Siobhan makes her point with Olympic qualification

IRELAND'S leading fencer Siobhan Byrne, who has strong links with Meath, has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after winning a silver medal at the European qualifying tournament in Istanbul at the weekend.

Siobhan was born in Germany but her father, John, is from Ardcalf, Slane, and the 23-year-old has family connections in Meath including her grandmother, Brigid Byrne, aunt Eileen O'Rourke (Skyrne) and cousins Felim and Patrick O'Rourke, who play football with Skyrne. Her cousin, Stephen Moore, plays rugby with Australia.

Siobhan began fencing at the age of eight and her years of hard work and dedication saw her dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games finally come true in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday when she beat the tournament's number one seed, Andreea Pelei of Romania, 15-14 in a thrilling semi-final. 

An hour later, she faced Spaniard Araceli Navarro in the final of the tournament, but missed out on gold by a mere one hit in a 14-15 defeat.

Siobhan had high hopes of qualifying for the Olympics four years ago but last did not make it on that occasion. "I was there four years ago and under a lot of pressure and, unfortunately, it didn't work out. In the long run, it did me good as I'm more mature about my fencing and know what to expect and I wasn't as nervous."

Siobhan said she was also better prepared and more patient and this really paid off. Though she didn't get off to the best start in the day, she didn't panic and her patience paid off.

Siobhan is currently studying health management on a sports scholarship in Ohio State University in the US and will graduate in June. However, balancing her studies and sport is not easy and Siobhan must fit in three to four hours of training each day, along with her studies, and her weekends are usually spent travelling to competitions.

Siobhan first took up fencing when she was just eight years-old and explained how she came to take up the sport. "We moved to another city in Germany and I was looking for a new activity. I tried a bunch of sports and then one of my neighbours took me fencing and I really liked it."

She has won junior and senior national championships with her club in Eislingen, in team events, but as an Irish citizen she could not take part singles events.

Siobhan has travelled the world and has been taking part in senior World Cup events since she was 14 years-old. She has also been crowned Irish National Champion, was seventh in the World University Games in 2005 and also won a bronze medal in the Junior European Championships.

Siobhan's parents, John and Gillian, are very proud and very happy for Siobhan that she was finally achieved her dream. Her father said it had been a long road and did not happen overnight.