Ireland unveils six-strong team for Winter Olympics

Pictured at the squad training base in Innsbruck, Austria, are, from left, Seamus O'Connor, Jack Gower, Thomas Maloney Westgaard, Elsa Desmond, Brendan ‘Bubba’ Newby and Tess Arbez. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Ireland will be represented by a six-strong team at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing next month.

Seamus O’Connor is the most experienced of the sextet and makes history by becoming the first Irish athlete to compete in three Winter Games while Elsa Desmond also enters the record books as the country’s first representative in the luge.

Team Ireland Chef de Mission Nancy Chillingworth heaped praise on those selected: “The resilience and determination that these athletes displayed throughout the qualification process and throughout the challenges with which they were faced is a credit to them and we are very much looking forward to supporting them as they achieve their dreams in Beijing 2022. Throughout the past few years, due to Covid, athletes have endured changes to qualification pathways, experienced cancelled qualification events, and have adapted their training on a continuous basis to ensure they could be as prepared as they can be.” 

The Team Ireland athletes are currently at a pre-games camp in Innsbruck, where they are training from their base in Mutters before departing for Beijing, on January 26. The Games run from February 4th to 20th.

TEAM IRELAND.

Alpine Skiing: Tess Arbez: With roots in Carlow and Dublin, the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympian is set to compete in the Giant Slalom, Slalom and Super G events in Beijing. She was born in Vetraz, Monthoux in France, near the Swiss border, and currently studies biomedical studies in Geneva.

Alpine Skiing: Jack Gower: Gower’s paternal grandmother was born in Dublin and settled in Skibbereen and is competing in his first Olympic Games. The former Junior World Champion for GB is set to compete in the Downhill, Giant Slalom, Super G and Alpine Combined events.

Cross Country Skiing: Thomas Maloney Westgaard: Heading into his second Olympic Games, Westgaard is competing in the 15km, 30km and 50km events in Beijing. With a Galway mother and Norwegian father, he is a well respected consistent athlete on the world circuit in Cross Country Skiing, training up to five hours or 58km in once session.

Freestyle Skiing: Brendan ‘Bubba’ Newby: Cork born Brendan Newby, is better known as Bubba. He competed in the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics, fulfilling a childhood dream he had since first watching the Olympics in Salt Lake City as a child. He will now be competing in Beijing as an even better skier, pulling his first ‘double’ in Austria in November.

Luge: Elsa Desmond: This will be the first time that Ireland will have a luge athlete in the Olympics, thanks to the talent and drive of Desmond, who set up the Irish Luge Federation herself in order to compete for Ireland. The qualified medical doctor was targeting Milan 2026 primarily, and a strong showing in the latter part of the season helped secure her name in history as Ireland’s first luge athlete. Her paternal grandmother is from Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, and her grandfather is from Cork.

Snowboard Halfpipe: Seamus O’Connor: Beijing 2022 will see O’Connor become the first Team Ireland Winter Olympian to compete in three Winter Olympic Games. He previously competed in both Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018, and at 24 is already a veteran of the sport. His paternal grandparents are from Drogheda and Dublin, and he lives in Utah.