Advertisement
Irvine has gone from world champion to unemployed in three years. Billy Stickland/INPHO

'Three years ago I was world champion and now I'm sitting at home unemployed'

Martyn Irvine decided to call it quits last month and now finds himself without a job. He chats to The42 about the new chapter of his life away from the sport he fell out of love with.

A LITTLE MORE than a month has passed since Martyn Irvine announced his retirement from professional cycling. The former world track champion is back in the spotlight for the first time, at the launch of this year’s An Post Rás.

It’s an afternoon of conflicting emotions. On one hand, it’s a welcome return and an event which rekindles memories of a prodigious career.

But as he sits at the top of the room for a Q&A, there’s a hint of uneasiness. The host’s first question to Irvine is about a potential return to the saddle. He instantly laughs it off.

Irvine hasn’t touched a bike in two months. He’s had no interest in going near one and has no real intention of coming back to it. Not yet anyway.

After a decade as a professional, he’s had enough. His retirement statement was refreshingly honest and cited a series of injury setbacks as the primary reason for his love of the sport to fade.

He devoted his life to cycling, immersing himself in a daily routine which eventually became too much. Three years after riding to the top of the world and ending Ireland’s 117-wait for a track cycling gold medal, Irvine walked away from it all.

“I’ve no regrets,” he tells The42. “It wasn’t a sudden decision, it was eating away at my head for a while. I was sick of the way you have to do the sport. You have to perform, you have to get a grant, win a medal and you only get four or five chances a year to do that.

“It is pressure and I could handle it but I was just sick of the daily routine and the haunt of getting up to win a bike race. I just wasn’t enjoying cycling any more.”

Martyn Irvine Irvine at the GPO during the week. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

At the age of 30, Irvine’s head was gone. Physically he had recovered from a series of injury setbacks but mentally he was worn out. He lost the drive to ‘torture’ himself.

“I have a few bits of metal sticking out of me and I was thinking if I crashed I would be in hospital for a month,” he explained. “It was hindering my preparation a bit. Physically I was fine, I could still race my bike but the head went.”

Irvine can recall when the flame had started to flicker. In his own words, the last twelve months have been a ‘chore’. He picked himself up more than once but missing out on qualification for Rio convinced him it was the right decision.

He suffered disappointment in London four years ago, finishing 13th in the omnium event. It led him to question his future in the sport and although he carried on with a renewed determination, hoping for a shot at redemption, the nagging doubts had started.

Deep down he knew it was over. He had fallen out of love with the sport.

“It took a long time,” he said of deliberating whether to call it a day. “Because the Olympics is this year and there’s the what ifs and that still hangs over you. I’m not sure how I’ll feel when it’s on but I’m not missing it. I haven’t woken up in a sweat yet.

“It was something I wanted to do for fun and I was good at it so it was giving me a living. I just kept doing it and when I stopped making a living from it, I thought why the f**k am I doing this?

“Maybe that’s my mindset, it wasn’t bred into me to ride bikes.”

Martyn Irvine 26/3/2011 Irvine in action at the UCI Track World Championships in 2011. Ian MacNicol Ian MacNicol

Although Irvine’s success was instant, he came to the sport late, first picking up a road bike at the age of 19. Born and raised in Newtownards in Down, he would go on to represent the Sean Kelly team in Belgium, where his talent was nurtured.

His golden moment came in Minsk in February 2013. Less than an hour after winning silver in the individual pursuit, Irvine defied fatigue and form to sensationally win the 15km men’s scratch race.

It should be regarded as one of the great Irish sporting achievements and his feat of winning seven medals in a row at major competitions will never be matched by another individual athlete from this island.

Yet the recognition never came. He was only as good as his last race and each year was a struggle financially. When the results dried up, so did the Sports Council grants and sponsorship.

“I didn’t make any money,” he continues. “I had one bad year and I wouldn’t have got a grant this year. That’s cold. You have to get results and I was riding for teams and they wanted results.

“As I said, when the money wasn’t coming in I began to question why I was putting myself through it all. It got to a stage when it wasn’t worth it. I was tired of that same routine.”

His routine in retirement is very different. Irvine is currently unemployed and spends most of his day at home.

“It’s been different, there’s been a lack of routine, getting up to no good,” he admits. “But I’m happy in my own head and it was the right thing to do. I’m still only 30 and I still think I can enjoy bikes again when I get my mojo back but I’m sick of that win or else you have no money this year.

“I have a job coming up tomorrow, brick laying. I would take it. I have no pre-conceived ideas of what I want to do. I’ve been to a few interviews but it’s definitely a big blank canvas.

“Half of me is shit scared because there’s no money coming in but half of me is thinking I spent a third of my life riding bikes and to just give it a bit of time and see what I want to really do.”

Although he’s removed himself from the sport for now, it’s hard to see Irvine staying away for too long. Our chat in one of the corridors of the GPO is politely interrupted by a familiar face, and that question of whether he’s returning any time soon crops up again.

“I’ve been honest with everybody,” he says. “They know where I’m at, they know why I did it. It’s not hard walking into a room or talking to old friends because I didn’t curse the sport. I’m not hiding anything either.

anpostcycling / YouTube

“I’d look anyone in the eye and tell them how it is and I could walk into any room and talk to people. It’s not like I’ve slagged people off or pissed them off.

“It’s another thing to look back on and feel happy with. I said it how it was and got on with. I look back on my career with fondness. As I said there are no regrets.

“I got to the top and very few people get to the top of their sports so I have to be happy with that.”

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!

iJJfILTV

‘Sports funding structure needs to change if Irish athletes are to achieve more success’

Close
26 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nick
    Favourite Nick
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:08 AM

    Best of luck to you hope next chapter in your life is as good as the last.

    301
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Assel Dannourah
    Favourite Assel Dannourah
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:57 AM

    Job seekers sucks

    57
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute stu pid
    Favourite stu pid
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 11:49 AM

    Congrats on your career Martin! The dedication and commitment needed to rise to the top of the cycling world is one the hardest things to accomplish out of all the solo sports! Your an inspiration to many, best of luck in your future.

    84
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John
    Favourite John
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 12:42 PM

    He need some good drugs to get his head straight.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Cunningham
    Favourite Michael Cunningham
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 2:45 PM

    Sounds like he worked very hard at something he didn’t like, physically crushing and made no money.

    Fair play to him. Big decision to walk away but it is the right move.

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom Collins
    Favourite Tom Collins
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:11 PM

    Choices

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David O Connell
    Favourite David O Connell
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:20 AM

    An absolute gentleman and I wish him all the best in the future.

    162
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lorem Ipsum
    Favourite Lorem Ipsum
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:50 AM

    World Champs deserve better. It’s not like we’ve many

    145
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Roddy
    Favourite Alan Roddy
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 11:26 AM

    Fair play to him, so many people keep doing what they’re doing even though they hate it. Brave decision and hopefully it all works out for him. Strange though that for a country that is so apparently “really supportive of successful sports people”, he hasn’t really seen much of that support on a more general scale, or really gotten the exposure he deserves. For example, I didn’t know he won 7 medals in a row. If that was a British or US athlete, we’d have heard about it!!

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dermot Lane
    Favourite Dermot Lane
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 2:12 PM

    What a shame, he never got the recognition he deserved. I hope it all works out for him.

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mindfulirish
    Favourite Mindfulirish
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 4:23 PM

    Cyclists do it for themselves. Congrats on producing a career that tens of thousands tried and couldn’t manage to scale the heights this man did.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Owen McDermott
    Favourite Owen McDermott
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:51 AM

    The lack of comments and interest says it all.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bob Frapples
    Favourite Bob Frapples
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 11:29 AM

    The Irish general publics ignorance when it comes to sports that don’t involve a ball? I’d agree.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Owen McDermott
    Favourite Owen McDermott
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 3:01 PM

    Ignorance – period.

    4
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Raymond O'Brien
    Favourite Raymond O'Brien
    Report
    Feb 21st 2016, 4:19 AM

    McGregor

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Owen McDermott
    Favourite Owen McDermott
    Report
    Feb 21st 2016, 9:13 AM

    Exactly.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ruarí de Stafort
    Favourite Ruarí de Stafort
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 4:48 PM

    Well done Martin. Not many Irish world champions and refreshingly candid interview.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard F
    Favourite Richard F
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 11:14 AM

    Welcome to the real world

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ruarí de Stafort
    Favourite Ruarí de Stafort
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 4:47 PM

    Well done Martin not many Irish World Champions and refreshingly honest too.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Enda Elvery
    Favourite Enda Elvery
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 10:45 PM

    If you work half as hard at a job when you get one. You’ll do very well financially

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Clarke
    Favourite David Clarke
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 9:04 PM

    So sorry for him and sorry but I never heard of him and he’s a world champion unreal how the media carry on in this country

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ted hagan
    Favourite ted hagan
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 7:39 PM

    It takes real guts to be a pro cyclist. I hope it works out for Martyn and with his great spirit I’m sure it will.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mark Ryan
    Favourite Mark Ryan
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 11:14 AM

    What’s the 117 he ended?

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sean Butler
    Favourite Sean Butler
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 2:25 PM

    Last time Ireland won a track world champs

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dermot Lane
    Favourite Dermot Lane
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 2:56 PM

    117 year wait I’m sure it should be.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mindfulirish
    Favourite Mindfulirish
    Report
    Feb 20th 2016, 7:23 PM

    The people in control negotiated with the different sporting associations to maintain the status quo for the CEOs while taking the Lotto funds for central government and not for sports. So Delaney, mcQuaid, Hickey, Kiernan etc sold out for personal benefit. It’s real Irish — mind yourself jack.

    4
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.