McAllister Selected For 2022 Europeans

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The Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) has selected Sam McAllister (23) to represent Ireland at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia (10-16 January).

McAllister will compete in the men’s singles category at the Tondiraba Ice Hall alongside the cream of European skating talent. To qualify for the championships, each competitor had to obtain a set of minimum technical scores at International Skating Union (ISU) international competitions during previous and/or current seasons.

This is the first time the Ballymoney, County Antrim athlete will make an appearance at the European Championships. He was also selected for the 2021 European Championships, but the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He will become only the third Irish skater to ever participate in the prestigious championships which were first held in 1891.

“I am super excited to head to Europeans,” McAllister said. “I just want to go and enjoy my first experience and skate well for myself.”

Irish Figure Skaters Wrap Up 2021 At Santa Claus Cup

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Three Irish skaters competed this week at the Santa Claus Cup in Budapest, Hungary.

Sam McAllister (23) and Conor Stakelum (28) took part in the Senior Men’s event. McAllister drew first to skate in the short programme where he opened with a triple flip and went for a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. He also included a double Axel and two Level 4 spins in his routine to score 54.16 points for sixth place after the short. Stakelum skated third and began with a triple loop and a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination. He also landed a double Axel and two of his spins were awarded Level 3 by the technical panel. He scored 50.22 points to sit in eighth position overnight.

Stakelum was the first of the two Irish skaters to appear in the free skating the following day. He started with a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and went on to land three more triple jumps in his routine. He closed out his performance with a Level 4 change foot combination spin to earn 101.78 points and seventh place in the free to give himself a total score of 152 points. McAllister was on the ice shortly afterwards and commenced his programme with a triple Lutz and a double Axel. He attempted three more triples and executed two Level 4 spins. He scored 99.03 points for eighth place in the free with his total of 153.19 putting him in seventh overall just ahead of Stakelum in eighth.

“This was my third competition of the season and, after a week off with injury, I am proud of how I skated,” McAllister said. “I will keep training hard for my next competition.”

“Although the outcome may not be what I was hoping for, I enjoyed every second of my free programme today,” Stakelum said. “Having struggled a lot with nerves since coming back this season after the long break, I can only thank my wonderful coaches for helping me to get back on track.”

Dillon Judge (17) participated in the Junior Men’s event. In the short, he attempted a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and double Axel to start and later on in his programme he opted for a double flip. He received a score of 38.55 points which was close to his lifetime best and he stood in 11th place at the first segment of the event.

Judge returned to the ice the following day for the free. As with the short, he began with a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and a double Axel. Later on he attempted a solo triple Salchow and another double Axel and was given a Level 3 for a flying sit spin. He posted a score of 70.23 points for the free and 108.78 points for his competition total which were both new career bests. He finished in 11th place overall.

“I am feeling really good and my competition fitness is back,” Judge said. “My routines went well and I achieved my highest combined score. After all the time off ice, things appear to be going in the right direction. I want to build on this performance and give better consistent performances.”

McAnuff and O’Brien Wrap Up At Final Short Track World Cup

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Ryan McAnuff and Liam O’Brien brought this season’s World Cup odyssey for Ireland’s short track speed skaters across two continents and four events to a close at this weekend’s competition in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

Day One (25 November) began with the 1500m heats. McAnuff lined up in Heat 2 where he finished 6th in a time of 2:22.991. He was ranked 71st for the distance at this World Cup. There was plenty of drama in Heat 10 where there was a restart after a crash involving a number of skaters and in the rerun O’Brien was infringed upon by another athlete and promoted to third with a time 2:29.875. For the quarterfinals, O’Brien was drawn in Heat 4 where he came in 6th in a time of 2:17.135.

The 500m preliminaries were on the agenda for the afternoon of Day One and McAnuff raced in Heat 5 where he posted a time of 44.136 coming in fifth for a distance ranking of 76th. O’Brien rounded out the first day for Team Ireland by ending up third in a time of 43.128 in Heat 15. He was ranked 51st in the distance at this World Cup.

The Irish skaters were back on ice for Day Two (26 November) where they contested the 1000m preliminaries. Heat 12 saw McAnuff race to a fifth place finish in a time of 1:28.916 and placed 73rd for the distance. O’Brien crossed the line in Heat 15 with a time of 1:29.370 and was advanced to the next round. He finished fifth in Heat 5 of the 1000m heats in a time of 1:27.993.

O’Brien returned on Day Three (27 November) for the 1500m ranking finals. He raced in Heat 5 where he recorded a time of 2:17.322 for fifth place and five World Cup points. He was ranked in 40th place for the distance in Dordrecht.

O’Brien took to the ice for the last time on Day Four (28 November) for the 1000m ranking finals where he skated in Heat 2. He finished third in a time of 1:31.880 and placed 33rd for the distance which gave him 12 World Cup points and an overall classification of 57th.

“I’m really happy and thankful to be back racing this week,” McAnuff said. “Racing the top athletes in the world and competing at another international event and Olympic qualifier has been a great experience. I enjoyed myself and was proud of my performance. Balancing my final year of medical school and training is difficult, but worth it.”

“It’s been a long two months of racing between the Asian and European World Cups,” O’Brien said. “I am happy with my performance at my first World Cup series competing for Ireland and I hope to build on this base. This week I am happy that I was able to better my 1000m performance from the previous World Cups, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”

The final World Cup classification for the Irish short track speed skaters is as follows:

Ryan McAnuff – 500m (98th), 1000m (102nd), 1500m (101st)

Sean McAnuff – 500m (93rd), 1000m (99th), 1500m (86th)

Liam O’Brien – 500m (66th), 1000m (57th), 1500m (43rd)

The four World Cups served as qualifying events for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The Special Olympic Qualification Classification quotas will be allocated by 13 December 2021. Full rules of the Olympic qualifying procedures can be viewed here.

 

McAnuff and O’Brien Set For Final World Cup

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Ryan McAnuff (27) and Liam O’Brien (23) line up this weekend at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Dordrecht, Netherlands (25-28 November), the final stage of four qualifying events for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Both McAnuff and O’Brien will be racing from tomorrow (25 November) inside the Optisport SportBoulevard. First up will be the 1500m heats and quarterfinals which will be followed later in the day by 500m preliminaries and heats. On Friday (26 November) the 1000m preliminaries and heats will take place. Subsequent rounds and finals will be held on Saturday (27 November) and Sunday (28 November).

For both skaters, the goal again will be to progress as far as they can in each distance to accumulate ranking points. There are 32 Olympic quota places in the 500m and 1000m distances and 36 in the 1500m on offer. Full rules of the Olympic qualifying procedures can be viewed here.

This will be McAnuff’s season debut. After the first three World Cup events, the current World Cup Classification for O’Brien in each distance is as follows:

500m (60th), 1000m (69th), 1500m (42nd)

“I’m really excited to be back skating, especially here in the Netherlands,” McAnuff said. “I hope to make Ireland proud!”

“I was really pleased with how I raced last weekend in Hungary,” O’Brien said. “I am hoping to repeat that performance this weekend in the Netherlands.”

The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating will be streamed live on the ISU Skating YouTube channel. The event can also be followed on social media via the #ShortTrackSkating hashtag.

Schedule (Irish time)

25 November

09:21 1500m Heats
11:46 1500m Quarterfinals
14:04 500m Preliminaries
15:34 500m Heats

26 November

10:56 1000m Preliminaries
13:04 1000m Heats

27 November

09:31 1500m Ranking Finals
10:12 500m Ranking Finals
12:33 1500m Semifinals
13:26 1500m Finals
14:15 500m Quarterfinals
14:53 500m Semifinals
15:30 500m Finals

28 November

09:27 1000m Ranking Finals
12:37 1000m Quarterfinals
13:18 1000m Semifinals
13:58 1000m Finals

Postponement of 2021 Learn To Skate Programmes

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In a normal year, the Ice Skating Association of Ireland would be offering Learn to Skate programmes, but it is with great disappointment that we have to announce the postponement of our programmes for the 2021 season.

Having spent considerable time planning and consulting with all stakeholders involved in the administration and delivery of the Learn to Skate programmes, we have concluded that it is not possible to safely offer the programmes without unnecessary risk to our skaters and volunteers. In addition, the lack of rinks opening for the 2021 season has been another obstacle to delivering the programmes.

We will continue to monitor the ever-changing Covid-19 situation, Irish Government and Sport Ireland guidance and hope that we can, as soon as possible, get you back on ice.

O’Brien Keeps Olympic Dream Alive With Best World Cup Showing

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Liam O’Brien marked his 23rd birthday by competing at the third ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Debrecen, Hungary over this weekend and posted his best result of the series so far to edge him closer to possible qualification  for the 2022 Beijing Olympics next February.

On Day One of racing, O’Brien opened with the 1500m where he was drawn in Heat 14. He finished third in a time of 2:24.899 to advance to the quarterfinals later in the day. He raced in Heat 7 and came fourth with a time of 2:18.941 to move forward to the ranking finals.

O’Brien rounded out his first day of competition in Heat 14 of the 500m preliminaries where he ended up 5th in 43.614. He was classified as 71st overall at this World Cup.

For Day Two, O’Brien had just the 1000m preliminaries to contend with and he raced in Heat 9 where he skated to fourth place in a time of 1:30.732. He finished in 62nd place overall for the distance in Debrecen.

O’Brien’s final race was the 1500m ranking finals on Day Three for which he was assigned to Heat 3. He came home 5th in a time of 2:31.317 to garner 38 World Cup points for his 26th placement in the distance.

After the first three World Cups, the current World Cup classification for O’Brien in each distance is as follows:

500m (60th), 1000m (69th), 1500m (42nd)

O’Brien’s exploits in Hungary put him in with a real shot of nabbing one of the 36 quota places available for the 1500m distance at the Beijing Olympics with just the final qualifying World Cup to be held next weekend (24-28 November) in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

“I am slowly building on the performances from the first two World Cups,” O’Brien said. “I am happy with my skate in the 1500m and hopefully next week I can repeat similar results.”

Stakelum 28th At Warsaw Cup

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Conor Stakelum (28) has finished in 28th place at the Warsaw Cup in Poland.

Stakelum began the competition with the short programme. He opened with a triple loop attempt and went on to land a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination and a double Axel. He was awarded a Level 4 for a flying sit spin and received a score of 52.25 points for the segment which had him sitting in 28th place overnight.

The following afternoon Stakelum was back on the ice at the Torwar Arena for the free skating. He attempted a triple flip to open his routine and landed a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and a solo triple toe loop later on in the programme. He earned 87.30 points for the free giving him a combined total of 139.55 to remain in 28th place overall.

Stakelum Set For Warsaw Cup

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Conor Stakelum (28) competes this weekend at the Warsaw Cup in Poland (18-20 November), an ISU Challenger Series event.

Stakelum will start with the short programme on Thursday evening (18 November) with the free skating taking place on Friday afternoon (19 November).

“My goal for this competition is to continue to get used to competing again and to perform how I do in training,” Stakelum said.

 

O’Brien Continues On Road To Beijing At Third ISU World Cup in Hungary

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Liam O’Brien (22) is back competing this weekend at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Debrecen, Hungary (18-21 November), the penultimate leg of four qualifying events for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

O’Brien will be racing from tomorrow (18 November) inside the Főnix Arena. First up will be the 1500m heats and quarterfinals which will be followed later in the day by 500m preliminaries and heats. On Friday (19 November) the 1000m preliminaries and heats will take place. Subsequent rounds and finals will be held on Saturday (20 November) and Sunday (21 November).

For O’Brien, the goal again will be to progress as far as he can in each distance to accumulate ranking points. There are 32 Olympic quota places in the 500m and 1000m distances and 36 in the 1500m on offer. Full rules of the Olympic qualifying procedures can be viewed here.

After the first two World Cup events in Asia last month, the current World Cup Classification for O’Brien in each distance is as follows:

500m (60th), 1000m (60th), 1500m (45th)

“It was good to get back to my training base in Korea between the Asian and European World Cups,” O’Brien said. “Since the last World Cup, I’ve been building on my performance and hope to improve over the coming weekend.”

The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating will be streamed live on the ISU Skating YouTube channel. The event can also be followed on social media via the #ShortTrackSkating hashtag.

Schedule (Irish time)

18 November

09:36 1500m Heats
12:01 1500m Quarterfinals
14:34 500m Preliminaries
16:01  500m Heats

19 November

10:26 1000m Preliminaries
12:21 1000m Heats

20 November

10:01 1500m Ranking Finals
10:42 500m Ranking Finals
13:20 1500m Semifinals
14:13 1500m Finals
15:02 500m Quarterfinals
15:40 500m Semifinals
16:17 500m Finals

21 November

09:12 1000m Ranking Finals
13:19 1000m Quarterfinals
14:00 1000m Semifinals
14:40 1000m Finals

Irish Skaters Make Strides At Tayside Trophy

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A five-strong team of Irish figure skaters competed over the weekend at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland (6-7 November).

First to take to the ice was Sophia Tkacheva in the Junior Women’s Short Programme who skated last weekend in the Tirnavia Ice Cup in Slovakia. She attempted a double Axel, a double Lutz-double toe loop and a double flip in her routine and also executed a Level 4 change foot combination spin. She scored 28.23 points to put herself in ninth place.

Robyn Foster followed Tkacheva in the same category in her debut event representing Ireland. She tried a double Axel, a triple Salchow jump combination and a double flip and her change foot combination spin was also graded Level 4. At the end of the short, Foster was a whisker ahead of Tkacheva in eighth place on 28.24 points.

In the Junior Women’s Free Skating the next day, Tkacheva appeared first skating to “Voila” by Barbara Pravi. She opened with a triple Salchow attempt and also included three jump combinations in her programme. She received a score of 51.07 points for a total of 79.30 which left her in tenth place in the final standings.

“Today wasn’t my best skate for sure and I made some silly mistakes,” Tkacheva said. “I am happy that I attempted my triple Salchow. I just need to learn to combine the hard jumps and the doubles and to stay focused no matter what happens during the programme and to work on my elements overall.”

Foster skated right after Tkacheva and commenced with a double Axel attempt and she also successfully landed a second one later on in her routine to “Scheherazade” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Two of her spins were deemed Level 3 by the technical panel and she posted a free score of 63.38 which moved her up into seventh overall with a total of 91.62 points.

“It was a really good experience to skate for Ireland,” Foster said. “Even though I made some mistakes, I got a personal best, so I know there is so much more room for improvement next time. I’m going to work on being more confident with my Axels and enjoying my programmes to the fullest.”

Dillon Judge was the sole Irish entrant in the Junior Men’s category. In the short programme, he started with a triple salchow-double toe loop combination and went on to land a double Axel and a double flip. He was awarded a score of 38.81 which was a new personal best and had him in second place overnight.

Judge performed to a medley of Jamie Callum songs for his free skating and he opened with a solo triple Salchow which he followed with a double Axel. He also tried to go for a triple Salchow combination later on in the routine and his step sequence was given a Level 3. A free score of 57.87 gave him a total of 96.68 and he maintained his second place in the standings.

“The short programme went very well,” Judge said. “The only slight error was the combo spin where I stumbled, so the next time I’ll improve on that. In the free skating there were quite a few errors which I’m not the most happy with, but the highlight of the programme was the double Axel because I showed the quality of what I can do. Next time I hope that I can improve the consistency of the jumps throughout the programme.”

Conor Stakelum and Sam McAllister were the final two Irish skaters in action as they lined up in the Senior Men’s event. Stakelum was the first to skate in the short programme. He doubled a planned triple loop, but came back with a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination and a double Axel. Two of his spins received Level 4 and he scored 49.05 to place ninth in the segment.

McAllister took to the ice in the following group of skaters and began with a triple flip before attempting a triple Lutz combination. He also landed a double Axel and two spins in his routine got a Level 4 from the technical panel. A score of 45.25 left him in 12th place going into the free skating.

Skating to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film soundtrack, McAllister was first to perform in the free skating. He started with a triple Lutz and a double Axel and then went on to attempt a double Axel-triple toe loop combination, a triple Salchow and a triple Lutz sequence among other elements. He achieved Level 4 for both a flying sit spin and a change foot combination spin and garnered 87.33 points for the free which gave him a total of 132.58 and 11th place overall.

“I had a good start in the free today, McAllister said. “It’s still only my second competition since the whole pandemic began. I’m looking forward to getting out there again at my next event in Poland later this month.”

Stakelum was the final Irish skater to take to the ice at the Tayside Trophy. He performed his free to “Riverdance” by Bill Whelan and embarked with triple flip and triple loop attempts. He landed a triple Salchow and a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination midway through the routine and also was given Level 4 for his flying sit spin and change foot combination spin. He scored 91.11 points for the free which meant he had a total of 140.16 and final placement of tenth.

“I was a bit disappointed with my short programme, missing things that are quite easy for me,” Stakelum said. “Although the free skating had a lot of messy elements, it’s the hardest programme I have ever gone for and landed my flip. There are lots of positives to take forward and I just need to polish things up now.”