Before Madison Corcoran lines up at the start of the canoe slalom at Vaires-sur-Marne on Saturday afternoon, a madly tricky event where anything can and often does go wrong, she’ll get a last word of advice from her father Michael, a two-time Irish Olympian in the same sport.
After finishing her K1 event, Corcoran will likely pass on some advice to her identical twin sister Michaela, who will later compete over the same course in the C1 slalom. There are advantages to having such strong family ties running through the Olympics.
No need for any sibling rival here either. The 21-year-old Corcoran sisters, who were raised in the US, compete in different boats that could easily be mistaken as near identical.
Madison specialises in the K1 kayak, seated in the boat and using a double-bladed paddle; Michaela specialises in the C1, using a single-bladed paddle to propel the boat forward while kneeling in the boat (the same boat as her father competed in at the Olympics in Barcelona ‘92 and Atlanta ‘96).
The sisters qualified for Paris on contrasting terms, Madison booking her place last October, Michaela’s spot only confirmed three weeks before Paris (through a late quota reallocation).
“I think it was really hard, when I qualified, and she was so close,” says Madison. “Even though she was happy for me. She’s always been my support. We are really, really close and, through kayaking, are sharing a lot of time travel and travel together, over the last four years.”
Michaela is older by a minute, and has always specialised in the single-paddle discipline, therefore avoiding any direct rivalry with her twin. With no other siblings, they are particularly close.
“I’d kind of let go of hope, honestly,” Michaela says. “I really thought it was over. And I think it takes a bit of pressure off, having thought I wouldn’t go at all. Now, I feel I can go and get to enjoy the experience.”
They are not alone either in sharing this special bond in Paris. Michaela and Aidan Walsh have already made Irish Olympic history in 2021 as the first sister and brother to compete in boxing, the Belfast siblings repeating that achievement here.
Athletes Jodie and Luke McCann have qualified for their first Olympics, the Dublin siblings running in the 5,000m and 1,500m respectively. There are family ties too between golf and rowing, Leona Maguire a first cousin of Ross Corrigan, part of the men’s pair in Paris.
There’s also Sophie O’Sullivan competing in the women’s 1,500m, daughter of four-time Olympian Sonia, the silver medal winner over 5,000m in Sydney 2000.
Amazingly, three other sets of Irish twins came close to making it to Paris; Daniel Wiffen’s twin Nathan wasn’t far off joining him in the 1,500m freestyle in the swimming pool; Nathan is in Paris anyway, lending his support.
Noel Hendrick’s twin Robert also qualified a boat in the canoe slalom (C1), although he missed out in the final selection race to Liam Jegou, the Tokyo Olympian back in Paris for his second Games. Noel goes in the K1.
Fintan McCarthy’s twin brother Jake also missed out in rowing, McCarthy still paired with Paul O’Donovan, who won his first lightweight silver in 2016 with his older brother Gary. Must be something about that gene pool after all.
There is Irish Olympic family history here too: in Rio in 2016, the Harte twins from Cork, Conor and David, both played on the Ireland hockey team. Back in London in 1908, another set of Cork twins Denis and Jack and their brother William all competed in the same Games, representing Great Britain and Ireland. Plenty other siblings have followed over the years, from Pat and Con O’Callaghan, to Dick and Pat Hooper.
Home for the Corcoran twins is Washington DC, and Madison makes no secret of the special backing of their father.
“He’s done very well here in America,” she says. “He’s always talking about how he came over here with just $500, was always tight on money, and started training with the US.
“He then went into making prosthetics, for amputees, and started a company with his friend from prosthetic school. They eventually got into business with the US military, that were helping the soldiers coming back from war.
“Where we grew up, it was a 10-minute walk from the river, so from age five, dad would take us out on his boat, just sitting in it, and that was always fun. Then slowly we got into kayaking, but he was never pushy, it just become an after school sport, something for fun. Then we just got more and more into it.”
The twins have taken slightly differing career paths too, Madison studying neuroscience at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, while Michaela is studying biochemistry at the University of Miami.
“Dad has always been there to give us good advice, especially if we’re nervous before a race or anything. It’s been really helpful. In our sport, I’d say 60 per cent is the preparation in training, and then 40 per cent is mental, keeping your head straight. The whole day you’re just trying to keep your focus.”
They’re not family, but Thomas Barr and his partner Kelly McGrory will both compete on the same track, and possibly even the same event, with both part of the mixed 4x400m relay, McGrory also part of the women’s 400m relay.
“It’s where we both have been aiming for and if one of us hadn’t made it, not that we would be bitter . . . [but] it would have been difficult to say ‘goodbye, good luck,’” says Barr, competing in his third Olympics. His own sister Jessie also competed in London in 2012.
“It’s so special, to be at an Olympics together. It just adds just a whole new level of depth to an Olympics, to share it with your significant other like that.”
