Winter Olympics: Broken bones at 150kph & a famous relative - Gower's road to Beijing

Downhill skier Jack Gower will represent Ireland at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

From a junior world title and numerous broken bones to a very famous sporting relative, Jack Gower's rise to the Winter Olympics has been interesting to say the least.

The 27-year-old will realise a lifelong dream when he hits the slopes for Ireland at the Games which begin in Beijing on Friday.

Gower, who switched allegiance from Great Britain to Ireland last year, will compete across five alpine skiing disciplines at the Games, starting with the downhill in the early hours of Sunday.

After skiing once a year with his family when he was younger, a move of house when he was 12 brought Gower into the sport he would grow to love.

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"My parents were really supportive and said they would support me if I wanted to do something," recalled Gower, who previously had taken part in a number of other sports.

"I said I would love to do some skiing. I got into it and did some racing, then when I hit 15, which was the junior category, I was fortunate to have a bit of success and was number one in the world for my age.

"I went on to become junior world champion and that was the catalyst for the whole thing. That was the first time myself, my family and my coaches were like, 'OK, this could maybe go somewhere'.

"In terms of why I loved it, it was just in terms of the freedom and the speed. I was able to express myself in a way I was not able to do in a classroom."

Related to a cricket legend

Gower is not the only talented sportsman in his family. 'Uncle' David Gower is the legendary English cricketer who captained his country to Ashes success in 1985 and subsequently went on to become a highly regarded broadcaster in the sport.

Despite having cricket royalty in his blood, Gower jokes that his career as a batsman was never going to take off.

"My dad's cousin is David Gower. Because of the name everyone thought I was a great cricketer, so they put me in the first team before trialling me out at the school.

"In my first match they realised how incompetent I was and I was quickly dropped from the team. That was my only experience with cricket and I realised that was not going to be the sport for me."

Jack and David - two different generations of sportsmen in the Gower family

Despite his lack of prowess at the crease, Gower quickly found a home on the slopes and has worked his way through the categories, where he won a junior giant slalom world title aged 15, and was ranked inside the world's top 40 in the super giant slalom - known as the super-G.

"I have always loved the speed and the challenge. My best event going into these games is super-G, where I have had a couple of podiums leading up to the Games.

"For me, downhill is just the purest form of our sport, going up to speeds of 150kph and hitting jumps and flying 80 or 90 metres.

"I think it is really exciting and it is such a raw and intense sport."

'It becomes an obsession'

Injuries are inevitable in a sport where you are travelling at speeds in excess of 150kph, and Gower has an extensive list from his career to date - including a dislocated hip, broken collarbones, dislocated his right shoulder twice, three leg breaks, ligament damage to both knees and, to top it all off, one serious concussion.

"It's a huge challenge. For all skiers on the speed tour, you don't really go throughout your entire career without picking up a major injury," he added.

"I think everyone has a lot of sympathy and respect for getting back up. I think it comes down to what you want to do.

"You have your goals and you believe you can achieve them. The hours you put in the gym and everything that comes with it - it becomes an obsession.

"You keep that as the end goal and the light to guide you through those difficult times."

Gower says that going to the Winter Olympics "is a great honour and incredibly special", but adds that the hard work is only just beginning.

"Once you are selected it is such a euphoric moment, but everything you have worked up to is not done," he added.

"Through this period [between selection and the Games] you are extremely focused on training so I haven't thought too much about what becoming an Olympian is.

"It is obviously an incredible thing, and I will digest that side of it after the games.

"I am really focused on trying to deliver some results. I would be very happy if I walked away with a top 15. That is the goal that I have with my trainer."