Ice cool: Team GB’s speedster Niall Treacy discusses his journey from Solihull to Milano-Cortina
19th February 2026
Each time Team GB skater Niall Treacy treads on the ice he needs a cool head. He’s out there on his own, racing solo. Racing against the clock. Sprinting against the swiftest skaters in the world. In a close pack. On ice.
Yet Niall’s used to staying cool. He’s the youngest of four Treacy brothers, two of whom skated to elite level in this same sport. So Naill’s waited his turn, racing against bigger, faster brothers, and others, until it was his time to shine.
From Solihull to Milano-Cortina
Fast starts are a key part to success in speed skating. But Niall’s journey to represent Team GB at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026 has been long and steady.
“I did all my club sessions at Solihull ice rink. It was twice a week. And then you would race in domestic competitions. Then as you get a bit older, you start doing what's called ‘the Star Class Series’. You race against Western Europe and then the top eight from Western and Eastern Europe do a competition. So that was the progression.”
Loads of kids get on the ice yet not many get to wear the Team GB track suit. How has Niall done it?
“When I got selected for the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival, then I was like ‘oh, maybe I can do this’. I'd seen Farrell (Niall’s brother) go to the national team and Ethan (another brother) was starting to go, so I thought this could be a route for me.”
Ups and downs
Sports careers have all kinds of challenges – training, competition, injuries, and funding ups and downs. Niall’s journey is no different. He had to keep a cool head in 2018 when short track speed skating saw its main source of funding drop off.
“I’d moved to Nottingham and got asked to join the World Class Programme [preparing Team GB athletes for the highest level competition]. But then two weeks before I joined, we got the phone call that the funding had been cut. So that was a massive blow."
Niall appreciates that funding, like sport, has its ups and downs. “Obviously more funding [to short track speed skating] would be better in future, but having some helps. In the past four years, you can see the success that British ice skating has had. Things have been a little bit easier – like sending a physio out to a competition or something like that.”
Keeping cool
Niall acknowledges his coahes and wider team who helped him stay on course with Olympic dreams over many years. "They set up the Speed Skate Performance Programme in 2019” that was helped off the ground by a £100k grant from Sport England.
Ahead of Milano-Cortina, £1.9m from UK Sport has boosted British skating. It benefitted figure skating and to a lesser extent the long track speed skating event. Even though short track missed out on major funds this time round, Niall’s super cool about it: “It's reassuring that ice sports in the UK haven't been completely forgotten about. If funding slowly starts coming back up then, okay, that’s the direction we're heading too.”
Going Dutch
Short track speed skating is a close-knit international family with everyone supporting one another. For instance, Niall airs the fact that he enjoys priceless ice time with the Dutch team – a superpower in speed skating.
“I go out to The Netherlands for training camps with their team – they've got brand new bikes; their facility is next level incredible.”
Doubtless the Dutch appreciate Niall’s cool head. And the benefits are mutual.
“It's an individual sport but you can't train by yourself,” Niall explains. “You need the others, everyone around you, 'cause you need to be able to race in a pack. And I think the better the training group that you skate with, the greater the benefit. They're happy for me to come there, and I get tips from them.”
No doubt Niall’s cool-headed approach will help him through the ups and downs of the Winter Olympic, and long after.
Team effort
As Team GB’s only short track speed skater at the Milano-Cortina Olympics, Niall might seem to be solo. Yet just as speed skating can look deceptively slow, there’s a lot more here than meets the eye. There’s Niall’s brothers and family support, plus key people in his corner like Team GB Speed Skating Coach Richard Shoebridge. There are the world class Dutch athletes, and others from speed skating’s close-knit family.
And let’s not forget the background support in the UK: Sport England and UK Sport as distributors of National Lottery money have helped Niall and speed skating. That’s due to the UK public, raising money for good causes by playing The National Lottery.
