TOLWORTH GYMNASTICS CLUB, southwest London. Kieran Behan arrives on his moped, having made the journey across town from the building site he spent the morning working on.
It’s a couple of weeks after he secured qualification for Rio and his second Olympic Games. You’d hardly know it.
The high of winning silver at the HSBC Barra Olympic Arena last month has quickly been replaced by a return to the real world. Work, train, worry, repeat.
Behan’s story is one of defiance, bravery and pure determination. It is as moving as it is inspiring but when his fleeting moment in the sun is over, he must then come to terms with the reality of the situation.
Sporting a white sleeveless gym top, with ‘IRL’ emblazoned on the back, Behan goes through his routine.
The small hall, not unlike a parish centre kitted out with equipment, is a hive of activity with gymnasts of all ages, and abilities, hanging from bars and dreaming that one day they too could be preparing for an Olympic Games.
Behan spends close to 35 hours in the gym a week, working closely with his coach to fine-tune the routine he will perform in August. He already knows exactly what that will be and now it’s about perfecting it to execute on the biggest stage of all.
The sessions are intense but it is here where Behan is most comfortable. He doesn’t need to think about the bills that need to be paid or how he can continue to justify his existence as a gymnast.
It’s only when he leaves through the gym doors that those concerns surface again.
“I feel most at home when I’m training,” he tells The42. “I have no worries and I’m controlling everything. I can make myself feel better by executing my skills to the best of my ability.
“That is my get-out, I can hide away from reality, it’s when I step out of the gym and hop back on the moped and make the journey home that I’m hoping there’s nothing down the road.
“I’m 27 years of age now, I’m going to and from training on a moped like a 15-year-old and real life is there. My parents aren’t going to support a grown man to keep his Olympic dream going forever, and that’s what’s very difficult.
“I don’t know what the future holds but all I can do is be prepared as best I can. I have to accept it. I just have to live for the moment.”
Behan, who was born in London to Irish parents, receives just €380, which converts to £300, a month in funding to sustain his training programme. He has to find other means of income, coaching young kids and also helping his father out as a builder.
“It’s good that I’m a gymnast because you need to be good at balancing everything,” he jokes.
If it wasn’t for sponsors such as BT Ireland, who he signed for as brand ambassador shortly before London 2012, and Electric Ireland, Behan would constantly be in the red.
“I would have debts coming out of my eyeballs,” he reveals, certainly not joking. “With hardly any support, how can I train and be the best athlete I can be? It’s very difficult.
“When I look it as a human being and a 27-year-old man, it’s very difficult to accept and still feel optimistic and get up and out of bed everyday. But when I put my athlete’s head on again, I say right then it’s a different story.”
It’s that ability to find a glimmer of light in even the darkest situation which has shaped Behan’s journey to this point. His story is one of true spirit and endeavour.
Twice he found himself on the canvas, floored by cruel twists of fate, but twice he mustered the courage to pick himself back up and defy all odds.
At the age of 10, Behan was told by doctors that he would never walk again. He would be wheelchair-bound for life after an operation on a benign tumour went wrong.
“That’s maybe my talent or gift, I am very, very determined,” he offers. “I can focus a lot on making something positive and they’re traits from my parents and the people I have around me.
“I wasn’t just doing it for myself, when it comes to things like that you’re not just doing it for you but the people that are around you as well. To know when I was lying on that hospital bed, especially for the first number of weeks that my parents were seeing their son strapped to the hospital bed.
“They were telling me everything would be okay. ‘You can do it son, don’t worry, keep believing, we’ll get there, don’t worry.’ But knowing when they went behind the curtain it was a completely different story was so difficult.
“They were completely distraught, seeing their little boy there unable to walk, unable to do the simplest of tasks. That’s what inspired me, I wanted to do it for them, I wanted to do it for the people around me.”
And so his recovery began. Step-by-step, Behan fought his way back. While family played an integral in helping him along the way, it was the sport of gymnastics which focused his mind.
“Maybe if that had happened when I was an adult it may have been very different, I don’t know,” he adds. “But I still have that young child mentality and nothing phases me. I just get on with everyday life.
“It was only last Christmas I sat down with my Mum and Dad and spoke about it in-depth. I knew this year was going to be Rio qualification and about my story and everything like that. It was the first time I’d really spoken about it and really felt the power of what happened to them.”
As he sat in the family home with his parents, Behan came to fully appreciate the meaning of life and the effect his time in hospital had on his family. Not once, but twice.
His father, from Dublin, spoke of the harrowing moments en route to A&E after a high-bar accident left Behan with a traumatic brain injury and severe damage to the vestibular canal of his inner ear.
“That really hit home,” he continues. “The accident was towards the end of the session. My Dad was in the car park and someone ran out to get him screaming, ‘Kieran has just had an accident.’
“I was in and out of consciousness. My Dad took me to the hospital and when we got there I was completely out. He said he handed his son over and he thought his son was dead.
“That, seeing someone you look up to all your life and seeing them holding tears back because of you, that touched me so much and I never realised the impact it had on them.
“It’s a credit to them that I’m determined as I am because they’re just as determined. They had to keep going and smile, my Dad had to go out there and earn when my family were going through something difficult.”
But it was all worth it. The dark days. The hospital visits. The sleepless nights. The sacrifices. They all paid off, eventually.
The road to London was far from smooth, there were further injuries along the way, but no obstacle was getting in Behan’s way. He became the first male Irish gymnast to qualify for the Games four years ago.
“It was a dream come true,” he recalls. “London was a whirlwind of emotions for me, to go through everything and overcome all the adversity was a huge emotional rollercoaster.
“I just wanted to embrace it all and grab the opportunity with both hands but unfortunately I make mistakes. I fell and made a major error and that’s what cost me a place in the final.
“That was the hardest time, after London. I came back and had to have surgery on my left knee and I had no support. I was in no man’s land and I was lonely not knowing where my career was going.
“I thought my knee had given out and my body had finally said no. I didn’t have the support, that was the lowest of the low, going through depression.
“Me and my girlfriend went through it all, just to keep me in high spirits and I had to draw from all my experiences and say you know what, it’s another obstacle, just step it up a gear and go for it.
“That was when I came closest to quitting and saying enough was enough. I don’t think I’ll ever finish because my body gives in. That will never be a problem. It will be life. Life will be there. There will be more bills, more debts. That’s what will stop me. I’ve had those conversations with my coach and family.”
For now, however, the focus remains on Rio. What happens after that remains unclear and will naturally depend on what happens in August.
“Rio is a chance of redemption for me. I want to focus on achieving my goal and the aim is to make two finals. I’m a realist and I know in sport that anything can happen but as long as I know I’ve done everything then I won’t have any regrets.
“Redemption for me would be going to Rio and people turning around and saying ‘that’s a fantastic performance’. I am going to represent Ireland and to put on a show. I want to inspire others and help them draw from adversity.”
Behan, who is part of Electric Ireland’s #ThePowerWithin campaign which highlights the resolve of Ireland’s Olympians, added:
“I’m an athlete but a determined character and want to make a legacy. A medal hanging on my mantelpiece would be phenomenal but I aspire to make history for Ireland.
“I want to make people proud. My everyday goal is to inspire people and give people hope.”
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Well done on what you have achieved already! You are an inspiration!
I have zero interest in gymnatics but I’ll be tuning in to follow Behan and hope he does well. For every McGregor, Keane, McIlroy, etc earning millions there are guys like Behan plugging away for no other reason than the love of their sport and the desire to keep improving. I wish him all the best.
heard him on the radio a few weeks back hes sound out, and as proud an Irishman you will get ,a great guy good luck to him.
Bet he wouldn’t be struggling if he was an Olympian from China…or even Russia.
He’d have lots of ‘little helpers’!
And no life, hardly ever able to see his family and if he ever fecked up by accident he’s never be seen by anyone ever again!
It is an absolute disgrace the way our country treat our Olympic Athletes. There is no lack of funding from Government for other sports.
Could be because theres more public interest
Ah here when there’s no interest in the bloody Olympics what hope is there!
@paul we already pay enough taxes to pay Olympians.but the powers to be, prefer loosing it with friends,expenses and dodgey tendering contracts.
Paul Murphy I wouldn’t mind cutting Enda’s wages & the rest of the politicians who are on crazy wages with no answer for their expenses. Give it to these guys, etc
Some muscles on that lad
This guy should be given some funding…
Patrick J Brady why would the sports council or a company give him some money he doesn’t kick a ball, hit it with a stick, box. People who do the smaller sports i.e. gymnastics, badminton, table tennis, ten pin bowling etc will never get the same funding as the other sports. He gets a small grant but nothing worth talking about. But I bet my wages if he wins a medal all the gov T.D. etc will all be out patting him on the back & telling him what a great lad he is. Then they will move on to the next person & forget about him. It’s not right. Wish him all the best
He’s representing Ireland at the olympics, we must be one of the only countries that does it’s hardest to make it impossible for our athletes. He should be properly funded. So that’s what.
If he was on the dole he’d get twice that amount of money a month!!!
I was shocked to read that article yesterday. Is this how we create an inspiration for future generations of obese children ? Maybe not main stream sport, but did anyone see gaa in olympics yet?
The more Irish people in the Olympics, the more we are going to watch it. The more we watch it, the more money is made through advertisements. Surely it is in the government’s (who funds RTE if I’m not mistaken) best interest to fund it’s athletes so. They don’t need to be on footballers money. Even minimum wage would be better than what some of them seem to get
That’s a pretty loose argument for promoting athletes just to make more commercial money back from them!
Just trying to say that it’s completely illogical not to fund these guys, even if you hate sport and don’t care about Ireland winning medals. Give the athletes funding, televise their performances and they’ll pay it all back and more through viewership numbers and adverts
Crazy stuff, at the same time we will give those who have a sense of entitlement whatever they want……..
Amazing guy who deserves so much credit for fighting through adversity to achieve his Olympic dream. Will definitely follow his Olympic progress. Maybe our new minister for sport needs to read this… Sport isn’t all about GAA, soccer & rugby
So what? Everyone has to live within their means. I don’t want to fund his dream
Kal,if you think about your comment for a moment………would you like to stop the existence of the Olympics then??
Yes they do have to live within their means but we should support our athletes as a nation and we should support the arts too.
Kal – you sad, grumpy old begrudger
I hope our new minister of sport reads this article and acts on it.He must be financed up to and including the Olympics and for at lest a month afterwards. ,even at this late stage
The only thing he will do is assess the popularity of each athlete to choose the most appropriate photo opportunity.
This role model needs more support. Government or philanthrolphists, please come to his aid soon.
everybody wants the $$$$
If our governments didn’t pump hundreds of millions a year into an organisation that’s well able to fund itself and give the money to sports who really need it then maybe we could start competing with other nations on the world stage
Even the ultimate end goal of gold medals doesn’t bring any money in. Sir Steve Redgrave spoke of how the phone stopped ringing just one week after winning gold medals. He said he had to do eye sight ads and was very grateful for them as he couldn’t get a job anywhere and was penniless which was crazy as he still is the greatest Olympian in medal hauls and in the original true sense.
I have to fund my own dream as well funnily enough…
Thats fair enough – but this guy is an athlete who is one of the very best in his field and will represent IRELAND in the Olympics this summer. I think that deserves more funding than the pitiful amount he is currently getting.
To be fair, teenagers drive civics to training, not ride mopeds…
Fair play to this young man. I’ve three young lads who are mad into their gymnastics and they’ll be rooted to the TV cheering him on.
I find it amazing the the Irish Sports Council (Government) pumps vast amounts of money into athletics and boxing, as they reckon they’re our best chance of medals. Thank God every country taking part didn’t have that ideology, pretty narrow minded! The hockey team have to raise €220,000 just to complete, first Irish team to qualify in any sport since 1948, the government should be giving them €500,000 and saying go have a decent crack at a medal. £300 a month, they broke their heart, he should be in full-time training, not bursting his bollox on a building site!
Yawn.
Sport was invented by boring people to make themselves appear interesting.
Yawn again.
And to give uninteresting idiots the opportunity to offer their irrelevant opinions. Don’t forget that part Pat. That’s the most important part to remember. And you’re grabbing that opportunity with both hands, so well done you.
Well put Alan. Unless you’ve something decent to say about a man who’s about to represent his country in the biggest sporting even in the world, please f-off.
He is English born and bred, thats where he trains, where he gained his interest in gymnastics not good enough for GB i take it!
What`s so wrong with going to work on a `moped`?
While the inward looking, backward, gombeen Grab All Association hoovers up every penny that’s thrown at them by government, Ireland will continue to be embarrassed on a world sporting stage.
Fu@@ing hates blocks he told me.
The best of luck to him. I hope he does well.
That’s a bloody disgrace what this lad is being funded…. 300 pound A MONTH!!!!