Sam McAllister 6th At Tallink Hotels Cup

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This weekend saw Ireland’s Sam McAllister competing at the Tallink Hotels Cup in Tallinn, Estonia.

In the short programme, McAllister executed a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination, a triple flip and a double Axel to record a new personal best of 55.58. His routine to “Take Five” put him in sixth position overnight.

The following day the County Antrim native performed in the free skating to “The Lady and the Hooligan” by Dmitri Shostakovich. He included two triple Lutzes and two double Axels in his programme to earn a free score of 98.51. This gave him a total of 154.09 and he remained in sixth place overall.

You can find full results for the Tallink Hotels Cup here.

Introductory Short Track Officials Seminar

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An introductory short track officials seminar will be held at The Beacon Hotel, Sandyford, Dublin 18 on Sunday 3 March from 10am until 2pm. Please email info@isai.ie to register for the seminar.

Tara Donoghue Makes Solid Debut At World Juniors

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This weekend saw Tara Donoghue become the first skater from Ireland to compete at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Baselga di Pinè, Italy.

Donoghue raced in the 1500 metres on the opening day of the event in the third pairing along a skater from the United States. She started out the slower of the two, but maintained her pace better to win her heat in a time of 2:15.91. This put her in 28th place overall out of 39 athletes.

On the second day of competition, Donoghue lined up for the 3000 metres. She was seeded again in the third pairing, this time with an Austrian skater who went on to record a personal best. The Irish skater maintained her focus and came home in a very creditable time of 4:43.66. She finished the distance in 23rd place out of 34 entrants, the highest ever finish for Ireland in an ISU championship event.

Donoghue was not too overawed by the occasion.

“I raced reasonably well. Not too great, but not too bad and I am OK with that,” Donoghue said. “To be honest, World Juniors felt the same as a World Cup with just a different name.”

Full results for the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships can be found here.

Tara Donoghue Lines Up For World Junior Championship Debut

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This weekend Irish speed skater Tara Donoghue (17) will become the first competitor from Ireland to participate in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Baselga di Piné, Italy (15-17 February).

This is the second season that Donoghue has competed internationally for Ireland. She attained the qualifying times for two distances for these World Junior Championships in autumn 2018. She will race in the 1500 metres tomorrow afternoon (Friday 15 December) and in the 3000 metres the following afternoon (Saturday 16 December) in a field of athletes from 19 countries.

“I am really excited to be have qualified for World Juniors and it is an honour to be the first Irish skater to do so,” Donoghue said. “I am looking forward to doing the best that I can over the two distances in Italy.”

You can watch Donoghue race live on the ISU’s YouTube channel and also follow her progress via the #WorldJSpeed and #SpeedSkating hashtags on social media.

2019 Irish Figure Skating Championships

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The 2019 Irish Figure Skating Championships will be held at the Lee Valley Ice Centre, London, United Kingdom from 1-4 April 2019. The championships will feature ladies and men’s singles events in the Basic Novice, Intermediate Novice, Advanced Novice, Junior and Senior categories. All entrants must be current eligible Ice Skating Asssociation of Ireland members in good standing as defined by the association. Championship entries must be submitted via the ISAI Online Events systems on the ISAI website which will shortly be available. The deadline for entries is 1 March 2019. You can find the championship announcement and technical criteria here.

Tara Donoghue Battles Through Helsinki World Cup

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

Donoghue began her racing schedule with the 1000 metres on the first day of competition. She recorded a time of 1:28.600 to finish in 25th place.

Later on the same day she tackled the 3000 metres and came home in 11th place with a time of 4:53.858.

The following morning Donoghue lined up for the 500 metres and posted a time of 44.318 in tough conditions.

She did not finish her 1500 metre race that followed and then placed 19th in the mass start that closed her programme of races for the weekend at the Oulunkylän Liikuntapuisto oval in the Finnish capital.

Conor Stakelum Skates To 33rd At Europeans

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Conor Stakelum has finished 33rd at his second consecutive European Figure Skating Championships in Minsk, Belarus earlier today.

The five-time Irish champion competed in the short programme inside the Minsk Arena and was 11th to skate out of 37 skaters from around Europe. He opened his programme to “Clair de Lune” with a triple loop and triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination which both received positive grades of execution from the panel of nine judges. He also landed a double Axel and received Level 4 for a flying sit spin.

The Dubliner earned a score of 55.03 which saw him in 33rd in the standings at the end of today. Although it was not enough to advance to Saturday’s free skating, it was a new International Skating Union (ISU) personal best and an improvement on his 36th place at last year’s Europeans in Moscow, Russia.

“Overall I am really happy with my performance today,” Stakelum said. “There were a few things that could have been cleaner, but I feel that I skated as well as I could have at that moment.”

Full detailed results for the 2019 European Figure Skating Championships can be found here.

Conor Stakelum Skates For Ireland At European Figure Skating Championships

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Conor Stakelum (25) competes at the European Figure Skating Championships this week in Minsk, Belarus (23-27 January). This is the five-time Irish champion’s second consecutive participation at the event following his debut last year in Moscow, Russia where he became the first Irish male figure skater to compete in the 118 year history of the championships.

Stakelum will first take part in the short programme which will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, 24 January from 12 noon local time (9am Irish time). He drew to skate 11th of the 36 men competing and will be on the ice at 1:42pm local time (10:32am Irish time). He will perform seven required elements and if his scores place him in the top 24 skaters he will advance to the free skating on Saturday, 26 January.

“I am excited to be back at Europeans again,” Stakelum said. “Last year I was a little bit overawed by the sheer scale of everything. This year I feel more comfortable competing at this level and I hope that will reflect in my performance.”

You will be able to follow Stakelum’s progress in Minsk live on the Eurosport Player (subscription service), the competition results page and on social media using the #EuroFigure #FigureSkating hashtags.

The European Figure Skating Championships are being held in Minsk for the first time ever. Stakelum will be one of 145 skaters from 34 countries who will participate in the event.

McAnuff Brothers Make Milestones At Short Track Europeans

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Ryan McAnuff (24) and Sean McAnuff (21) became the first Irish ice skaters to compete in the same category at an International Skating Union (ISU) Championships this weekend in front of capacity crowds at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

The brothers raced over the course of three days in the 500, 1000 and 1500 metre distances. The best performance on a gruelling opening qualification day was by Sean who finished in third place in the 1000 metres and just missed out on advancing to the quarterfinals.

The highlights of the event came on Day Two. Ryan smashed his own Irish 1500 metres national record by four seconds in coming third in his ranking final in a time of 2:14.413. It was the 12th best time in the distance. The siblings were found themselves in the same 500 metres ranking final and, despite a broken blade and a subsequent restart, Sean pipped his older brother for an Irish 1-2.

Day Three saw them conclude their racing by coming second in each of their respective 1000 metre ranking finals. The overall championships classification saw Sean finish 31st and Ryan 36th to maintain two spots for next year’s event.

“It was so much fun to race in front of such an enthusiastic crowd this weekend,” Sean said. “Ryan and I hope that we can continue to build the profile of our sport in Ireland.”

“Combining my sport with my medical studies at the University of Limerick over the past few months has been challenging,” Ryan added. “That makes it all the sweeter to have set a new Irish 1500 metres record.”

 

McAnuff Brothers All Set For Short Track Euros

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Ryan and Sean McAnuff will be flying the flag for Ireland at the International Skating Union (ISU) European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands this weekend (11-13 January).

For the first time ever at an ISU Championships, two skaters from Ireland will compete in the same category which is down to Sean McAnuff securing an extra spot with overall placement at last year’s Europeans in Dresden, Germany.

The brothers will be lining up with 76 skaters from 23 countries who will be vying for top honours in Dordrecht. The competition will begin with the qualifying rounds for the 500, 1000 and 1500 metre distances on Friday, 11 January. The subsequent rounds will take place on Saturday, 12 January and Sunday, 13 January.

This season has been an eventful one for the McAnuffs. Ryan began a degree in medicine at the University of Limerick in Autumn 2018 and has been balancing his studies with training. Sean has already participated in two World Cups and, in Calgary, Canada, he smashed the Irish national records in both the 500 and 1000 metres.

“I am excited to once again be representing Ireland at a major championships,” Ryan McAnuff said. “It is a wonderful feeling to be sharing this experience with Sean.”

“With two of us racing in Dordrecht, I really hope that we can build up the profile for short track back in Ireland,” Sean McAnuff said. “I am looking forward to racing with Ryan and all the other world class athletes this weekend.”

You can follow the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships on the ISU Skating Channel and by using the #EuroShortTrack #OneHandDown and #ShortTrackSkating hashtags on social media. Competition results will be updated here.