just back from sestriere, couple of paralympians were using the slalom course installed forthe 06 olympics to train on.
pretty depressing to get overtaken by a guy with one leg and skis strapped to his arms.
there’s a few qualifiers from kilternan that might surprise people, but i seriously doubt there’ll be anyone in the running for a medal.
Who was that dude who came 4th for Ireland in a Winter Olympics event one time? I think he was gentry like myself, a minor baron or something.
It’s never too late to brush up on your curling technique. The great thing about it is it’s a sport that men and wonen can compete equally at. I’ll never forget Rhona Cameron and her team literally sweep to victory for a memorable British gold medal back in 2002. Too late this time but maybe some of the roadsweepers out around Moyross could form a team and aim for 2014. With the Munster rugby team’s age profile rapidly heading for the wrong side of 30 and the Limerick hurlers showing no sign of emerging from their current turmoil any time this decade, the time may be right for Limerick to become a hotbed (not literally, that would melt the ice) of curling.
the aforementioned wrotters i think you’re referring to?
see evo’s last post.
http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/media/images/c/claireberginandaoifehoey.jpg
The women’s bobsleigh team of Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin were among the athletes named today by the Olympic Council of Ireland to represent Ireland at next month’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Hoey and Bergin will make Irish sporting history by becoming the first Irish women to compete in bobsleigh at a Winter Olympics.
Pat Shannon will compete in the men’s skeleton bobsleigh, Kirsty McGarry in the women’s alpine slalom, Shane O’Connor in the men’s alpine slalom and PJ Barron in the men’s 15k cross country skiing.
Leona Byrne was named as an alternate brakewoman for the women’s bobsleigh.
Siobhan Hoey is the team’s chef de mission for the Games which run from February 12-28 and Olympic Council of Ireland chief executive officer Stephen Martin said he was looking forward to “many strong performances”.
[quote=“The Runt”]http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/media/images/c/claireberginandaoifehoey.jpg
The women’s bobsleigh team of Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin were among the athletes named today by the Olympic Council of Ireland to represent Ireland at next month’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Hoey and Bergin will make Irish sporting history by becoming the first Irish women to compete in bobsleigh at a Winter Olympics.
Pat Shannon will compete in the men’s skeleton bobsleigh, Kirsty McGarry in the women’s alpine slalom, Shane O’Connor in the men’s alpine slalom and PJ Barron in the men’s 15k cross country skiing.
Leona Byrne was named as an alternate brakewoman for the women’s bobsleigh.
Siobhan Hoey is the team’s chef de mission for the Games which run from February 12-28 and Olympic Council of Ireland chief executive officer Stephen Martin said he was looking forward to “many strong performances”.[/QUOTE]
Looks like the ex rower Paul Griffin was beaten by Barron to the spot on the team.
Depressed enough at the moment- back from France and some cracking skiing. Still though heading out again in 7/52 so all’s not lost
Glad to see we announced our largest ever Winter Olympics team today. Those Bobsleigh ladies are actually pretty decent. They qualified as one of the top 20 teams in the world and not just as some charity case.
One of Ireland’s all time greatest atheletes Terry McHugh was on the radio there- an absolute legend. Olympian in winter and summer games. Mr Barron by all accounts is a long long way behind the competition, fair play to him for qualifying but he won’t be within an arses roar of being competitive. Good luck to him and the rest though
Missed the Hahnenkahm on Sunday but heard the result- Cuche won downhill and Super G. Clearly favourite for the blue riband event of the Olympics now. I’m getting worried about Bode now, 9th just isn’t good enough.
That tosser Ian Dempsey is in Austria at the moment, its almost enough to put you off Wintersports
Ghana’s ‘snow leopard’ off to the Winter Olympics
By Nikki Jecks
BBC World Service
Ghana’s first professional skier, who honed his skills on an artificial slope in the UK, has qualified to compete in next year’s Winter Olympics.
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong was born in the Scottish city of Glasgow but he grew up in Ghana’s snowless capital, Accra.
But through a mix of perseverance and good fortune, the “snow leopard”, as he likes to be referred to, is now so good he’ll be the one-man Ghanaian ski team in Vancouver’s Winter Olympics in 2010.
So how does he rate his chances?
“Very far,” he says with a laugh in his voice.
“My [hope] is to ski very well and prove to people that I deserve to be on the hill, with the other top world class athletes.”
So how did someone from Ghana, a country renowned for its tropical climate not ski-slopes or powder-soft snow, come to set himself such an ambitious goal?
Unlikely start
Nkrumah-Acheampong first learnt to ski on artificial slopes in the UK just four years ago after he returned to the country to study.
It was snowing as he landed at London’s Heathrow Airport - perhaps an early good omen of what was to come.
I think now I can stand up and say it’s possible
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong
Nkrumah-Acheampong took up the sport after getting a job as a receptionist at a skiing centre in Milton Keynes where he had free access to the artificial slope.
“It’s an extreme sport and I’ve always liked challenges and it was more difficult than the traditional sports I was used to,” he told the BBC World Service.
From there he says, it was a natural progression to the slopes of a real mountain.
“I just wanted to see if I could actually cut it on the real thing,” he explains.
He describes his first time out on real snow as “terrifying”, but he persisted and with the help of his coach Dave Jacobs, has more than managed to conquer his fears.
“My coach told me just to avoid any embarrassment. I shouldn’t try to turn, I should just go straight down, so that’s what I did, straight down,” he says, describing his first downhill run.
Even though he was ridiculed when he first took to the slopes, Nkrumah-Acheampong’s passion and perseverance have taken him far.
Qualifying
To qualify for the Olympic Games, skiers need to get their personal rating down to between 120-140 World Ski Federation points.
These are worked out after each competitive race - the nearer a skier finishes to the winner, the more points are deducted from their score.
Nkrumah-Acheampong started out with a rating of 1,000 and has steadily brought his tally down.
He finally made it below the magical 140 point barrier after skiing in the Italian Alps this winter.
His place in next year’s Winter Olympics is now guaranteed.
“It has taken me about four years, because I missed the [2006 Winter Olympics in Turin]… so its been a tough journey but I’m glad all the hard work has paid off.”
Nkrumah-Acheampong has had a lot of support throughout his relatively short career from his family and from his community back home.
But he admits he did come up against some scepticism from people when he first announced his ambition.
The idea of a black man from Africa on the ski slopes was too much of a novelty for some.
But he has remained focused on his goal throughout.
“Some people where sceptical, others just did not believe that it was possible to train in such a short period of time and try and qualify, but I think now I can stand up and say it’s possible,” he says.
Now that scepticism has turned to pride as he becomes the first Ghanaian to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
“I think now people are going to sit up and say, OK, well he’s done it this time, he’s qualified and definitely we are going to see the Ghanaian flag in Vancouver.”
Package Holiday shite: wouldn’t bother most I’d say
anyway WB did you find it colder this year?
(Off to Trysil next weekend and was wondering re Apres packing)
Ta
No found it actually mild enough this year
Decent sun out most days- had to use the sun cream
I was in France however- Trysil would be a different story
Expensive and -8 according to today’s weather
Enjoy
This is our 2nd yr going to Trysil
No sun cream needed there tho’
Can’t wait
Is there decent apres?
I always head to a small village where my sis lives, nightlife there is watching a DVD with the nephews or playing on the Wii
Not bad, but in Norway consumption in monitored very closely, so getting rat-arsed is unlikey.
Serious Sking tho’
From the boarders that sit down to dinner in body armour to the cross county headers flaking up the slopes.
There’s a bar there where there is security watching the kit.
Anyway, I doubt we’ll ever go to Western Europe again.
Late objection threatens to put skids on bobsleigh team’s dream
By Cliona Foley
http://www.independent.ie/multimedia/archive/00501/bobsleigh_i_501906t.jpg
Monday February 08 2010
IRELAND’S women’s bobsleigh team, already in Vancouver preparing for the start of the Winter Olympics in three days, are anxiously awaiting the result of a meeting there tonight that could prevent them from competing.
After the qualifying series, the Irish team of Laois’s Aoife Hoey and her Dublin teammate Claire Bergin made history by taking the last qualifying spot (20th), but their involvement is under threat after a bizarre late objection from Australia.
Last week, when one of the Austrian teams withdrew, Ireland were moved into 19th place and Japan were given the spare competition spot.
Arguing
Australia are arguing that because Japan were given a place as the leading team in Asia, then their team should also get a place as the leading team in their qualifying region – Oceania.
They have submitted a detailed case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and, if they are successful, could replace Ireland; although if the CAS finds in their favour, they could also recommend the Australians be included as a 21st team and Ireland would not lose out. The CAS is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, but always sets up a temporary office at major international sporting events to act as an independent arbitrator.
Its members are meeting on the issue in downtown Vancouver, Canada, tonight, where Pat Hickey, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, and a team of lawyers will be representing Ireland.
After the qualification series, the Irish team emerged with higher qualification points than Australia, and it is understood that this will form part of their argument as they insist that their qualifying status must remain untouched.
Well hello the blonde…
Fucking Australians
Don’t fret fellow winter sports lovers, Pat Hickey, barrack room lawyer, is in situ in Vancouver and will ensure our ladies keep their place
Read a piece yesterday where the driver said that they reached speeds of 144km. I think they have only slid from the top once so far on this track. Keep up the training ladies
Pat defended our ladies place and even though the whinging Ozzies got our place we were allowed to compete as a 21st team (maybe the FAI weren’t so nuts after all…) Now however the Brazilians are looking for our place. They are complaining that we entered the World Cup qualifying late and shouldn’t have been allowed into the qualifying competition. Despite their late entry our brave girls still took a legitimate spot through this qualifying process.
We should find a few containers of imported Brazilian beef and set fire to them, Single men could also boycott waxed women.
We shouldn’t take this lying down.
I see Simon Ammann won the gold for Switzerland in the ski jump. Poor showing from the Finns. That won’t go down well back home. Ski Jumping & Javelin are the only sports that really matter in Finland.
How did East Germany’s Jens Weissflog do in this?
Is Alberto “La Bomba” Tomba going the slalom this time?
And are the Bell brothers skiing in the downhill?
No comment on the poor Georgian who died in the luge warm ups. Shocking omission from our Winter Sports Expert.
