One of the toughest ever races - Katie-George Dunlevy on World Cup win
Back home in England this week, Katie-George Dunlevy reflected on another World Gold medal won in the Time Trial at the Para Cycling World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama the previous week.
Along with pilot Linda Kelly, Dunlevy was winning a fourth Time Trial World medal in-a-row, and she revealed it was one of the toughest races because of the conditions.
“It was incredible to get another gold. We did a really good effort but it was very, very hot. The conditions were really extreme, for everyone obviously.
“We didn’t feel great and we suffered. It was 36, 38 degrees. We were all overheating and it was really a matter of holding in and just keep pushing.
“And we delivered a really good effort to get the gold but I’m not going to lie, it was really, really horrendous. We knew it was going to be a fight and I was up for the fight,” said Dunlevy, who had 32.5 seconds to spare in the end with the second Irish tandem of Sinead Greenan and Alice Sharpe in silver medal position and the English pair of Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl in third.
“And for us to have the other Irish girls in second place was brilliant as well. Alice has been there since the Olympics.”
There was no medal this time around in the Road Race which Dunlevy described as a messy race on a flat course and it came down to a sprint at the end. The English pair prevailed this time with Sinead Greenan and Alice Sharpe taking another silver.
“The Road Race was very tactical and it was very hard to make moves because the pace was so slow and not many other nations were making any moves.
“We tried to get away but we just weren’t able to.
“So it came to a group of seven bikes coming into the sprint finish. With 1K to go we went as hard as we could and also to help the other (Irish) girls who are better sprinters. When we came to the line we’d already emptied the tank at that stage. It’s just racing and it can be frustrating at times,” said Dunlevy.
Katie-George would normally be able to organise a holiday around this time and a trip back to her father John’s native Mountcharles, but there are World Track Championships in October and that is the next focus. “My family are planning to be there for that event so that will be nice.”
There will be some down time after that but not for long as preparation will begin for 2027 and picking up qualifying points for the Los Angeles Olympics, the ultimate target in 2028.