McAnuff And Ryan Race At Canadian International Invitational

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Over the weekend, Irish short track speed skating national team members Sean McAnuff and Ava Ryan competed in a series of races at the Canadian International Invitational (6-8 December) in Montreal, Canada.

Ryan made her debut for Ireland at the event and she participated in three individual distance categories, as well as part of an international team in the 3000 metres relay that won a silver medal. Her final overall ranking for the competition was 49th. She also recorded a qualification time for the next month’s International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Bormio, Italy.

McAnuff also took part in 500, 1000 and 1500 metre races in Montreal. He was ranked 35th overall and January will also be a busy month for him with the 2020 ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships coming up in Debrecen, Hungary.

Results for the competition can be found here.

 

 

Donoghue Qualifies First Ever Skating Youth Olympics Spot For Ireland

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Tara Donoghue (17) has officially become the first ice skater to qualify a quota spot for Ireland at a Youth Olympic Games. This spot was obtained based solely on Donoghue’s performance at last weekend’s International Skating Union (ISU) Junior World Cup Speed Skating event in Enschede, Netherlands.

The Youth Olympic Games are an elite multi-sport event for young people from all over the world. The sports programme is based on that of the Olympic Games, with 7 sports featuring on the winter programme. The next edition are scheduled to take place in Lausanne, Switzerland in January 2020. For the speed skating events at next year’s Games, competitors must be born between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2004. Unfortunately, Donoghue’s date of birth is 11 December 2001 meaning she will miss out on competing in Lausanne.

“It’s a huge honour to be the first ice skater to qualify a spot for Ireland at the Youth Olympics,” Donoghue said. “Although it’s bittersweet for me because I am too old by 20 days to participate, this disappointment is going to spur me on to work even harder.”

Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) President Karen O’Sullivan said, “This is an amazing achievement by Tara to earn the first ever ice skating spot for Ireland at the Winter Youth Olympic Games and is a testament to the bright future she has in the sport.”

Donoghue is already qualified for the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Final in Minsk, Belarus and the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. Both competitions will be held in February 2020.

McAllister 9th At Bosphorus Cup

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Sam McAllister (21) competed this weekend at the Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul, Turkey where he represented Ireland in the Senior Men’s event.

The Irish senior champion began with the short programme on Friday, 29 November. Skating to “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck, he attempted a triple Lutz combination and landed a double Axel. He garnered a Level 4 for his closing change foot combination spin and scored 43.33 points which put him in 11th place.

McAllister was back on the ice on Saturday, 30 November for the free skating. In his “Pirates of the Caribbean” routine, he included four triple jumps and received Level 4 for a change foot combination spin. He was awarded a free score of 95.14 giving him a total of 138.47 and 9th place overall.

Full results for the Bosphorus Cup can be found here.

McAllister Flies Flag For Ireland At Bosphorus Cup

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Irish figure skater Sam McAllister will be competing this weekend at the Bosphorus Cup (29-30 November) in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Irish senior champion will be on the ice tomorrow (Friday, 29 November) for his short programme with the competition beginning at 11:40hrs Irish time.  The following day he will return to compete in the free skating which starts at 10:00hrs.

The event will be streamed live online on YouTube and further information is available on the competition results page.

Donoghue Wraps Up Dutch Junior World Cup

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Irish speed skater Tara Donoghue competed this weekend in the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior World Cup Speed Skating in Enschede, Netherlands.

On the opening day of the event, Donoghue raced over two distances. In the 1000 metres, she opened with her series of races with a time of 1:27.298 to finish 45th. Later on in the day, she took to the Ijsbaan Twente oval once more for the 3000 metres where she clocked 4:41.852 to come 24th.

The second day began for Donoghue with the 500 metres and she posted a time of 43.642 to place 54th. She followed that up with 2:13.368 over 1500 metres to come in 33rd. She closed out her racing with the mass start and she finished in 18th overall in a time of 5:50.75.

Full results of the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Enschede can be viewed here.

Donoghue Lines Up For ISU Junior World Cup

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Irish speed skater Tara Donoghue competes this weekend at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior World Cup in Enschede, Netherlands (23-24 November).

Donoghue will race in the 500, 1000, 1500 and 3000 metres distances, as well as the mass start event, over the course of the two days. Starting times for her events are as follows (all Irish time):

Saturday, 23 November

08:00 1000m
11:45 3000m

Sunday, 24 November

08:00 500m
11:35 1500m
14:50 Mass Start

The ISU Junior World Cup will be streamed live on the KNSB YouTube Channel. Results can be found on the ISU Speed Skating Results page and you can also follow the event on social media via the #SpeedSkating hashtag.

2020 Irish Figure Skating Championships

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The 2020 Irish Figure Skating Championships will be held from 24-27 February 2020 at the Lee Valley Ice Centre, London. The Championships will include Senior, Junior, Advanced Novice, Intermediate Novice and Basic Novice events in Ladies and Men’s categories.

Further information on the Championships can be found in the Announcement and Technical Criteria.

Stakelum 10th, McAllister 13th At Denkova-Staviski Cup

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Irish figure skaters Sam McAllister and Conor Stakelum have completed their participation in the Senior Men’s event at the Denkova-Staviski Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria earlier today (14 November).

The first of the Irish entries to take to the ice for the short programme was Stakelum. He rotated a triple loop and went on to land a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and a double Axel. He also executed three Level 4 spins and scored 59.44 points to place seventh at the interim stage.

In the following warm-up group, McAllister skated his short. He singled a triple Lutz and attempted a triple flip combination, while later on in his routine he landed a double Axel and had two of his spins graded Level 4. He received 47.89 points for the segment to place 14th.

In the free skating, McAllister was the first of the Irish competitors to perform. He opened with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination and went on to attempt three more triples. He also landed two double Axels and was awarded Level 4 for two of his spins. With a free score of 92.51 and a total of 140.40, the Irish senior champion finished in 13th place overall.

Stakelum began his free by doubling a planned triple loop and included four other triple jumps, two double Axels and three Level 4 spins in his programme. The five-time Irish senior champion scored 104.58 points for his free giving him a total of 164.02 for 10th place in the final standings.

Full detailed results for the Denkova-Staviski Cup can be viewed here.

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.

Sean McAnuff Rounds Out Montreal World Cup

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At his second International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track of the season, Irish skater Sean McAnuff raced this weekend at Maurice-Richard Arena in Montreal, Canada.

McAnuff began the competition with the heats of the 1000 metres (1) where he was drawn in Heat 4. He recorded a time of 1:30.831 to place fifth. The following day in the repechage quarterfinals he was penalised and was classified 46th overall for the distance.

McAnuff also contested the 500 metres in Montreal. For the heats, he lined up in Heat 2 and posted a time of 42.804 for fourth place. In the repechage quarterfinals, he came third in Heat 3 in a time of 42.779. He was 35th in the overall classification for the distance.

Full results for the ISU World Cup Short Track are available here.