The Beijing Games is spread across three distinct villages and zones – Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. Speaking ahead of travelling to the Games, Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Beijing 2022, Nancy Chillingworth outlined the challenging journey of the athletes, and what to expect.

“At the moment Team Ireland will definitely be present in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou and there is still an outside possibility of an athlete in Beijing. This qualification has been extremely challenging for all athletes as they have struggled to qualify against a background of increased covid restrictions and competition cancellations. They have shown immense resilience in the face of these setbacks, and we are looking forward to supporting them to perform to their best in Beijing.

“Although the final team will not be known until qualification and selection concludes next week, we do know that there will be a mix of experienced Olympians and athletes making their Olympic debut which will be exciting, and we are looking forward to the team having an opportunity to get to know each other and build a sense of the Team Ireland culture in the pre-games camp.

“Beijing 2022 will be implementing very strict covid countermeasures, many of which are similar to those experienced in Tokyo 2020 but with some added layers around the strictness of the closed loop, daily pcr testing, monitoring of FFP2 mask wearing, health tracking in advance of travel etc. As Team Ireland we are prepared for this and have run a number of webinars with the prospective team to ensure everyone knows what is expected.”

The team will be training in Innsbruck from the 20 January before they travel to Beijing on the 26 January, and photography of Team Ireland will be available to the media alongside the team announcement and a media guidebook.

Later this month the Road to Beijing challenge will be officially launched. The OFI Dare to Believe schools challenge will bring the Winter Olympic Games to school children right around Ireland, and will be based on the Road to Tokyo which saw 55,000 children participate.  As part of the reveal of the official poster, the Road to Beijing Colouring Competition is underway, with the closing date for entries on the 17^th January.

The schedule for Team Ireland in Beijing 2022 is as follows:

Today Bubba Newby who competes in the Freestyle Halfpipe Skiing events will be doing a takeover on our Instagram account.

Profiles of athletes to date who have been targeting qualification:

One was Luge athlete Elsa Desmond
Two was Alpine Skier Jack Gower
Three was Snowboarder Maggie Rose Carrigan
Four was Alpine Skier Tess Arbez
Five was Alpine Skier Alec Scott
Six was Freestyle Moguls Skier Claire Dooley
Seven was Freestyle Halfpipe Skier Bubba Newby

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OVERVIEW

The post Schedule for Irish athletes at Winter Olympics appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Although Ireland is a very cold and wet nation, it is not traditionally very snowy and it may surprise many that we have a strong winter sports program.

Born in Donegal, raised in Clare, schooled at King's Hos, Ireland's downhill skier Pat McMillan (@mcwindy) is raring to go at the Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/kNuEE2ACWz

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 10, 2018

Where it all began

We officially began our icy journey back in 1988 when English-born businessman Larry Tracey became infatuated with the sport of bobsleigh. Both his parents were Irish and after getting lessons from his wife, he wished to make a team to travel to the Games in Calgary.

Although they qualified, the Irish Olympic Council withdrew the team 10 days before the competitions start. A court injunction could not help with Tracey’s dream and he would have to wait four more years.

Ireland sent two pair-bobsleigh teams to Albertville made of Pat McDonagh and Terry McHugh as well as Gerry Macken and Malachy Sheridan. These teams would go on to finish 32nd and 38th out of 46 crews in an impressive debut for Tracey’s men.

Team Ireland would then continue to send between four and six athletes to all of the subsequent Winter Games.

In 1994, we sent our first four-man sleigh team and skiing competitor.

The Salt Lake City Games in 2002 would be Ireland’s most successful and storied competition. Tamsen McGarry was our first female athlete at the games and at 43 years old, Paul O’Connor was not just the first cross-country skier but also the oldest ever competitor in that event.

Most notable was Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley, 14th Baronet, 6th Baron Wrottesley who competed in the skeleton. He became a small celebrity after finishing in fourth place, 0.42 seconds off a medal in the event. He would later become a successful coach of the Irish team in later years.

In 2010, Ireland sent their first women’s bobsleigh team to the Vancouver Games. Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin would finish in a very respectable 17th place.

At the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia, Utahn Seamus O’Connor was the first Irish athlete to debut in the snowboarding events. He would rank 17th overall in the slopestyle and 15th in the halfpipe.

Cork-born Bubba Newton became the first qualifier in freestyle skiing at the last Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

The Ireland Winter Olympics team parading at today's opening ceremony. Best of luck to all involved. #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/o47lDuvwza

— Snooker Fans Ireland (@SportsFansEire) February 7, 2014

Who are our athletes with the next chance to win a medal?

Now there are a few athletes preparing and qualifying for our eighth edition of the Winter Olympics, next year in China.

There are currently three Irish athletes qualified for the next Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. The IOC will send two athletes (man and woman) as part of the Alpine skiing team and one man as part of Cross-country skiing.

The Beijing 2022 Games will commence on the 4th of February until the 20th of February.

With less than 250 days to the Winter Olympics I am pushing myself as hard as possible and finding new heights from within.

Help Ireland get to the Beijing winter games by donating to the link below, your help goes further than you think https://t.co/uUu3moDKCC pic.twitter.com/3Zqd8iLbzw

— Brendan Doyle (@facedoyle) June 2, 2021

To read more from this writer, click here.

And to read more in-depth and up-to-date Irish sports news, click here.

The post Ireland at the Winter Olympics: The Greens still waiting for their first Gold appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.