STRONG SUPER-G SHOWING ROUNDS OUT THE IRISH EYOF CAMPAIGN

YOUTH MULTI-SPORT EVENT COMES TO A CLOSE

29 January 2023 Team Ireland’s Ethan Bouchard and Eábha McKenna completed their final event on the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) schedule yesterday, competing well in the Super-G. Both competitions took place on Monte Lussari, just outside Tarvisio, on the same piste as the other Alpine races earlier this week. The EYOF is a multi-sport event that is modelled on a senior Olympic Games, and that serves as a valuable learning experience for athletes ahead of future competitions.

Speaking after the competition, Team Ireland Chef de Mission for the EYOF Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Performance Manager in the Olympic Federation of Ireland was pleased with how the athletes handled themselves all week highlighting the relevance of events like this to the development of young athletes,

“The week has been a real success for both athletes. In terms of progression, this is the first time that they have experienced a multi-sport event and a high-performance structure with us in the NOC (National Olympic Committee), and that’s hugely important. We get to teach them how to behave and keep true to their own performance in this kind of setting which has a focus on celebration. They will never have experienced anything like this.  It is all an added pressure it will stand to them as they continue their pathway through more senior events.

“Eábha is young, she’s one of the youngest athletes competing here, and she has had very little experience on the senior FIS circuit. She’s been really consistent in her performance. In fact this week, she has lowered her FIS points in both her slalom and GS. She will go away having learned a huge amount and bring confidence into the rest of the season. Ethan has been really clear all week that speed is what he wanted to do, and he definitely showed it today. For him to finish just three seconds off the Super-G winner after having that disappointment, demonstrates a huge strength and potential for the future.”

Bouchard impressed in the Boy’s Super-G, finishing just 3:18 outside the winning time, and in 35^th place overall with 1:06.93. The seventeen-year-old was disappointed with his Slalom and Giant Slalom races earlier in the week, so has happy to finish on a high,

“I struggled a bit earlier in the week, so I am glad to come down and finish in a good time in a super-fun course. I pulled some moves that I had never done before, like the pre-jump. But I thought starting back of the pack, having had a difficult week, I’d go for it.”

McKenna was competing in the Super-G for the first time at this level. The event, which is based on speed over technical ability, was a good debut, netting a time of 1:12.65 and 47^th place for one of the youngest athletes in the field. The Wicklow skier enjoyed the whole experience saying,

“It was going well and I gave myself a bit too much space at the gates. Then the jump came and I opened up and caught lots of air there. It was a lot of fun, even though I did mess up the jump! It’s been amazing here, the atmosphere is just really good. It’s really cool I got to be here and I’m happy with my results.”

The Closing Ceremony also took place last night, athletes from right across the Games gathered in the ice hockey arena in Udine for a night of celebration and where the EYOF flag was handed over to Georgia who will host the next edition of the winter EYOF in 2025.

RESULTS DAY FIVE:

ALPINE SKIING 

Ethan Bouchard – Boy’s Super-G – 35^th with 1:06.93 (+3.88)

Eábha McKenna – Girl’s Super) G – 47^th with 1:12.65 (+7.33)

This concludes the first of four events for Team Ireland this year, with the focus for the Olympic Federation of Ireland now switching to the European Games in Krakow this June, followed by the summer EYOF and the World Beach Games later this year.

For more information please contact:

Olympic Federation of Ireland Communications Manager

Heather Boyle,

heather@olympicsport.ie,

+353 87 337 1954

About the EYOF

The EYOF is a multi-sport event aimed at athletes aged 14-18 years of age, that is held every two years and is run by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) under the patronage of the IOC. Originally known as the European Youth Olympic Days, the event has been running since 1993, with the summer edition occurring since 1991.

Follow

The events will be streamed by the EOC on https://eoctv.org/live/ and as well as the Team Ireland channels, and daily releases, the event social media handles are:

Twitter with hashtag: #EYOF2023

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyof_friuliveneziagiulia_2023/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eyof2023

Photography

Photography will be available FOC via Sportsfile, photographer Eóin Noonan.

Athletes

 

WICKLOW’S MCKENNA STEPS UP IN FIRST MAJOR COMPETITION 

PROGRESSIVE RACING FROM PATHWAY ATHLETE AT EYOF IN ITALY

25 January 2023 Despite being one of the youngest athletes competing in Alpine Skiing at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), Wicklow’s Eábha McKenna stepped up in her first major competition, finishing 38^th out of 88 starters in the Girl’s Slalom with 1:46.58. The Olympic Federation of Ireland has two athletes competing in the multi-sport event that plays a key role in the pathway of athletes, providing valuable learning experiences for athletes in a high-performance setting. The EYOF is hosted by the the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy and run from the 21 – 28 January 2023.

Competing in today’s slalom event, McKenna had a solid first run, on a course with over 20 athletes marked as DNF. Determined to improve her ranking in the second run, the sixteen-year-old focused on a cleaner execution,

“It was more rutted than this morning so I knew if I kept the line and if I stayed on top I would be faster, and it worked out! I’m happy with that, these are the best in Europe, at the moment in my age group, and it’s one of the better races I’ve had. I’m glad I put down two solid runs. It’s quite a change competing here at this level, absolutely everyone here is trying to get into the World Cup eventually”

For the past five years McKenna has been working with Team Ireland head coach Giorgio Marchesini, who has been working with Irish development athletes since the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The Italian coach works on the Snow Sports Association of Ireland pathway programme, and highlights the importance of events like the EYOF for the development of young athletes,

“When they are young it is important to bring the athletes to competitions at the international level. At the EYOF, the race is the same as what they know, but the big difference is everything that surrounds it. It is more professional, there are TVs, interviews, and all the stuff the athletes meet when they go to big events like World Cups and Olympic Games.”

Marchesini emphasises the importance of creating a consistent high-performance environment for these athletes, saying,

“The path I take with the young athletes is very progressive, there is not much difference between what I said to Eábha today at the race, and what I say when we are in Andorra together. It is very important for us to start working with them when they are children. For instance, with Eábha she knows me well, she knows when it is time to talk, and when the moment is that we get more serious and concentrate. It is really important that this pathway is there for them, so they can propare to move into the senior races.”

McKenna will be in action again tomorrow, competing in the Giant Slalom.

RESULTS DAY 2: 

ALPINE SKIING 

Eábha McKenna –Girl’s Slalom – 38^th overall with 1:46.58 (+13.75), (Run 1 52^nd with 52.03)

Gold Leonie Raich (AUT) 1:32.83

Silver Laila Illig (GER) 1:33.72 (+0.89)

Bronze Moa Landstroem (SWE) 1:33.74 (+0.91)

SCHEDULE THURSDAY 26^th JANUARY 2023 (Irish time)

ALPINE SKIING

09:00 Eábha McKenna (bib 64) – Girl’s Giant Slalom Run 1

12:15 Eábha McKenna – Girl’s Giant Slalom Run 2

All events are live streamed HERE, and can be followed HERE.