Forget the glamor guys. The biggest cheer of the day at the men’s downhill finish line came for a skier in a kelly-green helmet who turned a sow’s ear into a shamrock.
Paul Patrick Schwarzacher-Joyce–his skis are helpfully labeled “Paul” and “Patrick”–got his mouthful of a name courtesy of mixed Irish and Austrian parentage. The Austrian half inspired him to become Ireland’s only male alpine Olympian.
When Schwarzacher-Joyce took a tumble halfway down the course Sunday, the competitive Irish in him made him get up and finish the race 53rd and last, more than 15 seconds behind winner Fritz Strobl of Austria.
Schwarzacher-Joyce said he won’t mind if he gets a lot of exposure on highlight reels.
“That’s what the Olympics are all about,” said the 29-year-old, who trains in Austria because Ireland has only one snowless training slope. “Everybody can’t be a winner.
“I think people always like to see people enjoying what they’re doing. Sometimes I see guys coming into the finish and they’re furious, they’re banging their poles, they’re mad at themselves. People don’t want to see that. They want to see happy faces, sportsmen enjoying themselves. But it’s difficult. That’s the way [the top men] make their living.”
Last March Schwarzacher-Joyce, who is also a competitive snowboarder, crashed and tore all the ligaments in his right knee. He had the last of multiple surgeries in October.
“I’m amazed, myself, that I’m here,” said Schwarzacher-Joyce, who is studying sports science and is fully aware of the toll the sport takes on the body.
He doesn’t mingle much with the top names in the game.
“Those guys are completely professional,” he said. “The guys in the back of the field try their best, but it is a different game.”