I was watching figure skating in the Winter Olympics and I said to my mom, ‘I want to be an Olympian’,” he told me. “I remember them so clearly.”He is part of a steadily growing cohort pushing winter sport into the national conversation. But if there is one thing every Irish winter athlete has in abundance, it’s resilience in the face of unlikely odds. Many Irish winter athletes self-fund or rely on family support or connections to get sponsorships. The idea of Irish kids being coached by an internationally renowned Irish figure skater is almost reason enough to build one.

Source: Irish Examiner February 07, 2026 04:00 UTC