Tarja Owens competed in the women's mountain bike cross-country event at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, finishing 29th
During the Olympic race she suffered a puncture, and the gas canisters she carried to inflate the spare tube did not work. 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.
From Delgany near Greystones in Co. Wicklow, Owens was the six-time Irish ladies mountain biking champion. After Sydney she pursued a professional road racing career with the Michaela Fanini team in Tuscany, becoming Ireland's first female professional cyclist.
Cycling
