Katie-George Dunlevy was always going to be an athlete.
A former rowing world champion, the UK-born paracyclist has competition in her blood and will be hoping to improve on her performances at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London when she gets her feet on the pedals in Rio.
It took some convincing before Dunlevy fully fell in love with her new sport but alongside pilot Eve McCrystal, her success has made it all but impossible for her to avoid embracing the bike.
Dunlevy and McCrystal are in terrific form going into these, the 15th summer Games, having claimed World and European titles already this year.
A bit of functional training to top up the fluids..puncture repair 🆘 #RoadToRio pic.twitter.com/jAxYfspwP5
— Katie-George Dunlevy PLY 🏳️🌈 (@KatieGDunlevy) August 24, 2016
The tandem pair only met each other in 2013 and didn’t have their first race together until the following year but their early results suggested that it was a relationship destined for triumphs.
At the age of 11, Dunlevy was diagnosed with the hereditary eye disease Retinitous Pigmentosa (RP) but she has not let that get in the way in her pursuit of greatness.
And that’s just what can be achieved throughout the course of her Rio schedule with McCrystal, with whom she takes to the track on September 9 for the 1k time trial and September 11, when they partake in the 3k individual pursuit.
They will also hit the road for another time trial and a road race so it will be a busy few days for the duo.
“There is always a goal. It’s a medal,” Dunlevy recently told the Irish Times. “That’s what we are going for. On the track it’s a 3k pursuit and a 1k pursuit. On the road we have a time trial and a road race, four disciplines. Realistically, our goal for medalling would be in the 3k pursuit and the time trial.
“The road race is always a lottery. We are well capable of medalling on the road as well, and we have done. We were silver medallists in Greenville. We are going for medals. We are not going to make up the numbers.”
As the official energy partner to Paralympics Ireland, Flogas are delighted to work alongside brand ambassadors Michael McKillop, Katie-George Dunlevy, Eve McCrystal, Patrick O’Leary and Niamh McCarthy.
Flogas are backing our heroes with positive energy and encourage fans to send messages using the hashtag #PositiveEnergy
