From Peel to Paris: Childhood friends Conor Leahy & Oliver Bleddyn to compete together in Olympic team pursuit

Two Mandurah-trained cyclists — and childhood friends — are heading to the Paris Olympics to represent Australia for the first time, where they will compete together on the same pursuit team.

Track cyclists Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn got their start in the sport at the Peel District Cycling Club, with Leahy, now 25, starting at the club in 2014, and Bleddyn, 22, joining soon after, aged 12.

Both had developed an interest in the sport as children growing up in Secret Harbour, with Bleddyn, whose dad owned a bike shop, getting “hooked” on track riding after a have-a-go session at the Middle Swan SpeedDome.

Leahy initially joined his dad on bike rides as a child, with the promise of stopping at a cafe for coffee and cake at the end of each ride proving a powerful incentive.

The pair’s coach at PDCC — and Athens Olympics gold medallist for the team pursuit — Peter Dawson worked with them from their first days in the club and has seen them progress from the club’s E-grade to winning A-grade races as under 17s to now qualifying for the Olympics.

Dawson said the duo had worked “three times harder” training at a regional club to get to where they were today than other athletes hailing from cities where cycling facilities were more accessible.

“They didn’t have the opportunities of the other clubs in Perth where they can just go to the velodrome and train three or four days a week,” he said.

“They were Secret Harbour-based so it was a bit of a drive in the younger years for them, and they did a lot of catching the train up on Monday afternoon, and one of the parents bringing them home on Monday night, just so they could get a ride on the track.

“It’s been a really big journey, and it’s hugely exciting to have those boys not only go to an Olympics but be on the same team.”

During their junior days, a community effort from the club’s members helped them to get training rides in and up to Perth for velodrome practice.

“When you want to make the opportunities for that (velodrome training) to happen, then you have to jump on the train, and you have to miss school,” Dawson said.

“It becomes a community; there’s two or three parents, and there’s other people inside the club that have gone out training with the guys because they need people to train with.

“So that’s kind of how it all comes about. In terms of getting the guys progressing through, it’s been a bit of a club effort.”

After finishing their schooling — Leahy at Mandurah Catholic College and Bleddyn at Frederick Irwin Anglican School and then Applecross Senior High School, during which they trained at the Peel Regional Academy of Sport — both relocated to Adelaide to train at the South Australian Sports Institute.

Leahy made the move in 2018 and Bleddyn in 2021.

Leahy goes into the Paris games as a five-time men’s individual pursuit champion, notching up his fifth consecutive title at the 2024 AusCycling Track National Championships in March, and is the only Australian to ever record a sub-4.10 time for the individual pursuit.

He previously won bronze on his Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham in both the team and individual pursuit, and travelled to Tokyo in 2021 for the Olympics as a COVID reserve athlete, but wasn’t called up to compete.

Leahy said his Tokyo experience had prepared him for his debut in Paris.

“Tokyo was an awesome way to experience the Olympic atmosphere and to get an idea for the pressures,” he said.

It will be a first-time experience for Bleddyn, who has most recently recorded top-10 finishes in the under-23 criterium and the under-23 time trial at the 2024 AusCycling Track National Championships.

Bleddyn said going to the Olympics with his friend alongside him was a “surreal” experience.

“It’s pretty surreal for both of us; we both started cycling with Peel District Cycling Club from a young age, racing and training together,” Bleddyn said.

“It’s pretty crazy to be able to line up next to each other.

“Everybody at Peel District Cycling Club was always super supportive and welcoming, which really just made a great environment for everyone to be around and part of, which at the same time laid a great foundation for training and racing.”

The duo are currently in Portugal after completing a training camp in Mallorca and will head to Paris on July 29, with the track cycling qualifying round beginning on August 5.

Leahy and Bleddyn will compete together in Australia’s team pursuit, where they will be joined by fellow West Aussie Sam Welsford and Victorian Kelland O’Brien.