CHARLOTTE TURNER TOPS IRISH FINISHERS WITH 44 IN SLALOM

FIRST DAY OF ACTION FOR TEAM IRELAND AT THE EYOF IN VUOKATTI

Team Ireland’s European Youth Olympic Festival in Vuokatti, Finland began today with three Alpine Skiers competing in the Girl’s Slalom. The multi-sport event takes place every second year and marks a significant development stage for an athlete, with the competition simulating a senior Olympic Games. The EYOF runs from the 20-25 March 2022.

Today saw the three Irish female Alpine Skiers competing in the Girl’s Slalom. The slalom involves athletes competing over two runs, and all three racers finished higher than their starting position.

Charlotte Turner was the best of the Irish racers, finishing 44^th in the event that was won by local talent Rosa Pohjolainen (Finland) in a combined time of 1:28.74. Megan Ryan was 52^nd and Kailey Murphy was 53^rd.

Speaking after her competition, Turner said,

“It was a really fun run. Coming out of the gates I had a very aggressive mentality because I knew the course was running well and my first round put me in a pretty good spot. I started off strong, unfortunately I did mess up a few gates and ended up having a push back in the course. It did cost me some significant time, but I felt the bottom half of the course I made up some of that mistake. Honestly, it’s just really fun and that’s what’s important so even with that mistake it was a great time.”

Ryan had a better race in her second run,

“I think I just told myself in the second round to go at it. I didn't want to cross the finish line with any regrets thinking I could have done more so I tried to just get after it and put down a good run.”

Disappointed with her second run, Murphy drew on the positives from today’s event,

“My start was strong coming over the hill. I had quite a big mess up which set me back a lot, but I was able to recover which is good. I'm happy that I finished and just wish I had a little bit of a stronger finish.”

Speaking at the end of the first day of competition, Team Ireland Chef de Mission Linda O’Reilly said,

“It was great to see how positive the girls were after their first race. This is a great experience for the athletes. They get to see all the elements that are involved in Olympic Games, such as the preparation areas, the mixed zone, media interviews and the overall Team Ireland and Games culture. Games like the EYOF are how they get this experience.”

Tomorrow will see all athletes in action with the three skiers competing in the Parallel Slalom in the morning and figure skater Elizabeth Golding will make her debut in the Girl’s Short Programme later in the day.

22 March 2022 RESULTS:

Alpine Skiing – Girl’s Slalom

Overall:

Gold Rosa Pohjolainen (Finland) 1:28.74

Silver Emilia Mondinelli (Italy) +1.19

Bronze Victoria Olivier (Austria) +1.27

44^th Place Charlotte Turner (Ireland) +14.38

52^nd Place Megan Ryan (Ireland) +22.44

53^rd Place Kailey Murphy (Ireland) +23.96

23 MARCH 2022 SCHEDULE (Irish Time):

09:00 Parallel Slalom – Girls Qualification

Kailey Murphy, Megan Ryan, Charlotte Turner

16:30 Figure Skating – Girls Short Track Programme

Elizabeth Golding

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