Ireland’s four Olympians from the Milano Cortina Games have been formally welcomed home with a reception in Dublin city centre.
Freestyle skier Ben Lynch, alpine skiers Cormac Comerford and Anabelle Zurbay, and cross-country skier Thomas Maloney Westgård were recognised for their performances and their contribution to Team Ireland’s Winter Olympic campaign at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport in their recently renovated headquarters on Leeson Lane.
The athletes were greeted by family members, supporters and dignitaries including the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Patrick O’Donovan; the Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, Charlie McConalogue; OFI President Lochlann Walsh and Team Ireland Chef de Mission Nancy Chillingworth.
Performances at Milano Cortina
At Milano Cortina, Ireland’s four athletes competed across freestyle skiing, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.
Freestyle skier Ben Lynch was the standout performer. He became the first Irish skier to qualify for a Winter Olympics halfpipe final, achieving a personal best score and finishing eighth in the men’s halfpipe, one of Ireland’s best Winter Olympic results to date. In recognition of his historic achievement, Lynch was named Team Ireland’s flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony in Verona.
In alpine skiing, Cormac Comerford competed with determination across four events — downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom — while 17-year-old Anabelle Zurbay made her Olympic debut, becoming one of Ireland’s youngest Olympians.
Cross-country veteran Thomas Maloney Westgård capped Ireland’s participation with a hard-fought 23rd place in the demanding 50 km mass-start classic.
Recognition and Reflection
As part of the Homecoming event, the OFI staged an exhibition of the Team Ireland Wall of Honour – a list containing the names of those athletes who have represented Ireland at an Olympic. Torches from Games at which Ireland competed were also displayed.
OFI President Lochlann Walsh remarked that each of the Milano Cortina athletes now takes their place in the Irish Olympic story.
“Through their participation in Milano Cortina, they join just over 1,000 Irish Olympians, dating back to our first appearance at the Olympic Games in 1924, and they bring the number of Winter Olympians that have competed for Ireland since 1992 to 35. This history is powerfully captured on the Team Ireland Wall of Honour. It is a visible reminder that while each Olympic journey is personal, it is also part of something far greater, a shared national legacy built over generations.”