Derval O'Rourke: Remembering my time at the Olympics

And a recipe for my quinoa and avocado powerbowl 

Derval O'Rourke's Olympic singlet.

The Olympics is always a nostalgic time for me. The Olympics is many things — for me it’s holding onto a dream and a hope for something amazing. Chasing that dream and becoming an Olympian in an Irish vest is something I dreamed of as a child. This week, inspired by the Tokyo Olympics 2020, I have a power bowl recipe that will fuel anybody’s exercise performance.

Visibility matters: It’s really easy to turn your TV on and see sports being played. But what isn’t easy is to see women’s sports. Yes, it’s getting slightly better but we’ve a long way to go. The Olympics is a glorious two weeks of both male and female sportspeople being given the same airtime.

In the first few days of the Games we saw Mona McSharry become the first Irish person in 25 years to make a swimming final. An interesting side note here is Mona McSharry won Ireland’s Fittest Family with her family in 2019! It was fitting that we were filming the new series while she was competing in Tokyo.

The Irish women’s hockey team has made history by being at these games. Their qualification has been huge for women’s sport. The way that they confidently won their opening game was superb to see. The rowing women have been phenomenal in recent years. Their success at these games has such a massive impact on young girls watching on.

To see this scale of success across varied sports so early in the games is really important.

My daughter is only 6 years old and she loves watching Irish women compete. The variety in the sports has been amazing for her to see.

Triumph meets despair: Few events evoke the sheer roller coaster of emotions like an Olympic Games. During every day of these games you can see the agony and ecstasy of Olympic dreams realised or crushed. In some ways, I find the Olympics a little raw. It was my toughest sporting experience. To hear an interview with a crushed Emmet Brennan and then to quickly move to an elated Mona McSharry is a peculiar experience in many ways but it’s that contrast that makes the Olympics. Not everyone will get what they want from it yet there is something really noble about the athletes being on this journey knowing that it has no guarantees.

Team Ireland Insights: This year's team has been the most prepared team we have ever sent to the games. The approach has been completely athlete-focused. The Olympic Federation of Ireland approached these games in a very collaborative way. The gear that we’ve seen the athletes compete in was designed with athlete input. The support personnel travelling to the games are the people that the athletes work with during their preparations. Pre games the athletes stayed in the five-star Kitanomaru resort for holding camp — this is hugely important. Beside great facilities, they were training in a full World Athletics stadium that regularly hosts top athletics events. The resort was taken for Team Ireland’s exclusive use, the private space around them meant that Irish athletes have been much less cooped up than some other countries.

In honour of the Olympics: I’m working with CUH Charity on a brilliant virtual fundraiser to help build an Emergency Children’s Department in Cork University Hospital. I thought that since not many people could physically be at the Olympics this year that this challenge could still bring people together. The challenge is to cover the distance from Cork to Tokyo which is 9,789km. Of course, this would be impossible to do on my own. That’s how the idea of teams came about — I wanted to get as many people involved as possible. For anybody looking to join the team you can register on iDonate or even if you do not want to take part in this challenge, you can make a small donation instead for this great cause.

The Wellness Tip: Quinoa is a great source of slow-release carbohydrates and an excellent source of plant based protein. It is the only plant-based protein source that contains all nine essential amino acids just like meat does.

Movement of the Week: Sprinting is a great form of cardiovascular exercise and it works the anaerobic system. It is great to include into your cardio routine because it increases your metabolism and helps you burn more calories in a shorter period of time.

Tips on how to perform this exercise include:

Keep a neutral posture throughout

Move your arms and bend them at 90° angle

Drive your leading leg and extend with your supporting leg

Ensure to land on the mid-point of your foot

Quinoa power bowl

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

This power bowl is bursting with goodness, packing protein, fibre and nutrients like magnesium, iron and calcium into a delicious lunch option

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the quinoa:

• 100g uncooked quinoa, rinsed under cold water

• 200ml low sodium vegetable stock or water

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 lime, juiced and zest finely grated

• salt

• pepper

• For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 lime, juiced

• 1 tsp honey

• To serve:

• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

• handful of coriander, roughly chopped

• 4 scallions, sliced

• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (optional)

• 1 small bag of baby spinach

• 2 avocados, diced

Method

1. Add the quinoa and the stock (or water) to a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.

2. Stir in the coconut oil, lime juice, lime zest, salt and pepper.

3. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the salad.

4. To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice and honey. Set aside with the quinoa.

5. Stir the quinoa, halved cherry tomatoes, coriander, scallions and jalapeno pepper, if using. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Divide the spinach between four bowls, place the quinoa salad on top and drizzle with the dressing. Top with the avocado and serve.

7. This salad can be eaten immediately or stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Do not cut the avocado until just before serving as it may turn brown.