Father of Irish Olympian dies in hiking accident

The father of an Irish Olympian has died in a hiking accident in the Vosges Mountains, in eastern France. John Quinn, whose son is the swimmer Nicholas Quinn, lost his footing and fell while walking with friends on Saturday.

The 60-year-old had been living in Strasbourg, where he worked for the European Union, for five years, with his wife, Mary. She and their children, Darragh, Fionnuala and Nicholas, were in Scotland when they heard the news; Nicholas, who swam for Ireland at the 2016 Olympics, is studying for an MSc in performance psychology at the University of Edinburgh. The family are now being supported by Mr Quinn’s colleagues in Strasbourg.

His brother-in-law Peter Sheridan said that Mr Quinn, an “avid walker”, “was with a group of eight when he fell. A medical rescue team arrived at the scene by helicopter, but it was too late to save him.”

Mr Sheridan said his brother-in-law, who worked for Boston Scientific in Galway before moving to Strasbourg, was hugely safety conscious, never took risks while hiking and always encouraged others to do likewise.