One of Ireland's greatest sporting partnerships have bowed out at the top, with Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal once again delivering when it matters most.
The decorated duo have little space on the shelves for silverware collected since joining forces a decade ago, going on to become a formidable force in Para-cycling as well as elevating the profile of track cycling in Ireland.
Their last two Paralympic Games have yielded three gold and two silver medals. You can add five world championship road titles and a bronze at last year’s Worlds into the mix.
Their story has been one of unbridled success, yet their 2024 swansong looked in major doubt last May.
Dunlevy, who had never broken a bone in her career, shattered her collarbone at a World Cup road event in Italy.
The 42-year-old had no concerns over her participation in a fourth Games, but just how competitive they could be was a moot point.
With Great Britain setting sights on taking all three podium positions, the challenge in making a gold final (top two) or bronze final (third and fourth) was not insignificant.
What they delivered, in their own words, was the greatest ride of their career. Despite falling short of their PB, in more testing conditions they delivered the most technically assured performance
Having led the final for more than half the race at the National Velodrom, the pair were reeled in Britain's Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl. In the greater scheme of things, it's a silver arguably as satisfying as any gold.
"When you're so close to gold, you're slightly disappointed you didn't get it, but we're absolutely ecstatic with silver," McCrystal said.
One more climb to the podium for para cyclist Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal, two exceptional #Paralympics ambassadors for Ireland. Their partnership has come to end, but they leave with an abundance of medals and memories #Paralympics2024 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/2MvNdKDlFi
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 1, 2024
"We're 10 years together. It took us a few years to get to the top. It's really hard to get to the top and it's fricking harder to stay there.
"You have so much pressure. I don't think we ever felt external pressure from people, but it was external pressure that both of us felt to stay there.
"You don't want to let each other down so you're fighting every single day - that's the fight for the last three years coming out there in a medal."
Unwavering commitment has been the cornerstone of their relationship, the personal and professional sacrifices eased on days like today.
"Six days a week, every single week for a decade we have trained," McCrystal says. "We have never ever faltered or taken our foot off the gas."
Succession planning began last year when Linda Kelly took over as road pilot, a decision endorsed by McCrystal; the 46-year-old juggling work as a community guard and mother to two teenage boys as well as dedicating herself to her sorting craft.
It was the only course of action to allow Dunlevy hunt down more titles.
"Katie is a gold medal bike on the road and for that commitment you need gold medal. I made the decision last year to step away so I could concentrate more on the track," she said before backing the pair to do "amazing things" on the streets of the French capital next week.
Dunlevy will be back in action in Wednesday’s time-trial so a thorough reflection over her partnership with McCrystal will have to wait, but sitting in the bowels of the National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines with the latest medal in the bag, the vision impaired athlete outlined the sisterly bond.
"We’ve gone through some really tough times together," she said. "You don't really go through that with anyone really else. There have been times when we’ve been training individually, but we always come back together.
"We have a special bond. Those special moments, no one else will know what that feels like except for us."
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