Deirdre Murphy

Deirdre Murphy grew up in New York City, but used her Irish heritage to represent Ireland at the 2000 Olympics. She started cycling very late, at 32-years-old and raced until she was 41. Murphy finished fourth at an international race in Montevideo, Uruguay which qualified her to become the first female to ride for Ireland in the Olympic road race. She was the 1997 Women’s World Masters Champion, and won over 81 races in her career.

Murphy continued to live in New York and became the Executive Director of Star Track, a cycling charity in the city for children between the ages of 7 and 14. The charity taught children to ride on the Kessina Park velodrome in Queens. Murphy died fairly young from cancer.