Wilf O'Reilly

Wilfred John O'Reilly MBE (born 22 August 1964 in Birmingham, Warwickshire - now West Midlands, England)[1] is a British former short track speed skater. He won two gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics when short track speed skating was held as a demonstration sport. He was also the 1991 Overall World Champion. He is now coach of the Netherlands short track team.

Wilf O'Reilly
Personal information
Full nameWilfred John O'Reilly
Born22 August 1964 (1964-08-22) (age 59)
Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Medal record
Men's short track speed skating
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games (Demonstration)
Gold medal – first place1988 Calgary Men's 500m
Gold medal – first place1988 Calgary Men's 1000m
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sydney Overall
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sydney 500 m
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sydney 1000 m
Silver medal – second place 1989 Solihul 1000m
Silver medal – second place 1990 Amsterdam Overall
Silver medal – second place 1991 Sydney 500m
Silver medal – second place 1992 Denver 500m
Bronze medal – third place1991 Sydney 3000 m
Bronze medal – third place1991 Sydney 5000 m relay

Speed skating career

O'Reilly won two gold medals in the 500 metres and 1000 metres at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, but was denied full Olympic acclamation because short track speed skating was just a demonstration event that year. O'Reilly won the overall World Championship title in Sydney in 1991.

O'Reilly had a disastrous 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer where he crashed out of both the 500 metres and 1000 metres, protesting about being forced to race with a damaged blade.

He was honoured by TeamGB by being given the flag bearer role at the 1994 Olympics Closing Ceremony.[2]

Commentating

O'Reilly commentated alongside Hugh Porter for BBC Sport on Speed skating at the Winter Olympics in both 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi, and partnered Simon Brotherton in both 2018 in PyeongChang, and 2022 in Beijing.

Honours

O'Reilly was awarded the MBE in 1997. He is currently a member of the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup Management Commission.

Personal life

O'Reilly was born in England to an African-American father and an Irish mother.[3]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Wilf O'Reilly". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  2. "Eley wants a medal to go with his flagbearer honour". www.teamgb.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. "Mixed race Irish heritage in the public eye".


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