Martyn Irvine represented Ireland in the men’s Omnium at the 2012 London Olympic Games – the event’s debut at an Olympics – finishing 13th overall with 64 points.

His path to the Games was one of the most unlikely in Irish sport. From Newtownards, Co. Down, he had never touched a racing bike until the age of 18, when colleagues at the garage where he worked as an apprentice mechanic got him hooked on the sport. He only transitioned to the track two years before London, and qualified for the Games after a gruelling two-year campaign spanning 12 events across 11 countries, securing the last Olympic quota spot with a 7th place finish at the 2012 Track World Championships in Melbourne.

A seven-time Irish national track and road champion, he was coached at his track base in Palma by Andy Sparks. His greatest achievements came after London – at the 2013 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk he won gold in the scratch race and silver in the individual pursuit within the space of an hour, becoming the first Irish male to win a world track cycling championship medal in 117 years. He won bronze at the 2013 European Track Championships and silver at the 2014 World Championships before a series of serious injuries curtailed his career.

He also represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, serving as flag bearer at the latter.