15 hours ago
Intrepid Cormac Comerford channeling Shackleton spirit on road towards 2026 Winter Olympics
While the distance from his Italian training base to the site of next year's Winter Olympics may not be the farthest to traverse, the road towards Milano-Cortina 2026 has been a long and unlikely one for alpine skier Cormac Comerford.
If neither Fiji nor Fermanagh are hurling strongholds then it would be fair to say that Glenageary in south Dublin wouldn't be a likely cradle for a Winter Olympian.
But when next February rolls around, Comerford will feel that all the sacrifices and hardships have been worth it when he dons the green Team Ireland race suit on the alpine slopes of Bormio.
Becoming an Olympian would be the apogee of a dream that was sparked at the age of eight when he followed his parents and family friends to Kilternan for an Oktoberfest open day at Ireland's largest artificial ski slope.
"I just got obsessed. I loved any kind of outdoor sport. I was into GAA, I played with Cuala. In the summers we'd go surfing and sailing and then when I found skiing I just fell madly in love," Comerford recalls.
"We did a few ski holidays and then it just all snowballed from there. I started racing up at the ski club in Kilternan and eventually went further and further abroad to race internationally."
While he was only tackling the baby slopes in that initial introduction, an immediate and ineradicable imprint was left on his psyche.
"There's nothing like it. It's probably as close as you can get to flying without actually flying," he says of the sensation of zooming and twisting downhill at speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour.
Helpfully, 2010 Winter Olympian Shane O'Connor was also a source of inspiration, proving to him that an Irish alpine skier could compete at the highest level.
"His impact on me was huge. Seeing somebody from the local area, from Dublin, from Ireland, with no snow, no nothing, be able to go from a small 200m plastic slope to competing in the biggest races at World Championships and the Olympics, that really said a lot to me and it inspired me to really push myself and to reach that level and then also exceed that," Comerford tells RTÉ Sport.
And push himself he has most certainly had to over the last two decades. In the past, he has been candid about how far he had to penny-pinch finite resources on the road, like sleeping on bus station floors, all in a bid to keep the trajectory of becoming an Olympian on the right track.
Many would have long given up by now. But not Comerford whose spirit was never dampened, citing Kildare-born Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.
"I've always had this sense of adventure and desire to go somewhere that hasn't been before," he reasons.
"I love the story of Shackleton going down to Antarctica, going into the complete unknown and looking back on it now, they were clueless really and their preparations were terrible but he had this crazy goal to do something that was never done before and those are the stories that kind of inspired me when I was younger and the idea of an Olympics."
The burden has been lifted somewhat ahead of the Olympics, where Ireland will have a male and a female quota place each in alpine skiing.
An Olympic Federation of Ireland scholarship grant has been "a huge help, especially for the preparations for the Olympics", according to Comerford.
"That Olympic scholarship really helps boost opportunities like pre-Olympics. And that's a big thing I'll be pushing now this summer, is trying to garner more support to have a really full programme leading up to Games."
The other help has been through his day job as a mechanical engineer.
"With the support of Sport Ireland, we reached out to their network and when I graduated, I got in touch with some companies and I've been lucky enough to land a job with Atlantic Projects Company," he says.
"They're a mechanical engineering company based in Limerick. They've been really supportive. I've been able to progress in my mechanical engineering career while I have time away from snow."
Comerford is qualified for four disciplines at the Games: slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill. By his own admission, slalom would be his forte, main focus and the one he has an ambitious target for.
"That's what I've naturally kind of excelled at and that's the one where I'm ranked in the top, I think it's 5-6% in the world at the moment," he says.
"My big goal for the Olympics is I'd love to make a top 30. I'm preparing for a full Olympics and ideally a top 30, that would be a great achievement for me."
Helpfully, Comerford is based in Italy for portions of the year which means the trials and tribulations that the Olympic venue in Bormio will provide is not alien to him.
"I've been based in the winters in Italy for about seven, eight years but I usually base myself in the Dolomites area which is really great for me," he says.
"I've skied on all the slopes where the Olympics will be so that's an added advantage. I kind of know the area, I know the country, I know the culture so that'll be a big advantage going into these Games.
"Bormio, where men's alpine is going to be based, that's a serious downhill and super-G slope. It's probably considered the most dangerous downhill slope on the World Cup circuit. I think last year there were some serious injuries. So it will be demanding.
"I've raced there when I was younger in some international races on the lower section for slalom and giant slalom. So I have a bit of experience on the slope. But as far as the super-G and downhill, I haven't raced there. But we'll have some training just coming up to the races and that will be the true test."
