NIAMH BUFFINI
Age: 33.
Sport: WTF Taekwondo, Ireland’s only female fifth dan; Taekwondo Master under Grandmaster Ky-Tu Dang. Niamh has represented club and country at Junior World Championships; European Poomsae Championships; World Poomsae Championships; Universiade 2009, Belgrade; Universiade 2011, Shenzhen; and World University Taekwondo Championships.
Works: Performance and operations manager for Paralympics Ireland. Co-founder of South Dublin taekwondo. Last year, Niamh founded Elite Performance Consultancy.
Greatest achievement: Representing Ireland at the Junior Worlds Championships Kyorugi; Flag Bearer of the Irish Delegation at the 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen.
Niamh received a citation from Kukkiwon (the Highest Taekwondo Authority) for her contribution to Taekwondo while attending a Kukkiwon Seminar.
Motivation: “My family are my motivation. I have a five-year-old daughter.
“Knowing that I can, in some shape or form, have an influence on athlete performances on the world stage because of my experiences as an athlete, coach, and now manager.”
Biggest challenge: “Making the career transition from athlete to working in the industry. Accepting athletic retirement was very tough, but I rerouted my energy into coaching and have never looked back.”
Women in sport: “As a coach, I treat men and women the same in term of their ability and capabilities. Men and women have different ways of learning and interacting, so the softer skills need to differ slightly.
“Women in sport in Ireland have had a lot of spotlight recently — but there is a lot of room for progression. [I’d like] to see equality across men’s and women’s teams.
“I would like to see women progress themselves professionally on their own merits, and not only because they are a particular gender.”