Irish Winter Sports Strategy Launch

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On 12 April, the Irish Winter Sports National Governing Bodies, including the Ice Skating Association of Ireland, together with the Olympic Federation of Ireland launched the Irish Winter Sports Strategy. This is a significant strategy which aims to overhaul and energise the winter sports environment in Ireland, and calls for a strategic approach to be taken in supporting and developing Winter Olympians, winter athletes and winter sports in Ireland.

With four main pillars, the mission of the strategy is to amplify the voice of winter sports in Ireland to achieve a shared vision of long-term sustainability and success, and to achieve equality of support for high performance winter athletes.

The pillars are as follows:

  1. Facility Development – the strategy calls for the development of a permanent ice facility in Ireland, a project which has a track record globally of being commercially viable, would be achievable through private funding at little or no cost to the tax payer provided government and local authorities can assist in securing land.
  2. Athlete Carding, Participation and Talent Development – the strategy calls for state funding support through the Sport Ireland high performance carding scheme for Winter Olympic athletes. Similar to their summer counterparts, the commitment of Winter Olympians is significant both from a financial and emotional perspective. State support would significantly assist the winter athletes when the majority of their peers nationally and internationally have some of their costs funded by the State.
  3. Visibility – the aim is to enhance the relevance and voice of winter sports in Ireland, and will be supported by commercial and marketing plans.
  4. Governance – A commitment to good governance and actions to establish a pathway towards compliance with the governance code of sport for any organisations where it is not yet in place.

Speaking at the official launch, President of the OFI, Sarah Keane said,

“The Olympic Games, winter, or summer is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world. For an athlete to represent their country on this stage is a huge honour. We call for equality within the sporting sector for our Winter Olympians to have access to the carding scheme and support in the same way as other high performance athletes do.

“We need to understand that winter sports athletes and federations need our support. Sustainable success doesn’t happen by chance, it doesn’t happen without support. We have high performing athletes across our sports, if we want to bring sport to the next level, if we want more than six athletes competing at the Olympic games, and if we want medals, we need to support our sports. We were very grateful for Minister Chambers on behalf of the government and representatives of the Federation of Irish Sport and Sport Ireland to meet with us and the winter federations and athletes to discuss this strategy and how we can bring it forward.”

CEO for the OFI, Peter Sherrard, added,

“The winter sports federations have put in a significant amount of work to establish a clear framework for improvement and success over the next four year period. The OFI is committed to supporting the journey with €50,000 funding to help the Federations fulfil the actions that it contains. Ahead of us, we have a very exciting project which has the potential to transform participation opportunities, while ensuring that the winter sports federations, by working together, are better recognised and supported, along with their athletes who represent us on the Winter Olympic stage.”

At the launch, Minister Jack Chambers met with the athletes and member federations to discuss the strategy and how the winter sport agenda can be advanced.

The full Irish Winter Sports Strategy can be viewed here.

Irish Trio All Finish Inside Top Ten At Kurbada Cup

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There were three Irish entries at this weekend’s Kurbada Cup in Riga, Latvia and all of them finished inside the top ten in their respective events.

Dillon Judge was the sole representative from Ireland in the Junior Men’s category. He opened yesterday’s short programme with triple Salchow combination and double Axel attempts. He also included a double flip and garnered Level 3 for a step sequence and two spins. He posted a score of 36.22 points to sit in fourth place overnight.

This afternoon Judge was back on the ice for the free skating. He successfully landed cleanly a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination, a triple Salchow on its own and a double Axel in his routine. He racked up new personal best scores for his free (73.56) and total (109.78) which was good enough for him to pick up a bronze medal.

There were two Irish skaters in the Junior Women’s event. Robyn Foster was the first to perform in yesterday’s short programme. She attempted a double Axel and a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and landed a double flip. She earned a score of 33.36 points to stand in 10th after the segment.

Sophia Tkacheva began her short with a double Axel attempt and followed that with a double Lutz-double toe loop combination. She also included two Level 3 spins and a double flip in her programme and finished ahead of Foster by the closest of margins with a score of 33.37 points to put herself in 9th place midway through the competition.

Foster was again the first of the Irish Junior Women to take to the ice for today’s free skating. She commenced with a double Axel and then nailed a double Axel-double toe loop combination. She received Level 3 for a flying sit spin and scored 61.22 for her free. This gave her a final total of 94.58 points and she moved up to 7th overall.

Tkacheva attempted a triple Salchow off the bat in her free. She also had six other jumping passes and other highlights from her skate were two Level 4 spins. She was rewarded with a new personal best free score of 58.37 and her total of 91.74 was also a lifetime best. She climbed up to 8th place in the final standings.

 

Golding 26th At European Youth Olympic Festival

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Elizabeth Golding has finished 26th in the Junior Women’s event at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Vuokatti, Finland. This was the first time an Irish ice skater has competed at an EYOF.

Golding took part in the short programme on the first day of the competition. She attempted a triple Salchow-double toe loop jump combination, a double flip and a double Axel. Two of her spins were rewarded with Level 4 by the technical panel. She scored a new season best of 32.41 points to place 26th overnight.

Golding was back on the ice earlier today for the free skating. In her routine, she attempted two triple Salchows one of which was in a sequence with a double Salchow as well as two jump combinations. She received a Level 4 for a flying camel spin and earned a free score of 61.50 points, another season best, giving her a combined total of 93.91 points.

“I’m definitely going to remember this competition for the rest of my life, because this is probably the peak of my career right now,” Golding said. As a junior to be able to participate in such a big competition, I’m really thankful to the Ice Skating Association of Ireland, and Karen (O’ Sullivan – President) and everyone who really believed in me and helped me get to this competition and chose me to represent Ireland at such a big multisport event.”

Golding Set For Irish Ice Skating EYOF Debut

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Elizabeth Golding makes history for Irish ice skating this week as she becomes the first Irish ice skater to compete at the European Youth Olympic Festival which takes place this year in Vuokatti, Finland.

Golding will line up against skaters from 31 other European countries. She will skate in the short programme tomorrow (23 March) where she has drawn starting position 18 in Warm-Up Group 4. She performs at 17:00 (Irish time).

The short programme result determines the timing at which Golding skates in the free skating which begins at 13:45 (Irish time) on Thursday (24 March).

“It’s so nice to know that you are the first person to ever do this,” Golding said. “I’m hoping to do everything cleanly and just go out and have fun.”

Golding’s progress at the European Youth Olympic Festival can be followed live on the official EYOF channel.

Golding Named To Irish Team For Winter EYOF

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In a first for Irish ice skating, figure skater Elizabeth Golding has been selected by the Olympic Federation of Ireland to participate in the European Youth Olympic Festival in Vuokatti, Finland later this month (20-25 March). Golding will be one of just four athletes representing Ireland at the event which was originally scheduled to take place in February 2021, but was postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It feels amazing to have been selected – dreams really do come true,” Golding said. “I am very excited to be representing Ireland on a brand new and even bigger international stage.”

Golding will be in action on 23 March (short programme) and 24 March (free skating).

OFI Press Release

 

Golding 10th At Bellu Memorial

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Elizabeth Golding has finished tenth at the Bellu Memorial in Otopeni, Romania this weekend.

Golding began the competition with the short programme. She singled her opening triple Salchow jump combination, but went on to attempt a double flip and a double Axel. She earned Level 4 for a change foot combination spin to score 33.94 points which left her in 13th place overnight.

For the free skating, Golding began with a double Lutz that garnered a good grade of execution. She attempted a triple Salchow and a double Axel and was awarded Level 4 for both a change foot combination spin and a flying camel spin. She received a score of 63.19 points in the free which gave her a combined total of 97.13 and tenth place overall in the final standings.

McAllister Fourth At Dragon Trophy

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Sam McAllister has placed fourth at this weekend’s Dragon Trophy in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

McAllister opened the competition with the short programme where he attempted a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination as his first element. He went on to land a triple flip and a double Axel and secured Level 4 for all three of his spins. He was awarded a new personal best score of 60.73 points to place third midway through the event.

In the free skating earlier today, McAllister commenced his routine with a triple Lutz attempt and followed that up with a cleanly landed triple Salchow and a triple flip. He also included a triple toe loop in his programme and a flying sit spin was graded Level 4 by the technical panel. He posted another personal best score of 105.88 points which gave him a total of 166.61 points.

“I am happy with my new personal bests in the short and the long,” McAllister said. “Both programmes were definitely not my best showings, but it’s sport.”

 

Golding 13th At Winter Star

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Elizabeth Golding has finished in 13th place at Winter Star in Minsk, Belarus this weekend.

In the short programme, Golding attempted a triple Salchow jump combination, a triple flip and a double Axel. She received a Level 3 for a layback spin and earned 26.06 points for the segment which left her in 13th place overnight.

Golding came back this afternoon for the free skating in which she attempted a triple loop, triple Salchow and a triple toe loop. She achieved a Level 4 for change foot combination spin and Level 3 for both a flying camel spin and a layback spin. She scored 48.13 points in the free which gave her a total of 74.19 points.

Irish Junior Trio Compete At Reykjavik International Games

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Robyn Foster, Adare Condon and Dracy Condon have finished 12th, 17th and 18th respectively in the Junior Women’s event at this weekend’s Reykjavik International Games in Iceland.

Foster was the first of the Irish skaters to perform in the short programme. She attempted a double Axel, a triple Salchow jump combination and landed a double flip in her routine to earn 33.56 points and placed 9th.

Dracy Condon made her international competition debut for Ireland at this event and she went for a double Axel, a solo double flip and a double Lutz-double toe loop combination. She also executed a Level 4 layback spin and received 23.05 points leaving her in 18th after the short.

Adare Condon was the final Irish skater to make an appearance in the short. She also tried a double Axel as well as a double Lutz combination and she landed a double flip. She closed out her short with a Level 4 change foot combination spin and was awarded 25.11 points which put her in 16th place.

The following day all three Irish skaters were on the ice again for the free skating. Dracy Condon was the first of the trio to skate and began with a double Axel attempt. She included six double jumps in her programme and achieved a Level 4 again for her layback spin. She scored 42.24 points for the free and with a total of 65.29 remained in 18th place.

Shortly afterwards, Adare Condon performed and she also opened her free by trying a double Axel and went on to attempt two double-double jump combinations. Both a sit spin and a change foot combination spin were graded Level 4 by the technical panel. She got 43.75 points in the free which gave her an overall score of 68.86 points and 17th place.

Foster was the last of the Irish skaters to take to the ice in the free. She also opted to start with a double Axel attempt and inserted two double-double jump combinations during her routine. A flying sit spin got her a Level 4 and she scored 48.58 points for her free which combined with short score made for a total of 82.14 points and 12th place.

Golding 15th At Skate Helena

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Elizabeth Golding has started 2022 with a 15th place finish in the Junior Women’s event at Skate Helena in Belgrade, Serbia.

Golding began the competition with the short programme. She attempted a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination, a double flip and a double Axel in her routine to “Hip Hip Chin Chin” by Club Des Belugas. She also performed a Level 4 change foot combination spin and received positive grade of execution for a Level 2 step sequence. She scored 31.73 points which put her in 18th place overnight.

The 2019 Irish Junior National champion was up again in the free skating the following day. Skating to “One Eye Open” by Lola Blanc, she opened with double flip-double toe loop combination and a triple Salchow attempts. Later on in the programme, she also went for a double Axel. Two of her spins were graded Level 4 and she earned a free score of 60.31 giving a total of 92.04 which moved her up to 15th place overall.

“I know I could have done a lot better,” Golding said. “My scores were low only because of some stupid mistakes I made, but it feels great to be back to competing after being injured. I loved every minute I spent on the ice.”