‘Never don’t try because you think you can’t’

Richael Timothy knows more than most about the importance refusing to give up.

The 29-year-old is set to compete at her second Paralympic Games where she will represent her country on the track in the C1-3 3000 metres Women’s Individual Pursuit and 500 metres time trial. Meanwhile, on the road, Timothy will be aiming for high finishes in the individual time trial and road race.

A promising ladies’ football and soccer player, the Ballymoe native faced the distinct possibility of seeing her sporting journey halted due to an acute brain injury.

The then 21-year-old was understandably reeling at the time but in a true testament to her unwillingness to back down, Timothy altered her goals and decided to take up cycling.

From making her Irish debut in 2017 and winning her first international medal at the Manchester Para-Cycling International two years later and subsequent World Championship medals, Timothy’s journey has been a major success story that has captured the imagination of her local community in West Roscommon, East Galway and beyond.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald ahead of her trip to Paris, she emphasised the importance of being willing to take risks and exploring new opportunities.

“At the time I got the news, I thought it would cure itself and I would be back playing football. Now I would say the main thing I would always tell people, especially younger kids, is that you need to focus on what you can do and not what you can’t do.

“For a good while after I was saying I can’t do this, or I can’t do that instead of what I could do. That is my main message. Try stuff and if you can’t do it then give something else a go. Never don’t try because you think you can’t,” she explained.

The past year has seen Timothy and her partner Jenny become parents as they welcomed baby Lucie in August 2023.

It has necessitated the ability to juggle being a parent, running her own business, RT Fitness, and training at an elite level. Lucie turns one on August 29th, the same day Timothy commences her Paralympic Games in the C1-3 3000m Women’s Individual Pursuit.

Despite facing a difficult balancing act, Timothy firmly believes that her family have given her an added determination to succeed.

“It was definitely a shock to the system at the start. You nearly take too much on but again sport is only a part of your life. It was never a case of this or that. I was always going to do all or do none.

“Because of my brain injury I get very fatigued, so sleep is really important, but I think I have learned to fit it in and go to bed earlier. If she (Lucie) naps, I nap and then I do my training.

“My partner, instead of just taking the six months maternity leave, has taken the whole year. Without her and the grandparents on both sides it wouldn’t be possible. We are really lucky that both our grandparents are near so they can help out or take up the slack when we are gone.

“When Lucie was small, I was able to bring her on camps or she might just sleep in the buggy or stay back at the house if Jenny was able to come as well. Sport is just a part of my life. Jenny and Lucie are a major part of my life. The reason you do sport is for them,” she noted.

During the Olympic Games, the Irish track cycling team smashed the national record by three seconds.

With the recent news that a 250 metres indoor cycling track is to be built at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, it provides a stark reminder that Timothy and elite athletes have been left to compete against the best with no purpose-built facility.

Now she feels that with track cycling developing, the country must ensure the new facility is used to develop athletes at grassroots level.

“All of the girls on that track team would have come from the road team. Track is very different. With the Great Britain team, they are taught the skills from a very young age. There are cyclists who are very good at track and not so much at road, but I think now, with the new facility, it is important we target kids and teach them track when they are young.

“We have been promised new facilities a long time but after 2028, the next three to four cycles should see us focus on bringing juniors all the way up. We are a good country for competing on track, yet we don’t have the facilities.

“We can do stuff on a turbo (bike) while you would have ten-day or two-week blocks of training on the track. You have other countries training on road and track while there be might be four or five months when aren’t on the track, so hopefully that improves with the new facility,” she stated.

So, what are her hopes for Paris?

“I am looking forward to taking in the atmosphere of being in the village and being around everyone else competing. In terms of my own performance the main events would be the pursuit and the road race. If I could get a top six in the pursuit and similar in the road race, it would be great.

“Then the track events are timed so hopefully I can go faster than I have ever gone before so wherever that lands me, we will see. The aim is just to go as fast as I can and see what happens,” she concluded.