Elsa Desmond 'ecstatic' after realising her Winter Olympic dream for Ireland

Having dreamed of the moment for as long as she can remember, Cookham's Elsa Desmond took her place at the top of the Xiaohaituo Bobsleigh course in Beijing this week and became the first Irish athlete to compete in the Luge at a Winter Olympics.

The 24-year-old former Highfield School student, who went on to qualify as a doctor from Kings College London, completed three clean runs in a combined time of 3.07.719, placing her 33rd on the leaderboard.

She was out of contention for the medals but her goal at this Games was simply to compete for her country, soak up the experience, while she hopes her story will inspire others from smaller nations like Ireland to compete in sports such as the Luge.

Desmond's first run on Monday proved to be her quickest and she admitted to a few issues going through turns two and three of the 1,065m course, however, they were minor faults and she said afterwards she was ecstatic to completed three clean runs.

Having been eliminated after her third run, the competition was eventually won by Germany's Natalie Geisenberger, ahead of her teammate Anna Berrieter. Russia’s Tatyana Ivanova won the bronze medal.

Her performances capped off a truly memorable week for the 24-year-old, who was also given the honour of being her country's flag-bearer for the opening ceremony in Beijing.

Speaking after the competition she said: “This is the second fastest time that I ever got here, there was definite issues between curve two and three. I’ve only ever got it right twice prior to this.

“It’s a section I haven’t got my head around and you get that sometimes.

“But unlike yesterday’s second run I recovered it much quicker, and I managed to relax into the sled I didn’t manage to do in the second run yesterday.

“I had a couple of taps with my feet down, but it was nothing major. It was consistent with training but a little bit quicker. I’ll take it, I finished three runs, I couldn’t be happier.”

Desmond is the first Irish athlete to finish competition, and was delighted to have ended the competition on a high,

“I’ve dreamed of this as long as I can remember and I’m here and I did it and I didn’t do anything ridiculous and end up on my face.

“Why would I not be absolutely ecstatic? I know my parents are at home watching and wish they were here and will be so proud.

“I can’t wait to talk to them, I know my mum will be in tears.”

Desmond has been challenging on the World Cup circuit on tracks in Europe and North America for the past few years while studying to become a doctor. She qualified as a medical doctor last year. Initially she had planned to compete for Great Britain but switched allegiance to Ireland after a change of coaches didn't work out for her. She is one of only six Irish athletes competing at the Games but hopes to use the experience to put her in a position to challenge further up the leaderboard at the next Winter Olympics, should she qualify.