Irish cyclists Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal won gold in the B time trial at the Fuji International Speedway in Tokyo on Tuesday morning.
The Irish duo won the time trial with a time of 47 minutes 32.07 seconds to take their second medal of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and their first gold.
The pair won the same event at Rio 2016 in a time of 38:59.22 and retained their medals with their victory this morning.
The duo finished nearly a minute ahead of their nearest competitors in Tokyo – Great Britain’s Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall.
The British duo, who took home the bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, finished the time trial in 48:32.06.
“We went for it,” Eve McCrystal told RTÉ Sport. “I think after the first lap we were five seconds ahead so I think we’re better ahead than chasing. I just had in my head, ‘I’m not letting this go now’ so we just went for it and I think we’re after having the ride of our lives. I can’t believe it.”
The pair were cautious of the technical aspect of the course but delivered to retain their medals.
McCrystal noted that the extra information that she had on the course in Japan allowed her to enjoy the final stretch more than she did in Brazil five years ago.
Dunlevy added: “It means the world to me, working for five years towards this. We wanted to come here and retain the title but really wanted to get the best out of ourselves and have a good ride and hope that would give us a medal and then a gold medal.
