Elsa Desmond

Luge

BIOGRAPHY

ELSA Desmond was in the expensive Swiss ski resort of St Moritz last year when she got the news that she was finally a doctor.

That gives the impression of a glamorous lifestyle until she explains the harsh reality of mixing such a demanding career with the sliding sport of luge, especially when you’re from a non-alpine country.

For the past five years she has studied medicine at Kings College London while training and competing abroad.

“I was always revising, sometimes writing essays in the car between tracks. I’d often have my study cards and revision notes with me in the ‘start houses’ before races,” she reveals.

In her bid to become Ireland’s first female Olympian in luge Desmond (24) had arranged to take the past two years out of college to concentrate on qualifying for the 2020 Beijing Olympics but, with Covid’s disruption of international sport, decided to keep mixing both.

She has been on the international circuit since 2018, competing in the second tier Nations Cup races that directly precede World Cups.

She first saw luge on television in the 2006 Winter Olympics: “I thought it was so cool and when I found there was no woman from Ireland or GB doing I thought ‘I could do that!”

It took her 10 years to even get to try it, as a 16-year-old, in Innsbruck.

Ireland’s sole luger is part of a group of athletes from smaller nations who train and travel together. The international luge association (FIL) funds their two coaches, they live out of their suitcases and have already raced in Olympic qualifiers in China (Yanqing) and Russia (Sochi) this season.

Desmond’s dad Brendan grew up in Fulham but her paternal grandmother is from Ballyjamesduff (Cavan) and her grandfather is from Cork.

She represented GB for a year as a junior but then sat out international competition for 12 months to qualify for Ireland and her family has been centrally involved in setting up the Irish Luge Association.

“Being raised by a dad who is Irish in so many ways, I always wanted to represent Ireland and help get more small nations into luge. Now we are growing the sport.”

Gender

Female

Date Of Birth

August 6, 1997

Hometown

Maidenhead UK

Games

Beijing 2022

OTHER LUGE ATHLETES

LUGE NEWS

Lily Cooke kicks starts Team Ireland YOG campaign

Within twelve hours of leading Team Ireland into the Opening Ceremony as flagbearer alongside Finlay Wilson, Dubliner Lily Cooke opened Irish action at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, competing in the Women’s Luge. The sixteen-year-old finished 27th in the event with a final time of 1:42.982, ahead of several strong winter sports nations. The Winter […]

Team Ireland’s newest luger describes her YOG experience

Team Ireland’s Lily Cooke qualified for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in the Women’s Luge just over a year after first trying it out. We caught up with her after her race (where she raced well and finished 27th overall). Talk about today. Well, this morning I woke up and was kind of feeling a […]

Team Ireland Flagbearers for Winter YOG Revealed

Lily Cooke and Finlay Wilson named as the Team Ireland Flagbearers for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon 2024   The Team Ireland’s flagbearers for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon have been named. Alpine Skier Finlay Wilson and Luge athlete Lily Cooke will lead the Irish team into the Gangneung Oval at […]

TEAM ANNOUNCED: IRELAND AT THE WINTER YOUTH OLYMPICS IN GANGWON 2024

TEAM IRELAND AT WINTER YOUTH OLYMPICS – GANGWON 2024 Team Announcement, Event Schedule, How to Follow   Tomorrow will see the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon begin, with four athletes competing for Team Ireland across three different disciplines. This is the fourth edition of these games, which are held in the Gangwon region of […]

Team Announcement | Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games

The 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games will take place in the province of Gangwon in the Republic of Korea, from the 19th January – 1st February, which already hosted the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. These first Winter YOG to be held in Asia will build on the Olympic Games legacy and engage even more young people through various activities before, [...]

RECIPIENTS OF €200,000 IOC SCHOLARSHIP FUND REVEALED – MILANO CORTINA 2026

The Olympic Federation of Ireland today revealed the recipients of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Scholarships, with a total pot of almost €200,000 to be distributed among eight athletes, to assist them with their preparations for the next Winter Olympic Games which takes place in Italy in 2026. The athletes represent seven different disciplines, representing [...]

Scroll to Top