The WA story behind Ireland’s Olympic glory! AS UNLIKELY AS IT MIGHT SOUND, TEAM IRELAND WAS LEAD INTO AND THROUGH THE TOKYO OLYMPICS BY A WEST AUSTRALIAN WITH AN OUTSTANDING SPORTS CAREER. ALBANY NATIVE PATRICIA HEBERLE WAS NAMED CHEF DE MISSION FOR THE IRISH NATIONAL TEAM IN 2018, AND WHILE THE RECENT END OF THE GAMES WILL SEE THAT ROLE WIND DOWN, HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND AND THE COUNTRY ITSELF IS SET TO DEEPEN. BY LLOYD GORMAN Above: Grand Finale – From left, Chef de Mission (CdM) Patricia Heberle from Western Australia with Team Ireland staff Linda O’Reilly Operations Manager and Alex Bocsi Team Support Manager and Gavin Noble Deputy CdM get ready for the closing ceremony with Modern Pentathlon athlete Natalya Coyle who was the Irish flag bearer for the event. 4 | THE IRISH SCENE
“A lot of people would say to me you’re an Australian, how did you get that job and sometimes you have to pinch yourself and say yeah, how did I?,” Patricia told Irish Scene in August during a much deserved and badly needed two week holiday. “Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time and maybe there was a little bit of fate involved, but it’s been a fantastic job to have and working in Irish sport is probably only second to working in Australian sport. There is incredible potential, a lot of excitement and a lot of motivated, passionate people and it’s been an honour to have had that role to take Team Ireland to the Olympics, a highlight of my career.”
