Irish heart beats strong in Norwegian islander Thomas

Given his surname and upbringing — on a tiny island of fewer than 600 people in Norway — on first glance it seems unlikely that Thomas Westgaard would be competing for Ireland in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

But dig a little, and you find his deep Irish roots.

His mum, Celia Maloney, from Dunmore in Galway laughs when reveals that she met her Norwegian husband Ove “on a holiday in the Canaries many moons ago”.