Irish Student Athletes to Compete at FISU Winter Games

Student Sport Ireland is pleased to announce a team of five students to compete at the 31st edition of the FISU World University Winter Games to be held in Lake Placid, United States of America, next month.

The team features two sets of siblings, sisters Elle Kate and Kailey Murphy, and sister and brother Emma Ryan and Matt Ryan and who are joined by Zachary Roman. The team will be led by Head of Delegation Seamus O’Connor, a three-time Winter Olympian in the Snowboard Half Pipe.

All five student athletes study in the United States; Emma and Matt Ryan attend Harvard University, Elle Kate Murphy is a student at the University of Nevada, Kailey Murphy is a student at University of Colorado, while Zachary Roman attends Babson College.

The Irish students will compete in a mixture of alpine skiing events, including slalom and giant slalom. All five athletes have previously competed in European Youth Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games or Junior World Championships in the past with all fully involved in their respective universities’ ski programs.

The biennial World University Winter Games, coordinated by FISU (the International University Sports Federation), is back after the 2021 Games, scheduled to be hosted by the Swiss City of Lucerne, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lake Placid becomes the first venue to host a second Winter Games after hosting previously in 1972.

Student Sport Ireland President Mr Matthew Dossett wished the travelling delegation the best of luck, “We are thrilled to see a team of five athletes travelling to the World University Winter Games in Lake Placid in January, it’s a great opportunity for high performance athletes to perform at the highest level during their higher education, on behalf of Student Sport Ireland, I wish the team and their team manager Seamus O’Connor the very best on the slopes in the USA”.

The Snowsports Association of Ireland have worked with Student Sport Ireland over recent months in the athlete selection process and its Operations Director Mr Derek Bolger said “We are delighted that the 31st edition of the Winter Universiade will be held in January 2023 in Lake Placid, New York. Snowsports Association of Ireland has nominated (five) 5 Alpine Skiers to participate at the event. We wish Seamus and the team every success at the Games and thank the athletes for their participation. We also wish to thank Student Sport Ireland for their continued support” said Mr. Bolger.”.

The 31st FISU World University Winter Games gets underway on January 12th.