Competition begins with the Girl’s Slalom on Tuesday
Competition for Team Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Vuokatti, Finland is to begin tomorrow, Tuesday 22 March, with three athletes competing in the Girl’s Slalom. The EYOF is a significant event in the development of athletes, as it simulates an Olympic competition in a multi-sport environment. The event is held every two years and is run by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), with this years event running from the 20-25 March.
Tomorrow’s competition will see three female athletes compete in the Girl’s Slalom starting at noon Irish time for the first run, the second run is at 14:00 Irish time. The three athletes are Kailey Murphy, whose father is from Dublin, and whose sister Elle competed in the EYOF in Sarajevo in 2019. Megan Ryan also is the sister of two Irish skiers, Matt Ryan and Emma Ryan, and her father is from Dublin and mother from Roscommon. Charlotte Turner will also be in competition, with paternal grandparents from Galway and Cork.
Speaking ahead of the competition Ryan added, “The hill is pretty small compared to some of the mountains we are used to skiing in back in the US, but it’s really cool, we have Slopestyle right next to us so it’s cool that we get to see all the events in such a closed space.”
Describing what is a compact slalom run Murphy said, “It’s pretty quick, it should be about a minute course and I’m super excited to see the top racers, I think it will be pretty cool to see them in the Beijing 2022 suits too!” Alpine Skier Turner said, “It’s been really fun so far, the girls have gotten close fast and the snow is really good.”
For Ireland’s first figure skater, another day of training stands between Elizabeth Golding and her first competition of two, the Girl’s Short Programme,
“It’s so nice to know that you are the first person to ever do this. I expect to have fun out there. I have a short programme and a long programme. In my short programme it’s a lot of fun music so I expect to be having fun, and the second programme is more serious. I’m hoping to do everything cleanly and just go out and have fun and look nice and everything.”
22 March 2022 SCHEDULE:
Alpine Skiing – Girl’s Slalom
Run One 12:00 Irish time
Kailey Murphy
Megan Ryan
Charlotte Turner
Run One 14:00 Irish time
TBC
