HOME AND AWAY SPEED SKATER CLARE SCANLON: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to the athlete who was once a respectable cross-country runner but went on to become a world-class speed skater

CLARE SCANLON hails from the Crossroads just outside Killygordon in Co Donegal. It's a small village roughly halfway between Ballybofey and the Tyrone border. Alas, The Netherlands have her now. Naturally, we Irish claim our own back when they do us proud.

This lady is a speed skating world champion. For the past 13 years she has been living in Nijmegen, south-east Holland, near the German border, with her partner, Emile Jansen.

After catching Scanlon's voicemail last week, we feared the worse: It was perfect Dutch.

"Yeah, most people think I am Dutch. They say 'well, you are probably from the north'. They don't realise how far north!"

Ah, the immediate switch back to that distinctive Donegal brogue could placate a hostage stand-off. Despite being based in Nijmegen for most of her adult life, it still rolls out like a hymn.

Scanlon's is a strange, meandering tale. She began her athletic life as a respectable cross-country runner but these past 10 years have seen her morphed into a speed skater.

Taking on and beating the Dutch at their national pastime. At 35, she is the current world master (age 35 to 40) champion, after an extraordinary set of performances in Erfurt, Germany back in March. She had already claimed silver in Canada the previous year.

"After the national championships last year my trainer Dick Boll said, 'Come on let's go to the world championships'. I told him I wasn't that good. It turns out I was but I really surprised myself in Calgary. I was kind of on a cloud or something; I had the best time of my life."

They enjoyed it at the Crossroads as well. Think thicker-tape parade. A rare celebration of one of their own. A small town girl comes good.

"I think there was about a 1,000 people out on the street. Ach, it was great. They were so proud. It was like a star coming back home.

"It was important for the young school kids to see that they too can achieve something despite coming from a little village."

The cynic will dismiss this achievement as a "Masters" event. Then you check the times she clocked up in dominating the senior ranks. They are good enough to make the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

"My 2.07 time (a world record) from Calgary in the 1,500 would qualify me for 2010 and I could compete for Ireland. My trainer wants me to go for it but I'd leave too much behind if I do go out for Ireland. I can't go out for any nationals or any county championships. All my competitions would be gone.

"I wouldn't want to give up competing at Masters at the minute. I'm so busy."

So, it is unlikely we will witness a repeat of the 2002 Winter Olympic exploits of Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley, an Irishman/British peer, who finished fourth in the bobsleigh, skeleton event in Salt Lake City.

Declaring for Ireland would require massive financial support from the Sports Council (who have never made contact).

What about competing for her adopted nation? "No, no, no, it is not something I would consider. In Holland there are far too many younger girls who are much faster and they would definitely not go for an Irish girl anyway. I'm just happy they accept me at Masters level.

"There were problems at the beginning. They don't want me to become so good. They want to have their own out in front so we have to watch out for that as well."

So what next then? "Next year I just want to retain my title. That's taking place in Tromdheim in Norway. I still want to improve my sprint times. I'll be working on that throughout the summer. I move into the 35-to40 age group where there are a lot of fast Norwegian girls who will be competing at home so I'll have my work cut out."

She could spend a lifetime honing her technique with her, coach Boll. Many people do. That's what makes her achievements so remarkable. Such rapid improvement these past five years had the natives intrigued when they realised she is Irish. The Tricolour and Donegal flags where visible, along with typical Irish audio, in Calgary, leaving fellow competitors scratching their heads. "Some friends and family came up from New York. I was in a group of Dutch friends and everyone was looking around wondering who was responsible for all the Irish flags. I had to tell them it was me. They didn't realise. It was nice to have them over.

"I was not expecting to come second at the World Championships in Calgary at all. We immediately decided to focus on Germany this year. I did a lot of work improving my sprint times. A lot of weight training, a lot of power training and I improved enough to move up to first place."

Clare's partner Jansen is the reason for her move to Holland. He turned her on to speed skating. She tried to reciprocate by bringing hurling to Holland. The idea was quickly abandoned.

"Anything I've ever done in sport I've always been very competitive so within a year I had done my first competition. It wasn't that great but it was a start. Within five years I had begun to pick it up.

"It's been these past five years that the training has got really serious.

"My times started to improve a lot. I began to compete with girls who have been at it their whole life.

"But people think this was all planned. It was just a hobby that got completely out of hand!"