Carly has sights on Olympics

A FOURTEEN-year-old Tallaght BMX racer has her sights on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, reports Stephen Farrell.

Carly Hayes of Main Street Tallaght is also the first Irish girl to win the European Cup and is the first Irish girl to jump the eight-metre hill in Manchester.

Carly has been racing competitively since she was five years old.

“There was always racing in the house.

“I raced motorcycles,” said Carly’s dad, Stephen Doyle.

“Carly got involved in an indoor BMX track when she was three, four years old.

“She started on the strider, she got good at it very quickly,” he said.

Her first big tournament was the 2015 Female UK 6 and under Championship which she won.

“On the European scene she competes with the Ultimate Europe BMX team in the Netherlands.

“She has been racing since she was 10 or 11 in Europe, in Italy, France, Latvia Portugal and the Czech Republic.

“There are 10 to 12 rounds in the European cup, we travel to them throughout the year,” said Stephen.

Carly is also receiving training from ‘1 step 2 win BMX’, which costs €2,500 per annum.

However it is also challenging to do so much travelling.

“We are funding it ourselves”, said Stephen.

The aim now is to get Carly over to the UK to get her ready for the Junior Women level which is the elite level.

“Carly will be fifteen this year, when she is 17 she will move up to Junior women and will be taking part on the eight metre hill,” said Stephen.

Up until now Carly has been jumping from a five-metre hill.

“It’s unusual to see a girl so young to do this [eight metre] jump, it’s massive.

“Coming from a country with no eight-metre hill, it’s huge,” said Stephen.

There are eight metre starting hill tracks in the UK.

“Training over and back, realistically twice a month, financially would be what we could squeeze at the moment,” said Stephen.

This puts Carly at something of a disadvantage with her competitors.

“She is up against riders who are at it three, four times a week, every weekend,” said Stephen.

This year Carly is going back to the UK and will compete in the first round in March in Manchester.

“She hopes to win that, she was recently competing in Bermingham and finished second.

“She will do a couple of European events his year, it’s very expensive to do both,” said Stephen.

Carly is racing in the 13’s/14’s category.

She will also be competing in the World Championships in South Carolina this year and will race about May 14/15.

After that she will compete in the European Championships in Verona, Italy and will race on the weekend of June 01/02.

The travel requirements for Carly and her family will become more onerous.

“She is pushing more for the 2032 Olympics, she will be in her prime then.

“She’s flying now.

“It’s a matter of going to these races and qualify, you have to go to events where UCI (the federation of the World Championships) give points in places like Argentina, Tokyo.

“That’s what we’re aiming for, that’s her dream,” said Stephen.

Despite being in her Junior Cert year the Tallaght Community School student has been able to balance school and racing.

BMX racing is not for the faint-hearted.

“She’s had a few concussions, a few offs.

“In the Czech Republic she was brought to hospital.

“[But] on track she’s well-kitted out, she has the best of gear,” said Stephen.

Carly trains five or six days per week on the tracks in Ratoath and in St. Catherine’s Park, Lucan.

She has one brother, Daniel (25) and one sister Jodie (21) and her mam is Jackie (Jacqueline) Hayes.