Irish Figure Skaters Seeking First Ever Olympic Quota Place

Dillon Judge (Men’s Singles – Co. Down) and Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus (Ice Dance – Co. Wexford) have arrived in Beijing, China ahead of this weekend’s ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier 2025, the final opportunity for figure skaters to secure quota places for their nations at next February’s Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Soucisse and Firus are the first of the Irish in action when they take to the ice on Friday, 19 September for the Rhythm Dance and again on Sunday, 21 September for the Free Dance along with teams from 18 other countries vying for the four quota places on offer at Milano-Cortina. The three-time Irish champions made a promising start to the season last month at the International Ice Dance Dordrecht event in The Netherlands where they picked up a silver medal. They train with Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs in Toronto, Canada.

“We are feeling the most prepared we’ve ever been at this time of the season,” Soucisse said. “We have worked very hard and are proud of the training we’ve put in. We’re really looking forward to showing our new programmes!”

“We are super excited for this event and fully prepared,” Firus said. “We look forward to performing both programmes to the best of our abilities and to making history!”

Judge is making his season debut at China’s National Indoor Stadium on Saturday, 20 September in the Short Programme with the Free Skating on 21 September. The two-time Senior Irish champion is going up against 26 other athletes who will all be competing for one of the remaining five quota places for their countries. He is coached by Barbara Luoni in Bergamo, Italy.

“My goal is just to learn and take in the environment,” Judge said. “I go into this event with no pressure as it is my first competition of the season. I know if I’m calm and collected, I will do my best and that’s all I can hope for. I’ve trained better than ever and found a new level of motivation so I’m ready for this season to start.”

ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier 2025 will be streamed live on the Skating ISU YouTube channel.

Team Ireland Competition Schedule (Irish Time)

Friday, 19 September

05:15-07:55 Ice Dance Rhythm Dance

 Saturday, 20 September

03:00-06:55 Men Short Programme

 Sunday, 21 September

03:00-06:10 Ice Dance Free Dance

06:45-11:20 Men Free Skating