Kilkenny hockey star Jeremy Duncan looking to make a big mark in Paris
Former student of Kilkenny College has amassed 100 caps for his country
Olympic fever is very much hitting Irish shores with the big kick-off in Paris this week.
There will be a big local feel to the start of the biggest sporting event in the world with Kilkenny’s Jeremy Duncan part of the Irish Men’s Hockey squad that will be competing in the Olympics for a second time.
Rio in 2016 was the other year that the Irish Men’s team took on the world’s elite where they came away with one win against Canada.
A former student of Kilkenny College, Duncan has already amassed 100 caps during his decade long career with Ireland but this will be his first appearance at an Olympics.
“We’ve been in France for over a week now and we’ve been training hard as we get ready for the kick-off but it’s exciting all the same.
“The Olympic Village is new and all that but I’ve experienced big events and tournaments already and while it is different with a lot more people around the place, it’s something you just get accustomed to”.
“It’s where you want to be as an Irish Hockey Player as it’s the pinnacle for our sport and while it will be good to look back on in the years to come, we know that we’ve a job to do aswell so we can’t wait to get started.”
The Irish team booked their passage to Paris last January when they defeated South Korea 4-3 in the third placed playoff of the Qualification tournament in Valencia.
Matthew Nelson, Ben Johnson, Johnny McKee and Shane O’Donoghue got the crucial goals on that occasion and it’s been all eyes on this week ever since.
Dealing with the hot conditions that may hit the French Capital is something that the entire 133 strong Irish squad will have to deal with and the hockey side are no different in this regard.
“Conditions don’t look like they will be as warm as we originally thought, it was 31 and 32 degrees earlier this week and that was tough but it’s cooled down a bit since then.
“We’ve had some rain too which has given us a bit of a sense of home so it’s a bit of a mixed forecast as it stands.
“We’ll be ready for whatever comes our way anyway as we spent a month in India on a training camp to get our bodies used to the warm conditions and we definitley feel we are as best prepared as we possibly can be”.
An early Saturday morning start for their competition opener with Belgium means it will be a watching brief for Duncan and his teammates when it comes to the Opening ceremony which takes place on Friday night.
“With such an early start on Saturday, we won’t be in a position to compete in the Opening Ceremony which is definitley unfortunate but we’ve known the schedule for a good while now so it’s not as if we’ve only heard about it last minute.
“All our concentration will be on the first game and being on our feet for the majority of the night beforehand just wouldn’t have been the ideal situation so we’ll watch from afar as we know Belgium will be a difficult game to begin with”, the Irish star added.
All of the hockey games will take place in the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium and it’s a unique venue in France as it is the only one in the country that will host events from two separate Olympic Games when it stages the hockey competitions at Paris 2024.
Situated in Colombes which is 9km outside the Olympic Village, it has hosted around 250 national and international competitions over the past century, from athletics to rugby, football and even boxing.
The stylish and well looked after venue can hold up to 15,000 spectators so it should make for a good atmosphere over the next few weeks.
The Irish team will have five games inside seven days with the Belgium opener followed by encounters with Australia, India, Argentina and New Zealand with matches varying from early morning to late evening.
Despite the apparent condensed schedule, it’s nothing new to Duncan who turns 30 next month.
“People would say to you that you have a lot of games in a short period of time but you get used to it being an international hockey player as you travel around the world a lot and even in the last few years , we’ve played a lot of games so we know what’s ahead of us over the next few days and it’s why building up a good fitness and having the right nutrition on board is crucial if you are to be successful on the field.
“The games vary from early morning to early evening so getting the right type of training into you is imperative and even if you look at our early starts with Belgium and Australia. you have to get the body used to eating at an early hour so that’s all worked into the prep“.
The Kilkennyman feels he is in the best shape of his life ahead of the sporting highlight of his career and he is very open and honest about their likely chances on the field.
“There is no point in being unrealistic about it and say that we are going to challenge for medals or whatever as we know where we stand in regards to our opposition as the World Ranking has us behind all of them but that doesn’t mean we can’t cause a shock or two.
“We’ve played all of the teams so we know all of their strengths and weaknesses and we think we can win two games if not three and if we can make a Quarter-Final, you never know what will happen from there”, the Australian born player continued.
Such is the career that Duncan has built up since his Irish debut in 2014 you'd be forgiven for thinking that he was always destined to be a hockey star but he admits that there was a number of other sports on his radar when he was growing up.
“When I was younger I played a lot of golf, soccer and rugby and I enjoyed them all as much as hockey.
“Golf and rugby in particular were big ones for me, I played a lot at Kilkenny Golf Club in my spare time and it’s something I’d like to do more of when I finish up with hockey while I also played a lot of rugby when in Kilkenny College and it wasn’t until I got a hockey scholarship in UCD that I really went down that direction and I think the experience of different sports has help mould me into a more rounded athlete which has been a big positive”.
For now Duncan only has eyes on Paris as the Irish Hockey team look to leave their mark on the Olympics.
Olympic Hockey Schedule
Saturday July 27- Men’s Group B, Ireland v Belgium (9.30am)
Monday July 29- Men’s Group B, Ireland v Australia (9am)
Tuesday July 30- Men’s Group B, Ireland v India (12.15pm)
Thursday August 1- Men’s Group B, Ireland v Argentina (12.15pm)
Friday August 2- Men’s Group B, Ireland v New Zealand (4pm)
Sunday August 4- Men’s Quarter-Finals
Monday August 5- Women’s Quarter-Finals
Tuesday August 6- Men’s Semi-Finals
Wednesday August 7- Women’s Semi-Finals
Thursday August 8- Men’s Bronze and Gold Medal Finals
Friday August 9- Women’s Bronze and Gold Medal Finals
All games will take place in the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium