Paris 2024: How Ireland's Daniel Wiffen went from acting in Game of Thrones to winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games
By Ben McCrum
Updated 30/07/2024 at 23:27 GMT+1
Daniel Wiffen set an Olympic record in the men's 800m swimming freestyle final as he became the first Northern Irish athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 36 years. But before his success in the Olympics, Wiffen enjoyed success training in Northern Ireland and England, and even appeared in the popular HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones alongside his twin brother Nathan.
'Irish eyes are smiling' - Wiffen holds on in thrilling finish to win 800m freestyle gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Daniel Wiffen made history on Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games by setting an Olympic record at the La Defence Arena and becoming the first Northern Irish athlete to win a gold medal in 36 years.
The 23-year-old finished the men's 800m freestyle final with a record time of 7:38.19, just over half a second ahead of Amercian Bobby Finke.
Wiffen's swimming journey began at a young age when he and his twin brother Nathan fell in love with the sport and began training alongside older brother Ben at Lurgan Swimming Club in county Down, Northern Ireland.
Nathan specialised in backstroke, while Daniel performed best in freestyle, leading to his first Irish medal in 2012 when he was victorious at the Summer Nationals Division 2.
Three years later, Wiffen joined the Irish national team and eventually began training at Dublin's National Aquatic Centre before studying at Loughborough University where he was able to further hone his ability in the pool.
When was wiffen in game of thrones?
But swimming isn't the only career that Wiffin pursued when living in Northern Ireland, with the Olympian also appearing as an actor in the popular television epic Game of Thrones.
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Daniel Wiffen of Team Republic of Ireland celebrates after winning gold in the Men's 800m Freestyle Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 30, 2024 in Nanterre, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
With the majority of the show filmed in Belfast, the Wiffen brothers found themselves with the opportunity to appear in one of the most iconic moments in television, the 'Red Wedding'.
"I didn't really know about Game of Thrones when I was younger," he confessed to Olympics.com.
"My parents wouldn't let me watch it, but my sister got a really good role in Game of Thrones. She was one of the Frey daughters. So she came in and did her bit, and then we came in for the Red Wedding, in the background, which was pretty cool."
The Red Wedding is one of the most memorable episodes of the series, as King of the North, Robb Stark and his family are brutally betrayed and murdered in a shocking plot twist.
“For the assassination scene, I’d say there were a couple of takes,” Wiffen told the Irish Mirror.
“I remember sitting there for a while. But I was loving every minute of it. Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) was there, all the main actors and they were all so nice as well, they were really nice.”
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And the popular HBO fantasy series isn't the only time that the twins have appeared showcased their acting capabilities, with the pair also playing the role of Henry Bowyer in The Frankenstein Chronicles.
“It’s on Netflix, and I was also on a couple of British Children’s TV shows as well because I was a twin,” Wiffen added.
“Acting’s big for twins when they’re younger.”
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discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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