For Cormac Comerford, crowdfunding is the main reason he’s made it to the Winter Olympic games, relying on people to fund his bid to get to the games, after the cost of his safety equipment simply amounted to too much. He made his Olympic debut on Saturday, finishing last out of the skiers who finished the men’s downhill, but Comerford saw the positive signs of the result, saying that he was “pleased overall” with his run, considering the fact that Comerford had a fall in preparation for the race on Wednesday on the treacherous Stelvio slope.
Comerford is down to race at three more events in these Games; the Super-G on Wednesday, before taking on the Giant Slalom and Slalom on Saturday and Monday, respectively. As it so happens, the slalom is his preferred discipline, but he’ll face stiff competition trying to win Ireland’s first Winter Olympic medals. Comerford was 12 seconds behind the eventual Gold Medallist in the Men’s Downhill, the Swiss athlete Franjo von Allmen, who became Olympic Champion with a time of 1:51.61. For comparison, Comerford had a time of 2:04.40. There are three other Irish Olympians in the Games, as the Emerald Isle tries to obtain Olympic silverware for the first time.
