Griffin dream still alive
Sunday Tribune's Malachy Clerkin talks to Paul Griffin about his bid to make the qualifying standard for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
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Sports
McGarry in search of second Winter Olympic Games
It started on a slope in the French Alps, in a town called Chatel, just shy of the Swiss border. She does not remember learning. The process was organic, bound up with family life.
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Introduction to Boxing
Boxing is one of the most illustrious and historic sports in the Olympic Games. Men have sparred in competition since 5000BC in the Middle East, while boxing was one of the key events in the original Olympic Games in ancient Greece. For contact details of Irish Athletic Boxing Association please click Full story
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Introduction to Basketball
Basketball is played by two teams, made up of five players and seven substitutes. The aim of the game for each team is to get the ball into the elevated baskets at either end of the court more times than the opposition, while preventing the opposition from scoring at the same time.
A game is made up of four periods, each lasting 10 minutes of actual playing time. If the scores are tied at the end of the game, extra five-minute overtime periods are played until a winner is declared. There are strict limitations on how the ball can be moved by and between players, including strict time limits that make the games fast, furious and physical. For contact details of Basketball Ireland please click Full story
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Introduction to Badminton
Badminton is probably the world’s fastest racquet sport. It’s similar to tennis, in that players compete to hit a shuttlecock back and forth over a high net, but speeds are much faster, with the shuttlecock sometimes flying at up to 300km/h. As a result, the players have to have lightning-fast reactions and incredible agility and stamina, often covering up to six kilometres in a match as they dart back and forth across the indoor courts. For contact details of the National Federation in Ireland please click Full story
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Introduction to Archery
Archery is truly a historic sport – a contest of mind and body control, as well as precision – and has roots dating back to its use as a weapon of hunting and war in ancient times. Since the creation of the bow and arrow, warriors and hunters have competed against each other in archery competitions to prove their targeting skills. Then, as now, concentric circle targets are used, with points increasing as the archers get their shots closer to the centres.
For contact details please click on Full story.
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Introduction to Athletics
From the very first Olympic Games in 776BC to the revival of the modern Games in 1896, Athletics has always been part of the Olympic Games. It is identified with Greece’s centuries-old history and it is no accident that the Greeks list Athletics as a ‘classical sport’. In 776 BC, races were run in a 28.5 m wide stadium and distances such as the 192.27m race were the forerunners of the 200m event of the modern Olympic Games. For contact details of the National Federation in Ireland please click Full story
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Introduction to Paralympics
The Paralympic Council of Ireland officially relaunched as Paralympics Ireland (PI) on 26th January, 2011. The Paralympic Council of Ireland (PCI) was founded in 1987, initially as a Coordination Committee for the Seoul Paralympics in 1988 and later to become the national representative organisation for sanctioned events of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). For contact details of Paralympics Ireland please click on Full story
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Introduction to Curling
Curling is a competition between two teams with four players each, consisting of the lead, the second, the third and the skip (team captain). The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing a 19.1kg stone towards a series of concentric circles. The object is to place the stone as close as possible to the centre called the ‘tee’. The team with the highest total score wins. For contact details of Irish Curling Association please click on Full story.
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Introduction to Rugby Sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side and VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. The game originated in Melrose, Scotland, where the Melrose Sevens tournament is still played annually. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific. Rugby sevens is now recognised as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics. For contact details of Irish Rugby Football Union please click on Full story
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Introduction to Golf
At the 1904 Summer Olympics, two golf events were contested – men's individual and team tournaments. The competitions were held from September 17, 1904 to September 24, 1904.
It was the second and final appearance of the sport at the Olympics. The men's team event was new, replacing the women's individual. The men's individual event was switched to a match play tournament rather than the stroke play used 4 years earlier. Golf returns to the Olympic schedule at Rio in 2016. For contact details of Golfing Union of Ireland and Irish Ladies Golf Union please click on Full story
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Introduction to Snow Sports
The first Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Prior to this, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympics. The Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1940 when they were interrupted by World War II. The Winter and Summer Games resumed in 1948 and were held in the same year until 1992, when the Games were placed on separate four-year cycles. Starting in 1994 each Winter Olympics has been held in its own year, separate from the Summer Games. For contact details of Snowsport Association of Ireland please click on Full story
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