Katie-George Dunlevy all set to defend her gold medals at Paralympics in Paris

On Friday next, August 30th, Katie-George Dunlevy will begin her quest for more Paralympic medals when she takes to the track in the 1000m time trial at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Vélodrome in Paris.

The, by now, adopted daughter of Mountcharles, where her father John is a native, is hoping to add to the three gold and two silver medals won proudly wearing the Irish jersey at the Rio and Tokyo Paralympic Games.

She will have regular tandem partner Eve McCrystal in the two events on the track while Linda Kelly will be her partner for the Road Time Trial and Road Race.

But it has not been plain sailing to Paris as Katie-George suffered a huge setback in late May when she suffered a broken collar bone when taking a tumble from the bike at a UCI World Cup event in Maniago, Italy.

Described afterwards by her tandem partner on the day, Eve  McCrystal, as ‘one tough cookie’, the pair finished the race, and that incident underlines the competitive nature of Katie-George Dunlevy, and why she has achieved so much thus far.

Speaking just over a week out from the Games, Katie-George is just  about to complete a two-week training camp in Portugal and is happy that all the work has been done for the big event.

“The shoulder is fine. I’m getting there. It was very painful and there was agony for three or four weeks until I got the operation.

“I carried on the race. We were still in second place when we fell and we tried to hold that. We just became competitive and got back on. I wasn’t 100 percent sure that I had done the collar bone. I just knew that something was not right.”

But quickly the full extent of the injury became known and it meant that the training schedule ahead of the Paralympics was severely compromised.

“I had a plan in June of going racing in the National Championships and going to train with Linda (Kelly, her other tandem partner) after the World Cups but of course I was in hospital, in bed trying to recover. It did set me back a bit.

“I was on the bike as soon as I could. I was trying to eat well and as soon as I was able to move around I was looking at what I could do. When I got a bit more energy I was back on the bike with one arm and building up every day. 

“I had to have the sling on for three and a half weeks to try and let the shoulder heal because of the operation with pins.

“Six weeks after the operation I was back on the bike for the first time. We went to Majorca for two weeks of intense training. It was then just trying to do all the sessions and get my numbers back up. I was just working on my rehab every day and getting my strength back,” says Katie-George.

“We have just finished our two weeks’ training camp in Portugal and are heading for the Paralympic Village.  I have done every session and even during that I have continued doing my rehab and my numbers have come up.

“The pain is easing and my shoulder is getting stronger all the time and it’s in a very good place now and I’m just focussing on getting the technique and being as prepared as I can.”

Coming about three weeks after the 2024 Olympics have just finished in Paris, Katie-George has been glued to the television for that fortnight and has really enjoyed watching all the sports.

“It started before we came to Portugal so I watched a lot of it, every day for hours, even on the bike. When I was off the bike I was watching hours and hours and even the highlights. It was absolutely brilliant.

“It looks as if they have done a really good job,” says Katie-George.

Katie-George proudly carrying the Irish flag Picture: Sportsfile

The Paralympic opening ceremony is on Wednesday 28th but unfortunately Katie-George and the cycling team are not able to be involved.

“No, none of us will get to be involved as our race on the track starts quite soon after the opening day. We never get to be involved in the opening ceremony as it’s too close to competition.”

Katie-George’s schedule includes two races on the track (velodrome) and two on the road and starts with the 1km on the track on Friday 30th; 3k on track on September 1st; then on the road time trial on September 4th and the Road Race on September 6th.

“I’m looking forward to getting going at this stage but in some ways I feel like I needed more time with the shoulder and everything. But I think we have all the training done now and we’re ready to get going.”

After dominating on the road in the last two Paralympics the targets are set towards the top again by Dunlevy.

“Always. I always set the targets high. At the end of the day I’m not fixating on getting the gold or silver. Of course, that’s what I’m aiming for. I'm always focussing on the process and making sure I’m ticking all the boxes in terms of leading up to the day of competition and hoping we have a great day.

“I will give it my all on the day and hopefully that will get us a medal. Anything can happen on the day and you need to be the best you can be.

“I am very driven to do well in the races and I’m confident I can do well. It’s always about self belief and mentality going into it and that’s huge when it comes to these big competitions.”

As for her partners on the bike for the events, Katie-George says Eve has so much experience and has been going very well this year.

“Linda (Kelly, her new road partner) has had a challenging  year as well after a fall and concussion.  They are both working hard and looking forward to the racing now.”

Looking at what happened in the Olympics during the two weeks in Paris, Katie-George is very happy that there will again be a huge Irish support in Paris for the next few weeks including a good sprinkling of the Dunlevy family.

“I’ve got family and a good number coming over and that will be a great help, especially on the road. Hopefully, there will be good support on the track. Really it’s like a home game for us and I think we’ll have great Irish support there.

“I’m looking forward to that because there were no supporters  in Tokyo because of Covid. It will be a very different games.

“It’s a great privilege and it's a great honour to be selected and represent your country. So I’m going to really enjoy it. It would be amazing, beyond words, to get more medals but I’m just going to give my all and see what happens.”

No matter what happens Katie-George has a few days planned after the Paralympics for a visit to Donegal. Back in 2016 and again in 2021 she was welcomed to Mountcharles with her gold and silver medals. Don’t rule out that happening again.

Katie-George’s bio on Paralympics Ireland

Club: Donegal Bay Cycling

Disability: Vision Impairment

Sport Class: B2.

Forming a formidable partnership with pilot Eve McCrystal, the duo won three gold medals and two silver medals across the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games as well as five gold medals at UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. Most recently, the pair won a bronze medal at the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships.

Dunlevy has partnered with Linda Kelly on the road in 2023 and dominated at international events, picking up overall victory at the UCI Para-cycling World Cup before double gold at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships.

Paris will be her fourth Paralympic Games (she represented GB in London in 2012)

Schedule:

Day 2 – August 30th

TRACK: Women’s B 1000m Time Trial (qualifying & final) Q: 13:12 F: 15:34

Day 4 – September 1st

TRACK: Women’s B 3000m Individual Pursuit (qualifying & final) Q: 10:22 F: 13:31

Day 7 – September 4th

ROAD: B B Road Race 7:00 – 17:00

Day 9 – September 6th

ROAD: B Road Race 8:30 – 15:50