McAllister and Stakelum Compete At Denkova-Staviski Cup

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Irish figure skaters Sam McAllister and Conor Stakelum are in Sofia, Bulgaria this week to participate in the Denkova-Staviski Cup (13-14 November).

Sam McAllister (20) and Conor Stakelum (25) are both entered in the senior men’s category at the competition.  This is the third year in a row both skaters will compete at the Denkova-Staviski Cup.

Both athletes will skate their short programmes on Wednesday 13 November. They will conclude their competition with the free skating on Thursday 14 November.

There is no live stream for the competition. Starting orders and results can be found here.

Golding 20th At Prague Ice Cup

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Elizabeth Golding competed this weekend in the Junior Ladies event at the Prague Ice Cup in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Irish junior champion first of all took on the short programme. She attempted a double Axel, a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and a double loop and had both a change foot combination spin and a layback spin graded Level 3. She scored 32.23 points and sat in 22nd place midway through the event.

Golding was back on the ice the following morning for the free skating. She included attempts at two double Axels and a triple Salchow as well as two double jump combinations in the routine. She received a free score of 54.13 points to give her a total of 86.36. She moved up to finish the event in 20th place.

Golding Set For Prague Ice Cup

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Elizabeth Golding competes again this weekend (9-10 November) in her third competition of the season at the Prague Ice Cup in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Irish Junior champion will first take to the ice in the junior ladies short programme on Saturday, 9 November. She has drawn to skate second in Warm-up Group 5.

On Sunday, 10 November, she will finish the event with her free skating.

The Prague Ice Cup can be followed via a live stream and results page.

McAllister 12th At Golden Bear

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Sam McAllister participated in the Golden Bear in Zagreb, Croatia over the October Bank Holiday weekend.

McAllister began the event with his short programme. He attempted a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, a triple flip and a double Axel. His flying sit spin was also graded Level 4. He received 52.94 points for the segment to put him in 13th overnight.

The Irish senior champion returned to the ice two days later for the free skating. He opened his routine with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination and attempted three other triple jumps. Both a flying sit spin and a change-foot combination spin were Level 4 and he earned 89.75 for his free. With a total score of 142.69 points, McAllister moved up to finish in 12th place overall.

You can view full results of the competition here.

McAllister Top Ten At Halloween Cup

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Ireland’s Sam McAllister skated to a top ten finish at the Halloween Cup in Budapest, Hungary which concluded earlier this evening.

In the short programme, McAllister performed his routine to “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck and attempted a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination before going on to land a triple flip and a double Axel. He earned a score of 51.78 points which put him in 12th place at the midway through the event.

Skating to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film soundtrack, McAllister took to the ice for his free skating which included four triple jumps and two Level 4 spins. He received 98.89 points and an eighth place for the free and finished the competition with a combined total of 150.67 moving up to tenth place overall.

Figure skating development team member Dillon Judge competed in the Junior Men’s short programme on the first day of the event where he came tenth. Unfortunately, due to medical reasons, he had to withdraw and did not appear for the free skating.

Irish Figure In Action At Halloween Cup

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Two Irish figure skaters will compete this week at the Halloween Cup (17-18 October) in Budapest, Hungary.

Sam McAllister is entered in the senior men’s category at the event. At last month’s Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, McAllister finished 14th.

Dillon Judge was named to the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) Development Team for the first time this season. He will participate in the junior men’s event.

Both athletes will skate their respective short programmes on Thursday 17 October. They will conclude their competition with the free skating on Friday 18 October.

Website: http://halloweencup.eu/

Learn To Skate Classes At South Dublin On Ice

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The Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) is pleased to announce Learn to Skate classes will be available at South Dublin on Ice, Tallaght for the 2019/2020 season.

Classes will run for eight weeks starting 16 November. Each class is 50 minutes long and taught by a qualified ISAI Emerald Skate Instructor. Participants will be placed in classes based on age and ability. Contact info@isai.ie for further information.

Golding Breaks Records At Italian Junior Grand Prix

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Elizabeth Golding (15) completed her second International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix assignment of the season today in Egna, Italy.

On the first day of competition, Golding skated her “Masquerade Waltz” short programme. She included double Axel, triple Salchow-double toe loop and double loop attempts in her routine which also featured a Level 4 combination spin. She scored 31.06 points which put her in 26th place halfway through the event.

The following day, the Irish Junior champion took to the ice at Wurth Arena for the free skating. She attempted two double Axels and a triple Salchow in the programme to a selection of music by Two Steps from Hell. She earned a score of 60.70 for the segment which gave her a total of 91.76. Both marks represent new Irish Junior records and moved her up to a 24th place finish.

Detailed Results

Short Programme (YouTube)

Free Skating (YouTube)

Golding Lines Up For Second Junior Grand Prix

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Elizabeth Golding (15) participates in her second competition of the season at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Egna/Neumarkt in Egna, Italy (2-5 October).

This is the second year the Irish Junior champion takes her place on the circuit which features up and coming global figure skating talent and provides young skaters aged 13 to 19 with the opportunity to compete at a high international level.

2019 marks the 11th anniversary of Ireland’s first participation in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The series started in 1997 and includes seven events which serve as qualifiers for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December.

Golding will compete on Friday 4 October in the short programme and Saturday 5 October in the free skating. Her performances will be broadcast live on the ISU’s YouTube channel. The event can also be followed by using the #JGPFigure and #FigureSkating hashtags across various social media platforms.

Event Page: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1920/jgpita2019/

McAllister 14th, Stakelum 15th At Nebelhorn Trophy

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Over the course of the past two days, Sam McAllister (20) and Conor Stakelum (26) competed at the 51st edition of the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany.

McAllister opened the competition with his short programme to “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck. He attempted a triple Lutz, a triple flip-double toe loop combination and a double Axel with two of his spins graded Level 4. He received 51.98 points to put himself in 14th place.

Towards the end of the same warmup group, Stakelum performed his short to “Nightshade” by The Lumineers. He went for a triple loop and then continued with a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and a double Axel. A flying sit spin was graded Level 4 and he placed 13th in the short with 52.75 points.

The Irish skaters followed each other in the free skating the next day. McAllister inserted four triples and two Level 4 spins into his “Pirates of the Caribbean” routine and was rewarded with a free score of 100.74 points which gave him a total of 152.72 and 14th place overall. Both marks represent new International Skating Union (ISU) personal bests.

“It was a good result here in Oberstdorf,” McAllister said. “I now have the minimum technical scores for the European Championships which was a season’s goal of mine.”

Stakelum took to the ice for his “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed and opened with a triple loop jump. He went on to attempt four more triples and closed with a Level 4 combination spin. He scored 94.03 points for the free which amounted to a total of 146.78 and left him in 15th place.

“I had a challenging free tonight,” Stakelum said. “I am going to away and come back to deliver a better performance of this programme that I know is in me.”

Full details results for the 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy can be found here.