Ireland to Race at the Olympics!

Fantastic news! It has just been announced that Irish national road champion and Pezula Racing rider David O'Loughlin has qualified for the 4km Individual Pursuit at the Beijing Olympics! Feckin' brilliant!!

David O'Loughlin, of Ireland and Pezula Racing, at the Track World Championships in Manchester this year. Photo by Stephen McMahon for BikeRadar.

I've been following David's attempts to qualify for some time. He smashed the Irish national 4km Individual Pursuit record at the recent World Championships in Manchester, where he came 6th overall and moved up into 6th place in the UCI world rankings. But, even that great performance wasn't enough for the Irishman, who only took up track in 2006 and who has to train in England because Ireland doesn't have a velodrome, to qualify. David missed out by one place! There was a slight chance that he might qualify as first reserve if someone dropped out, but no one was really holding out much hope. Well someone has dropped out, and David is now going to the Olympics!

The news gets even better. Apparently, David has improved his 4km time to 4 minutes and 20 seconds, 9 seconds faster than the time that got him 6th place at the Worlds, and only 2 seconds off Bradley Wiggins' World Championship winning time. So, he has a real chance of a medal in Beijing. I'm delighted for him and his team, because they've really been working hard for this, and it will be great to have someone to cheer on while watching the track racing. I'll be giving it loads of olé olé, don't you worry!