Martin McKay

Having competed in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958, and selected for that year’s World Championships at Paris, track cyclist Martin McKay went to the 1960 Roma (Rome) Olympics as the reigning Irish sprint champion. At the Roma (Rome) Games, McKay and Maryland Wheelers team-mate Mick Horgan both struggled in the 1,000 metre sprint on the slick wooden velodrome, having been used to mainly racing on concrete and tarmac tracks in Ulster. Consequently, both men were eliminated in their heats and failed to progress beyond the repêchage.

In December 1960 McKay and Horgan were both suspended Sine Die by the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation for not returning their Olympic jerseys and for failing to pay an outstanding bill totalling £15, accrued during their stay in the Olympic Village. It would be two years before McKay rode competitively again. Both McKay and Horgan later made their homes in the United States.