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It was a record-breaking second day for Ireland at the UEC Track European Championships on Thursday, February 9th, as a new national record was set in the women’s team pursuit.
The team of Alice Sharpe, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy, and Mia Griffin set a blazing time of 4.19.705 – a new national record* in the first round following qualifying on Wednesday in Grenchen, Switzerland.
The new time is 0.033 seconds quicker than the previous record of 4.19.738 set on April 21, 2022, at the Nations Cup in Glasgow.
After a strong time of 4:21.426 in qualifying on Wednesday, Ireland needed to move up from fifth in the standings to the top four in order to race for a medal.
And despite taking almost two seconds off their qualifying time, Ireland missed out on the top four behind Italy, Great Britain, France, and Germany.
Orla Walsh kicked off the day for Ireland in the women’s sprint qualifying and her time of 11.159 saw her finish 16th and progress to the 1/16 finals in the afternoon.
Walsh was paired with Ukraine’s Oleksandra Lohviniuk in the 1/16 finals, but missed out in the match sprint as she finished 0.070 seconds behind Lohviniuk.
Mia Griffin finished in tenth place in the women’s elimination race after being involved in the new National Team Pursuit record earlier in the day.
The Irish rider was heavily involved in the opening exchanges as she kept to the front of the bunch and clear of elimination but found herself in a battle to avoid elimination on two occasions before finishing in tenth place in a competitive field.
* All new national records are provisional and subject to formal ratification by Cycling Ireland.
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