Team Ireland at the Winter Olympics

From the small town of Vetraz Monthoux in France’s Haute Savoie, close to the Swiss border, to the tiny island municipality of Leka on the coast of middle Norway, the Irish team of five athletes for the 2018 Winter Olympics certainly have varied backgrounds.

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Seamus O’Connor
Event: Snowboarding
Has already competed for Ireland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the men’s halfpipe and men’s slopestyle events, at age 16 the youngest competitor in those events. Finished 10th in the men’s Snowboard Slopestyle 2015 World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria. He got into snowboarding first through skiing and started snowboarding at the age of four. A keen traveller, his mother is Russian and father is Irish/English, also finished 2nd in the halfpipe competition at the 2015 Burton High Fives in Wanaka, new Zealand.
First in action: Tuesday, 13 February

Thomas Westgard
Hails from the small island of called Leka on the coast of Middle-Norway with less than 600 inhabitants, his mother hailing from Dunmore near Tuam. She meet his Norwegian father on holiday in the Canaries, then moved to Norway. Westgard has previously competed for Ireland at the FIS Nordic World Championships 2017 in Lahti, and achieved the A-standard for Pyeongchang last year.
First in action: Sunday, 11 February

Tess Arbez
Previously selected as part of Team Ireland in the 2017 Alpine World Championships in St Moritz, where she came through both qualifying races in Giant Slalom and Slalom to compete in the championship races, finishing 52nd in Slalom and 59th in Giant Slalom. Her grandfather hails from Carlow, the Irish connection being on her mother’s side, while her father wa a French-Italian skier. She now mostly trains with Orsatus, a team with several international racers based in Brides les Bains. Also finished 20th in the Giant Slalom at the Winter European Youth Olympic Festival in 2015 in Liechtenstein, where she was the flag-bearer
First in action: Monday, 12 February

Brendan ‘Bubba’ Newby
Started skiing when he was just four years old, coming from a family of skiing, while also keen on kayaking, fishing, mountain biking, camping/backpacking, snowmobiling, and scuba Diving. Newby won the USASA Nationals Overall category two years in a row; finished in 25th place at the 2017 SFR Tour, in Tignes France and also at the 2017 FIS World Championships.
First in action: Tuesday, 20 February

Patrick McMillan
In another lifetime McMillan might be plying his trade at the Aviva Stadium, having played rugby up until age 19, including the Leinster under-19 squad alongside the likes of Tadhg Furlong. Turned to skiing in 2012 after a family skiing holiday and hasn’t looked back, representing Ireland at the last two Alpine Ski World Championships. Currently ranked 340th in the FIS World Downhill ranking.
First in action: Sunday, 11 February

Thu Feb 08 2018 - 16:28

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