Wilf O'Reilly

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Wilf O'Reilly
MBE
Personal information
Full nameWilfred John O'Reilly
Born22 August 1964 (1964-08-22) (age 61)
Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Medal record
Men's short-track speed skating
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games (Demonstration)
Gold medal – first place1988 Calgary500 m
Gold medal – first place1988 Calgary1000 m
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1991 SydneyOverall
Gold medal – first place1991 Sydney500 m
Gold medal – first place1991 Sydney1000 m
Silver medal – second place1989 Solihull1000m
Silver medal – second place1990 AmsterdamOverall
Silver medal – second place1991 Sydney500m
Silver medal – second place1992 Denver500m
Bronze medal – third place1991 Sydney3000 m
Bronze medal – third place1991 Sydney5000 m relay

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.

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 2018 in PyeongChang, 2022 in Beijing and 2026 in Milan.

Honours

O'Reilly was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours for services to Short Track Speed Skating.[3] 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.[4]

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. United Kingdom list: "No. 54794". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1997. p. 21.
  4. "Mixed race Irish heritage in the public eye". Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021.