Aoife Hoey (born 6 September 1983) is an Irish

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der who has competed since 2004. She finished 22nd out of 23 in the two-woman event at the 2005 FIBT World Championships in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. At , she was the tallest woman at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Bobsleigh career

Aoife and her older sister

Siobhán Siobhán is a female name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shavawn, Shebahn, Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubh ...

, teamed up in the Winter of 2002 – Aoife as pilot and Siobhain on brake. They received partial funding from the

Olympic Council of Ireland The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI () (called the Irish Olympic Council from 1920 to 1952, and the Olympic Council of Ireland from 1952 to 2018) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ireland. Athletes from Northern Ireland have the op ...

but no commercial sponsorship. Following the worst possible start to the 2005–2006 Winter season (Serious injury) they narrowly missed out on qualification for the

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

. Teaming up with new recruit Jennifer Corcoran, for the 2007–08 bobsleigh season, Hoey qualified to compete in the European Bobsleigh Cup. She competed in the first two events of the season, finishing fifth at

Igls Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

on 22 November 2007 and 14th at

Königssee The Königssee () is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Bercht ...

on 29 November 2007. Following a difficult season 2009–2010 racing in European Cup and World Cup events with brake athlete Claire Bergin, Hoey qualified for the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. She was named flagbearer for the Irish team at the opening ceremony of those games. The bobsleigh team of Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin finished in 17th place at the

. At a routine MRI scan at the Olympic village, three days before the competition, Hoey was diagnosed with

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

as well as three herniated discs in her back. She competed anyway, but announced her retirement from competitive sport shortly afterwards, to prevent further and potentially permanent spinal damage.

Athletics career

In 2005, she was Irish national outdoor 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 long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

. She also works for the

Athletics Association of Ireland Athletics Ireland, officially the ''Athletic Association of Ireland'' or AAI, is the governing body for athletics in Ireland, with athletics defined as including track and field athletics, road running, race walking, cross country running, mount ...

in the High Performance unit.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoey, Aoife 1983 births Living people Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Irish female bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Ireland Irish female triple jumpers Athletes from County Laois People from Portarlington, County Laois 21st-century Irish sportswomen