Irish luger Desmond to fulfil frozen dream in Beijing

Elsa Desmond is set to swap her hospital rounds for hurtling feet-first down the frozen track in Beijing after she was given a place in the luge competition at the Olympic Games as Ireland's first woman in the event.

It will be a dream come true for the 24-year-old who recently qualified as a doctor and works in Britain's National Health Service, after first watching the sport during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"I saw it on TV when I was just a kid, and I thought it looked amazing, it just looked like a lot of fun," Desmond, who shares a first name with one of the princesses in the hit Disney movie "Frozen", told Reuters.

Although her Olympic story may read like a fairytale, the real-life Elsa is a lot tougher than her cartoon counterpart.

"I tried for about 10 years to get into the sport, and I eventually managed to get, as a civilian, onto a British Army ice sports camp as a teenager, and it just kind of went from there. I really, really enjoyed it and stuck with it," she said.

As with all beginners, Desmond's first trips down the ice started towards the end of the course, gingerly learning the skills needed at low speeds before progressing higher up.

Nowadays, she is no stranger to World Cup races and speeds of over 130 kilometres an hour and she has provided extra work for her colleagues in the medicine business.

"I've had a couple of small concussions, I've broken a foot, a couple of fingers - (injuries to) fingers and feet are very common in my sport. Other than that, just lots of bruises, but they heal quickly," she said with a smile.

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Neither injury mishaps nor the workload during five years as a medical student could deter Desmond from her Olympic dream.

"When I watched the Olympics I didn't see