Thomas Maloney Westgaard finished 43rd in the 15km + 15km skiathlon in the first Irish involvement of the Winter Olympics in China.
There was a Russian one-two atop the podium as Alexander Bolshunov took home gold with Denis Spitsov behind him in the silver spot. Finland’s Iivo Niskanen secured bronze.
Speaking after the race - an event where racers complete the first 15km on classic skis and the second half freestyle on skate skis - Westgaard outlined the difficulty of the race.
“It was one of the toughest races I have ever done, and at altitude too which has a big impact in these games” he admitted. “I gave everything I could, I couldn’t really have done anything else. It was extremely tough going, so when you are halfway through you just want to finish really.
“Of course I dream of bigger places, the third spots and top thirty, but this is how it is. I am satisfied I could give everything and pull off a respectable result.”
“It is nice to be able to kick off the games for sure, I think I did it at the last Olympics too - it’s a huge honour to kick off the games for Team Ireland - and it is a huge moment for me to represent Ireland in the Cross-Country skiing at the Olympics, so I am really proud that way.”
“I just look forward to the next races. I came up to this race now without knowing really where I stood because I had no reference really since I hadn’t competed for a month when I had Covid, which had an impact.
“So I was really unsure really where my form was. It’s good to kick off with a result which I would say is okay, or good when you look at the circumstances. Of course I could have done a lot more, but hey we have two more races to go.”
Alpine Skier Jack Gower was due to compete Sunday morning in the Downhill competition, but strong winds led to the race being initially postponed for a few hours, before the decision was made to reschedule it for Monday at four am Irish time.
Monday will also see Tess Arbez compete in the Giant Slalom, and Elsa Desmond compete in Run 1 and Run 2 of the Luge.
