Northern Ireland At The 2014 Winter Olympics And Paralympics | Golden Skate

Northern Ireland At The 2014 Winter Olympics And Paralympics

CaroLiza_fan

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Sorry about beating my drum yet again. But, seeing as we now have a grand total of FOUR competitors going to Sochi, I just had to create a thread!

Figure Skating:

Jenna McCorkell, 27
Coleraine, Co. Londonderry
http://www.jennamccorkell.com
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-jenna-mccorkell
Team GB
Ladies Singles

Snowboarding:

Aimee Fuller, 22
Bangor, Co. Down
http://www.aimeefuller.co.uk
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-aimee-fuller
Team GB
Women’s Slopestyle

Alpine Skiing:

Florence Bell, 17
Tandragee, Co. Armagh
http://florencebell.co.uk
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-florence-bell
Team Ireland
Women’s Slalom and Women’s Giant Slalom


Admittedly, of these three, only Jenna was born and grew up in Northern Ireland.

Aimee was born and reared in England to a Northern Irish family. They moved to America when Aimee was 12, which is where she took up snowboarding. But, they returned home to Northern Ireland when Aimee was 16.

Florence was born in England and has lived her whole life over there. Her Dad is from Tandragee, but went over to England to go to University, and stayed. Her older sister, Victoria ( http://victoriabell.co.uk ), is also an Alpine skier.


As I have mentioned quite a few times, people in Northern Ireland are automatically entitled to dual British and Irish nationality. So, our sportspeople can represent either country.

Jenna and Aimee have competed for Great Britain their whole career.

Florence (and Victoria, for that matter) used to compete for Great Britain, but switched to Ireland a few years ago. Flo was the only competitor representing Ireland at the 2012 Youth Olympics.


Additionally, we have one competitor in the Winter Paralympics.

Alpine Skiing:

Kelly Gallagher, 28
Bangor, Co. Down
http://www.kelly-gallagher.co.uk
Team GB
Women's Slalom (Visually Impaired) and Women's Giant Slalom (Visually Impaired)

Like Jenna, Kelly was born and reared over here. She is competing in the B3 partially sighted class, and her guide is Charlotte Evans, who is from Kent in England. As she is literally Kelly's eyes, it would be churlish not to include her in this discussion. So, here is a photo of them together.

In 2010, Kelly became the first person from Northern Ireland to compete in a Winter Paralympics.


During the Olympics, I will try to keep you up-to-date with how all the Northern Irish girls are getting on through this thread.

Team NI Collage

I realise that this will not be of much interest to most users of this forum. But, for a country as small as mine (and where winter sports are not a big thing), having this many entries at a Winter Olympics is a big achievement!

May the luck of the Irish be with them all!!! :biggrin:

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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It's not long now until the action starts for the Ulsterwomen! Aimee Fuller's Olympic campaign starts tomorrow morning.

Since there is no dedicated snowboad thread, here is the schedule for Aimee's events:

BBC (all times GMT)

Thursday 6th February 2014
10:30 – 12:39 SB Women’s Slopestyle Qualification

Sunday 9th February 2014
06:30 – 07:40 SB Women’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals
09:15 – 10:13 SB Women’s Slopestyle Finals


The schedule for Jenna McCorkell's events is in this post in the Figure Skating Schedule thread.

The schedule for Florence Bell's events is in this post in the Women's Alpine Skiing thread.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Carol Liza Fan!

May the Irish contingent do very well!

Thank you Doris! And I wish the same to any competitors that are from your part of the world!

Entries/Results Page
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/snowboard-ladies-sbs-qualification

Aimee starts 7th of the 23 entries.

For those that wish to watch the Women's Slopestyle Qualification, it is going to be shown on a livestream on the BBC website, and on BBCi1.

Official BBC Livestream Channel (may be geo-blocked, but I don't know)

BBCi1 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 301 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): pressing the red button on a BBC channel? (I don’t have cable, so I’m not sure)
Digital satellite (Europe):
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 45 (10.773H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: The channel you want for the snowboarding is labelled “6390”​

Both are currently showing the Men's Qualification

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Gaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

THAT WASN'T CHEMMY ALCOTT PLAYING UP TO THE CAMERA, Hazel.

THAT WAS AIMEE FULLER!!!!!

I always liked you, Hazel! But you really let me down there... :disapp:

Was pleasantly surprised to see Jenna near the front, with Penny Coomes and Stacey Kemp either side of her. :biggrin: I wasn't expecting any skaters doing the Team Event tomorrow to be at the Opening Ceremony! :eek:

And great to see Florence right in the middle of the shot when Ireland came in! :biggrin:

Good luck girls!!!

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Women's Slopestyle Semi-Final has just started

Entries/Results Page
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/snowboard-ladies-sbs-semifinals

Aimee starts in 2 runs time! (Sorry for the late post)

For those that wish to watch the Women's Slopestyle Semi, it is being shown on a livestream on the BBC website, and on BBCi2.

Official BBC Livestream Channel

BBCi2 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 302 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): pressing the red button on a BBC channel? (I don’t have cable, so I’m not sure)
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 978 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 76 (12.551V. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: The channel you want for the snowboarding is labelled “BBC RB 2

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ach, Aimee!!! :bang:

Very spectacular loop-de-loop thingy (hey, I've never watched slopestyle before this week, so I don't know the terminology!), but what a shame about the crash-landing.

But, I loved your comment before you started. You may have been brought up in England, but you certainly have the Norn Iron sense of humour! :biggrin:

Better luck in the second run

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Apologies that I have been neglecting this thread a bit, but there has been that much going on elsewhere in the Olympics that I never had a chance to update you all on the Northern Irish girls.

Not that there has been a lot to update you on! The 9th February, when Aimee was doing her Slopestyle Semi and Jenna was doing the Team Ladies FS, was actually the last time any of them were in action!

But not anymore! Florence will kick-start her Olympics today, while Jenna will have her Individual Ladies SP tomorrow.


I don't know why, but there has been a change to the schedule to the Alpine Skiing. Each run of the Giant Slalom is starting 1h 30m earlier than originally planned.

So, the first run is now starting at 05:30 GMT (instead of 07:00 GMT), with the second run now starting at 09:00 GMT (instead of 10:30 GMT)


Florence (in the green of Ireland) will start with bib 75.

GOOD LUCK FLORENCE!!!!!! :biggrin:


Anyway, it all kicks off in a few minutes. And the BBC will be showing it LIVE on BOTH the website and TV!!! :biggrin:

Here is the livestreaming link:

Official BBC Livestreaming Channel

This is NOT the same livestream page that was used for the previous competitions.

BBCi1 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 301 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 991 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 977 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 45 (10.773H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: The channel you want for the Alpine Skiing is labelled “BBC RB 1”​

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Now, back to figure skating. ;) :biggrin:

After her impressive performance in the Team Event, Coleraine's Jenna McCorkell is back in action today.

The Ladies individual competition kicks off in about 25 minutes from now with the Short Programme.

Jenna will be the fifth skater in the first group, starting at 15:34:10 GMT

GOOD LUCK JENNA!!! You did great in the Team Event last week, and I'm sure you can put on a similar performance again this week!

Here are the details of the BBC coverage:

I suspect that the BBCi1 coverage of the Figure Skating won't start until the Speed Skating is over. So, we might miss the first few figure skaters on the TV.

But, I bet they'll have switched over in time for our Jenna, at 15:34:10 GMT!!!

Anyway, the Ladies SP will kick off in about 35 minutes. And it will be available on the website from the start!

Here is the livestreaming link:

Official BBC Livestreaming Channel

This is NOT the same livestreaming channel that was used for any of the previous competitions.

BBCi1 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 301 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 991 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 977 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 45 (10.773H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: The channel you want for the skating is labelled “BBC RB 1”​

As MidnightSkater has already pointed out, the TV coverage is liable to switch to BBC2 without warning. So, have the remote handy and be prepared to flick over without any warning.

For details of how to receive BBC2, see the first post in this thread.

I'm going to be watching the Biathlon LIVE, and playing catch-up with the skating. So, I'll set the Sky to record BBC2's 16:00 - 19:30 GMT broadcast as well.

Pesky channel switching!

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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The end of the Sochi Olympics is nigh for "Team NI".

Aimee Fuller finished her Olympics 2 weeks ago;
Jenna McCorkell finished her Olympics on Wednesday;
and Florence Bell will finish her Olympics today.

The final event which will have Ulster representation is the Slalom, which starts in about 25 minutes.

Unfortunately, Tandragee's Florence Bell did not finish the First Run of the Giant Slalom on Wednesday (she was going far too hard in very iffy conditions, and ended up shooting through the air off the course when she should have been going through a gate!)

But, she will get a chance to redeem herself today, when she will be starting the Slalom with bib 73.

Here are the details of the BBC coverage:

the BBC will be showing it LIVE on BOTH the website and TV!!! :biggrin:

The First Run will be on BBCi1 from 12:40 - 14:00 GMT, and on this Livestreaming link from 12:25 GMT:

Official BBC Livestreaming Channel

The Second Run will be on BBCi1 from 16:15 - 17:15 GMT, and on this Livestreaming link from 16:05 GMT:

Official BBC Livestreaming Channel

These are NOT the same livestream pages that were used for any of the previous competitions.

BBCi1 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 301 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 991 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 977 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 45 (10.773H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: The channel you want for the Alpine Skiing is labelled “BBC RB 1

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Yipes! The Paralympics are kicking off TOMORROW with the Opening Ceremony!!!

Here is the Schedule/Results Page:
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/schedule-and-results

The UK rights for the Paralympics are held by Channel 4. Here is Ch4’s dedicated site for the Paralympics:

http://paralympics.channel4.com/index.html

As with the BBC coverage of the Olympics, the coverage of the Paralympics is being spread out between the normal TV channels and online streaming. Most of the TV coverage will be on Channel 4 itself, with coverage on More4 when Ch4 are showing other stuff. There will also be 2 streams on the Channel 4 website.

And, looking at the way the coverage is in 3 or 4 hour blocks in the schedules, it looks as if working out what is going to be shown where is going to be as confusing as it was with the BBC coverage of the Olympics! :rolleye:


Channel 4 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 4 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 104 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 104 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 41 (10.714H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: There are 6 regional variations of Channel 4 on this frequency. But, it doesn't matter which one you watch - the only difference is the adverts!​


I didn’t realise it, but Kelly Gallagher is taking in ALL the Visually Impaired Alpine Skiing events. So, it’s going to be a busy week for her!

Here is Kelly’s schedule, along with the times for the Ceremonies.


Channel 4 (all times GMT)

Friday 7th March 2014
Ch4 15:30 – 18:30 Opening Ceremony

Saturday 8th March 2014
06:00 – 0X:XX AS Women's Downhill - Visually Impaired

Monday 10th March 2014
06:00 – 0X:XX AS Women's Super-G - Visually Impaired

Wednesday 11th March 2014
05:30 – 0X:XX AS Women's Super Combined - Visually Impaired

Friday 14th March 2014
12:00 – 1X:XX AS Women's Slalom 1st Run - Visually Impaired
15:00 – 1X:XX AS Women's Slalom 2nd Run - Visually Impaired

Saturday 14th March 2014
05:30 – 0X:XX AS Women's Giant Slalom 1st Run - Visually Impaired
09:00 – 0X:XX AS Women's Giant Slalom 2nd Run - Visually Impaired

Sunday 16th March 2014
Ch4 15:30 – 17:45 Closing Ceremony


GOOD LUCK KELLY!!!!


Returning to the Olympics, and I apologise for not posting comments on performances of the Northern Irish girls in this thread as we went along, as was my intention. What actually happened was that I commented in the dedicated threads instead.

So, here are the links to the relevant comments:

Aimee Fuller Snowboard Slopestyle Qualification

Aimee Fuller Snowboard Slopestyle Semi-Final

Florence Bell Giant Slalom

Florence Bell Slalom

Jenna McCorkell assessment of performances


Incidentally, here is a very nice photo of Jenna and Aimee taken backstage at the Opening Ceremony:
https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net...720/1534759_10152220069296885_852473379_o.jpg

It's just a pity they weren't able to get Florence in the photo as well... :disapp:


EDIT: I have updated the Bibliography of newspaper reports and moved it to a new message on page 2 of this thread.

CaroLiza_fan
 

stacymichal

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CaroLiza_fan

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You know, I got a surprise when the start list for the Downhill was put up yesterday afternoon.

There are only FIVE entries!!! :eek:

Kelly will be the final starter, with bib number 5.


I just went to the Channel 4 Paralympic website to get the link for the livestreams, and I found a very interesting video. It is a guide to Alpine Skiing, presented by... Kelly Gallagher!

Kelly Gallagher explains alpine skiing events


Anyway, it all kicks off in about 15 minutes. And Channel 4 will be showing it LIVE on BOTH the website and TV!!! :biggrin:

I have to be honest - the Channel 4 Paralympic website is not as easy to follow as the BBC's Olympic equivalent! So, I hope this is the right livestreaming link:

Official Channel 4 Livestreaming Channel

At the moment, all I'm getting is a black screen. But, they are not due to come on-air until 05:45 GMT anyway, so maybe by the time I'm finished typing this there will be some life!

Channel 4 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 4 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 104 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 104 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 41 (10.714H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: There are 6 regional variations of Channel 4 on this frequency. But, it doesn't matter which one you watch - the only difference is the adverts!​

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Right, another livestreaming channel has just popped up, and it looks like it will be the right one to use for the Alpine Skiing:

Official Channel 4 Livestreaming Channel

I think the stream I posted in the previous comment is a simulcast of the Channel 4 coverage.

However, I am still just getting a black screen on all the streams, which is quite worrying. But, at least I can watch it on the TV... :biggrin:

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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I don't know what happened, but an Australian appeared on the starting list since I looked at it yesterday. So, Kelly was actually the penultimate starter rather than the final starter.

But it was not a good result for Kelly, I'm afraid. She finished 6th... and last. :disapp:

The other way of looking at it is that Kelly was second in her degree of vision class (B3). The other entry in her class, Slovakia's Henrieta FARKASOVA (who was the first starter), won the Gold Medal.

The other Team GB entrant, England's Jade ETHERINGTON, won the Silver Medal in her first Paralympics. However, after she crossed the line, Jade had a heavy crash into the barriers. We didn't get to see her getting up, but the guys in the studio said she was alright.

After the Standing Race, Channel 4 showed an interview with Jade, and she was fine and extremely excitable! So, no harm done!

And she had good reason to be happy. That Silver was Great Britain's:

first medal in Alpine Skiing;
first women's individual medal since 1984;
and first individual medal since 1994

The Bronze Medal is staying in Russia, having been won by Aleksandra FRANTCEVA.

And, can I just say: I thought it was lovely that the oldest entrant, 42-year-old American Danelle UMSTEAD, was being guided by her husband!


Better luck on Monday with the Super G, Kelly

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Just a wee reminder that there is just 10 minutes to the start of the Women's Super-G.

Kelly Gallagher is the first starter this time, and will be followed straight away by Jade Etherington.

Here is the dedicated Alpine Skiing Livestreaming link:

Official Channel 4 Livestreaming Page

And here is the livestreaming link for the Channel 4 coverage:

Official Channel 4 Livestreaming Page

All livestreams are a black screen for me, so I don't know what's wrong!


Channel 4 is available via:

Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 4 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 104 on Virgin Media
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 104 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 41 (10.714H. MBaud 22,000. FEC 5/6).
NOTE: There are 6 regional variations of Channel 4 on this frequency. But, it doesn't matter which one you watch - the only difference is the adverts!​

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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KELLY WON GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From last in the Downhill to first in the Super G!!!

Northern Ireland's first Winter Pararlympic medal - and it's gold!

I'm in floods of tears!

Well done Kelly!

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Thank you Doris! It means a lot to know that somebody is reading, and has heard the great news!


Anyway, Kelly is back in action today in the Super Combined. The first segment, the Super G, starts in about 15 minutes (06:00 GMT), while the second segment, the Slalom, starts 6 hours later (12:00 GMT)

Kelly and Charlotte start with Bib 3, while Jade and Caroline are the final starters with Bib 6.

So far, all the Alpine Skiing has been shown on Channel 4 itself and, after the success of yesterday, I would be amazed if it wasn't today! So, here is the link to the main stream:

Offficial Channel 4 Livestreaming Channel

And here is the direct Alpine Skiing link (I'm surprised that it is getting it's own stream as well, as there is also Ice Hockey, Curling and Biathlon on at the same time):

Offficial Channel 4 Livestreaming Channel

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!

THEY'RE SHOWING THE CURLING ON CHANNEL 4 :mad:

AND THE STREAM STILL ISN'T WORKING FOR ME!!! :mad:

I still can't understand why, because Channel 4 shouldn't be Geo-blocked in Northern Ireland. It must be something to do with my computer, but I don't know what! Grrrr!!!!

Oh well, at least I got to see Kelly's win yesterday! ;) :biggrin:

CaroLiza_fan
 
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