Brendan Newby says the half pipe event at the Winter Olympics is "dangerously fun" as he looks to make his mark in Pyeongchang.
Known to friends and family as Bubba, the 21-year-old will compete in the freeski event which takes place on Tuesday, where he will be one of 27 competitors looking to make the final cut of 12 which will progress through to Thursday’s final.
Born in Cork but living in Utah, Newby will become the fifth member of Team Ireland to compete in the Games following on from Pat McMillan, Thomas Westgard, Tess Arbez and Séamus O’Connor.
Newby says his event, which is only appearing in the Olympics for the second time, is fraught with danger.
"It scared me a little bit today, but in the right ways," he told RTÉ Sport’s Darren Frehill in South Korea.
"It’s dangerously fun. You can’t be thinking about danger. You have to push those thoughts out of your head and think, ‘this is going to be fun.
"Obviously what we do is inherently dangerous, but if you think about getting hurt, you are going to do what you are thinking about and you will get hurt.
"You need to keep a positive mindset and have a great attitude."
As far as goals are concerned for Tuesday, Newby simply wants to build on his body of work in recent years and put in a new personal best.
"I definitely don’t have a Cork accent"
"If it’s better than my best run previously, then that’s perfect. That’s the best I can hope for.
"I’m focussed on myself."
Newby was just a toddler when his family moved back to America - his father was a lecturer in UCC - and says he quickly lost the localism.
"I definitely don’t have a Cork accent," he says. "People say it’s more California."
Watch highlights of all today’s action on RTÉ 2 at 6.30pm, hosted by Clare McNamara
