Hi, I am Gloria Lyons and I’m an Irish alpine ski racer. I live in Austria with my mum, my sister Giorgia – who is also a ski racer – and my two younger brothers. When I was born in 2002, my parents both lived in Bormio, Italy, where they worked for the Organising Committee of the 2005 World Alpine Ski Championships. Maybe this was a sign 🙂 I moved with my parents from Bormio to my mother’s home village of Ramsau am Dachstein in 2004, building my love for Ireland with regular trips to my second home.

Skiing has always been a part of my life.  The first ski lessons I had at the age of three in Kindergarten. This is pretty much standard around here, in the Austrian Alps!

Later, in primary school, I started training with our local ski club, WSV Ramsau am Dachstein. As part of the Ramsau ski club team, I entered my first regional competitions, participating in the U8 to U16 categories of the Bezirkscup. The exceptional ski training at WSV Ramsau am Dachstein helped me improve my ski racing skills steadily over the years. At U12, I started competing in Schülercup ski races against school children from across Styria, where I took on some of Austria’s fastest girls. In September 2016 and 2017, I took part in the Irish Dry Slope Championships. Skiing in Ireland and getting to know some of my fellow Irish skiers made me eager to represent Ireland.

In 2018, I was selected to represent Ireland at international FIS children’s races, which was a great honour for me. This year, I participated at some CIT FIS races in Italy and Austria. I would love to compete in one of the upcoming major events, like the YOG or the  Junior World Ski Championships representing Ireland. To get there I have to qualify, which means score FIS points fewer than 140. In my last race of the season I scored 138,5 points and if everything goes according to plan, I’ll compete again in October, trying to achieve some more good results!

All your support will be used to fund training, travelling and accommodation. I will give it my best to qualify for next winter’s main events! And since dreams can never be too big, I’ll keep working towards the Olympic Winter Games. In 2020, the Youth Olympics will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland, and I am eligible!

Thank you so much for taking the time and visiting this page. I appreciate any support and would be very grateful if you helped share this page.