IRISH cross-country skier Thomas Maloney Westgaard admits that, in some ways, his life has been unaffected by the global pandemic. “As an endurance athlete you’re nearly always paranoid about your health. If you’re in good shape but get a cold in this game it will take weeks before you’re back on track so you’re always […]
Introducing… Thomas Maloney Westgaard (Cross Country Skiing) Read More »
OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND LAUNCHES WINTER OLYMPIC SCHOOLS CHALLENGE – ROAD TO BEIJING The challenge is part of the OFI’s ‘Dare to Believe’ programme To coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of Team Ireland competing in the Winter Olympics, and on the back of the hugely successful Olympic Schools Challenge last summer, the Olympic Federation of
ROAD TO BEIJING – WINTER OLYMPIC SCHOOLS CHALLENGE LAUNCHED Read More »
SEAMUS O’Connor may only be 24 but the halfpipe snowboarder is already a two-time Olympian and the eminence gris of Irish snow sports. Raised in California, with paternal grandparents from Drogheda and Dublin, he made history in Sochi eight years ago when he wasn’t just Ireland’s first Olympic snowboarder but also, aged 16, the youngest
Introducing…Seamus O’Connor (Snowboard) Read More »
Team Ireland celebrates 30 years at the Winter Olympic Games Official Qualification Allocations to be Confirmed in Coming Days Over the coming days the final allocations for Team Ireland at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 2022 will be confirmed. The Olympics run from the 4-20 February across three zones in Beijing, the first city
Stage Set for Memorable Games on Thirtieth Anniversary Read More »
Team Ireland first competed at the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France in 1992, when Ireland entered two bobsleigh teams. Summer Olympians Terry McHugh and Pat McDonagh finished 32nd in the 2 Man event, and Gerry Macken and Malachy Sheridan finished 38th in the same event. Terry McHugh is the Irish athlete who to date
History of Team Ireland at the Winter Olympic Games Read More »
A SPECIAL childhood memory and the introduction of his sport into the Winter Olympics meant Brendan ‘Bubba’ Newby (25) achieved his childhood dream in PyeongChang four years ago. “My dad took me to a couple of the events at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City and since then I always wanted to be an
Introducing…Bubba Newby (Freestyle Halfpipe Skier) Read More »
ALEC Scott’s Irish grandad Thomas taught him many invaluable life lessons and sport skills except in the one in which he now excels. “My grandpa is honestly the fittest man I know. He was born in Dublin but grew up in Belfast and moved to Australia when he was around 21. “Right into his 80s
Introducing…Alec Scott (Alpine Skiing) Read More »
Most ‘holiday’ skiers prefer groomed slopes and get the collywobbles at the sight of the ‘bumps.’ When you enter a slope with bumps or ‘moguls’, turns come thick and fast and you pick up speed swiftly with little room to control it. If your technique is poor there is usually only one way it ends
Introducing…Claire Dooley (Freestyle Skiing) Read More »
What’s seldom is wonderful as Tess Arbez found out in 2020 when she took a year out of competitive skiing to concentrate on her biomedical studies in Geneva. The talented 24-year-old French-Irish skier was only 20 when she made her Olympic debut in PyeongChang in 2018. She was only the sixth woman to represent Ireland
Introducing…Tess Arbez (Alpine Skiing) Read More »
THE odds against Maggie Rose Carrigan becoming a competitive snowboarder, never mind chasing Olympic qualification were astronomical when she received some devastating news in her childhood.Up to then her life in Steamboat Springs, Colorado was idyllic. “In winter it’s like a snow globe, a dream. We call it ‘hero snow’ because it’s so perfect you
Introducing… Maggie Rose Carrigan (Snowboarding) Read More »
JACK Gower’s dad Richard had no idea what he let himself in for when his son called him at the start of the 2020-2021 ski season to ask for some help.Covid had made life difficult on the international circuit where teams were tightly constrained to their own bubble and Jack’s arrangement to join a training
Introducing… Jack Gower (Alpine Skiing) Read More »
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
Introducing….Elsa Desmond (LUGE) Read More »
