SNOWSPORTS
The Snowsports Association of Ireland (SAI) is the most active and well known of Irish winter sports in high performance due to their role and impact on Olympic Games participation.
They are affiliated to the International Governing Bodies of the sports, the Federation Internationale De Ski (FIS) as well as the International Biathlon Union (IBU) and the World Snowboard Federation (WSF).
They are primarily responsible for the growth and development of cross country and biathlon, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding disciplines and play the key role in supporting Irish athletes to qualify and participate in the Winter Olympic Games.
The Winter Olympics are a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France.
Irish athletes predominately compete in alpine, cross country, freestyle skiing and snowboard. The qualifying standard for the Winter Olympic Games is set by the International Olympic Committee, while selection of athletes is the prerogative of the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
Snowsports Athletes have represented Ireland and competed at the last five Winter Olympic Games, in Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018. Ireland also sends teams to the Winter Youth Olympic Games and European Youth Olympic Festival.
National Federation: Snowsports Association of Ireland
International Federation: International Ski Federation
SNOWSPORTS NEWS
Top Results from the Weekend
9 March 2025; Sarah Healy of Ireland celebrates winning gold in the women's 3000m final on day four of the European Athletics Indoor Championships 2025 at the Omnisport Apeldoorn in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile A Golden Weekend for Team Ireland! A massive congratulations to our athletes on their incredible performances over the weekend! [...]
TOP THIRTY FOR JULIA DEAKINS IN THE GIANT SLALOM AT THE EUROPEAN YOUTH OLYMPIC FESTIVAL
Alpine Skier impresses in opening event at EYOF in Bakuriani On the second day of action for Team Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Bakuriani, Georgia, Alpine Skier Julia Deakins made an impressive start to her campaign, finishing 28th in the Girls Giant Slalom. Ireland's sole competitor of the day delivered [...]
GANGWON 2024 Winter Youth Olympics
Some of the best images from the Winter Youth Olympics Read about all of the performances from the Games Irish first with Thomas Dooley competing in Dual MogulsWINTER YOUTH OLYMPICS – FINAL DAY OF TEAM IRELAND ACTION Irish first as Thomas Dooley competes in Dual Moguls Representing Team Ireland in Dual Moguls, Thomas Dooley was [...]
Performance Round Up – January
Catch up on the latest results of Team Ireland athletes throughout the month of January! Eve McMahon Qualifies a Nation Spot In The Women's Dinghy For Paris 2024 With a race to spare, Ireland's Eve McMahon has secured a nation place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing regatta (Mar del Plata, Argentina - Tuesday 9th [...]
SELECTED ATHLETES
Thomas Maloney Westgaard
BIOGRAPHY 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 [...]
Tess Arbez
BIOGRAPHY 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 had put her law studies on hold [...]
Seamus O’Connor
BIOGRAPHY 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 [...]
Jack Gower
BIOGRAPHY 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 [...]
Brendan Newby
BIOGRAPHY 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 [...]