AT 36 most sportsmen are past their sell-by date and ready for retirement – but not so Malahide ski sensation Shane O'Connor who is set to race in next month's Winter Olympics!

The Irish team is due to be announced tomorrow (Wednesday), but Shane has already achieved the qualifying standard for the slalom at the Vancouver Games and been given the unofficial nod for selection.

'I'm incredibly excited,' Shane admitted, speaking from Austria at the weekend.

'It's always been a dream to walk out into the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games. Now, if I could carry the flag that would be awesome!

'I have't thought too much about how I'll perform. I like to take it one race at a time and I have three more slaloms before I leave on February 11th.'

It's a remarkable story for an Irishman to tame the toughest slopes in the world, given that the artificial facility at Kilternan is the only venue suitable for training in this country – but he was hooked on skiing from the age of five and by 18 he was on the first Irish team to compete at a World Alpine Ski Championships.

Incredibly, it would be a decade before he raced again at the Worlds – due to a lack of snow on one occasion, then various injuries, culminating in being diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 1999.

Shane recalled: 'My physio advised the best course of action was to retire from active sport. That was something of a bombshell – I was only 26 years old and still had a lot I wanted to achieve. I refused to quit so early.

'For six months I worked hard with the physios and in the gym to stabilise and strengthen my knee until I was back on the slopes and painfree.

'The following three years were the beginning of a new chapter and in 2002 I managed to convince my then employers ( Sun Microsystems) to allow me three months' leave so I could train in the US in the hope of qualifying for the World Championships.'

It worked. Shane made it to Japan and to another three Worlds in Italy, Sweden and France – but still the Winter Olympics looked to be a bridge too far.

'Every year I promised my wife I would retire at the season's end, and every year I was drawn back for reasons that are just too hard to explain.

'But 2009 was definitely to be my final year – at 35 it had to be time to hang up the ski boots. The season started very slowly for me, but deep down I knew I had much more to give and in January I had my first glimpse of what was possible with a personal best at a race in Austria.'

Incredibly, two more personal bests followed and suddenly the unthinkable – qualification for Vancouver – began to seem a realistic goal.

'In my final two races of the season late in February I went further again and scored two more PBs. Retirement was simply no longer an option as I had raised the level of ski racing in Ireland to a new high!'

Since then Shane has been totally focused on preparing for the Games, where the Alpine events will be held in the resort of Whistler. He came second in the UK Salomon Grand Prix – an indoor snowdome series – and training has taken him as far as the Arctic Circle in Finland. He is grateful to financial services company SIG – his current employers – who have been 'brilliant' in allowing him time off.

'The physical training is hard and managing the time and nutrition, and I'd almost be afraid to work out exactly how much I've spent. This season is likely to cost me between € 10,000 and € 15,000 which covers all my training and racing camps abroad, equipment, fitness training, nutrition, massage and physio and doctor expenses.

'But most of all managing family life will be hard. I am away for weeks on end and all the training and holding down a full-time job leave precious little time for family.

'As hard as I find it, I know my wife Sally finds it even harder, so I am truly grateful for her support.

'Ultimately, this is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity and we think the sacrifice is worth it.'

- Marcus CAVAROLI