Carlsbad’s Shaun White might be San Diego’s most famous Winter Olympian, but he isn’t the only local snowboarder eyeing the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Seamus O’Connor grew up in Ramona and showed skills on the slopes at an early age, which earned him a place at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I have every intention of competing in next year’s 2018 Winter Olympics,” O’Connor said.
He was one of just a handful of athletes who competed in both slopestyle and halfpipe snowboarding events in Sochi.
Although O’Connor was born and raised in America, he has Irish roots, which allowed him to compete for Ireland.
The Irish Olympic Federation wants him to return to the Winter Olympics, but he tore his ACL, MCL, and Meniscus last year.
O’Connor had a successful surgery in San Diego before moving to Park City, Utah to continue his rehabilitation.
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In a video of him riding a skateboard on a treadmill, he joked, “my recovery process is going pretty great right now, as you can see I'm doing absolutely everything I can to get back on the mountain as soon as possible."
O'Connor said he will miss most of the major qualification competitions, but still hopes to compete in some last minute events and earn a place on the slopes in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
