Kieron McQuaid

Born in Dublin in 1950, Kieron McQuaid was part of one of the greatest cycling families to come from Ireland. His brother Oliver and cousin John represented Ireland at the Olympics in Montréal and Seoul, respectively, whilst another brother, Pat, served as the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) from 2005 to 2013. Kieron represented Ireland at the 1972 München Olympics, with his father Jim managing the Mexican cycling team at the same Games. Kieron placed 40th in the road race, 2½ minutes behind the winner, in addition to finishing 26th with his compatriots in the team time trial.

In a career that spanned almost 20 years McQuaid won many amateur races in both Ireland and England, including two stages at the Tour of Ireland in the early 1970s. In 1975 Kieron and his brother Pat, alongside future cycling legend Sean Kelly, competed at the 1975 Rapport Toer stage race in South Africa. Due to the ban on athletes competing in the country because of apartheid, the cyclists used false names as part of a “Great Britain” team. Once discovered, they were all banned from cycling for life by the IOC, resulting in them missing the 1976 Montréal Olympics. The Irish Cycling Federation rescinded its ban in April 1976, but the IOC maintained their stance.