Gillespie Crowned World Champion as Irish Athletes Shine on the World Stage

In the News: An historic second World Championship title for Lara Gillespie, Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe completed their World Cup campaign, and Ireland’s artistic gymnasts continued their World Championship campaign in Rotterdam.

Cycling: Lara Gillespie Makes History with Second World Title

Lara Gillespie produced the performance of the week, winning gold in the women’s points race at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai and becoming the first Irish cyclist to win consecutive track world titles.

The Wicklow rider secured victory with 42 points, finishing five clear of Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen after a superbly executed ride across the 100-lap event.

Already a world champion in the elimination race in 2025, Gillespie now joins an exclusive group of Irish athletes across all sports to have won multiple senior world championship titles. Her success in Shanghai capped an outstanding week after she had earlier claimed silver in the scratch race following a dramatic photo finish with Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes, before finishing fifth in the omnium.

Reflecting on her achievement, Gillespie paid tribute to the team around her:

“It’s been a really successful year, from the national team, from my road team, my home, my family, my friends, my boyfriend, everyone has really put their work into this.

So I’m really happy to be on the top step. We’re a small but mighty country and we can show up on the world stage and it shows we can compete at the highest level and keep going.

I really wanted to sing the national anthem today, and I came close the other day. I think that pushed me on another bit more today, because I was quite annoyed with that second place.”

The two-medal haul further underlines Gillespie’s versatility across the track disciplines and reinforces her status as one of Ireland’s most exciting Olympic prospects as the road to LA28 continues.

Full Irish Results from the 2026 UCI Track World Championships

• Lara Gillespie: 5th, Omnium. 2nd, Scratch Race. 1st, Points Race.

• Fiona Mangan: 11th, Individual Pursuit (Irish Record)

• Emma Jeffers: 17th, 1km Time Trial. 16th, Elimination Race

• Team Pursuit: Ireland finished 16th following a crash and a rerun with three riders.

Swimming: McSharry Completes Outstanding World Cup Campaign

Mona McSharry finished the 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series in outstanding form, collecting nine medals from nine events across the three stops in Baku, Tashkent and Astana.

Her tally of three gold, two silver and four bronze medals underlined her consistency on the international stage and reinforced her status as one of the world’s leading breaststroke swimmers.

McSharry rounded off the series with bronze in the 50m breaststroke in Astana, adding another podium finish to an exceptional campaign.

Walshe Strikes Gold in Astana

Ellen Walshe also ended the World Cup series on a high, winning gold in the 200m butterfly in Astana with an impressive time of 2:04.05, finishing more than two seconds ahead of the field.

The Templeogue swimmer had already claimed silver in the event at the opening leg of the series and added bronze in the 200m backstroke in Astana. She also recorded a season-best World Cup performance in the 200m individual medley, finishing fourth in 2:07.00.

Both swimmers will now focus on the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing from 1-6 December.

Artistic Gymnastics: Ireland Begins World Championships Campaign in Rotterdam

The 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are underway in Rotterdam, with Irish athletes competing against the world’s best as the LA28 cycle gathers momentum.

Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan led the Irish performances in Rotterdam, finishing 10th in the pommel horse qualification standings with a score of 14.400, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.

Fellow pommel horse specialist James Hickey finished 93rd, while on floor Eamon Montgomery placed 22nd with 13.500 and Chester Enriquez finished 70th with 12.800.

In the men’s all-around, Adam Steele placed 78th overall with a total score of 73.231, competing across all six apparatus.

Attention now turns to the women’s competition, which gets underway on Monday, with Emma Slevin and Mimi Moloney set to represent Team Ireland in qualification as the World Championships continue in Rotterdam.