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SOCHI — There are smiles, and then there is the smile Conor Lyne had when he walked for Ireland during opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
“It's incredible, especially bearing the flag for Ireland in the opening ceremonies," said Lyne, who skis for Ireland, but lives in Logan, Utah. “It's the proudest moment of my life, so it's just been amazing so far.”
He made front-page news in Ireland.
“Basically the Olympic Council of Ireland selects someone to bear the flag, and I guess I was lucky enough to get it, so it was good,” Lyne said.
Lyne, who graduated Logan High School in 2011, has skied since he was 5 years old when his family moved to Cache County from Ireland. His first ski lessons were at Beaver Mountain.
“Well, basically I grew up in the ski school and then there was a little ski team that formed when I was 11 or 12,” Lyne said. “I kind of graduated up the ranks from there and made the international circuit for Ireland. It all started at Beaver Mountain.”
Even though he has lived in Utah most of his life, he's always considered himself Irish. He has spent the past two years competing for Ireland across the world. His friends back home tease him about how he speaks now.
“I've picked it up over the last two years when I was in Ireland,” Lyne said. “They said 'oh, what's this accent going on about?'”
Now, after all his hard work he's at the Olympics racing for a country that isn't known for its skiers, but this is how you start building a team: one major event at a time.
“This has been my goal for at least the last six years and I've been skiing for over 10 years,” Lyne said. “So it's all kind of come to this point. I'm just here to enjoy the experience, really take it all in.”
