Keeping it in the family

Monday, July 09, 2012

SIXTY IRISH Olympic athletes will participate in London this summer.

And almost 30 of them are aged 25 and under. There’s a 21-year-old pentathlete, a 19-year-old sailor, an 18-year-old swimmer, a 23-year-old gymnast, a 20-year-old boxer, and a 24-year-old pole vaulter.

They have sacrificed a ‘normal’ upbringing in favour of early morning training, travelling abroad alone to train and compete, injuries, and fundraising.

Every young member of Team Ireland has a family quietly backing them; watching their events online, travelling to support them, polishing trophies in cabinets, and hoping that their offspring will return home from London this summer knowing that they competed to the best of their ability.

Here we pay tribute to three of them.

AUDREY MAGEE

Mother of eight, Audrey Magee, is no stranger to sport. Her daughter, Chloe, 23, participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 19 and will play in the ladies’ singles badminton event in the London Olympics. Audrey’s son, Sam, 22, plays in a mixed-doubles partnership with Chloe and the pair occupies the third reserve place on the Olympic list for mixed doubles. Another son, Daniel, is Badminton Ireland’s national coach.

“We’re a badminton family. We eat, sleep and play badminton. We love badminton and it’s just badminton talk at the dinner table,” says Audrey, a native of Raphoe, Co. Donegal.

“All of the family do sport, but none as much as Chloe and Sammy. I played badminton at school and loved sports. My husband loves badminton and plays at the club in town now, just for fun and to keep himself fit. He would’ve taken the children along with him and they grew up with it. Chloe decided she’d like to play more of it.

“She was always very active and sporty. When children are in sport, they learn very quickly to make friends and they grow up well-adjusted and make friends all over the country,” she says.

At 17, Chloe moved to Sweden for two years to further her training opportunities. Her parents worried that postponing university would hinder their daughter’s career opportunities.

“At one stage, she didn’t want to leave home. It was a tough decision to go straight from school to sport, but they’re your best years to play sport, so we gave her the chance and it worked out,” says Audrey.

Since then, Chloe has travelled all over the world with badminton, including to Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and Norway, as well as competing in the Beijing Olympics.

“I watch her online on Badminton Europe TV. It’s just brilliant to watch her. Win or lose, she’ll always do her best. I always send her a text afterwards, so she knows we’re watching her,” Audrey says.

Audrey has enjoyed the build-up to the London Olympics and hopes to attend with Chloe’s three sisters.

“Everybody in town is talking and there’s always something in the paper. We got letters of congratulations in the post. There’s always people looking for her to do things. She raised a green flag in her local school and did a secondary-school prize-giving. She told me how funny it was that she used to sit in front of the teachers and now they’re sitting in front of her. But Chloe takes it all in her stride, she’s brilliant.”

Audrey recently attended the P&G mothers-of-Olympians day out in Dublin. The mothers were preened and pampered.

“It was a brilliant day, one of the biggest days of my life. I’m a full-time carer of my own father, at the moment. It was a wonderful social day, where I met the mothers of all the Olympians,” she says.

WINIFRED NEVIN

Winifred Nevin is proud of her son, John Joe, 23, a bantamweight elite boxer, who was the first Irish male boxer to win two world championship medals. Nevin also participated in the 2008 Olympics, aged 18.

“We’re over the moon about it. He’s a good son. When he qualified for the London Olympics, I was in shock,” says Winifred, who lives in Mullingar with her family.

“We’ve a press at home with all the trophies and medals. We’re delighted with him now. Ireland is proud of him. He’s the first fellow from Mullingar to go twice to the Olympics.”

Winifred prefers to be alone when watching her son’s boxing matches.

“I watch the first round, but coming into the second round I can’t watch. I’d want to watch in private, because I’d panic in case I want to cry. I’d prefer to cry in private,” she says.

When he was six years old, Nevin first showed an interest in boxing, asking for a boxing bag and gloves for Christmas.

“As a kid, he was never quiet. He was always ahead of himself. We knew he’d be a boxer because he’d always be sparring around with the helmet and gloves on,” says Winifred.

Nevin’s father would drive his son to Cavan Boxing Club five days a week for training.

“When I was 13, my father decided I had some talent. He used to drive me to training five days a week, an hour there and back. I didn’t have the money for diesel then.

“My father always slags me that he had to do without bread and butter to bring me to the boxing club. Without them, I wouldn’t have got this far. They brought me everywhere and they always come to watch me in the nationals,” says John Joe, who recently suffered a double fracture to his cheekbone and had to take a break from training for over a month.

The family hope to travel to London this summer, with some members taking the boat as they don’t like to fly.

“We’re going over. He’d kill us if we didn’t go over. We had an excuse for Beijing,” says Winifred.

“The main lads at the Olympics are the Cubans and the English, and he beat them already. If he comes back with a medal it’ll be a bonus, and if he doesn’t we’re still delighted with him. He’s doing us all proud.”

SHEILA KEARNEY

“I have no idea where she got her sports talent from,” says Sheila Kearney, whose daughter, Lisa, 22, is the first Irish female judoka to gain a place in the Olympics.

“Lisa was only eight when she started judo. I thought it was a very rough-looking sport, but she took to it like a duck to water. I went to all the competitions when she was small. They were a great social event.

“I think children need to have something to focus on, and concentrate on, outside of school. I thought, maybe, Irish dancing would be good, but she didn’t like it. I thought judo was good for her fitness and discipline and it builds character. I never thought it’d be more than that. She never mentioned the Olympics.”

Sheila is aware of the sacrifices her daughter has made to become an Olympian.

“We’re just completely elated and over the moon, because we realise how hard she’s worked to get here,” says Sheila.

“She used to go running every morning, even during winter in the rain and cold. I’d tell her not to bother going some mornings, and she’d tell me that she’d never deviate from training. She was very dedicated.

“You have to have a very strong character to survive the ups and downs and there are a lot of downs, as well as ups. There are so many sacrifices she’s had to make. You can forget about a social life and Lisa’s a very social person.”

Lisa is studying sports psychology at the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, as well as training with the Scottish Judo Institute.

“She got to the stage where her judo was stagnating. One day, she said ‘Mum, I think I’m going to have to go away.’ My heart just stopped,” says Sheila.

Lisa has suffered injuries over the past few years. She tore a ligament in her knee six months ago and her family feared she’d need surgery. But she took a few months off and had daily rehab.

“Luckily enough, she didn’t need an operation. She couldn’t train, so she came home to Belfast and stayed here for a while, so every cloud has a silver lining. We don’t see the half of it, because she’s in Edinburgh and sometimes I’m glad of it,” says Sheila.

Sheila cannot bear to watch her daughter during judo events.

“It’s very difficult to watch your own child. Her daddy can watch it, but I have no stomach for it. That’s my baby out there on the mat. I’ll usually take myself off for a walk. I always tell her that I’m there for her. She tells me that she doesn’t see or hear anybody when she’s out there [on the mat].

“Once she’s away abroad and I know she’s on, I take myself out shopping. I don’t go on the internet, I just wait. Lisa will phone or text when she’s finished.
“She’s the first Irish female ever to qualify. It’s just amazing to think where she started off. Her feet are firmly on the ground. She’s never boastful or anything, she’s just very quietly determined.” Home