Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal win Paralympic silver as they end partnership in style
The pair finished second to Britain's Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl in a thrilling finale to the women’s B 3,000m individual pursuit
Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal won a silver medal in the Paralympic Games as they ended their long partnership in style on Sunday.
The pair finished second to Britain's Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl in a thrilling finale to the women’s B 3,000m individual pursuit.
Dunlevy and McCrystal had guaranteed themselves a silver medal when finishing second fastest overall in the qualifying heats with a time of 3:20.481.
And while the pair could not match that time in the final, they put it to the British duo and were still in front after 2,000 metres.
Unwin and Holl eventually got the better of the duel to win gold by 2.166 seconds, but there was only pride for the Irish pair after the race at the National Velodrome in Paris.
Dunlevy, 42, said: "We went for it and just tried to execute the same race as we did earlier and give it our all.
"We were just short coming in at the end, but that's just down to track time. We are delighted with that. A silver medal is like getting a gold."
McCrystal, 46, agreed: "I think we were both brave enough to go for it, and I think that's what matters. As Katie said, it's just that last two laps of track experience, track time, track legs.
"But we are a small nation with no track, and we are, after putting it up to Great Britain, who live on a track every day of the week, so we have to be so proud of that."
The medal is Ireland's second of the Paralympics after swimmer Róisín Ní Ríain claimed silver in the women's S13 100m backstroke.
It is Dunlevy and Crystal's 21st medal across the Paralympics and World Championships, and it is all the more special because it brings the curtain down on an 11-year partnership.
Dunlevy added: “We left it out there on those two rides, we did the race of our lives to get here.
"I’m so proud of us both for doing that together. We put a lot of hard work into this. We trained so, so hard.
“After the less than ideal way coming in [to the Games], it makes the win so much sweeter.”
McCrystal added: "That's our last ride together, so to finish that off with a silver medal in the Paralympic Games, I actually can't believe it.
"I think I left my soul on the first ride, and then to back it up, I'm so proud.
"I knew we could do it, but you have to do it on the day, and we did it."
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