Tarja Owens competed in the women’s mountain bike cross-country event at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, finishing 29th in circumstances that were heartbreaking even by the standards of sport at the sharp end.

From Delgany near Greystones in Co. Wicklow, Owens was the six-time Irish ladies mountain biking champion and qualified for Sydney on a wildcard allocation – coached by former Tour de France stage winner Martin Earley and supported on a budget of around €3,000 per year.

During the Olympic race she suffered a puncture, and the gas canisters she carried to inflate the spare tube failed to function. Rather than abandoning, she hoisted her bike onto her shoulder and completed the course on foot – an image that encapsulated both the difficulty of her day and the spirit in which she competed.

After Sydney she pursued a professional road racing career with the Michaela Fanini team in Tuscany, becoming Ireland’s first female professional cyclist.