Bubba Newby still 'stoked' and ready to soar in Beijing

It is by a happy accident of birth that Brendan Newby looks ahead to his second Winter Olympics in the green of Ireland next month.

In 1996, 'Bubba' was born here to American parents, his father Van's work as an economics professor having taken the family to University College Cork.

They moved back to Utah when he was two years old and settled in Park City, a resort that hosted the skiing and snowboarding events of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Five-year-old Bubba was in attendance and immediately hooked.

"The slogan was 'Light the fire within' and I think it lit the fire. I've always wanted to be an Olympian," Newby told 2fm's Game On.

"In a lot of host cities, the venues afterwards don't get used but all of the 2002 venues are still in use for competitions and as training facilities.

"I've been going to the Utah Olympic park since I was 14 years old training in their aerials pool. That's big jumps where you land in a pool so you can practise a lot of flips without getting totally smoked. It still hurts if you don't do it right!

"I've also been working there since I was 18 as a coach."

Newby finished 22nd in the half-pipe freestyle skiing event Korea four years ago, missing out on a place in the final after falling on his second and final run.

"The first one, Pyeongchang, was absolutely amazing. I was like a kid in a candy store, stoked about every little thing.

"This time I am equally as stoked about everything but I have more experience to build on and that goes a long way. Knowing what to expect helps so much.

"I've had four years of training so I've been able to work hard and put down some new stuff.

"Everytime you do a new trick in my sport it just scares the pants off you and you've got to just work through that.