Olympian Griffin catches winter bug

IRISH rower Paul Griffin is attempting to join an elite group of athletes to compete at both a summer and winter Olympics.

Killarney-man Griffin, a member of the lightweight fours at the Athens and Beijing Games, has replaced water with ice and snow by becoming a cross-country skier.

This month he and three other Irish competitors are in action at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in the Czech Republic. Points accrued from such events go towards qualification for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Ireland’s coordinator for cross-country skiing, Rory Morrish, is impressed by Griffin’s development.

“Paul is adapting fairly well to skiing. He has to learn a new sport, which is quite different to rowing as regards the demands on the body and the culture.

“He is using skiing as a means of building his fitness away from rowing but he is becoming a fine skier. He has been in France and Italy training and received some help from the ex-coach of the Swedish national team.

“He has only been skiing for 13 months. Vancouver next year might come too soon for him but if he continues to show this rate of improvement he could be in contention for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.”

Terry McHugh is the last man to have represented Ireland in both summer and winter Games, competing in the javelin and bobsleigh. Griffin, Kerry’s first rowing Olympian, competes in the gruelling 50k event tomorrow. Ireland had three other representative in Liberec. Ian Ballentine finished 46th in the cross-country 10km qualifier while McLaughlin finished 54th. PJ Barron competed in the sprint.