Racing skater aiming for Olympics medal dream

"It's something very special."

Warwickshire's Niall Treacy, 25, is in Milan-Cortina for the 2026 Winter Olympics, something he said is a "dream".

"To finally get the call and find out you're going is just a massive relief," he added.

This will be Treacy's second Olympics after he competed in the 2022 Beijing competition, where he finished 27th in the men's 1,000m short track speed skating.

Treacy, who learnt the sport in Solihull, described his excitement ahead of the competition: "It's obviously something you dream of from quite early in your career. I can't wait till we get out racing."

Originally from Henley-in-Arden, he went on from his Beijing performance to claim silver in the same event at the 2024 European Short Track Championships before taking bronze, external in the Beijing leg of the 2024 World Tour.

"A medal will help raise the profile of the sport massively in the UK, which is what I really want," he said.

Short track is the more unruly younger brother of speed skating and, while speed skaters compete in separate lanes and against the clock, in short track everyone races together on the same stretch of ice.

The rink is smaller too, meaning there can be spectacular crashes as the skaters do all they can to finish ahead of the pack - the only thing they have to worry about is finishing ahead of their rivals.

Treacy took up the sport after watching his brothers Farrell and Ethan training when he was a child.

"We had to wait until he was just about old enough so it was safe for him, but he really took to it, he really enjoyed it" said his former coach, Tom Iveson, from Mohawks Ice Racing Club at Planet Ice, Solihull.

As a former Olympian himself, Iveson said he was feeling nervous on behalf of Treacy.

"Just the excitement and the butterflies will be nothing compared to what he's feeling, but he's out there keeping it control," he said.

"He's gone through the ranks, skated in British championships, in European competitions and now he's been skating in world competitions, winning medals, so we've really got our fingers crossed for him."

Treacy begins his campaign in the 1,000m event on Tuesday.

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