Caroline Ryan

Caroline Ryan
	Caroline Ryan (2015)
To person
Date of birth	October 10, 1979
nation	Ireland
discipline	Train / street
End of career	2016
Most important successes
	UCI track world championships 2012 - points race
	Last updated: November 8, 2019

Caroline Ryan (born October 10, 1979 in Thomastown ) is a former Irish cyclist and rower . She is the first Irish female cyclist to win a World Championship medal in track cycling .

Athletic career

Caroline Ryan started competitive sports relatively late and was initially active as a rower. From 2005 to 2008 she was a member of the Irish national rowing team and took part in the 2006 World Rowing Championships in Eton . During these years she became Irish champion five times and was the first Irish woman who managed to win the Henley Royal Regatta and thus the Princess Royal Challenge Cup .

In 2009, Ryan won a silver medal at the World Cup for the disabled in Manchester and at the UCI Paracycling World Championships in 2009 as a pilot for the visually impaired athlete Catherine Walsh with the Irish tandem . Because of these successes, she decided to shift her athletic focus to track cycling.

In 2010, Caroliny Ryan became Irish champion in the single pursuit and scratch with a new national record . The following year she was also Irish champion in the individual time trial on the road as well as in the pursuit and in the 500-meter time trial on the track. In August 2011 she set a new Irish record in the individual time trial over ten miles in Hull with 21 minutes and 3 seconds, which she undercut the existing record of her teammate Ciara Horne from May 2011 by 22 seconds. At the UCI Track World Championships in Melbourne in 2012 , she won the bronze medal in the points race . This made her the first Irish female cyclist to win a World Championship medal in track cycling. In 2014 she became Irish time trial champion again.