The Olympic Federation of Ireland is currently investigating the possibility of a move from its base in Howth onto the Sport Ireland Campus.
The latest iteration of the Campus Master Plan is expected to be published shortly with high hopes of firm planning on the construction of an indoor velodrome and Badminton Centre.
With Sport Ireland already on-site at Abbottstown House and the majority of sporting National Governing Bodies already in situ, it would make sense to have the Olympic body there as well.
The saving in costs and more importantly the fostering of greater levels of cooperation would be well worth the initial cost of a move.
In an update on Olympic Qualification issued yesterday, the OFI said that “The Campus master plan will be published shortly, and we are working closely with the Department on looking at appropriate solutions to meet our needs as an organisation.”
“There would be many positives associated with bringing the Olympic rings on the campus alongside so many of our sports.”
In updates on the potential qualification and preparation of Ireland’s Olympic hopefuls:
Badminton
Team Ireland Badminton players are currently in the middle of a training block from home, with the Olympic qualifiers resuming again in March. Currently, Men’s Singles player Nhat Nguyen is sitting within the qualification cut off for Tokyo, and Mixed Doubles Chloe and Sam Magee are just outside it.
Equestrian
The long list for Tokyo’s Eventing team has been named by Horse Sport Ireland’s Eventing High-Performance Director Sally Corscadden. The strong list includes five Olympians and the World Equestrian Games Silver Medal winning team.
Golf
While Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire enjoy a few more weeks of a break on the LPGA Tour, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy have got their 2021 season underway at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship.
Hockey
The Ireland Women’s Hockey Team have returned from Murcia after a short warm-weather camp which saw them take on Spain in a series of friendly matches. In December Coach Sean Dancer announced a reduced panel of 23 athletes who would be competing in 2021.
Beijing Winter Olympic Updates
On the 4th February 2021, it will be 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.
Ice Skating
Young, up and coming ice skater Liam O’Brien is set to make his ISU Championship debut for Ireland this weekend at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Gdansk, Poland.
Luge
In December we welcomed four new member federations to the OFI, including the Irish Luge Federation. Earlier this month Ireland’s first female athlete to compete internationally in Luge, Elsa Desmond, finished 27th at the 2021 European Championships.
Snow Sports
Two time Olympian in Snowboarding Seamus O’Connor is competing in a World Cup event in Laax, in Switzerland. The finals will take place on Saturday 23 February, and can be followed HERE.
2021 has already been great for Cross Country skier and Olympian Thomas Maloney Westgaard who earlier this month recorded a career best top ten finish in a stage event of a FIS Cross Country World Cup. He finished ninth at the Tour de Ski in Northern Italy. Westgard competes again this weekend, in the Lahti World Cup, Finland.
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