MALAHIDE ski star Shane O'Connor literally flew the flag for Ireland on Sunday as the curtain came down on his remarkable Winter Olympics adventure in Vancouver. The 36-year-old, having qualified for the Games for the first time, was granted his wish as he carried the Irish tricolour during the closing ceremony.

And the honour was richly deserved, coming just 24 hours after he finished the Men's Slalom in 45th position from a start number of 89.

Weather and piste conditions at Whistler Creek were extremely testing, so much so that nearly half the 102 entrants crashed out on the first run. O'Connor, though, survived with a time of 1:00.831, some 13 seconds behind race leader and eventual winner Giuliano Razzoli and well down in 51st place.

Every one of the 48 finishers went slower on the second run as conditions deteriorated, and O'Connor's time of 1:04.312 saw him move up six places as several more competitors failed to negotiate all the gates.

Reacting to his performance, the SIG financial services employee said he was delighted to come through the two runs unscathed.

'Before the first run I was shaking like a leaf,' he said, having watched so many notable names – among them Bode Miller – skid out in the fog.

'No matter what happened, I was going for it as hard as I could and I was going to finish.'

Earlier in the week, Shane kept ski fans and family informed by regularly updating his blog, in between training for last Saturday's competition. He also took in some of the other events, including the Women's Bobsleigh.

He said: 'Watching the bobs hurtle down the track is truly insane. You can hear the rumble well before you see the bob and when it passes you'd better not blink.

'There were plenty of nerve-wracking moments for the uninitiated like myself – watching a Russian bob fishtail at 120kph plus or the Australian driver wallop her head off the edge of the bob and lose her visor in the process.'

And there was good news for St Sylvester's GAA club too, as Shane revealed in his blog shortly before Saturday's race that he is now retiring from competitive skiing to focus on hurling for the next couple of years.

'With the end in sight I'm desperately trying to savour as much as I can before I call a halt to what's been a long and arduous career.

'When I look back and think of the amazing opportunities I've had to represent my country – a total of five World Championships over a 17-year period, one Olympics (totally amazing), a host of FIS racing and some great successes on the dry slope and in the snow domes (okay, so they're minor races, but the buzz and enjoyment is still there).

'And even with all the skiing I still had the opportunity to play some intercounty hurling with Dublin at Under-21 and Intermediate/Junior level.

'I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced all the highs and indeed the lows (it all counts towards the overall experience, and without the lows you can never really appreciate the highs).

'In many ways it will be bittersweet come Saturday as I'll race in the knowledge that my race skis will be traded for a fat pair of off-piste skis and the racing will make way for no-pressure powder skiing with family and friends.

'But I'll still have the hurling – I'm sure I've a few more years left in me for the clash of the ash!'

- Marcus CAVAROLI