Ireland sends first luge athlete, a doctor, to Beijing Winter Olympics

LONDON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Elsa Desmond has become Ireland's first Olympic luge athlete in Beijing.

As a doctor, the 24-year-old said she "should know better" chasing her dream of becoming an Olympic athlete in luge - the fastest sport on ice - at the relatively late age of 18, while also pursuing a career in medicine.

When she lines up at the Yanqing National Sliding Center luge track, she will be competing against many luge athletes in Europe who started learning this physically and mentally demanding sport from as young as six years old.

Desmond has been studying medicine at Kings College, London while competing and training abroad, finally qualifying online during the International Luge Federation's World Cup circuit.

"I was always revising, sometimes writing essays in the car between tracks," she said. "I would often have my study cards and revision notes with me in the 'start houses' before races."

After competing in Beijing at her first Olympics, she will be heading back to her first medical internship at Southend University Hospital.

Desmond fell in love with luge while watching the Turin 2006 Olympics on television. She noted that despite this discipline being so exciting, there were no women from Britain or Ireland competing.

She finally set foot for the first time on a luge track aged 16 in Innsbruck, Austria, and never looked back.

Desmond is now waiting impatiently for the Beijing 2022 Olympic opening ceremony. This will be an emotional moment for the British-born daughter of a father and grandparents from Ireland, which has welcomed her with open arms as its first luge athlete in Olympic history.

"I would not be surprised if I cry a lot. This has been a goal for as long as I can remember. To get to the Olympics, this is such a huge thing for me."