Hard work paves road to Rio for Aran sweater

From the solitude of Inis Mór, the largest of the three Aran Islands off the Galway coast, to the UCI’s World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, 20-year-old Eoin Mullen could be forgiven for thinking this is all just a dream.

Born and raised in the townland of Kilronan, about a kilometre from the pier — where it “all happens” in this part of the world — it’s quite a remarkable story that a place with a population of around 800 people might produce an Olympian.

Everyone knows everyone and their business on the islands. News travels fast but many still scratch their heads when Mullen comes home and he’s quizzed on what the hell the kilo, the sprint and the keirin are; events he’s hoping to qualify in for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.