Irish Team Pursuit Squad Miss Out

The Irish Team Pursuit squad narrowly missed out on going to the 2009 Track Cycling World Championships.

David O'Loughlin, David McCann, Paul Healion and Martyn Irvine at the recent World Cup Classic at Copenhagen, where they set a new national record and just missed out on a ride-off for bronze.

Apparently, the team needed to have competed in at least one event in four of the last five World Cup meets to qualify, which they haven't done. So even though they came 7th and 5th in the last two World Cup meets, and are currently ranked 11th in the world, they won't be going to the World Championships. David O'Loughlin will be Ireland's sole representative, and will be hoping for a medal in the Mens Individual Pursuit.

Day 1 of Track Racing at the Olympics

Here's a "live" account of my experiences trying to watch the first day of Olympic track racing.

"Women’s feckin’ weightlifting?? Why, Venezuelan TV? For god’s sake, why??

It's 4am, and I just woke up to watch the first day's action at the Laoshan Velodrome, but I can't seem to find an online video link that will work, and the Venezuelan TV station that's covering the Olympics is showing women's weightlifting. Ok, they just changed over to the velodrome. China against Japan in the Men’s Team Sprint qualifying round, and there seems to be a problem with the Japanese team. Did one of them snap a chain?

No clue, because the only channel showing it live here have gone back to women’s weightlifting. I would understand if there was even one Venezuelan in the women’s weightlifting, but there isn’t.

Back to the velodrome! Britain against Germany in the Men's Team Sprint. Jaysus, the Brits are fast! They crush Germany, the current Olympic champions, hitting an average top speed of 62.8kmh, almost 40mph. It’s a new world record time, 42.95 seconds!

Aaaaaand back to the weightlifting… this is brutal… None of the online video links are working for me because of region restrictions, so I’m reduced to live text feeds from the BBC.

Okay, the weightlifting is over. Some giantess from China won, I think, and we’re back at Laoshan Velodrome for the Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit qualifying round. Stephen Burke and Carlos Alzate just went, which means it was heat 2. Four more heats, and then it will be David O’Loughlin’s turn.

Oh good, now they’re showing an interview with a Venezuelan Judoka, some bloke who got knocked out of the competition days ago. C’mon! There’s actual racing happening right now! Jaysis, I’m knackered. Why am I awake?

Hey, they’re back to showing the track, and Popkov from the Ukraine was doing pretty well in the early laps, but he ends up 5th so far. Oh… they’ve changed to swimming. This is driving me mental.

Hockey?!? I quit.

Wait, wait, I don’t believe it, they’re showing David O’Loughlin’s qualifying heat! Amazing! He gets a good start, 4th fastest so far after the first lap. C’mon Davo! C’mon Ireland! Still 4th after 3 laps. The Venezuelan commentator is really struggling with David’s surname… “David…. O… Youngling?” Not bad, I suppose. David has slipped to 5th. C’mon son, dig dig dig! He doesn’t look that comfortable to me. Brad McGee started slower but is getting faster. Bell lap! Go go go!

David’s time was 4:26:102. We’ll have to wait and see where that puts him. I think he’s 6th at the moment, but I’m not sure. Maybe 8th? That’s not good. Fastest 8 qualify.

Roulston, from New Zealand, puts in an impressive ride to register the fastest time so far. Bradley Wiggins is next, though… Wow. Wiggins is amazing. He breaks his own Olympic record, and rides the 5th fastest 4000m individual pursuit of all time, 4:15.031. Can anyone touch the British on the track this year? No. They can’t. Simple as that.

David O’Loughlin doesn’t qualify. Feck that anyway. He came 10th with his time of 4:26.102. He started well, but couldn’t keep up that pace, looked less and less comfortable as the race went on, and ended up 2 places outside of qualification. His time was a full 6 seconds slower than the Irish national record he set a couple of months ago. If he’d ridden anywhere near his personal best, he would have been in the top 5, and easily through to the next round. Gutted.

Next up, Men’s Team Sprint first round, but Venezuelan TV are showing Judo instead. I’m going back to sleep."

3 Hours To Go

In about 3 hours, David O'Loughlin, Ireland's only Olympic track cyclist, will take to the boards in the qualifying round of the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit.

David O'Loughlin of Ireland warming up on the Laoshan Velodrome. MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

Starting a practice lap. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

The starting order of the qualifying road of the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit. David goes 7th, with Brad McGee of Australia.

I can't feckin' wait! Seeing an Irishman out there on the track, giving it socks, well, it's going to be special. It's all happening in a scant few hours, so I best get the head down asap, but I'll be up at 4am (Caracas time) to watch David, and to watch the Men's Team Pursuit of course (can France take it from Britain?).

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!

Ireland on the Track at the Olympics?

I haven’t posted on David O’Loughlin’s attempt to qualify for the Olympics in a while because, frankly, the news isn’t that good. The Irishman performed incredibly well at the 2008 Track World Championships in Manchester, coming 6th in the Individual Pursuit and absolutely shattering the Irish record he’d set the previous autumn. However, the UCI recently informed O’Loughlin that it was only taking to the Olympics the top 5 finishers from the Worlds. Argh! He missed out by one place…

David O'Loughlin in his Irish colours, riding the boards in Manchester. Photo by Stephen McMahon.

To put this disappointment in perspective, it should be noted that David only started racing track in 2006; before that he’d only raced road. Plus, there isn’t even a proper track for him to train on in Ireland; anyone seriously interested in track racing has to travel to Britain to train.

But all is not lost! David is the first reserve rider, and if any of the top five drop out, he will qualify and Ireland will have someone to cheer on at the track in Beijing.

David at Manchester again. Wouldn't it be great if Ireland had a proper velodrome? Photo by Stephen McMahon.

So, even with this disappointing news coming from the UCI, the Pezula Racing rider is 9th in the UCI World rankings in Individual Pursuit, he came 6th at the recent World Championships, and with luck he’ll represent Ireland at the Olympics this summer. Oh yeah, and he's Irish National Road Race Champion. Pretty incredible.

Plus, equally incredible, I found a Pezula Racing cycling cap in a bike shop in Chicago! Deadly! I had no idea Pezula even had any caps, but they do and Cycle Smithy has some for sale. Get one and support this great Irish professional cycling team.

David O'Loughlin up to 9th.

David O'Loughlin, Irish national road champion, who came 6th in the Individual Pursuit at the recent Track Cycling World Championship, is 9th in the world according to the UCI. But will that be enough to get him to the Olympics? Stay tuned...

David O'Loughlin 6th at the Worlds!

David O'Loughlin competing at the 2008 Track World Championships yesterday. Photo by Guy Swarbrick.

David O'Loughlin of Ireland and Pezula Racing came 6th in the 4000m Individual Men's Pursuit at the World Track Championships in Manchester yesterday, beating some incredible riders like Luke Roberts, Taylor Phinney, and Volodymyr Dyudya. He came in with a time of 4.20.91, 4.4 seconds faster than the national record he set in Beijing in December. G'wan Davo! It's a great result for David, for Ireland, and for Pezula. I really hope we get to see David compete at the Olympics, and I'm sure his 6th place finish will help get him there. Big thanks to Guy Swarbrick for the great photo of David. Check out swarbrick.com to see more of his great cycling photos. Also, check out trackcyclingworld.com for up to the minute updates and results from the Worlds.