FOR the first time since Beijing 2008, Annalise Murphy will be watching the Olympic Games from the outside.
But – although her tale reads like the ultimate one of sporting redemption – she still finds it hard not to think about the ones that got away.
On Monday, Murphy was at the Royal Irish Yacht Club to be honoured by the Association of Sports Journalists of Ireland as a sporting legend.
It coincided with the official announcement of the sailing team for the Paris Games, with Finn Lynch, Eve McMahon, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove representing Ireland in Marseilles.
Murphy was a team-mate of the three men at the previous Games whilst McMahon used to train alongside her.
So it was only natural that her mind would drift to the prospect of an Olympics without her.
She said: “I think it’s more that it was such a big part of my life for so many years and Tokyo was only three years ago, it wasn’t that long ago, so I’d still be very close to all of the sailors going.
“It’s just a strange time. I’m also really looking forward to getting to experience an Olympics as a spectator.
“I’m hopefully going.
“I haven’t quite figured out what role I’ll be going in or whether I can just go and watch and have the craic but when you’re competing as an athlete you don’t really have time to be watching other sports.”
That said, she recalls how, in London, then Chef de Mission Sonia O’Sullivan sneaked her into see the athletics.
Then aged just 22, she was trying to come to terms with having ended up with no medal when she was well-placed to take gold.
That she took silver in Rio four years later was hailed as a sign of character and resilience.
Clearly, Murphy takes pride in the come-back after the set-back but it does not erase the disappointment of 12 or, indeed, three years ago.
She explained: “It’s hard, I think you always want more. I look back at the mistakes I made and where I went wrong.
“But, since I’ve retired, I have found it easier to see the achievements as well. I think when I was still competing I was frustrated with what could have been.
LONDON UPSET
“I still look back at London, I’d such a good opportunity to win a gold medal there, and I did throw it away.
“But I might not have had the right attitude going into Rio to want to go above and beyond what I thought was possible to put myself in a place to win an Olympic medal and I did, to try and do that.
“And you also have to realise how difficult it is. I went to Tokyo thinking I could win a gold medal and I guess I was nearly in too good a place, my expectations got the better of me.
“It’s funny how you think you’re older and wiser and you know how to deal with the pressure of an Olympics but when it comes down to it, it is very hard.”
Despite that letdown in Japan, where she came 18th, she was not prepared to go again.
She explained:“I always knew that Tokyo was going to be my last Olympics. People talk about a work-life balance and I found it very hard, I didn’t have a work-life balance.
“All I cared about was sailing and trying to be better, probably to my own detriment. I cared about it too much.
“Since I’ve retired I’ve got to realise that real life is quite fun, you can enjoy yourself. I’m a lot more relaxed, I’m not so controlled about everything.
“I used to see sailors that would have boyfriends or girlfriends and I’d be like, ‘they’re wasting their time with those, they are going to do crap at the Olympics because they are spending too much time with their girlfriend or boyfriend’.
“I was awful looking back on it. Now I’m getting married at the end of the summer.
“I wouldn’t have had time for a relationship when I was sailing because it was such a big part of my life. Life is very long and you need to have other things apart from your sport.”
That said, she met her fiancé, Cian Bailey, at the wedding of another three-time Olympian, Natalya Coyle. He was there as the guest of the modern pentathlete’s brother.
ON YOUR BIKE
When they met again, it was cycling, and that has become more than a mere pastime. Last year, she won three national track titles.
On Thursday, she came second in the time trial and yesterday she did not start in the road race at Newcastle West.
Murphy said: “I really enjoy it because it’s a completely different sport but, then, also, there are so many similarities across all sports, how you apply yourself, how you train, how you treat racing.
“There are loads of crossovers. You have to learn how to deal with different race tactics and things like that. It’s really fun as well. There is no pressure on me.
“Some days I get a little too ambitious, I’ll be there ‘Oh my God, I really need to do this’ and then I’m like ‘this is meant to be fun’.
“From when I was 21 I had a huge amount of pressure on me from sailing while this is a sport where I don’t have any pressure because I’m just here to have fun and see what I can do.
“It’s great to meet a whole new community of athletes from a completely different sport.”
But she will be keeping a keen eye on the sailors this summer, particularly McMahon given their close relationship, even if that was exaggerated at times for travel purposes.
SAILING HOPES
She explained: “Eve is great, such a good sailor, great attitude, she’s only just turned 20 and going for her first Olympics.
“I remember when she first started training with me in 2019, she was 15.
“We went on flights and one of us had to pretend to be her guardian because Ryanair won’t allow you go on a flight on your own if you’re under 16.
“She’s very mature for her age and she’s got a great career ahead of her.
“It’s cool to see that, by Eve training with me, she’s now wanted to do the same thing as me.
“And what I’m always telling young athletes that have the talent and the work ethic, you’re never going to regret it in your life. You’re never going to look back and say ‘I wish I hadn’t done that’.
“You have your whole life to go get a career and do whatever else you want to do.
“You might feel like your sporting career is holding you back right now but, in reality, sporting careers are so short.
“f you’re lucky they’re 10 years long, that’s the reality, your body isn’t going to be able to do much more than that whereas work and career, our generation are probably going to be working until we’re 80 so life is long.
“And when you have the chance and the talent to do it you should definitely go for it and, even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll learn so many lessons that everything else in life will be easier after it.”