N.I team in G. B squad
Jenna McCorkell,
women's singles, 15/09/86, Coleraine, Northern Ireland (2010 - 29th)
Jenna
McCorkell has become the single most
successful female ice skater ever to hail from Northern Ireland. She
began skating at the tender age seven in the Jet
Centre, in her home town of Coleraine,
Northern Ireland, and became the youngest ever skaters to make it onto the
National GB Squad at age 10 years. She has remained there for her entire
competitive career. By the age of 14 Jenna became the first
and only ever female skater from Ireland to compete in the World Junior
Championships, making a top 12 place in her first year. Within two years
Jenna was competing in the European and World Championships, having taken the
British Senior Ladies title for the first time, since that time she has taken
the coveted title no less than an incredible eight times in total.
Snowboarding
Aimee Fuller,
21/07/91, Belfast, Northern Ireland (first Games)
Aimee Fuller is one of the most exciting talents in
women’s snowboarding. She grew up in the South of
England, where an early passion for motocross helped her develop a fearless approach to jumps and an ability to
compete against boys twice her size. “ We’d go to these meets and it would be
me, blonde pony tail out the back of my helmet, and 30 other guys lining up at
the start!” she recalled in a recent interview
TEAM
IRELAND BIOS
FLORENCE
BELL – DOWNHILL SLALOM & GIANT SLALOM
Florence
(Flo) is almost 18 and was born
in Birmingham. She comes from a Northern Ireland
family and took up ski racing at age 12.
Within
six months she became Yorkshire, Scottish and British Indoor Champion and was then crowned European Indoor Champion.
At
13 she commenced outdoor training and joined the British Ski Academy based in
France. In 2009 she was selected for the
British Children’s Ski Team and
represented Great Britain in races in Europe and New Zealand.
Florence
then joined her sister Victoria in declaring for Ireland and has continued to
race for Ireland in premier events in Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Japan
in the build-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
She
represented Ireland at the first ever World Youth Winter Olympic Games in
Innsbruck, Austria in 2012 and at the 2013
European Youth Winter Olympics in Romania.
CONOR
LYNE – DOWNHILL SLALOM & GIANT SLALOM
Conor
makes his Winter Olympic debut in Sochi at age 21.
When
not competing around the world – from Europe to New Zealand – he lives in Logan, Utah, near the famous Beaver
Mountain ski resort.
His
father is John Lyne from Brandon, Tralee,
Co. Kerry and his mother Anna hails from Hospital, Co. Limerick.
Conor
maintains strong links with Co. Kerry and is a regular visitor to Brandon. He
has also worked in Dublin restaurants
as a waiter/server during his student breaks.
Conor
has competed for Ireland at the last two Skiing World Championships (Germany
2011 and Austria 2013).
All
his family are involved in skiing and his younger brother Sean competed for
Ireland at the European Youth Olympics in Brasov, Romania in 2013. Conor is
also an avid golf, GAA and soccer fan.
SEAMUS
O’CONNOR – SNOWBOARD HALF PIPE & SLOPESTYLE
Seamus,
at age 16, is creating quite a stir in the snowboarding world
since he declared for Ireland and
set his eyes on the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
Seamus’s
grandparents came from Drogheda and Dublin. His father Kevin grew up in England, and has spent
the last 30 years in the US. Seamus was born there.
His
mother Elena comes from Siberia, not too far from Sochi, so he will have some
strong family support at the Games.
Seamus
was raised in San Diego, California and the O’Connor family moved to Park City,
Utah to avail of the snowboarding facilities in the region.
He was
twice European Junior Half-Pipe champion at age 12 and is one of the hottest
prospects in the stunning world of snowboarding.
Seamus
already has some major sponsors behind him and is a full-time professional,
training in Colorado.
SEAN
GREENWOOD – SKELETON
Born in
Vancouver, Sean, age 26,
grew up in Western Canada and partly on the west coast of Ireland.
His
mother, Sibéal Foyle (Ní Fhoighíl) emigrated to Canada from Galway in the early 1980′s and maintains
deep family connections in Ireland. His father is Canadian, a chartered business valuator. Sean started
skeleton racing in 2008 following a sporting career in competitive rugby.
After
gaining a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary, he decided to take
the opportunity to slide at the site of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in
Whistler BC, on the world’s fastest skeleton
track.
A
commercial helicopter pilot, Sean is based in Whistler, Canada working on fitness, sled preparation and
general racing experience in order to compete for Team Ireland for four runs
against the best in the world.
To
date, Sean has performed impressively, winning
gold, silver and bronze medals in the North America’s Cup in Whistler and New
York’s Lake Placid, and at the Elektro Melcher competitions in San Moritz.
Switzerland. He recently gained a World Cup spot as a result of his 2012-13
season and is currently ranked 25th in the world.
JAN
ROSSITER – CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Jan,
age 26, was born in Cork to an Irish father and Czech mother.
He
grew up in Kingston, Ontario -a town with no ski
club.
While
completing a degree in Physiology at McGill University,
Montreal he was introduced to cross country ski racing.
He
then moved to Ottawa to complete a programme in
respiratory therapy at Algonquin College.
His
skiing accomplishments include being named MVP of the McGill University’s
Nordic Ski team, coaching this team in 2009/2010, and completing the Canadian Ski Marathon – Coureur des Bois Gold – three times.
He
has worked in the past as a cross
country ski, canoe, kayak and backpacking instructor and holds numerous
certifications in these disciplines.
Jan
lives in Kingston, Ontario and speaks English, Czech and French
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