WINTER HEROES
Speed Kings remember risking lives and limbs
‘IT WAS VERY SCARY, A NUMBER OF GUYS WERE KILLED’
GERRY Macken is looking forward to catching some of the bobsleigh event at the forthcoming Winter Olympics. It will give him a chance to tell his children that he was once one of those athletes hurtling down an ice-track at break-neck speed. Even with the photos to prove it, they still find it hard to believe.
In Ireland’s Olympic history, Macken is one of the six pioneers who ventured into the great unknown in the French Alps back in 1992. Along with Pat McDonagh, Terry McHugh, the late Malachy Sheridan, Garry Power and John Farrelly, Macken was part of the two Irish bobsleigh teams that competed at the Albertville Olympics.
The story of how Macken – and McDonagh – got involved goes back to the Henley Regatta of 1986. The pair were renowned international rowers and competed in the race – ‘we actually won it,’ Macken recalls. At the end, there was an envelope waiting for both of them from a London-Irish businessman called Larry Treacy, wondering if they would be interested in representing Ireland in bobsleigh.
Treacy, whose parents hailed from Fermanagh and Kildare, had tried bobsleigh during a holiday in Switzerland and was interested in set ting up an Irish federation with a view to qualifying for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. In order to compete, athletes needed a driving licence, which was governed by the International Bobsleigh Federation (FIBT).
So, Macken and McDonagh had to go to school in Innsbruck, Austria – site of the 1976 Winter Olympics. Among those who were in the same class was Prince Albert of Monaco, who became a big supporter of the Irish team’s efforts. At the end of the first week, all the competitors had a race and the Irish team came first, ahead of the US, New Zealand and Prince Albert.
There was optimism in the Irish camp that they could do well. But there was also a bit of fear and trepidation. Crashes were common and stories of serious injuries and fatal accidents could be heard at the circuit.
‘It was scary when you were at the top of the tracks. There were a number of guys who were killed,’ Macken recalled. ‘I remember one race in Italy, when the bobs from Japan and Yugoslavia crashed in the same spot and we were next up. The race just continued.’
Bankrolled by Treacy, Macken and McDonagh joined the circuit in ’87, where the Jamaican team – later enshrined in folklore in the movie, Cool Runnings – were becoming celebrities. ‘We were competing with them, but they were much more switched on. They had merchandising and everything,’ Macken remembers.
The pair stored the bob in Islandbridge and set about trying to qualify for the ’88 Olympics. They were recording solid times on the circuit. ‘We were competitive. We wanted to be the top B nation, of the smaller nations who had only joined bobsleigh,’ Macken says.
The Irish team did enough to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Calgary. The Irish tricolour was among the flags of all the competing nations. But Ireland didn’t send any athletes. Ten days before the opening ceremony, the Olympic Council of Ireland sent a letter to the bobsleigh team, saying they wouldn’t be going to Calgary. Despite Treacy and the team going to the High Court to seek an injunction, no reason was ever given.
As the world fell in love with the charismatic Jamacians in 1988, the Irish bobsleigh team seethed at home. They vowed to make the next Olympics in France. Treacy cast his net beyond rowing towards track & field.
McHugh, the long-time Irish javelin champion, decathlete Sheridan and discus thrower Power were all convinced to join the efforts to make the Games.
McHugh was part of the Irish team at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, as was McDonagh, who told him about bobsleigh. ‘Pat was competing in rowing. He asked did I ever think about competing in bobsleigh? Pat convinced me to give it a go. There were trials in UCD a few weeks later. I went along and finished top of the trials.’
Within a few months, McHugh was at the European Championships in West Germany. ‘It was in a place called Winterberg. It was pretty surreal, especially coming from an athletics background where you train for years, striving to get the chance to compete at a major championships. But with bobsleigh, if you have the equipment, money and a small bit of training, you can get there.’ McHugh had delusions of being competitive at the time. More than 25 years on, and speaking from Switzerland, where he has lived for more than a decade, he realises that it was a major uphill task.
‘I was coaching a shot putter here in Switzerland and he was asked to join their national bobsleigh team. He finished third in his first event. That opened my eyes to how much it was equipment. It was like we were going to Mondello with an ordinary Renault,’ McHugh says.
‘But both myself and Pat were coming from backgrounds where we were competitive in our chosen sports of javelin and rowing. And we wanted to take that into bobsleigh. Obviously, we couldn’t finish in the medals or anything but we wanted to finish the top of the smaller nations.’
Following the debacle of Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards at the 1988 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee had to ensure that any athletes who qualified were able to compete. And with the continued financial support of Treacy and some donations from Pittsburgh Steelers owner [and later US ambassador to Ireland] Dan Rooney, over a couple of years, the Irish team proved themselves with some decent finishes.
Unfortunately, at the time that the two bobsleigh teams embarked on their journey to France, RTÉ were in the midst of a strike. So it didn’t make as big an impact on the national psyche as it should.
But Garry Power, who was the first reserve to the McHugh/ McDonagh combination, remembers the utter madness of the Olympic village. ‘There were so many different nations. I remember rubbing shoulders with Herschel Walker, the NFL player, who was part of the American bobsleigh team.’ The pair of McDonagh and McHugh finished 32nd out of 45 sleds while Macken and Sheridan finished in 36th. McHugh, who also represented Ireland in four summer games, says there is a bit of difference between the two Olympics.
‘The Summer Olympics are spectacular. There are over 200 nations competing,’ McHugh days. ‘The Winter Olympics is great, but it was like a bobsleigh world cup event with better food and more nations.’
Having broken down the barrier in 1992, McHugh and McDonagh were determined to build on it for the 1994 Olympics. They continued