Thomas Maloney Westgård

Thomas Maloney Westgård
Thomas Maloney Westgård during the World Championships in Seefeld in Tirol, Austria, in February 2019
Country Ireland  Norway
Full nameThomas Hjalmar Maloney Westgård
Born (1995-10-10) 10 October 1995 (age 29)
Leka Municipality, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
Ski clubSteinkjer SK
World Cup career
Seasons7 – (2017–present)
Indiv. starts85
Indiv. podiums0
Team starts0
Overall titles0 – (59th in 2023)
Discipline titles0
Updated on 29 March 2023.

Thomas Hjalmar Maloney Westgård (born 10 October 1995) is a Norwegian-Irish cross-country skier who competes for Ireland internationally.[1][2]

Westgård was born and grew up in Leka Municipality in Norway.[3] His father is Norwegian, and his mother is Irish, and he is a dual citizen of Ireland and Norway. He began skiing competitively in Norway at age 16 or 17. In the summer of 2016, he began representing Ireland in the World Cup.[3][4] Westgård had begun his nationality transfer process in 2014,[5] and was assisted in the process by Rory Morrish, the head of the Irish Skiing Federation.[6] In local competitions in Norway, he represents the ski club Steinkjer SK in Steinkjer Municipality, Norway.[5][7] Westgård's mother's family name is Maloney,[8] and the Snowsports Association of Ireland refer to him as Thomas Maloney Westgaard.[2]

Westgård lives in Meråker Municipality, Norway, and is being trained by the retired champion cross-country skier Frode Estil. Since joining the Irish skiing team, Westgård has participated in the 2016–17 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, débuting for Ireland in Lillehammer, Norway, on 2 December 2016 and also taking part in further World Cup races in Estonia and Sweden.[2][3][4]

He competed for Ireland at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti, Finland, one of five Irish participants in the championships.[9] In his world championship début in the Men's sprint on 23 February 2017, Westgård ranked as number 77,[1][10] while at the Men's 30 kilometre pursuit on 25 February 2017, he came in last of the participating contestants.[11] He achieved his best result of the championship in the Men's 15 kilometre classical on 1 March 2017, ranking as 49th.[8] Westgård brought a three-man team to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017, including his father as a helper and Irish cross-country skier Dominic McAleenan as team manager.[12]

Westgård participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics, representing Ireland.[3][13]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[14]

Olympic Games

 Year   Age   15 km 
 individual  		 30 km 
 skiathlon  		 50 km 
 mass start  		 Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay  		 Team 
 sprint 
2018 22 63 60 DNS 62 — —
2022 26 14 43 29[a] — — —

a Distance reduced to 30 km due to weather conditions.

World Championships

 Year   Age   15 km 
 individual  		 30 km 
 skiathlon  		 50 km 
 mass start  		 Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay  		 Team 
 sprint 
2017 21 47 60 — 75 — —
2019 23 35 50 55 65 — 26
2021 25 41 32 25 44 — —
2023 27 26 30 18 47 — —

World Cup

Season standings

 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint U23 Nordic
Opening 		Tour de
Ski 		Ski Tour
2020 		World Cup
Final
2017 21 NC NC NC NC 76 — — —
2018 22 NC NC NC NC — — — —
2019 23 127 88 NC — 77 — — —
2020 24 97 62 NC — — 48 44 —
2021 25 73 58 90 — 61 38 — —
2022 26 142 NC NC — — 43 — —
2023 27 59 39 NC — — 37 — —

References

  1. ^ a b Thomas Maloney Westgård at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
  2. ^ a b c "Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon". snowsports.ie. Snowsports Association of Ireland. 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Bugge, Mette (19 February 2017). "Trønderen er ikke god nok for Norge: – Jeg skal delta i ski-VM for et u-land". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b Holberg, Jonas A. (29 November 2016). "Thomas fra Leka går verdenscup i helga – for Irland". Trønder-Avisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  5. ^ a b Hovd, Svein Tore (20 January 2014). "Her går Irlands nye OL-håp". Namdalsavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  6. ^ Sandmo, Andreas Bugge (10 August 2016). "Skiløperen fra Leka har fått irsk statsborgerskap – Må utnytte muligheten". Namdalsavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  7. ^ Malmo, Erlend (25 January 2014). "KM i langrenn i bilder". Trønder-Avisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  8. ^ a b Joakimsen, Trygve Strand; Sae-Khow, Nareas (2 March 2017). "Thomas fra Leka byttet nasjon for å få gå i VM" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Distriktsnyheter Midtnytt: Halvtrønder går for Irland i VM" (in Norwegian). NRK. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  10. ^ Hovd, Svein Tore (23 February 2017). "Thomas utslått i VM-debuten". Namdalsavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  11. ^ Alstad, Bastian Øien (25 February 2017). "Westgård fikk det tøft i VM". Namdalsavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  12. ^ Ringstad, Emil (21 February 2017). "17 nordtrøndere med sentrale roller under VM". Trønder-Avisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Athletic profile - Thomas Maloney Westgaard". pyeongchang2018.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  14. ^ "MALONEY WESTGAARD Thomas". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 12 March 2021.