Olympic Hopes Dashed For Team Ireland In Beijing
Team Ireland’s figure skaters have concluded their competition earlier today at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Olympic Qualifier 2025 in Beijing, China missing out on securing a quota place at next February’s Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus laid down a solid performance on the opening day in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance putting themselves in eighth place midway through their event and less than five points off a coveted Olympic quota place. Their hopes rested on putting down the skate of their lives in the Free Dance. After a positive start to their “Riverdance” routine, Firus wobbled on the duo’s Synchronised Twizzle Sequence and even though they skated well after that it was not enough to recover from the mistake. The three-time Irish champion dropped down one place to finish in ninth overall. Lithuania, Australia, Spain and China took the final four Olympic quota places.
“It was not the best day at the office, but I’m very proud of how far we have come this season,” Firus said. “We came very well trained for this event and, although it was not the result we wanted, it’s always an honour to represent Ireland at such a high level.”
“I am happy about how we handled ourselves out here,” Soucisse said. “We worked extremely hard to be ready for this event and, although there was a mistake in the Free Dance, we have no regrets. We are leaving Beijing extremely proud of ourselves and thank you to everyone who’s been supporting us.”
For Dillon Judge in the men’s event, it was always going to be a very tough ask to bag one of only five quota places in his category. He increased the technical difficulty in his Short Programme by adding in a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination which he fully rotated albeit with a hand down to save the landing. In the Free Skating, he began positively with a triple flip and two triple Lutz jumps (one in combination and one on its own) landed early on in his programme. Some errors did creep in as his four minutes on the ice progressed. Nevertheless, he still managed to post an ISU personal best for the Free (83.53 points) to add to the ISU personal best from the Short (50.20 points) in his debut event of the 2025/2026 season. The Men’s Olympic quota places went to an Individual Neutral Athlete, Mexico, South Korea, Ukraine and Chinese Taipei.
“I felt the competition went pretty well from a jumping perspective,” Judge said. “There were too many errors on spins which will obviously now be worked on for future competitions. I really enjoyed the experience and I handled the pressure well being in such a big venue. I was happy I landed the triple-triple for the first time trying it even though not with perfect GOE (Grade of Execution). It leaves us with space to work from and improve in the season.”
Judge’s goal over the coming months will be to attain the Combined Technical Minimum Score required to be eligible for selection to the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, United Kingdom in January. Soucisse and Firus already possess the scores necessary for that event, as well as for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this coming March.
Videos
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus – Rhythm Dance / Free Dance
Dillon Judge – Short Programme / Free Skating
