Four Titles Decided At 2022 Irish Figure Skating Championships

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Four titles were decided at this weekend’s Irish National Figure Skating Championships which were held at the Dundee Ice Arena in Dundee, Scotland. The Championships took place for the first time since 2020.

The Senior Men’s event was a tightly fought battle between Sam McAllister and Conor Stakelum. In the short programme, Stakelum nailed a triple Salchow, a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and a double Axel in his routine with two spins graded Level 4. He received a score of 59.11 points to lead overnight.

McAllister was close behind Stakelum after including a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a triple Lutz and a double Axel in his programme. He also had a flying sit spin graded Level 4 by the technical panel to earn 58.45 points and second place at the halfway point of the event.

The free skating took place earlier today and McAllister was first to take to the ice. Skating to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film soundtrack, he began with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination and followed that with a triple toe loop. He then attempted a triple flip and a triple Lutz one after the other and also landed a triple toe loop and two double Axels with one in combination. He scored 98.65 points in the free to give him a total of 157.10 and a third consecutive national title.

“I am really pleased with my performances this weekend at the National Championships,” McAllister said. “After a hard season, having to withdraw from Europeans due to getting Covid, it was nice to finish the season off on a high.”

Stakelum performed in the free to the “Riverdance” musical soundtrack and he came very close to denying McAllister gold. He commenced with a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and then attempted a triple flip. He also succeeded in landing a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination, a triple Salchow, a triple toe loop and a double Axel. A free score of 97.48 points was not quite enough to hold off McAllister and he claimed silver with a total of 156.59 points.

“I was happy with my short programme and enjoyed skating at my home rink in front of my friends even though I did not have the performance I wanted in the free,” Stakelum said.

The Junior Women’s event turned into another nail biter. Reigning champion Sophia Tkacheva opened her short programme with a double Axel attempt and went on to land a double Lutz-double toe loop combination and a double flip. She was awarded a Level 4 for her flying sit spin and earned 35.10 points to put herself in pole position going into the free skating.

Robyn Foster was first to skate in the whole championships and her short contained double Axel and triple Salchow combination attempts as well as a double flip. A change foot combination spin got her a Level 3 and she came second in the short with a score of 30.58 points.

Foster was again the first of all the championship skaters onto the ice this afternoon. She started with a double Axel-double toe loop combination and then attempted a solo double Axel. She also inserted a double Lutz and two double flips into her “Scheherazade” routine as well as a double loop-Euler-double Salchow combination. A Level 3 flying sit spin was a highlight of her programme. She scored 60.28 points in the free to wind up with a total 90.86 points and a first national title.

“It didn’t all go to plan, but there were lots of good things to take away from this competition, like landing my Axels in the free,” Foster said. “It was great seeing the rest of the team and I can’t wait to compete again and make improvements.”

Tkacheva narrowly missed out on retaining her title. She went for a triple Salchow at the beginning of her free to “Voila” by Barbara Pravi and also attempted a double Axel in addition to a double loop, a double flip, a double flip-double toe loop combination and a double Lutz-single Axel sequence. She garnered Level 4 for two spins to give her a free score of 54.71 and a total of 89.82 for second place in the standings.

“I was very happy with how I skated my short,” Tkacheva said. “It was my new personal best for that programme and the last time I was skating to that music so I really poured my heart and soul into that performance. Maybe a little too much because my free skating didn’t go so well. I made several silly mistakes that I had worked on before and were easily preventable. This was my last competition of the season and I’m excited to train and work on both of my programmes this summer.”

Dillon Judge retained his Junior Men’s title. In the short programme, he attempted a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and a double Axel and landed a double flip. He completed a Level 4 flying sit spin and scored 35.46 points.

Judge opened his free programme with a clean triple Salchow and double Axel. He also included another triple Salchow attempt, double Lutz on its own and in combination with a double toe loop, a double flip-double toe loop and a double flip-Euler-double Salchow sequence. A free score of 70.32 points gave him a total of 105.78 points.

“The skates weren’t the skates I was looking for,” Judge said. “However, under the circumstances of being injured, I was content with the programmes. I am looking forward to next season when I have made a full recovery.”

Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty made history this weekend when they became the first ice dance team to participate at an Irish championship. Their blues rhythm dance featured five elements – two patterns, a twizzle sequence, midline steps and a rotational lift. The siblings achieved a new Irish record score of 25.33 points.

The Hegartys closed out the competition at these Irish Championships with their “Lord of the Dance” free dance. They commenced with a combination spin and then attempted synchronised twizzles. A one foot step sequence followed and they also performed a rotational lift, diagonal steps, choreographic twizzles and a choreographic step sequence. They set two more Irish records for their free (31.67) and total (57.00).

“Although our performance was flawed, the competition was fun and it was great to have the opportunity to show ice dance at Irish Nationals for the first time,” Kevin said. “My sister and I have a lot to work on before our next competition, where we hope to deliver a better performance.”

“The sense of support from the fellow competitors was especially apparent during this time,” Laura said. “Our mistakes motivate us to work hard and thrive to improve.”

Full detailed results for the Championships are available here.

Irish Figure Skating Championships Back On Ice After Pandemic Break

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The Irish Figure Skating Championships take place this weekend (21-22 May) at the Dundee Ice Arena in Dundee, Scotland. The Championships were last held in February 2020 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Eligible skaters will compete in four separate categories.

In the Senior Men’s event, Sam McAllister is aiming to pick up his third consecutive national title. After the disappointment of not being able to compete at this season’s European Championships, McAllister bounced back with two new Irish records and a silver medal at Triglav Trophy in Slovenia last month.

The Dundee Ice Arena is where Conor Stakelum trains and is looking to take a fifth Senior Men’s title. In January, Stakelum was called up to skate at the European Championships at short notice and finished 30th, the highest he has ever placed at the event.

This is the second time Robyn Foster participates in the Junior Women’s event at the Irish Championships. Foster had to withdraw after the short programme in 2020 due to injury. She ranked seventh at the Tayside Trophy back in November which was held at the same venue and was also seventh at last month’s Kurbada Cup in Latvia.

Sophia Tkacheva is the reigning Junior Women’s national champion. In September 2021, she made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut this season when she placed 25th in Kosice, Slovakia. She also finished tenth at the Tayside Trophy and eighth at the Kurbada Cup.

Dillon Judge is set to retain the Junior Men’s title he won at the 2020 Championships. Judge has had a successful season so far with a silver medal at the Tayside Trophy and bronze at Kurbada Cup. He also participated on the ISU Junior Grand Prix for the first time at events in Latvia and Austria.

History will be made by Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty who will become the first ice dance team to compete at the Irish Championships. The sister/brother duo are entered in the Junior Ice Dance category.

Regular updates from the Irish Figure Skating Championships will be posted on the Ice Skating Association of Ireland’s social media accounts.

Provisional schedule

McAllister Scores Career High At Triglav Trophy

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Sam McAllister (23) has capped off his international season with a silver medal and two new personal bests at the Triglav Trophy in Jesenice, Slovenia.

McAllister opened the senior men’s event yesterday in the short programme where he attempted a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and a triple flip right out of the gate. He landed a double Axel and his final two spins were graded Level 4 by the technical panel. He received a score of 56.23 points to place third halfway through the competition.

Earlier today he performed in the free skating and reeled off a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination, a triple Salchow, a triple flip and a triple Lutz in quick succession. He also included two double Axels and a triple toe loop in his routine with all three of his spins awarded Level 4. He racked up a free score of 120.72 points to give him a total of 176.95 points and moved up to second place overall. Both scores represent new Irish national records.

“It has been a successful trip to Slovenia,” McAllister said. “Still some hard work to be done, but I will enjoy what I have achieved here this weekend.”

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.

McAnuff 35th; O’Brien 37th at Short Track Worlds

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Sean McAnuff (24) and Liam O’Brien (23) have concluded their seasons at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada where they finish 35th and 37th respectively in the overall classification. This was the first time Ireland fielded two skaters in the same category at an ISU World Championships.

Racing began for the two Irish men with the opening day qualifying rounds. First up were the 1500 metres quarterfinals. O’Brien came fourth in Heat 4 in a time of 2:22.931. while McAnuff was fifth with a time of 2:24.441 in Heat 6.

Next up were the 500 metres preliminaries. McAnuff raced in Heat 8 where he came fourth in 42.475 and was followed by O’Brien in Heat 9 who also ended up fourth in a time of 43.549.

The final distance on the opening day were the 1000 metres preliminaries. Unfortunately, O’Brien picked up a penalty in Heat 5. McAnuff wound up fourth in Heat 8 (1:27.595).

The Irish skaters lined up for two ranking finals on Day Two. McAnuff appeared in Heat 2 of the 1500 metres and finished sixth in a closely fought race in 2:26.229. O’Brien was next on the track in Heat 3 and took fourth in 2:29.668. O’Brien finished 25th and McAnuff 34th overall in the distance.

For the 500 metres preliminaries ranking finals, McAnuff and O’Brien were both drawn in Heat 2. Although O’Brien received a penalty, McAnuff had his best finish of the championships by placing second in a time of 43.243. McAnuff ranked 35th and O’Brien 37th for the distance.

The last day of the championships saw just McAnuff in action in the 1000 metres preliminaries ranking finals. He came third in Heat 3 with a time of 1:32.192 and was classified 31st for the distance. O’Brien ranked 44th.

“I think this has been the most successful weekend of my skating career thus far,” McAnuff said. “I was able to accomplish each goal I set, as well as reconnect and enjoy the company of fellow skaters that I have met over the years. It was refreshing, yet inspiring to finish off this Olympic season back in Canada at Maurice Richard. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have raced this weekend, but I am certainly looking forward to the season of rest ahead!”

“The competition didn’t go as planned after receiving penalties in both the 500 and 1000 metres,” O’Brien said. “However, it was great to have crowds back at racing and have an atmosphere in the ice rink. I’m glad that this season has come to an end as it was full of ups and downs and time for some much needed rest.”

 

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.

 

McAnuff and O’Brien On Track For Historic Worlds

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This weekend Ireland’s Sean McAnuff (24) and Liam O’Brien (23) close out their season at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada which had originally been scheduled for last month. This marks the first time that the Ice Skating Association of Ireland fields two athletes in the same category at an ISU World Championships.

McAnuff and O’Brien will be among over 119 skaters from 27 countries participating in the annual event. They will first race on Friday (8 April) in the qualifying rounds for the 500, 1000 and 1500 metre distances with further rounds taking place over the following two days.

McAnuff will be racing for the first time since his season was interrupted in November last year with a bout of Covid-19 causing him to miss out on the final two Olympic qualifying World Cups. He previously competed at Worlds back in 2019.

“With the difficulties of Covid in the prior season, and the postponement of the World Championships this season, many of us have had to sacrifice other areas of our personal lives to try and avoid compromising our skating goals,” McAnuff said. “Now that the end of the season is here, I really want to bring a fun and light hearted atmosphere to this competition, while bringing joy to the sport we all started because of our love for it! One goal for me is encouraging this kind of environment. I think it is important to remember we can’t all take home a gold medal, but we can all take away an experience that fosters our passion for the sport rather than an experience that burns us out.”

By placing 29th at last year’s Worlds, O’Brien qualified two spots for Ireland this time round in the men’s event in Montreal. He continued his good form this season at the World Cups last autumn and agonisingly missed out on securing a quota spot at the Beijing Olympics in the 1500 metres by just one place.

“I am looking forward to getting out there and racing at the weekend for the first time since the World Cups back in November,” O’Brien said. “I hope to improve on last season’s World Championships results and my performance at this season’s World Cup series.”

The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships will be broadcast online in Ireland on the Eurosport Player (paid subscription required) and the ISU YouTube channel. McAnuff and O’Brien will start their campaigns inside the Maurice Richard Arena tomorrow afternoon (8 April) Irish time.

The results of the championships can be followed on the event results page and on social media via the #WorldShortTrack and #ShortTrackSkating hashtags.

Sean McAnuff: Man On A Mission For Short Track Worlds

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Sean McAnuff (24) lines up later this week at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships (8-10 April) in Montreal, Canada three years on from his first participation in the event. In the meantime, the Irish speed skater has graduated from university, gotten married and moved overseas to a new training base all in the midst of the difficulties involved competing at an elite level during a global pandemic.

Following his graduation from Bishop’s University (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and marriage to Jess, the newlyweds moved from Canada to Budapest, Hungary to train with the Hungarian national team in December 2020. In recent years, Hungary has been a powerhouse nation in short track speed skating with stars such as brothers Shaolin Sándor Liu and Shaoang Liu winning European, World and Olympic medals. After competing alongside and getting to know his Hungarian counterparts over a number of seasons, the opportunity to attend a training camp in July 2020 presented itself.

“I’d never been to Budapest before and it was actually the two hottest weeks they had that year, but the training was really good,” McAnuff recalled. “Immediately, the athletes and the coaches took me in as one of their own and they were just very generous. Even though they all speak Hungarian, obviously, the coaches are very international. There’s a Chinese coach and a Korean coach, so English is the main language spoken for training which made it easier as well.”

Covid-19 inevitably delayed McAnuff’s move to Hungary, but after several months and quarantining over Christmas 2020 he began training full-time in Budapest in January 2021 with his eyes on the target of qualifying a spot for Ireland at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Last summer his focus was on preparing for the four ISU World Cups Olympic qualifying events in autumn 2021.

“Everything went pretty well honestly,” he said. “The equipment, my endurance and my technique – I felt improvements overall.”

The first two World Cups were held in Beijing, China and Nagoya, Japan. McAnuff raced well and even set a new personal best in the 1500 metres, but he found that his fellow athletes had also raised the bar during the off-season.

“The competition was very high,” he said. “I looked around and I realised how much everyone else trained. It wasn’t a shock. I didn’t expect to be getting a gold medal out there, but it was very clear that everyone really worked hard coming into this Olympic season. It was a tough competition and overall I was pleased with my placement and my strategy. There were things I got to learn and work on, but also some little successes too.”

However, on his return to Europe to prepare for the final two World Cups in Debrecen, Hungary and Dordrecht, Netherlands, he tested positive for Covid-19.

“I didn’t really have symptoms when I got the positive tests, but the next day it hit me,” he said. “I was out of training for five weeks. All of November into the first week of December, I was off.

“In those five weeks, I missed the third and fourth Olympic qualifiers in Europe. I was really looking forward to them and it was really difficult to not be able to compete. I felt like I worked for the last four years and then Covid hit me and I couldn’t test negative.

“I think I could have gone to race, but I don’t know how I would have performed physically after the illness. That was really hard mentally. I had to come back and focus on why I’m skating. The Olympics is a goal, but I really do treasure building the community in the sport.”

McAnuff has also connected with the Irish community in Hungary and the Irish Ambassador to Hungary, His Excellency Mr. Ronan Gargan, has even come to watch one of his training sessions.

“The morning of the practice, I was notified he was coming to watch and he wanted to see me skate and meet me,” McAnuff said “That was really cool.

“There’s a lot of Irish restaurants, which is awesome. I can always go and feel like I’m sitting on the streets of Dublin in a little bar or restaurant. There’s some some great musicians we go watch. There is actually a solid Irish community here and, funnily enough, my wife and I live near the Veterinary University and there are hundreds of Irish students studying right here on on the campus.”

McAnuff and his wife are also full-time missionaries and through their church they have been involved in outreach programmes and voluntary activities. Recently, they have been actively supporting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine which shares a border with Hungary.

“This organisation that we volunteer with is called Youth With A Mission and their base in Budapest is connected with one in Kyiv. They would message us and tell us they have a family coming over arriving at the border at a certain time and ask us if we can go pick them up. We would get a rental car and drive to the border. It’s about three hours to three and a half hours away. We’ve done that multiple times. Sometimes you don’t even have their phone numbers, so we just have their name on a sign.

“We pick refugees up and bring them back to the city. Then we would put them up either in a hotel or even in our apartment. We have a spare bed, so we would house them, or if they already had a destination, we figured out how to get them there.

“Aside from the the border runs, the other thing we would do would be grocery shopping for refugees. People in Canada, and actually internationally, who we’re raising funds with, are sending us money to help these refugees.

“We just get to help these refugees going through a ridiculously hard time. Most of them come with just a backpack. They need sweaters. They need socks. They need shoes.

“Just how thankful they are, the tears in their eyes, the smiles on their face, and the hugs they give – you don’t even need to speak the language. They’re just so thankful that people here are helping.

“The organisation we’re volunteering with actually have vehicles going into Ukraine. I’ll be going on some runs into Ukraine once I get back from Worlds. It sounds very intense, but obviously we take the proper safety precautions and security.”

Being born and growing up in Canada, McAnuff is looking forward to going back to Montreal to race in a venue with which he is very familiar.

“It is very exciting and I’ve raced in the Maurice Richard Arena a dozen times over my lifetime, because it’s a quick drive from Ontario, where I grew up,” McAnuff said. “It’s kind of nostalgic to be back in that rink. The last time I was there was for the World Championships in 2018, at the end of the Olympic season. My brother Ryan was the one competing as we only had one spot. I was there as an alternate. Looking back now, it’s four years later and the same situation at the end of the Olympic season, but this time it’s me representing Ireland. I would say it’s a little extra special just to be there representing Ireland so close to where I was born and grew up as well. I will get to see some familiar faces and reunite.”

McAnuff will compete with teammate Liam O’Brien and it will be the first time that Ireland will have two entries in the same category at an ISU World Championships.

“I’m very excited to have Liam there as well,” McAnuff said. “We only got to really train together for those first two Olympic qualifiers, but it was fun to get to know each other more. Just having a teammate there is also nice. You can talk about your races and just decompress a little too.”

The ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships begin this Friday, 8 April 2022 with the qualification rounds. Follow the ISAI social media accounts for updates from Montreal!

 

 

 

 

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.