Siobhán Hoey (born 17 July 1970) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportswoman from Portarlington,

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

. She has competed in both

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

and

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

Athletics career

Hoey's junior athletics career saw her focus on sprinting and long jumping. As a senior athlete she was national junior long jump champion and record holder both indoor and outdoor. From 1993 to 2000, she was national champion in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, and also national indoor champion (1993, 1996–1999). Hoey was national

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

champion in 1989. She was the first Irish record holder for the women's triple jump. In inter-varsity competition competing for

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD), she won golds in the long jump, triple jump,

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and the two sprint relays. In 1992–1993 Hoey captained the UCD women's squad both in Ireland and at events in Belgium and America. She was also selected captain of the Irish women's Europa Cup team.

Bobsleigh career

In 1999, Hoey and sister,

Aoife Aoife ( , ) is an Irish feminine given name. The name is probably derived from the Irish Gaelic ''aoibh'', which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the Gaulish name ''Esvios'' (Latinized ''Esuvius'', feminine ''Esuvia''), which ...

, were selected for Ireland's first women's

team however as she was under-age, Aoife couldn't compete. Hoey became the first Irish woman to drive a bobsleigh at bob school in Lillehammer, Norway. As brake athlete, she competed in European Cup events with sled pilot Audrey Garland (winner of the famed British Gladiator competition) in Lillehammer and Igls, Austria (2000). Sheesley Fitzgerald were the first Irish women to compete at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympic ...

, doing so at

Calgary, Canada Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, making ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. She, Lesley and Aoife competed in European Cup and World Cup events in their bid to qualify for the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. In 2001–2002 she took a year off from being a teacher in Dublin while Aoife took a study break. The sisters received partial funding from the

Olympic Council of Ireland The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI ( ga, Cónaidhm Oilimpeach na hÉireann) (called the Irish Olympic Council until 1952 and the Olympic Council of Ireland until 2018) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the island of Ireland. At ...

but no commercial sponsorship. Following the Games in 2002, the Hoey sisters teamed up; Aoife in the driving seat and Siobhain as brake athlete. Together the sisters contested European Cup and World Cup events, and the European and World Championships. The sisters placed 13th in the FIBT World Championships in Koenigssee, Germany and placed among the medals in European start championships. Their bid for qualification for the 2006 games got off to a disastrous start when Siobhán was badly injured in a freak accident in the ice house at Calgary, Canada. Mid-training, her heel was hit by the sled runner and cut right through to the Achilles tendon. She had to compete in both the Calgary and Lake Placid events with her foot stitched. The remaining events of the World Cup circuit went well, however the team missed qualification for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

.Irish Winter Olympics team to be announced
, ''

Morning Ireland ''Morning Ireland'' is the breakfast news programme broadcast by RTÉ Radio 1 in Ireland and is noted as that country's most listened to radio programme. It is broadcast each weekday morning between 07.00 and 09.00 and alternate items are normall ...

'' (

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

), 26 January 2006. Following the last qualification event in Koenigssee, Germany in January 2006, Hoey retired from the sport. As an officer of the IBSA she has worked with young athletes. Recruiting

David Connolly David James Connolly (born 6 June 1977) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for various clubs including Feyenoord and Excelsior in the Netherlands as well as Wigan Athletic and Sunderland in the Premier Leagu ...

who qualified in the

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

event for the Torino Games 2006 and Patrick Shannon who qualified in Skeleton for the Vancouver Games 2010. Recruiting and coaching Jennifer Corcoran, who medalled with Aoife Hoey in the bobsleigh World Junior Championships, and Claire Bergin who partnered Aoife for the Vancouver Games 2010. In acknowledgement of her contribution to Irish winter sport, Siobhán was appointed ''chef de mission'' for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada 2010 (Siobhán was the first Irish woman to be given this role at either a Winter or Summer Games).

References

External links

Athlete profile at IAAF Athletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoey, Siobhan 1970 births Living people Irish female bobsledders Irish female triple jumpers Irish female long jumpers Sportspeople from County Laois People from Portarlington, County Laois