Action at the European Games in Krakow, Poland, kicks off this morning with Athletics in the format of the European Team Championships.
Over the past few days, Team Ireland athletes have started to arrive and settle into the Athletes’ Village and accommodation ahead of their competition.
The Irish team is supported by a strong ‘Team Behind the Team’, with the strength of the relationships between the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sport Ireland Institute and Sport Northern Ireland integral to the effective operation of the team.
The 121 athletes on the ground for Team Ireland at the European Games, will be supported by a performance team of seventeen from across all three organisations, which is in addition to their National Federation performance staff. This group is responsible for a range of specialist areas from medical support to physiotherapy, nutrition, physiology, and operational logistics.
“The European Games is an important event for athletes on many levels,” said Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Krakow 2023, Gavin Noble.
“In order for this team to perform to the best of their ability it is crucial that they are supported by a strong team behind their team.”
“To that end we are pleased to once again have a strong team of professionals who will make their job easier on the ground, and the strong working relationship that we have Sport Ireland Institute ensures that there is continuity of support for many of the athletes, while also allowing new athletes and sports the opportunity to benefit from the leaders in performance support in Ireland.”
“As the Official Performance Support Delivery Partner for Team Ireland, Sport Ireland Institute is delighted to be providing comprehensive support to the athletes and coaches as they seek to achieve their performance goals over the coming days in Krakow,” added Sport Ireland Institute CEO, Liam Harbison.
“The Institute team, led by Deputy Chef de Mission, Phil Moore, have worked closely with the OFI and the NGBs to ensure the preparation for these Games will be top-class, and provide a great testbed for our plans to deliver for Team Ireland at Paris 2024.”
While the coming twelve days will see a busy schedule across the seventeen sports contested by Irish athletes, today’s programme features only Athletics, with the main aim of the team being to move out of the Division 3 category.
However, many athletes within the team will hold a dual objective of achieving competitive scores that will see them ranked high once all Athletics competition is finished on the 26th of June. The format of the competition will see each division competing separately, with the medals being decided following the final competition, which will be with the Division 1 athletes.
Not then quite as we would be used to in major competition but it should be entertaining nevertheless.
RTÉ have the rights to the Games but do not appear to be covering the early rounds and we still await confirmation of the extent of the coverage which will increase as the Games progress.
To see the Team Ireland athletes who will be competing click here.
Those travelling in support of the team are as follows:
Team Behind the Team:
PERFORMANCE TEAM:
Chef de Mission: Gavin Noble
Deputy Chef de Mission: Nancy Chillingworth
Deputy Chef de Mission: Phil Moore
Chief Medical Officer: Dr. James O’Donovan
Head of Physiotherapy: Sarah Jane McDonnell
Head of Sport Science: Sharon Madigan
Sport Director: Martin Burke
Head of Operations: Linda O’Reilly
Village Operations: Alex Bocsi
Village Operations: Ed Wyeth
Village Operations: Teresa Rudd
Holding Camp: Mark MacNamee
Medical: Dr. Valerie Hayes
Medical: Dr. Louise O’Connell
Physiotherapy: Ciara McCallion
Physiotherapy: Niall Ward
Psychology: Jo-Anne Browne
MEDIA TEAM:
Head of Media: Heather Boyle
Media Team: Kieran Jackson
Media Team: Trish Mayon
Media Team: Rory Cassidy
Media Team: Clara O’Brien
Media Team: Sinead Naughton
Creative Agency: Georgie Francis, Inform Sport Media
COMMERCIAL TEAM:
Commercial Director: Catherine Tiernan
Sponsorship and Events: Ciara Lyons
