Cycle stars Walsh and Meehan enjoy silver lining in London

Three years ago Catherine Walsh made history when she became Ireland’s first paracycling medal winner at a major event with silver at the World Track Championship alongside sighted pilot Fran Meehan.

Yesterday, the pair wrote another historic chapter in their sport when they became the first Irish cyclists to medal at a Paralympic or Olympic Games, this time with another silver at the individual pursuit B final in London.

It was an achievement that was greeted with elation by a cycling team that had seen hopes of a first medal dashed cruelly on Friday when Colin Lynch lost out on a bronze medal by just 0.12 of a second in the C2 individual pursuit.