It was a seventh Paralympic medal for Katie-George Dunlevy today and a fourth gold for the force of nature as she made it three in a row in the B time trial in Paris.
"I can't believe I've retained my title from Tokyo and Rio," Ireland's most successful female Paralympian told RTÉ Sport.
"And with the medals from Orla (Comerford) and Róisín (Ní Riain) last night, it's medals for Ireland from vision-impaired women.
"If there's any child at home with vision impairment, hopefully they can have inspiration from us, that they can believe in anything and achieve."
Could the 42-year-old put the 28.3km race, in which she and debutant Paralympic pilot Linda Kelly finished almost a minute and a half clear of Great Britain's Sophie Unwin, into words?
"Pain is the word! It was a really, really challenging course. Really technical. I thought we were going to come off a few times but that's racing for you. You’re on the limit.
"We knew the course suited us, the uphill sections suited us so we had to really go over on our power on those uphill parts because that was where we’d get time on the other bikes, and I think we delivered a really good ride.
"Even on the second lap, we were still able to push out big power on those hills. When we heard we were down on the first lap I just thought 'keep going, just keep going’.
"I’ve been in many races where it’s not over till you cross that line so you’ve just got to keep going and just hope the other bikes maybe fade. You’ve just got to keep strong, keep racing, keep believing, just keep racing to that finish line.
"When I heard we were up I was just trying to relax and push and feel what Linda was doing in front. Just try and be as aero (dynamic) as I could be behind her, tucked in."
Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly receive their women's B time trial gold medals #RTEparalympics #paris2024
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 4, 2024
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Dunlevy was full of praise for her 30-year-old pilot, who was replacing Eve McCrystal from the gold-medal rides in 2016 and 2020 ('21).
"I'm just so proud of her," said Dunlevy. "We had both pressure. I was trying to retain my title from Tokyo and Rio, she knew that.
"Linda came on board last year and she’s done so well with pressure on her today to deliver. But I believed in her, believed in every pedal stroke.
"Linda is such a great racer and she always leaves it out on the road. The time trials we did before she has been learning but she's a fighter and from the first race I did with her I knew she would do her best.
"She had concussion in May so had time off the bike. She had a lot of challenges this year, we both did, so for us to come away with the win, I’m very emotional and I can’t quite believe it."
New Ross woman Kelly said: "It's magic. It's just like a dream. I can't believe it and it's going to take some time to sink in.
"We both put the work in. It has been a rollercoaster of a year this year, with Katie's collarbone break and my concussion, and I'm just so proud of Katie, how well she recovered. She put the work in. She wanted to be here and to win. We both did.
"It was pressure. Katie is a champion and an inspiration. I was following Katie and Eve before I even came on the tandem. I never imagined that I would one day be on the front of that tandem.
"She has educated me so much in the last two years. I'm absolutely thrilled."
The duo will be back in action in the road race Dunlevy also won in Tokyo on Friday. More medals could materialise.
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