Seamus O’Connor is the athlete best-placed to deliver glory for Ireland at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, according to the Irish Independent’s Cliona Foley.
Speaking to OTB:AM, Foley believes that American-born snowboarder O’Connor can overcome recent injury problems to put in a performance for the Irish team.
“The one to watch for me is Seamus O’Connor. He’s the guy who – at 16 – competed in Sochi, he was the youngest in the whole Olympics. He just missed making the final in Sochi.
“He did his cruciate last year – he smashed his leg badly – and he’s just back from it. It’s really interesting to see how he’s going to come back. He is doing well on the World Cup circuit.
"The one to watch, for me, is Seamus O'Connor."@ponyyelof gave us her thoughts on a blustery #PyeongChang2018 and Ireland's chances in the coming days #OTB: pic.twitter.com/ipsY7Fh9I3
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 12, 2018
“He’s cut it back to just one event now: he used to do slopestyle and half-pipe, and he’s only doing half-pipe.”
O’Connor needs to finish in the top twelve in Tuesday’s heats to make the final.
“It’s a big ask [to make the final], but this guy is really talented. He was one of the best fifteen in the world four years ago, and I would say he’s certainly one of the top twenty at the moment.”
After a catastrophic knee injury during a half-pipe event at the World Cup in New Zealand two years ago, O’Connor will do well to keep that from his mind during the event tomorrow.
You can watch Cliona’s conversation in the link above, and don’t forget to subscribe to Off the Ball’s YouTube channel here.
