver in the Individual Pursuit.
He added: “That result is just for all the staff at Cycling Ireland and all the people behind me, my family, all the support staff, everyone that’s just got me up every morning, just kept me on the straight and narrow.”
The 22-year-old will ride again on Sunday, joining regular partner Felix English in the Men’s Madison – an Olympic event for Tokyo 2020.
Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to discuss the backlash to World Rugby’s league proposal, captaincy styles, sports psychology and more in The42 Rugby Weekly.
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Ireland Mark Downey medal alert Track Cycling World Championships