1 December 2021, With the Winter Olympic Games just 65 days away, Irish athletes are in a period of intense competition around the world competing for the Olympic spots on offer. Athletes from ten sports are competing with chances of achieving qualification places in their events for Ireland. The Winter Olympic Games takes place in Beijing from the 4-20 February 2022 and has a chance of qualifying its largest team to date. Ireland first sent a team to the Winter Olympics in 1992, Albertville, and since then has competed in seven Games, with a total of 32 Winter Olympians in the twenty years of competition.
The Winter Olympic Games offers a special opportunity to engage with the wider Irish family, with many of the Olympic hopefuls coming from the greater diaspora, with many of the athletes currently training and living in countries such as Norway, France, the USA and Australia, where winter sports are more prevalent due to access to snow.
For Beijing 2022 there are three main venues, with most of the Irish focus based in the mountainous areas. Beijing will host the skating events, and Zhangjiakou and Yanqing host the skiing, snowboarding, and sliding events. As with Tokyo 2020 all participants at the Olympic Games will be subject to stringent measures to ensure that the competition conditions are as safe as possible, with Playbooks outlining the framework for how these will be applied.
The Beijing 2022 Games offer an opportunity for our community to connect with athletes and sports that are not ordinarily in the Irish mainstream, and for two weeks to immerse themselves in adrenalin fueled exciting sports, while meeting the Irish athletes for whom these sports are a way of life. Plans are already underway for the OFI Dare to Believe schools programme to run a Road to Beijing activation in the new year. This will bring the Winter Olympic Games to school children right around Ireland.
The following list groups some of the athletes, at this stage of qualification, who are most in contention to represent the final team in February next year.
Alpine Skiing:
Team Ireland is on track to qualify one female spot in the Alpine Skiing events. For the place, 2018 Olympian Tess Arbez, whose Irish roots are in Carlow, is the front runner for the spot, with young USA based athletes Emma Ryan (Dublin and Longford) and Elle Murphy (Dublin) also contesting this spot.
Luge:
The entire Irish Luge Federation is founded based on the drive and ambition of Elsa Desmond, whose paternal grandparents are from Cavan and Cork. The UK based athlete has recently qualified as a doctor, and should she qualify for Beijing 2022, she begins work just days after her event! Luge is an event where the athlete lies on their back on a sled while sliding down a track. This is the fastest sport at the Winter Olympics with the speeds reaching up to 145kmph.
Snowboard:
Maggie Rose Carrigan is an Alpine Snowboarder and is seeking qualification in the Parallel Giant Slalom. The American born athlete has an incredible story of resilience, she was diagnosed with scoliosis as a child and following surgery at 11 years of age she is now competing with the best in the world. In the women’s event in Beijing 2022 there are 31 spots on offer.
SPORT EVENT/ATHLETE/NAME/DETAILS
Alpine Skiing Slalom/Giant Slalom/Super G Tess Arbez - Carlow/France
Slalom/Giant Slalom/Super G Emma Ryan - Dublin/Longford/USA
Slalom/Giant Slalom/Super G Elle Murphy - Dublin/USA
Luge Luge Elsa Desmond - Cavan/Cork/UK
Parallel Giant Slalom Maggie Carrigan - USA
SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
Ceremony All Opening Ceremony 04-Feb
Alpine Skiing Female Giant Slalom 07-Feb
Luge Elsa Desmond Run 1 & 2 07-Feb
Snowboard Maggie Rose Carrigan Parallel Giant Slalom 08-Feb
Luge Elsa Desmond Run 3 & 4 08-Feb
Alpine Skiing Female Slalom Run 1&2 09-Feb
Alpine Skiing Female Super G 11-Feb
Alpine Skiing Female Downhill 15-Feb
Alpine Skiing Female Alpine Combined Downhill 17-Feb
Ceremony All Closing Ceremony 20-Feb
