Kirk Shimmins represented Ireland in the men’s hockey tournament at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, where Ireland made their first Olympic appearance in the sport since 1908 and finished 10th.

The youngest member of the squad at 22, he had already accumulated 68 international caps having made his senior debut in 2013 aged 19. He played a crucial role in one of Ireland’s most memorable moments of the tournament when he won a penalty stroke in the final seconds of a group match, which Shane O’Donoghue converted to secure an important result. From Dublin, Shimmins attended Wesley College and played his early club career with Pembroke Wanderers before moving to KHC Dragons in the Belgian Hockey League in 2018, where several of Ireland’s leading players have competed professionally.

He was part of the Ireland squad at the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar.