Irish Athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics
by Ben Patterson Kyne
Four Irish athletes will compete at the 2026 Olympics across various skiing events in Milan-Cortina. Cormac Comerford and Anabelle Zurbay will both participate in Alpine skiing, three-time winter Olympian Thomas Maloney Westgaard will take part in cross-country skiing, and Ben Lynch is in action in freestyle skiing.
The opening ceremony will commence on Friday, February 7, in the San Siro Stadium. RTÉ will broadcast the ceremony live, with coverage starting at 18:35 on the news channel. Maloney Westgaard and Zurbay are Ireland's flag bearers.
Dublin native Comerford will take part in four different men's Alpine events, Downhill, Super-G, Slalom and Giant Slalom. His busy schedule in Bormio includes Downhill on February 7 (10:30), Super G on February 11 (10:30), Giant Slalom on February 14 (first run at 9:00, second at 12:30), and Slalom on February 16 (first run at 9:00, second at 12:30).
17-year-old Zurbay, who was born in Colorado but represents Ireland because her grandmother was born just outside Moate, Co. Westmeath, will compete in the women's Giant Slalom and women's Slalom. Her Giant Slalom event begins on February 15 at 9:00 with the second run at 12:30, and the Slalom follows the same timings on February 18. All women's events are taking place in Cortina D'Ampezzo.
Norwegian-born Maloney Westgaard is taking part in his third winter games and will focus solely on cross-country skiing. He was born and grew up in the Leka Municipality in Norway, but his mother hails from Dunmore in Co. Galway. Maloney Westgaard's first event in Tesero is the 10km freestyle on February 21 at 10:45, before competing in the 50km classical on February 21 at 10:00.
Finally, Ben Lynch is Ireland's representative in freestyle, competing in the men's ski halfpipe at Livigno Snow Park in Valtellina. Lynch was born in Rathmines, Dublin, but emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, with his family when he was three. His halfpipe event is on February 20 at 18:30.
The closing ceremony is on 22 February and will be held at the Verona Arena in Verona.
