Who is he? 25-year-old Wright is one of three Irish race walkers heading to Rio alongside Rob Heffernan and Donegal’s Brendan Boyce. He has been in excellent form this year and recorded personal bests in both the 20km and 50km distances to qualify for the Olympics.
While he will compete in both events next month, Wright will concentrate on the 50km in Brazil having focused internationally on the 20km previously.
Where’s he from? Wright previously represented Great Britain — he was born in London — before competing for Ireland from 2015 onwards. He is now very much a Corkman, running out of the Leevale Athletics Club.
Advertisement
Olympic CV: This will be Wright’s first Olympic Games after failing to meet the qualification time for London four years ago.
Road to Rio: After declaring for Ireland, Wright quickly assured himself of a place in Rio by reaching the 20km standard before securing qualification for the 5okm with a stellar performance at the IAAF Walking Challenge in March.
His time of 3 hours, 48 minutes 32 seconds was a three minute personal best and well inside the qualifying time as he finished sixth.
When does he start? Wright will have a week to recover from his exploits in the 20km walk on Friday 12 August before he goes again in the 50km on 19 August.
Where can I follow him? He is a prolific Tweeter here and can also be found on Facebook.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
What he says: “I am very honoured and would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me to reach my first Olympic Games, making my dream come true.”
Medal chances: Although this is will be Wright’s first Olympics, he does have a big event experience having competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2013 World Championships.
He’ll need to shave a couple of minutes of his PBs if he is to get anywhere near the podium in Rio so it’s two out of five on our scientifically-developed, patented Jerry Kiernan scale…
And here’s something you probably didn’t know…Wright is coached by fellow Olympian Rob Heffernan.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Meet Ireland's Olympic team: Alex Wright
Event: Men’s 20km race walk/50km race walk
Who is he? 25-year-old Wright is one of three Irish race walkers heading to Rio alongside Rob Heffernan and Donegal’s Brendan Boyce. He has been in excellent form this year and recorded personal bests in both the 20km and 50km distances to qualify for the Olympics.
While he will compete in both events next month, Wright will concentrate on the 50km in Brazil having focused internationally on the 20km previously.
Where’s he from? Wright previously represented Great Britain — he was born in London — before competing for Ireland from 2015 onwards. He is now very much a Corkman, running out of the Leevale Athletics Club.
Olympic CV: This will be Wright’s first Olympic Games after failing to meet the qualification time for London four years ago.
Road to Rio: After declaring for Ireland, Wright quickly assured himself of a place in Rio by reaching the 20km standard before securing qualification for the 5okm with a stellar performance at the IAAF Walking Challenge in March.
His time of 3 hours, 48 minutes 32 seconds was a three minute personal best and well inside the qualifying time as he finished sixth.
When does he start? Wright will have a week to recover from his exploits in the 20km walk on Friday 12 August before he goes again in the 50km on 19 August.
Where can I follow him? He is a prolific Tweeter here and can also be found on Facebook.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
What he says: “I am very honoured and would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me to reach my first Olympic Games, making my dream come true.”
Medal chances: Although this is will be Wright’s first Olympics, he does have a big event experience having competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2013 World Championships.
He’ll need to shave a couple of minutes of his PBs if he is to get anywhere near the podium in Rio so it’s two out of five on our scientifically-developed, patented Jerry Kiernan scale…
And here’s something you probably didn’t know…Wright is coached by fellow Olympian Rob Heffernan.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Read more of The42′s Team Ireland profiles here >
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
alex wright Olympic Games Rio 2016 The Jerries