Kiltevna native sees her Norwegian-born son set Olympic record on the slopes
The son of a Galway mother – making history this week as just the second man to ever compete in three Olympic Winter Games – got his three-pronged target off to a great start on Sunday.
Thomas Maloney Westgård, whose mother Celia Maloney is from Kiltevna in North Galway, finished his first race of three at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, with a 35th place in the Men’s 10km + 10km Skiathlon – his least preferred discipline – in a time of 49.24.6.
The Cross-Country skiing events take place in the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium just outside the town of Predazzo.
Speaking afterwards, the thirty-year-old acknowledged the race was ‘a tough one’.
“Soft conditions and quite icy and tricky in the downhills and crusty corners. So it was a really challenging course for sure. Just like it should be in the Olympics. I was a bit anxious on some of the downhill. So, yeah, I'm happy to have started the Olympics,” he said.
He was particularly delighted that his mum Celia had made the trip to Tesero.
The Galway nurse moved to the tiny island of Leka in Norway 35 years ago after she met Ove, a Norwegian dairy farmer on a sun holiday in the Canary Islands.
They married and had five children – the eldest of them is Thomas – but Ove died aged just 66, months after Thomas first skied for Ireland at the 2018 Games in Pyeonchang.
“I'm so grateful that she came here. I'm really impressed that she managed to come all the way from the remote island back in Norway by herself. So fair play to her coming out here. I saw her at the warmup and it's quite emotional,” said Thomas.
“I mean, because my father, he skied a long-distance race here in 2012, which is a popular race where many Norwegians come to race. And sadly, he passed away in 2018.
“But she sent me a message earlier today. It was quite emotional being here in my father's footsteps as well. And yeah, for sure, he's out there with me today. That's how I look on it,” he added.
Milano Cortina 2026 is a stark contrast to the Games that took place during a pandemic in Beijing 2022 – a fact not lost on the Irish skier.
“That was the best atmosphere by far that I've witnessed in my Olympic career. So fantastic. I heard my name was shouted out there and yeah, it's really cool to have good spectators and fans around the course. That's how it should be. So it's good to have the Olympic Games back in Europe,” he said.
Thomas is back in cross country skiing action in Predazzo this Friday in the 10km Free before wrapping up his Olympic programme on Saturday week, February 21, with the 50km Classic.
Pictured: Thomas Maloney Westgård...first of three events.