Speaking at the end of what has been a successful Games for Team Ireland at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chef de Mission Nancy Chillingworth describes an event that saw top performances from Irish athletes, all the more special considering the challenges faced by the athletes in the lead up to the event.
This has been a fantastic experience for Team Ireland. We have had a small team, six athletes, spread across two villages. But the performance levels that the athletes have produced has been phenomenal. They’ve come into this off the back of challenging qualification, with covid restrictions and qualification events have changed, and the performances they have achieved as a group has been really inspiring. Pretty much everyone has either equalled or in many cases bettered their pre-games expectations. And then to have a 12th in the Alpine Combined and a fourteenth in the cross country is really amazing for a country of our size.
What has been notable throughout the Winter Olympics in Beijing has been the team spirit and supportive culture that has been shared by athletes and staff. Chillingworth highlights this as been a culture that has also bolstered performances,
I think it’s been really special to be part of it. The team got together beforehand in a pre-games camp, and that really helped the athletes to build and foster this culture and spirit of team Ireland. We have managed to get the group together on zoom across the villages, and even the way that the athletes themselves has supported each other at competition when they’ve come back. Whether they have actually go physically to the competition or they’ve watched it on the screen in the village, and have communicated through our whatsapp groups, or in person, has been something really special. To witness it, and to be a part of it. We are a small team and spread across the world for most of the cycle, so to see them come together and support each other has really been fantastic.
With the athletes spread across the world throughout the Olympic cycle, competing in many cases as sole Irish representatives in their respective sports, the Olympic Games offers them a unique opportunity to come together under one Team Ireland umbrella. Speaking about this bond and sense of togetherness within the team Chillingworth said,
I think it not only adds to the culture it adds to performance as well. Success breeds success when you feel a part of it.
The athletes have really lifted each other along with their performances. I know that Thomas said at the end of his 15km that being able to share the experience of the success with his teammates at the finish line just really made the moment that bit extra. It’s hard to put into words but you can get the sense of it around the village. How the team responds to each other. I think the fact that they operate largely independently throughout the cycle means that when you have the opportunity to come together in this multi-sport arena, it just adds that extra piece of what this really means to represent team Ireland and you can see how important it is to each and every athlete. You can see that as soon as they put on the green and they feel part of the team coming into the opening ceremony, that it’s really a part of their identity and how they identify properly with the country and culture.
Team Ireland competed in the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing from the 4-20 February, achieving some of the best Irish results at a Winter Games in the thirty years of participation:
RESULTS – click on link for the stories
Cross-Country Skiing
Men’s 15km + 15km Skiathlon
Gold – Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) 1:16.09.8
Silver – Denis Spitsov (ROC) 1:17.20.8 (+1.11.0)
Bronze – Iivo Niskanen (FIN) 1:18.10.0 (+2.00.2)
43rd Place – Thomas Maloney Westgaard (IRL) 1:25.29.8 (9.20.0)
Alpine Skiing
Women’s Giant Slalom Run 1
First – Sara Hector (SWE) 57.56
Second – Katharina Brignone (AUT) 57.86 (+0.30)
Third – Federica Brignone (ITA) 57.98 (+0.42)
DNF – Tess Arbez (IRL)
Men’s Downhill
Gold – Beat Feuz (SUI) 1.42.69
Silver – Johan Clarey (FRA) 1.42.79 (+0.1)
Bronze – Matthias Mayer (AUT) 1.42.85 (+0.16)
31 – Jack Gower (IRL) 1.47.61 (+4.92)
Women’s Singles Run 1
33rd – Elsa Desmond (IRL)
Women’s Singles Run 2
34th – Elsa Desmond (IRL) 1:0.857
Overall Standings going into Round three:
FIRST – Natalie Geisenberger (GER)
Second – Anna Berreiter (GER)
Third – Hannah Prock (AUT)
34th – Elsa Desmond (IRL)
Men’s Super-G
Gold Matthias Mayer (AUT) 1:19.94
Silver Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) 1:19.98 (+0.04)
Bronze Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) 1:20.36 (+0.42)
DNF – Jack Gower (IRL)
Women’s Singles
Gold Natalie Geisenberger (GER) 3:53.454 – after 4 runs
Silver Anna Berrieter (GER) 3:53.947 – after 4 runs
Bronze Tatyana Ivanova (ROC) 3:54.507 – after 4 runs
33 – Elsa Desmond (IRL) 3:07.719 – after 3 runs
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Qualifying
Top ranks going into final (12 to qualify)
First Ayumu Hirano (Japan) 93.25
Second Scotty James (Australia) 91.25
Third Ruka Hirano (Japan) 87.00
15th Overall – Seamus O’Connor (IRL) 57.00
Alpine Skiing – Women’s Slalom
Gold – Petra Vlhova (SVK) 1:44.98
Silver – Katharina Liensberger (AUT) 1:45.06 (+0.08)
Bronze – Wendy Holdener (SUI) 1:45.10 (+0.12)
48th – Tess Arbez (IRL) 2:14.61 (+29.63)
Men’s Alpine Combined Overall
Gold – Johannes Strolz (AUT) 2:31.43
Silver – Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) 2:32.02 (+0.59)
Bronze – James Crawford (CAN) 2:32.11 (+0.68)
12th – Jack Gower (IRL) 2:37.74 (+6.31)
Alpine Combined Downhill
Jack Gower (14) 1:45.16
Alpine Combined Slalom
Jack Gower (12) 52.58
Men’s Cross-Country 15km Classic
Gold – Iivo Niskanen (FIN) 37:54.8
Silver – Alexander Bolshunov (ROC) 38:18.0 (+23.2)
Bronze – Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) 38:32.3 (+37.5)
14th – Thomas Maloney Westgaard (IRL) 40:01.5 (+2.06.7)
Alpine Super-G
Gold – Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) 1:13.51
Silver – Mirjam Puchner (AUT) 1:13.73 (+0.22)
Bronze – Michelle Gisin (SUI) 1:13.81 (+0.30)
42nd – Tess Arbez (IRL) 1:25.18 (+11.67)
Men’s Giant Slalom
Gold – Marco Odermatt (SUI) 2:09.35
Silver – Zan Kranjec (SLO) 2:09.54 (+0.19)
Bronze – Mathieu Faivre (FRA)2:10.69 (+1.34)
25th – Jack Gower (IRL) 2:20.56 (+11.21)
Alpine Giant Slalom – Jack Gower Runs
Run #1 – Jack Gower (IRL) 31st 1:08.30
Run #2 – Jack Gower (IRL) 25th 1:12.26
Men’s Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe Qualification Rounds:
First – Aaron Blunck (USA) Run 1 26.25, Run 2 92.00 Best Score 92.00
Second – Nico Porteous (NZL) Run 1 75.5, Run 2 90.50, Best Score 90.50
Third – Birk Irving (USA) Run 1 83.35, Run 2 89.75, Best Score 89.75
20th – Brendan (Bubba) Newby (IRL) Run 1 10.75, Run 2 47.00, Best Score 47.00
Cross-Country Men’s 50km Mass Start Free:
Gold – Alexander Bolshunuv (ROC) 1:11.32.7
Silver – Ivan Yakimushkin (ROC) 1:11.38.2 (+5.5)
Bronze – Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) 1:11.39.7 (+7.0)
29th – Thomas Maloney Westgaard (IRL) 1:15.59.0 (+4.26.3)