It was effectively an eight-year journey and now Bryan Keane has made it to the Olympics, qualifying for Rio in the triathlon after the final selection event in Yokohama in Japan.

Keane needed to finish inside the top 55 world rankings, after almost two years of selection events, and ended up 53rd – his 20th place finish in Yokohama making sure none of his rivals jumped ahead of him over the final hurdle.

Aileen Reid also confirmed her qualification for the women’s event in Rio, although she was always safe, and finishes the qualifying period ranked in 15th place of the 55 qualifiers.

For Keane, however, it’s been a long and determined journey since first aspiring towards Olympic qualification not long after the Beijing Olympics in 2008: the Cork athlete was originally on course to qualify for London, until just under two years out, he was riding his time-trial bike near his home in Cork, at about 40kph, when he was hit, side-on, by a car travelling at a similar speed.

He shattered his right kneecap, spent 10 weeks in a leg brace, and despite the boldest of efforts to get back in time for London he simply ran out of water and road.

His decision to keep going for Rio was reinforced in 2013, at Ishigaki in Japan, when he became the first Irishman to make the podium at a World Cup event (finishing second). Now 35 he’s no youngster anymore, although not yet old by elite triathlon standards, and now gets his just reward by lining up with 55 best triathletes in the world, that event to be staged along the iconic Copacabana in Rio.