Carolyn Hayes: 'I always joke I'm financially crippled but emotionally fulfilled'

Carolyn Hayes pictured on the Sport Ireland Campus ahead of the 2020 triathlon World Championships. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

There’s no shortage of stories out there about careers parked in the pursuit of an Olympic dream.

Not so many have slammed on the brakes as they hit their 30s.

Carolyn Hayes had just qualified as a junior doctor when she made the leap of faith. Sport had washed around her schedule long before she decided to dive in headfirst. A former water polo player with Ireland, she had dominated the domestic triathlon scene long before an international debut in 2014 at the age of 26.

It’s a change of path that has brought with it all the usual consequences. Colleagues and friends are moving onwards and upwards with their medical careers and she was set to miss her turn as bridesmaid for her best friend’s wedding this month until it got rescheduled for a second time.

“I have no regrets now. You could dwell on what you sacrifice but I wake up happy every day,” she explained ahead of her Olympic debut at Odaiba Marine Park (10.30pm tonight Irish time).

“Every day. All you have to worry about is training and getting the best from yourself. I always joke that I am financially crippled but emotionally fulfilled.”

There were times when she questioned the decision. Plenty of them.

Qualifying for the Olympics in triathlon is a gruelling ask, not just in terms of the training and commitment, or the punishing nature of the sport itself, but in terms of the extensive travel and a complex qualifying system.

Hayes was coming to this late, taking on reams of athletes who have been at this since “they were teeny boppers”, but she has a top-class support team in the likes of Gavin Noble, the former Olympic triathlete and deputy chef de mission here in Tokyo, and Eanna McGrath who she described as a saint and a coach supreme.

“If he couldn’t get you there then no-one could get you there.”

Carolyn Hayes training during the pandemic. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane

Other pieces had to fit together to make all this work. She didn’t know what to expect when telling her parents about her decision three years ago but they were immediately supportive. And she has also benefited from the support of Sport Ireland via the carding scheme and sponsorship, without which this just wouldn’t be possible.

“I’ve had a lot of good people in my corner. When I upped sticks from Limerick to Wicklow, I was so lucky I met a lovely family — Liam, Yvonne and Laura Williams — and they took me in, really, as child number two. That’s what I’m called.

“Liam actually went to the Moscow and Seoul Olympic Games, he coxed in the rowing, so he gets it and he said to me when I moved in, ‘Look, you’re not here now to entertain us, or to be super-nice, we want to do this, you’re here for training’.

Having them has made it possible and they were definitely a game-changer for me. As an elite athlete, there’s a lot of pressure on you and sometimes you’re training and things don’t work out.

“But to be able to go back to a family environment and to people who get it… Like, they all do triathlon as well, so they understand what it’s like. I will definitely not be able to repay them.”

Making Tokyo should really knock something off the bill.

That’s not the height of her ambition. The Limerick woman was in superb form pre-pandemic, so much so that she had mixed feelings when the qualifying campaign started again because of her high standing in the ranks and the need to back that all up.

Which is exactly what she did.

A superb second-place finish at an event in Lisbon all but secured her slot. She knew transitioning off the bike and onto the run that day that she had more than likely done enough but then she backed it up with another superb effort in Leeds.

That allowed her to scale down the travel and avoid any more stress. She stops and smiles when asked what the target might be in Tokyo but mirrors the new breed of Irish athlete when opting to lay her ambition out for all to see.

“I guess based on current form, and the fact there’s definitely more to come, I’m hoping for top 10. That’s where I think I can finish. I think it’s feasible and on the day anything can happen.

Once I can put myself in contention, respect everyone but fear no-one.