Risks come with the reward for Ireland's halfpipe Olympian

Ben Lynch, born in Rathmines, brought up in Vancouver, will compete for Ireland in the freestyle halfpipe in Italy. 

HIGH HOPES: Team Ireland freestyle half-pipe skiier Ben Lynch. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Danger is factored in to the transactional price of all sorts of sport. Whether kicking a ball, piloting a horse, or climbing in to a ring, we know that the chances exists that the cost could spike far beyond the investment.

That risk-reward is heightened at a Winter Olympics and there probably isn’t a discipline more exposed to frightening losses than halfpipe skiing and snowboarding where athletes perform airborne tricks launched off two 22ft walls of sheer ice.