With just over five months to go until the Tokyo Olympic Games and one year to go until the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Irish athletes are preparing for their Olympic visits.
As qualification is still up for grabs for both the Winter and Summer games, we look below at the current status of Team Ireland.
A number of sports are currently impacted by Covid-19 level five restrictions.
Athletics
Athletics Ireland have confirmed that they have secured Government approval for an Indoor Micro Meet to take place for invited high performance athletes in the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena on 20-21 February.
This act as some replacement for the National Indoor Championships which were cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions.
Last weekend the 2019 European U-23 bronze medallist Nadia Power set a new Irish Indoor record in finishing second at the Vienna Indoor International Meeting last Saturday (Jan 30th).
Boxing
This week the Boxing Task Force announced that the European Qualifier for Tokyo would no longer take place in the UK in April, due to increased travel restrictions to and from the UK.
An update regarding this qualifier is due to be provided by the 17 February.
Last week the European Olympic Committees announced the Boxing and Shooting would once again be included on the schedule for the 2023 European Games in Krakow.
Canoe
The canoeing community have welcomed two new and exciting Olympic hopefuls to Team Ireland, in Canoe Slalom.
Madison and Michaela Corcoran have switched allegiances to Ireland after competing in the US system.
The Corcoran family is not a new one in the Canoe world; Madison and Michaela are the twin daughters of two time Olympian Mike Corcoran.
Michaela Corcoran competes in the C1 Women class, and her sister, Madison, in the K1 Women. Both will be eligible to race for Ireland at the European Championships/ Olympic Qualifier in May of this year, being held in Italy.
Recent recipient of the ‘Make a Difference’ fund, Noel Hendrick, is currently on a training camp in Ivrea in Italy, training on the course that will host the Olympic Qualifiers later this Spring. Noel is accompanied by his twin brother Robert, who qualified the spot for Ireland in slalom for the Tokyo Games.
Sailing
Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy finished fifth in the Lanzarote Regatta last week, and speaking from Lanzarote, Team Ireland Performance Director for Sailing, James O’Callaghan is pleased with the progress of the team.
Shooting
This week Shooting was announced as being on the schedule for the European Games in Krakow 2023.
Beijing Updates
The 4th of February 2021 saw it exactly one year to go until the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2021, and for Team Ireland athletes targeting qualification, competition is underway across the sports.
Luge
Elsa Desmond will be competing in St Moritz, Switzerland this weekend at the Nations Cup on 5 February 2021.
This will be the last competition of her 2020-21 season. Elsa’s father is from Cavan and her family came together to form Ireland’s first Luge Federation.
Skeleton
Brendan Doyle flies the flag for Ireland in the Skeleton. Last week he competed at the IBSF North American Cup in Park City in Utah where he won a silver medal, just 0.55 seconds off USA racer John Daly.
Snow Sports
Snow Sport athlete are currently competing around the world, their competition is listed below.
Maggie Rose Carrigan (Snowboard): World Cups: Bannoye RUS - 6/7th February PSL/PGS
Thomas Maloney Westgaard (Cross Country Skiing): Born to a Galway mother, Thomas has been in top form recently.
Alec Scott (Alpine Skiing): Europa Cups: Berchtesgaden GER 6/7th February.
