BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Elsa Desmond knows she鈥檚 not going to medal at the Beijing Olympics. She wasn't even expecting to be in the top half of the field.
Doesn鈥檛 matter.
The first women鈥檚 luge Olympian from Ireland feels like she's already prevailed.
Desmond won鈥檛 be in China for long, with good reason. She competed on Monday in the opening night in the women's luge event, returns to finish the race on Tuesday, then flies out Friday and plans to return to work in Ireland on Saturday 鈥� as a doctor, who delayed parts of her internship to chase down a spot in the Olympics.
鈥淎s the founder of the modern Olympics said, 鈥業t鈥檚 not about who wins, it鈥檚 about the fight to get there,鈥欌�� Desmond said. 鈥淎nd this has been my fight. I鈥檝e given everything to get here. And I think everyone has their own story, everyone has their own journey, everyone makes sacrifices in different ways and has different battles.鈥�
Desmond wasn鈥檛 far off in her citing of Pierre de Coubertin. His actual quote, at least according to the Olympic library, was 鈥淭he important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.鈥�
Although she won't triumph in Beijing, she鈥檚 already obviously prevailed in some fights. She鈥檚 been given myriad reasons why this quest was futile: she鈥檚 too short, she didn鈥檛 start sliding at a young enough age, her medical career is too daunting.
The biggest challenge simply might have been that Ireland didn鈥檛 even have a luge federation. So, she started one herself.
And now, officially, she is a luge Olympian.
She was the 26th sled to cross the line in the first run of the women's race on Monday night. At that point, she was in 26th place 鈥� faster than exactly none of the other finishers. Didn't matter; her massive smile could been seen through her Irish green visor, and her little fists punched the cold air in celebration.
By night's end, out of the 34 sliders still in the competition, she was 34th.
鈥淚 have another job, I have to self-fund, I have all these really visible challenges,鈥� Desmond said. 鈥淏ut other people have challenges that we can鈥檛 see. So, I think mine, yes, is a very obvious challenge. But I think everyone鈥檚 worked as hard as they can to be here.鈥�
Her hospital not only gave her the time off, but they鈥檝e become luge fans in a country where sliding sports aren鈥檛 exactly overwhelmingly popular. Desmond is a doctor in general surgery at Ireland鈥檚 Southend University Hospital.
The hospital鈥檚 chief medical officer, David Walker, said her co-workers are 鈥渋mmensely proud of her.鈥�
鈥淚t will be exciting to see her compete thousands of miles away in front of millions of people across the world,鈥� Walker said.
Desmond has somehow juggled two very demanding jobs, sliding a few months a year with starting a life in medicine. There was a time last season when she was going through some important final exams, taking one in Latvia and the other in Germany, in hotels where plenty of other sliders were staying.
鈥淚 had to stick signs on my door saying 鈥楧o not disturb, exam in progress鈥� in about six different languages,鈥� Desmond said.
It was understood. Some sliders have even used Desmond as a medical resource from time to time, asking for advice on their various bumps, bruises or worse.
鈥淚 try to say I鈥檓 not on duty,鈥� Desmond said.
And not only did she make it to Beijing, she was given the honor of being selected as one of Ireland鈥檚 two flagbearers for Friday鈥檚 opening ceremony 鈥� along with freestyle skier Bubba Newby. They led their country鈥檚 six-person Olympic contingent during the parade of athletes.
鈥淚 really was not expecting this, especially at my first Olympics,鈥� Desmond said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I can put into words how excited I am to lead out the team. I really hope that I ... make my country proud.鈥�
___
More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
