Just a single taxi would have been needed to ferry all the competitors on the Irish Winter Olympics team from Dublin Airport into the city centre where they were greeted by friends and family, a media scrum and a couple of Government ministers keen to ensure their support did not go unnoticed.
Anabelle Zurbay, Cormac Comerford, Ben Lynch and Thomas Maloney Westgård looked just a little bit dazed as cameras were pointed in their faces and they were quizzed on how it felt to be home and what were their plans were for the weeks, months and years ahead.
For 17-year-old Zurbray, a slalom specialist, her mind will soon be occupied with her studies, while fellow slalom skier Comerford told The Irish Times he was giving some serious thought to where on his body he might get a very special tattoo.
“I’m a junior in high school and missing the past month has been tough,” Zurbray said. “But my teachers have been pretty accommodating, apart from the fact that I have to go back and take some maths tests now.”
Anabelle Zurbay carries the flag for the Irish Winter Olympians in Cortina, Italy. Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Standing beside her was cross-country skier Maloney Westgård who had just completed his third whirl on the Olympic merry-go-round.
“I am so proud to represent Ireland on the biggest stage,” he said, describing his performance as “respectable even though I dreamed about more for sure”.
Cross-country skiing is among the most gruelling of sports, and Maloney Westgård admitted that he “kind of questioned” his life choices “when I looked at all the other sports, but I have always enjoyed being outside and pushing the limits and being physically active and suffering”.
Comerford is the only Irish-born member of the team. He started learning his craft on the snow-free slopes of Kilternan in Co Dublin. “I loved skiing from the moment I put skis on – just the thrill of going down the slope with speed, putting your skis on edge, and gliding down the mountain. There’s nothing like it.”
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He said joining Ireland’s Olympic elite was “really special, and it is only really starting to sink in.
“I’m sure the impact will be greater in the next few days, but I’m really proud and honoured to be able to say that I’m an Olympian for Ireland. All of my teammates are phenomenal and they had great performances and represent us so well, but I am really proud to come from Dublin and to be able to get to the elite level in winter sports.”
Many Olympians reward themselves with a tattoo of the Olympic rings and Comerford said he was considering his options. “My parents said they’d always kill me if I came back with a tattoo, but I think for the Olympics they could make an exception.”
Ben Lynch in action in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final at the Winter Olympics, Milano Cortina, Italy. Photograph: ©Inpho/Georgia Schofield
Ben Lynch finished eighth in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe, becoming the first Irish skier to qualify for a Winter Olympics final.
The 23-year-old said becoming an Olympian “means everything” and becoming Ireland’s first finalist had exceeded his wildest expectations. “I’m really, really proud of myself,” he said.
Lynch said his chosen discipline was among the most dangerous he could have chosen, “but that’s kind of the fun part, that’s why I love it. It’s very dangerous but I loved watching it as a kid. It’s cool. It’s a really cool sport”.
The Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, and Minister of State with special responsibility for sport Charlie McConalogue, were among those on hand to welcome home the athletes, with O’Donovan hailing them for making it to the games to represent a country that “does not get a lot of snow”. “It’s a huge achievement,” he said.