Conor Holmes competed in the men’s K-2 500 metres and K-2 1000 metres canoe sprint events at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games alongside Alan Carey, failing to advance beyond the repechage in both events at Castelldefels. A member of the Drogheda Canoe Club in the River Boyne, Holmes was part of a dedicated group of Irish flat-water canoeists who committed to full-time training for the Barcelona Games, basing themselves at the Richmond Club in London under former British Canoe Union coach Brian Greenaway.

At Barcelona, under the intense pressure of Olympic competition, cohesion and technique ‘totally unravelled’ and the inevitable elimination followed in the repechage of both events.

Conor went on to win Silver in  the 1998 World Marathon Championships representing Great Britain.