TEAM IRELAND HAS announced a squad of four athletes to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy’s Milano Cortina.
The squad, which was selected last week, is currently based in Bolzano and contains three first-time Olympians.
Norwegian-born Thomas Maloney Westgård will be competing in cross-country skiing, and is preparing for his third appearance at the Winter Olympics. Dublin native Cormac Comerford and Annabelle Zurbay will be representing Ireland on the alpine slopes while Dublin-born Ben Lynch is gearing up for the freestyle half-pipe.
All four athletes will return to their respective training bases tomorrow to complete their preparations for the Games which will get underway on Friday, 6 February.
Ireland’s athletes will be separated across four competition clusters in northern Italy for the duration of the games. Maloney Westgård will be based in Predazzo, Lynch will be in Livigno while Zurbay is heading for Cortina, and Comerford will be stationed in Bormio.
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Cross-country skiier Thomas Maloney Westgård. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE
David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
Maloney Westgård produced one of the performances of his career at the 2022 Games in Beijing, finishing 14th in the cross-country skiing 15km classic. He will be just the second Irish athlete to compete at three Winter Olympics, a feat which he says is a proud achievement.
“I didn’t know about this fact until I came here,” said Maloney Westgård whose mother is from Galway. “You don’t really think about these records, I’m just proud and happy to be representing Ireland at another Winter Olympics.
“I really love the sport and the Olympics has always been the biggest thing since I’ve been a child. I feel like I’ve been improving every year since I started professionally. I want to see how good I can be and I dream of becoming the best version of myself. I don’t feel like I’ve reached the top of the roof yet.”
Alpine skiier Cormac Comerford. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE
David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
Born in south Dublin’s Glenageary, Cormac Comerford discovered alpine skiing at the artificial ski slope in Kilternan. He has achieved the Olympic qualification standard for the last three Games but was edged out by Ireland’s selection criteria.
“A mix of pride and honour,” Comerford said after achieving selection at the fourth attempt. “It’s been a childhood dream of mine since I was very young. When I first put skis on up at the skiing club at about eight years old, I fell in love with the sport. I learned about racing, got to watch Shane O’Connor at the Olympics in 2010 and that’s when the seed was sown. It’s amazing to say I’m heading to m first Olympics.
“It’s due!”
Alpine skiier Anabelle Zurbay. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE
David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
At just 17, Annabelle Zurbay is Ireland’s youngest-ever alpine skiier. Born in Vail, Colorado, she qualifies for Ireland through her grandmother from Westmeath, and will be competing in the slalom.
“Really cool,” Zurbay said about reaching this standard at such a young age. “I’m just going to go out there, ski as fast as I can and have a lot of fun.”
Freestyle half-pipe skiier Ben Lynch. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE
David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
Ben Lynch was born in Dublin and moved to Vancouver when he was three years old. He switched international allegiance to Ireland last season. He has been nursing a knee sprain recently but says he feels confident that he will be fit in time for the Winter Olympics.
Elaborating on why he chose to declare for Ireland he said:
“One of the reasons is pride and honour involved in being from Ireland. It seemed like a really good opportunity to represent my own country. I wanted to transfer but didn’t really know how because I didn’t have a coach so I was introduced to Rex Thomas who was able to take me under his wing. He’s a great coach and it’s been going really well.”
Team Ireland Winter Olympics Squad And Schedule
6 February: Opening Ceremony – Milano (Irish in the Livigno, Cortina and Predazzo clusters)
Here are the four athletes representing Ireland at the Winter Olympics
TEAM IRELAND HAS announced a squad of four athletes to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy’s Milano Cortina.
The squad, which was selected last week, is currently based in Bolzano and contains three first-time Olympians.
Norwegian-born Thomas Maloney Westgård will be competing in cross-country skiing, and is preparing for his third appearance at the Winter Olympics. Dublin native Cormac Comerford and Annabelle Zurbay will be representing Ireland on the alpine slopes while Dublin-born Ben Lynch is gearing up for the freestyle half-pipe.
All four athletes will return to their respective training bases tomorrow to complete their preparations for the Games which will get underway on Friday, 6 February.
Ireland’s athletes will be separated across four competition clusters in northern Italy for the duration of the games. Maloney Westgård will be based in Predazzo, Lynch will be in Livigno while Zurbay is heading for Cortina, and Comerford will be stationed in Bormio.
Maloney Westgård produced one of the performances of his career at the 2022 Games in Beijing, finishing 14th in the cross-country skiing 15km classic. He will be just the second Irish athlete to compete at three Winter Olympics, a feat which he says is a proud achievement.
“I didn’t know about this fact until I came here,” said Maloney Westgård whose mother is from Galway. “You don’t really think about these records, I’m just proud and happy to be representing Ireland at another Winter Olympics.
“I really love the sport and the Olympics has always been the biggest thing since I’ve been a child. I feel like I’ve been improving every year since I started professionally. I want to see how good I can be and I dream of becoming the best version of myself. I don’t feel like I’ve reached the top of the roof yet.”
Born in south Dublin’s Glenageary, Cormac Comerford discovered alpine skiing at the artificial ski slope in Kilternan. He has achieved the Olympic qualification standard for the last three Games but was edged out by Ireland’s selection criteria.
“A mix of pride and honour,” Comerford said after achieving selection at the fourth attempt. “It’s been a childhood dream of mine since I was very young. When I first put skis on up at the skiing club at about eight years old, I fell in love with the sport. I learned about racing, got to watch Shane O’Connor at the Olympics in 2010 and that’s when the seed was sown. It’s amazing to say I’m heading to m first Olympics.
“It’s due!”
At just 17, Annabelle Zurbay is Ireland’s youngest-ever alpine skiier. Born in Vail, Colorado, she qualifies for Ireland through her grandmother from Westmeath, and will be competing in the slalom.
“Really cool,” Zurbay said about reaching this standard at such a young age. “I’m just going to go out there, ski as fast as I can and have a lot of fun.”
Ben Lynch was born in Dublin and moved to Vancouver when he was three years old. He switched international allegiance to Ireland last season. He has been nursing a knee sprain recently but says he feels confident that he will be fit in time for the Winter Olympics.
Elaborating on why he chose to declare for Ireland he said:
“One of the reasons is pride and honour involved in being from Ireland. It seemed like a really good opportunity to represent my own country. I wanted to transfer but didn’t really know how because I didn’t have a coach so I was introduced to Rex Thomas who was able to take me under his wing. He’s a great coach and it’s been going really well.”
Team Ireland Winter Olympics Squad And Schedule
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