There was joy for Ireland on Wednesday night as Shannon McCurley won a silver medal in the scratch race on the opening day of the European Track Championships in the Netherlands.
The 40-lap race was won by Emily Nelson of Great Britain in a sprint finish with Maria Martins of Poland taking the bronze.
What a night
Some amazing images from @MccurleyS Silver at the European Track Championships#EuroTrack19Drew Kaplan pic.twitter.com/GFQWtGIJj3
— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) October 16, 2019
Speaking after the race, the 27-year-old was delighted with her performance, particularly the finish;
“With seven laps to go I was right at the back.
"I think I was hopeful that it was all going to go up and it did.
"I think with about three (laps) to go I spotted Emily shoot down the bottom and I knew she had good legs, she was coming into this strong, and that was the wheel I wanted to be on.
“Yeah, it's been a long time coming. As you saw me at the end of the race, I was speechless.”
McCurley was born in Melbourne, Australia; to a Belfast father and her mother is from Dublin.
She, therefore, has the potential to participate in sport for three countries.
She previously won bronze in the under-23 scratch event at the 2011 European Track Championships.
She also competed in the scratch event at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
She became the first Irish female to qualify for an Olympic track cycling event, representing Team Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A team of 14 Irish riders in total are competing in the European Championships which takes place until Sunday 20th October.
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