Paralympian Richael Timothy: On a high with a new personal best
Richael Timothy started cycling in 2017
following an acquired brain injury.
Cyclist Richael Timothy is on a high after finishing the 3km pursuit in the Tokyo Paralympic Games with a new personal best, slashing her previous time by 14 seconds.
"We don't have time to do anything but focus," she says with a wide smile via Zoom. "I feel like everything is going well. I'm peaking where I should be peaking and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the experience and learning as much as I possibly can."
Timothy started cycling in 2017 after an acquired brain injury, caused by treatment for a rare condition known as hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (a disorder that leads to the development of abnormalities in the blood vessels), left her with just 30% power in her left leg. She was already a keen athlete, playing Gaelic football and soccer, but over the past five years, cycling has become her new passion.
This year marks the Co Roscommon native's first Paralympic Games.
"Up until now, we've had no time off. Last year we thought events were going to happen and then they were cancelled so we were just flat out training," the 26-year-old says.
After racing twice on the track last week and coming in 14th in her road time trial on Tuesday, Timothy competed again on Friday in the road race, coming in 14th. You can watch highlights of the event on RTÉ Player.
- Richael Timothy is a Circle K ‘Here for Ireland’ ambassador. Until September 5, Circle K customers can scan a QR code in-store to donate to Paralympics Ireland.
I would say that I’m at my peak. I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in. It's coming from years of training though, not just the last few weeks.”
As a cyclist, you have to eat as much as you possibly can so I make sure to eat breakfast every morning to start my day right.
Chocolate and a cup of Barry's tea. I always bring Cadbury Freddo bars with me to camp.
Looking at my phone or thinking of what I have to pack in the morning. I'm trying to get better at organising my stuff the night before training.
Sleeping. Fatigue is a big thing with my brain injury so I try to get as many hours of sleep as I can, during the day and at night. I also like to read, usually about sports or science, and I love watching Grey's Anatomy.
Gillian Joyce and Valerie Mulcahy would have been my football heroes when I was younger, as well as Sonia O'Sullivan and Katie Taylor. Then after I got into cycling, Eve McCrystal and Katie-George Dunlevy became my heroes. Who you look up to changes over time.
Flowers. My mam is crazy about flowers so it's kind of the smell of home.
We did hill training in Majorca recently and the third time the coach made me go up I was crying on the way down. It was probably everything catching up on me because I'm not a crier. I think I was crying out of anger. I felt great afterwards though.
Not being on time. I like to be on time so it stresses me out when other people aren't. I can deal with everything else.
They definitely say that I'm a bit messy at home. I'll have my cycling stuff organised but when I get home the bag is just thrown down until I need to organise it again. It's something I'm going to work on after Tokyo.
No. I'm not very religious. I went to Mass as a child but when I got the brain injury I just thought, "This shouldn't be happening to me" and that was it for me.
Talking to people. When you travel a lot it's nice to catch up with friends and family. I love to talk to someone at home after a hard training session as well, it's something I really look forward to.
'One step back, two steps forward'. Because I had to go back and learn everything again in order to go forward.
Achill Island.
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