Bronze For Judge At Dragon Trophy

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Dillon Judge has finished in third place at this weekend’s Dragon Trophy in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Judge opened his first competition of 2026 auspiciously by setting a new personal best score of 56.69 points in yesterday’s short programme putting him second place overnight. In his free skating, he began with a triple flip on which he had to step out, but recovered to cleanly land a triple Lutz-double toe loop jump combination. Unlike the short, he did struggle with a number of subsequent jumping passes with a pristine triple Salchow a highlight of his routine. He closed out with a Level 4 change foot combination spin and earned a free score of 94.83 points for a total of 151.52 points.

McAnuff and O’Brien Wrap Up Tilburg Euros

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Sean McAnuff (28) and Liam O’Brien (27)  represented Ireland at the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships this weekend in Tilburg, The Netherlands against the best skaters in Europe.

O’Brien got things under way for Team Ireland in the qualification rounds on the opening day of the event drawing Heat 3 of the 1500m quarterfinals. He made a move with seven laps to go and held the lead for a time before he was passed. He eventually finished in fourth place with a time of 2:29.578. McAnuff appeared in Heat 7 and was battling for third place for most of the race before being pipped into fourth place at the end with a time of 2:18.922. In the 500m heats, O’Brien started again in Heat 3 and he found himself trying to keep up with the eventual bronze medallist Melle van ‘t Wout of the Netherlands. Although O’Brien came fifth in the race, he managed to set a new personal best time of 42.016. In Heat 7, McAnuff had moved up into second place when he lost his footing and crashed into the barriers. He completed the course to come home in fifth in a time of 57.910. He had further misfortune in Heat 1 of the 1000m heats when stumbled at the start of the race and was playing catch up from then on. He rounded out the first day of racing with third place in a time of 1:35.737. In Heat 9 O’Brien was on course to come fifth when on the final lap mistakes from others allowed him to take advantage and move up to third place in a time of 1:27.178.

McAnuff and O’Brien faced the 1500m and 500m repechage rounds on the second day of the championships. In the 1500m repechage quarterfinals, O’Brien lined up in Heat 1 which turned out to be a game of cat and mouse until O’Brien made his move with five laps to go. He was passed by two other skaters on the final lap, but he hung on to come third in a time of 2:34.716 and claimed a place in the repechage semifinals. McAnuff had more bad luck in Heat 4 when he was moving up into second place and another skater made contact from behind. However he was advanced to the semifinals where he faced off against O’Brien in Heat 1. With only the winner proceeding to the afternoon’s main session it was a tactical race. When things heated up, neither of the Irish skaters quite had the pace and McAnuff finished 4th with O’Brien 5th in their respective times of 2:34.650 and 2:36.964 and an overall classification of 27th and 28th. Heat 2 of the 500m repechage quarterfinals had to go to a restart and O’Brien maintained his starting position of third from start to finish in a time of 42.596. He placed 31st overall for the distance. In Heat 3 McAnuff began in the very outside lane and raced hard to come third in 42.957. He was ranked 32nd for the distance.

On the last day of racing, McAnuff and O’Brien took on the 1000m repechage quarterfinals. McAnuff drew Heat 2 and placed fifth with a time of 1:29.280 and an overall distance placement of 36th to bring his sixth Europeans to a close. O’Brien followed in Heat 3 and weaved his way through the field until just before the final lap when he was impeded by another making a lane change from inside to out on the straight. O’Brien was then advanced to the repechage semifinals. In Heat 1 he jumped into the lead with seven laps to go before being passed with five laps remaining. He stayed in contention till the end and finished 3rd in a time of 1:31.366 ranking 23rd for the distance.

“I felt stronger before even if the execution wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be,” McAnuff said. “There are a lot of positives to take this championship and I’m excited to keep building on them.”

“It was a succesful weekend of racing,” O’Brien said. “While the outcome wasn’t what I wanted, I felt I was in control of every race and fought till the end.”

Soucisse And Firus 19th At Sheffield Euros

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Irish ice dancers Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus have finished in 19th place at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships earlier this evening in Sheffield.

In yesterday’s Rhythm Dance, Soucisse and Firus had a mishap on their opening sequential twizzle sequence that saw them on 62.71 points, just under six points off their season best for the segment qualifying 18th out of 20 teams that advanced. The duo performed third in the Free Dance and from the first strains of Bill Whelan’s iconic “Riverdance” score they had the Utilita Arena in the palm of their hands. After executing most of their difficult technical elements, Soucisse tumbled at the beginning of the choreographic step sequence. The couple closed out the routine to rapturous applause. They received a free dance score of 88.28 points for a total of 150.99 points and dropped one place to finish 19th overall.

“Up until the last 45 seconds, it felt great,” Soucisse said. “It’s not a mistake we make often. I feel better telling myself this happened because I gave it all. I gave everything I had. The crowd were amazing.”

“They were with us from the beginning,” Firus said. “It definitely helped us get all the way till the end. Maybe we let it envelop us too much towards the end, but we had a really good time and really enjoyed it.”

McAnuff And O’Brien On Track For Tilburg Euros

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Sean McAnuff (28) and Liam O’Brien (27) line up for Ireland this weekend at the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Tilburg, The Netherlands (16-18 January).

This will be McAnuff’s sixth time competing at Europeans, while O’Brien participates in his fourth. They will be among a field of over 74 athletes from 24 countries racing for top honours in the men’s category at an event that was first held in 1997. The Irish skaters race individually over 500, 1000 and 1500 metre distances.

“I am excited to skate the first race of 2026,” O’Brien said. “After not skating Europeans last season, I am looking forward to building on previous main events in the 1000 and 1500 at Europeans and have a solid racing weekend.”

The ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships will be broadcast on the Skating ISU YouTube channel. Geographical restrictions may apply. The results of the championships can be followed on the event results page and on social media via the #ShortTrackSkating hashtag.

Photo: Champions Ice Skating

Soucisse And Firus Steel Themselves For Sheffield Europeans

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Carolane Soucisse (30) and Shane Firus (31) make their third consecutive ISU European Figure Skating Championships appearance this week in Sheffield, United Kingdom (14-18 January).

The Irish ice dancers finished 18th at last year’s championships in Tallinn, Estonia and will be aiming to improve on that ranking this time round. This will be the fifth competition of what has been a hectic season which has included a silver medal at International Ice Dance Dordrecht in the Netherlands in August and representing Ireland at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier in Beijing, China back in September. The three-time Irish national champions train in Toronto, Canada with their coaches Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs.

Soucisse and Firus take to competition ice for the 1990s themed rhythm dance starting at 12:30pm (Irish time) on Friday, 16 January. The Irish duo will skate to a New Kids On The Block medley. Thirty teams from 21 nations will battle for the 20 spots available in the free dance on Saturday, 17 January where Soucisse and Firus hope to showcase their routine to music from “Riverdance” that evening.

“We are super excited to perform in Sheffield this week,” Soucisse said. “We really enjoy performing both our programmes this season and we hope we can bring the crowd in and give them a great show!”

“We are really looking forward to this event and want to take in the whole experience,” Firus said. “We made some small changes since our last competitions and are excited to showcase them here!”

Europeans are the oldest ISU championship event having first been contested in 1891. Ireland made its debut at the championships in 2009 when Clara Peters skated in the women’s event. Peters also participated in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions (the latter also in Sheffield). In 2018, Conor Stakelum became the first Irish male figure skater to perform at the championships and he subsequently made appearances in 2019, 2020 and 2022. Sam McAllister represented Ireland at the 2023 Europeans. In 2024 Soucisse and Firus became the first ice dance team from Ireland to compete at Europeans.

In order to earn entry to the championships, eligible skaters must attain a combined minimum technical element score of both their programmes during the current or preceding season. The championships are held annually and this is the second time Sheffield plays host.

The ISU European Figure Skating Championships will be broadcast on the Skating ISU YouTube channel. Geographical restrictions may apply. The results of the championships can be followed on the event results page and on social media via the #EuroFigure and #FigureSkating hashtags.

2025 A Year To Remember For Irish Ice Skating

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2025 got under way with two major ISU events for Team Ireland in January. Sean McAnuff representing Ireland at his fifth European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany with his best finish a 24th place in the 1500 metres. Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus took on their second European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia where they ended up in 18th overall.

February saw our Irish skaters get an opportunity to try out 2026 Olympic ice in Milan. Prior to arriving in the Italian city, Irish Wolfhounds Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien competed at the fifth stage of the inaugural ISU Short Track World Tour in Tilburg, The Netherlands. McAnuff advanced to the 500 metres quarterfinals where he dipped under 42 seconds to set a new Irish record. The following week the Irish Wolfhounds got a taste of the Olympic atmosphere at the test event at the Unipol Forum to close out the Short Track World Tour. The following week Dillon Judge was in the same venue for the Road To 26 Trophy figure skating Olympic test event where he placed 12th in the men’s category. It was a busy period for Olympic related competitions as Allie Peterson was in Bakuriani, Georgia where she became only the second Irish skater to participate in a European Youth Olympic Festival coming 19th. Judge and Sophia Tkacheva also took part in the Merano Ice Trophy placing 14th and 23rd in their respective disciplines.

The World was a stage for our athletes in March. Sean McAnuff travelled to Beijing, China for the Short Track World Championships and he broke his own 500 metre Irish record twice during the course of the event. Later on in the month, Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus were in Boston, United States of America for the World Figure Skating Championships finishing in 28th place.

In May Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien attended an Olympic Federation of Ireland Milano Cortina Camp in Dublin for athletes targeting qualification for the 2o26 Olympics.

For the fourth consecutive year the Irish Figure Skating Championships were held at the Dundee Ice Arena with medals contested in four categories.

Ryan McAnuff, the first speed skater to represent Ireland at Europeans and Worlds, announced his retirement from elite competition in July.

Newly crowned Irish Junior Women’s champion Juliana Farrell opened the 2025-2026 season in August for the national team with 18th at the Cranberry Cup International in Norwood, United States of America. Later on in the month Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus bagged a silver medal at International Ice Dance Dordrecht in the Netherlands.

Dillon Judge and Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus made their way to Beijing, China in September for the ISU Skate To Milano Olympic Qualifier. Judge finished 24th and Soucisse and Firus ninth at the event and were outside the quota places for figure skating at the 2026 Olympics.

Juliana Farrell was the sole representative for Ireland on this season’s ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating and she came 32nd at the Solidarity Cup in Gdansk, Poland in October. Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien got their quest for Olympic quota places started at back-to-back ISU Short Track World Tour events in Montreal, Canada. Dillon Judge placed 11th at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland.

It was a hectic November for Dillon Judge as he competed at the Denkova-Staviski Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Cup of Innsbruck in Austria and the Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. He placed 9th, 8th and 7th respectively. Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien concluded this season’s ISU Short Track World Tour with events in Gdansk, Poland and Dordrecht, The Netherlands that saw the Irish Wolfhounds fall short on obtaining quota places in short track speed skating at the 2026 Olympics. Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus took on two ISU Challenger Series events in a row finishing 10th at Warsaw Cup in Poland and eighth at Tallinn Trophy in Estonia.

December began with Dillon Judge placing 22nd at the ISU Challenger Series Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia. Long track speed skater Thomas Steele made his international debut for Ireland at the European Youth Countrymatch in Heerenveen, The Netherlands setting a new Irish Junior record for the 1500 metres.

Here’s hoping for an even more spectacular year for Irish ice skating in 2026!

 

Steele Posts New Bests At European Youth Countrymatch

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Thomas Steele (Co. Dublin) concluded this weekend’s European Youth Countrymatch with two lifetime bests in the Junior B men’s events.

In the 500 metres, he raced to a time of 46.32 improving on his previous personal record by 0.7 seconds to finish 23rd. The 1500 metres saw an even greater advance for Steele when he lowered his best by 12.12 seconds to 2:22.94 and again place 23rd. The latter time was also a new Irish Junior national record. He also lined up for a Mass Start race coming 20th.

The European Youth Countrymatch is an international event organised at the ISU Centre of Excellence in Heerenveen, The Netherlands. The event is open to Junior C and Junior B category skaters of European ISU members by invitation only. There was a mandatory three-day camp in advance of the competition.

Steele Set For Long Track International Debut At European Youth Countrymatch

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This weekend Thomas Steele (Co. Dublin) competes in his first international competition representing Ireland in long track speed skating.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Steele began skating at a young age just like many of his peers in a country where speed skating is one of the highest profile sports. He cites Dutchman Sven Kramer, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, as an inspiration. Ice is also in his genes with his father Gary from Canada, another country with a long and proud tradition in ice sports, and his mother Susan hailing from Dublin where she learned to skate at Dolphin’s Barn ice rink, a facility that those who grew up locally recall with great fondness.

Steele started training seriously two years ago from the age of 13 with Brenda, Annewil and Rodger from the DKIJV at De Uithof in The Hague to which he commutes from his home city of Delft three days a week for on ice practices.

“On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I train for an hour and 15 minutes on ice, and I also cycle for 30 minutes before and after those training sessions. Sometimes I also do an hour and 30 minutes of cycling training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though not usually.”

He has gradually seen his times improve to the point where he was selected to the Irish national team this season. This week he will participate in the European Youth Countrymatch, an international event organised at the ISU Centre of Excellence in Heerenveen, The Netherlands in the renowned Thialf ice stadium, which just so happens to be Steele’s favourite track. The event is open to Junior C and Junior B category skaters of European ISU members by invitation only. There will be a mandatory three-day camp in advance of the competition. All racing will take place on Saturday, 20 December. Steele is looking forward to improving his best times and flying the flag for Ireland on an international stage.

“For me, it is a great honour to be allowed to participate in big international competitions representing Ireland.”

Steele is still young in a sport where most athletes reach their prime in their mid to late twenties. His goal this week will be to learn and pick up some tips to aid his development as an athlete and as all speed skaters want to do go as fast as he can in his races. Over the next few seasons, he is aiming to progress to the standards required for entry into the ISU Junior World Cups by refining the technical skills required of elite speed skaters.

“Speed skating technique is quite complicated and takes years to master. There are three different movements: the start, the straightaways and the corners. The start is the simplest: it is similar to running, but the straightaways and the corners are very complicated movements and take a lot of time to learn properly. I think that the hardest part and most important is to not only be able to perform the movements, but also to be able to find pressure in your push.”

Right at the moment, Steele is at the beginning of discovering his potential in the sport and is enjoying the process and the incremental achievements that is bringing him.

“The best thing for me is the feeling of going fast, and how it feels to become faster. Small changes in technique can often make huge differences, and it feels amazing when all of a sudden you can make a lot of speed by changing a small detail.”

You can keep up to date with how Steele gets on at the European Youth Countrymatch here on the Ice Skating Association of Ireland’s website and social media channels.

Judge 22nd At Golden Spin of Zagreb

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Dillon Judge has finished 22nd in the Senior Men’s event at the ISU Challenger Series Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia this weekend.

Judge opened his short programme with a clean triple Lutz-double toe loop combination. He stepped out of a double Axel and received Level 2 for a flying camel spin. He then hung on to the landing of a triple Salchow. He concluded with a Level 3 change foot combination spin, a Level 1 step sequence and a Level 4 change foot sit spin. He scored 47.91 points and was in 22nd place overnight.

The two-time Irish champion was back this evening for the free skating. He began with a double flip and then landed triple Lutz-double toe loop combination. He then attempted a triple Lutz and followed with  a Level 2 change foot sit spin and a rotated triple toe loop. Next came a Level 2 flying camel spin before he nailed a triple Salchow. He fell out of another triple Salchow subsequently. He wound up his routine with a Level 3 step sequence and a Level 2 change foot combination spin. He posted a score of 80.40 points for the free which gave him a total of 128.31 points.

Soucisse And Firus Eighth At Tallinn Trophy

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Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus (Co. Wexford) have secured an eighth place finish at this weekend’s Tallinn Trophy.

The three-time Irish champions began the event at the Tondiraba Ice Hall with their New Kids On The Block rhythm dance. Their sequential twizzles were graded Level 3 for Soucisse and Level 4 for Firus. Their pattern type step sequence was called Level 1. A minor wobble by Soucisse during the midline step sequence saw her receive Level 1 for the element as opposed to the Level 2 for Firus. They rounded things out with a Level 4 rotational lift and a choreographic rhythm sequence. They scored 64.56 points for eighth place at the midway stage of the competition.

This afternoon Soucisse and Firus skated their “Riverdance” free dance. They started with a Level 4 dance spin from which they moved seamlessly into a choreographic sliding movement. Their one foot turns earned them a Level 2, while Soucisse received Level 4 for her synchronised twizzles with Firus awarded Level 2. Their straight line and rotational lifts were each a Level 4. Soucisse was judged to be  Level 1 for their serpentine step sequence and Firus Level 2. They completed the routine with a Level 4 stationary lift and two choreographic elements. A score of 102.99 points left them with a total of 167.55 points.