Offaly road cyclist announced as Team Ireland Olympian

The Olympic Federation of Ireland has announced that Offaly road cyclist Megan Armitage will compete for Team Ireland at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

Megan, along with Ben Healy (Cork/Stourbridge UK) and Ryan Mullen (Meath/Birkenhead UK), will join the four person track cycling team in representing Ireland in a sport that has been on the Olympic programme since the first edition of the Modern Games in 1896.

Today’s announcement confirms the final number of athletes set to represent Ireland in Paris 2024 as 133, the biggest team ever fielded by Team Ireland at the Olympic Games.

Armitage, making her Olympic debut, will become the first Irish woman to compete in the women's road race at the Olympics in thirty years, when she races on August 4.

Both the men’s and women’s road races start and finish at the Trocadero, with the men’s race being 273km, including 2,800m of climbing. The women’s race is 158km, with 1,700m of climbing.

Armitage is embracing the event, saying “When I started cycling four years ago, I never believed I would have the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Olympics. It truly is a dream come true. I am incredibly proud of the journey I’ve been on to get to this point, and the people who have supported me from the beginning. I hope to do them and myself proud in Paris.”

National Head Coach with Cycling Ireland, Neill Delahaye, said, “This Paris Olympics is set to be a very special Games for road cycling fans. The backdrop of the city will be a spectacular and familiar sight to anyone who has watched the final stage of Le Tour in recent years. Our three road riders may be Olympic debutantes but they are experienced World Tour riders in the highest ranks of professional cycling. They are here because the are capable of delivering world class performances on the terrain Paris presents."