Gary Thomson competed in the men’s road race at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, finishing 39th in the gruelling 196km Mission Viejo circuit race.

Thompson was one of five Irish cyclists who competed at LA as part of the most ambitious Irish Olympic cycling programme to that point.

The Irish team was managed by Pat McQuaid and had undertaken an ambitious international preparation programme financed by Raleigh, PMPA and Le Coq Sportif, including early-season French classics and stage races. The final stage of preparation was the Coors Classic in Colorado, which also served as an altitude training camp.

The extreme heat, difficult circuit and high speed of the LA race took their toll – only four of the 40 starting teams (Ireland, USA, Yugoslavia and Sweden) had all their riders complete the course, with teams from 22 countries having no finishers.