Conor Stakelum Achieves European Qualifying Score At Nebelhorn Trophy

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This evening Irish figure skater Conor Stakelum (24) participated in the free skating segment of the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy, the designated 2018 Winter Olympic Games final qualifying event, in Oberstdorf, Germany where he finished 25th overall with a total score of 139.97.

While he did not obtain an Olympic berth for Ireland in PyeongChang, South Korea next February, Stakelum achieved his secondary goal of making the minimum technical score to be able to take part in the European Figure Skating Championships in Moscow, Russia in January 2018. He is the first Irish male figure skater ever to earn the minimum technical scores necessary to compete at the European Championships. 2012 was the last time an Irish skater represented Ireland at the European Championships when Clara Peters took 28th place in Sheffield, United Kingdom.

“I am really pleased with how hard I fought in the free skating today,” Stakelum said. “Given how high the standard of skating was here in Germany this week, I am proud of how I performed and look forward to building on what I have achieved here towards Beijing 2022.”

Stakelum has had a very successful few weeks on and off the ice as he recently graduated with a first class honours degree in microbiology from University College Dublin.

McAnuff Brothers Embark On Olympic Odyssey

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This week sees brothers Ryan (22) and Sean McAnuff (20) begin their journey through four stops of the Audi International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating to secure berths for Ireland at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea.

The McAnuffs will kick off their Olympic qualifying campaign  in Budapest, Hungary (28 September – 1 October). They will race against athletes from 40 countries over three disciplines – 500 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres. The subsequent three World Cup meets will be in Dordrecht, Netherlands (5-8 October), Shanghai, China (9-12 November) and Seoul, Republic of Korea (16-19 November). Skaters will earn points for each distance they race at the four World Cups with their three best results counting towards their qualification ranking. The top ranked 32 skaters in the 500 and 1000 metres and 36 skaters in the 1500 metres will book their places in PyeongChang. A maximum total of 60 skaters across all distances will qualify for the Olympics.
In 2016, the brothers became the first Irish short track speed skaters to compete on the international circuit. Ryan represented Ireland at the 2017 European Championships in Italy and the 2017 World Championships in the Netherlands, while Sean flew the tricolour at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Austria all for the first time. During the summer of 2017, they moved from Canada to the Netherlands to train full-time with the Dutch national team.
“We are excited to to start the World Cup events and race against the best short trackers in the world who all have the same goal as we have,” Ryan said.
“We really feel that making the move to the Netherlands has really added another dimension to our skating and we are ready to just get out there and race,” Sean added.
You can follow the McAnuffs’ progress in Hungary via the Ice Skating Association of Ireland Facebook and Twitter accounts and, on 30 September and 1 October, the ISU Skating Channel.

Conor Stakelum Aims For Olympic Berth

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This week Conor Stakelum (24) will be Ireland’s sole representative at the Nebelhorn Trophy 2017 (Oberstdorf, Germany) which serves as the final qualifying competition in figure skating for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea.

Stakelum joins athletes from 24 other nations who will be seeking to pick up one of the remaining six places available in the men’s singles event next February in South Korea. Twenty-four places were already allocated at the World Figure Skating Championships in March of this year.
The four-time Irish senior champion and native Dubliner, who trains in Dundee, Scotland under the tutelage of Olympic coach Simon Briggs, will compete in Germany over the course of two days in short programme and free skating segments.
The Nebelhorn Trophy begins on 27 September and runs until 30 September with an official practice day at the start and then three days of competition. Stakelum will compete initially on the evening of Thursday 28 September and again on the evening of Friday 29 September.
“As this will be my first event of the season, I am really excited to get on the ice again and skate in front of an audience,” Stakelum said. “There are lots of really talented skaters competing in my category, so I am just going to go out here, do my best and see what happens.”
You can follow Stakelum’s exploits in Germany via live stream (link below) and the Ice Skating Association of Ireland’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

2017-2018 Test Scores

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The 2017-2018 test scores for figure skating are now online.

The scores can be found in the “Test Information” page of the figure skating section of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland’s website.

Useful Downloads

2017-2018 Test Scores 536 kb | pdf

Sam McAllister Achieves Junior Worlds Technical Score

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Irish figure skater Sam McAllister today attained the minimum technical element free skating score required to compete at the next International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

McAllister was participating this weekend at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Riga Cup in Latvia. He got his campaign off to a start with his new short programme to “Nothing The Same” by Gary Moore. He included a triple Lutz jump and a triple flip jump combination attempts to score 37.03 points which put him in 25th place midway through the event.

Skating to the “Sherlock Holmes” film soundtrack, the Ballymoney born athlete took to the ice for his free skating programme with an upgraded technical arsenal compared to last season. He threw in two triple Lutzes, two double Axel jumps and a triple Salchow jump into his routine. A flying sit spin was also graded Level 4 by the technical panel. He earned massive new personal best free skating and total scores of 85.28 and 122.31 points respectively and moved up to 23rd overall. These are the highest marks ever achieved by an Irish skater at the junior level.

Crucially, this also meant that McAllister had obtained the required minimum technical free skating score (42.00) to be eligible to represent Ireland at the 2018 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria next March. He had already obtained the minimum for the short programme (20.00) last season.

“I am very happy,” McAllister said after the competition. “I tried to stay relaxed going into the free. My goal was to get the elements out and I was able to do that in the warm-up.

“When I was sitting waiting for my scores, I was praying. I knew it would be very close. I am going to spend the rest of this season improving my skating and jumps.”

The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships began in 1977 and have been held on an annual basis since then showcasing the best young figure skating talent. The last Irish skater to compete at the event was Viv Murphy in 2010.

Sam McAllister Short Riga Cup (YouTube)

Sam McAllister Free Riga Cup (YouTube)

ISU Biography

Conor Stakelum To Represent Ireland At Olympic Qualifier

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Conor Stakelum will be Ireland’s sole representative next month at the Nebelhorn Trophy 2017 (Oberstdorf, Germany) which will serve as the final qualifying competition for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea.

Stakelum will join athletes from 26 other nations who will be seeking to pick up one of the remaining six places available in the men’s singles event next February in South Korea. Twenty-four places were already allocated at the World Figure Skating Championships in March.

The four-time Irish senior champion and native Dubliner, who trains in Dundee, Scotland under the tutelage of Olympic coach Simon Briggs, will compete in Germany over the course of two days in short programme and free skating segments.

The Nebelhorn Trophy will be held 27-30 September 2017.

Irish Speed Skating National Team Expands Into New Territory

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The speed skating programme of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) continues to develop with the addition of an athlete to the national team in a new discipline.

The ISAI Board of Directors has selected the following members for the Irish Speed Skating National Team to compete in International Skating Union (ISU) events for the 2017/2018 season:

Speed Skating

Tara Donoghue

Short Track Speed Skating

Ryan McAnuff

Sean McAnuff

Tara Donoghue makes history by becoming the first long track speed skater to be named to the Irish National Team. She was bitten by the speed skating bug in the Netherlands where she grew up. Her skating idol is American Olympic gold medallist Shani Davis.

Ryan McAnuff became the first Irish skater to compete at the European and World Short Track Speed Skating Championships last season. He finished 36th overall at the latter event.

Sean McAnuff flew the flag for Ireland for the first time at the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships where he came 36th overall. He was recently awarded an ISU Scholarship.

Figure Skating National Team 2017-2018

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The selection of the Irish Figure Skating National Team for the 2017-2018 season has been made by the Board of Directors of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI).

The following ISAI members have been chosen to represent Ireland on the international stage at International Skating Union (ISU) events:

Senior Men – Conor Stakelum

Junior Men – Sam McAllister

Advanced Novice Ladies – Elizabeth Golding

 

Conor Stakelum is a four-time Senior National champion. A native of Dublin, he trains in Dundee, Scotland with Simon and Debi Briggs.

Sam McAllister claimed his second Junior title this year at the Irish Figure Skating Championships. From Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, he is coached by Margaret O’Neill in Nottingham and Sheffield, England.

Elizabeth Golding has taken the Advanced Novice title at the Irish Figure Skating Championships for the past two years. This is the first time that she has been selected for the National Team.

Odhrán Allen Becomes ISU International Judge

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Following his participation in the International Skating Union (ISU) Global Seminar and Examinations in Frankfurt, Germany, Odhrán Allen has been certified as an International Judge for Singles and Pairs.

Allen has served as a judge at domestic and international club competitions over the past number of seasons. This was the first time that Allen participated in the ISU seminar making his achievement all the more remarkable.

ISAI President Karen O’Sullivan said, “Congratulations to Odhrán who has worked very hard to achieve this qualification. I have heard that the standard of candidate judges this year in Frankfurt was one of the highest ever and I am delighted to see this evidence of the ISAI judging programme’s development.”

Sean McAnuff Receives ISU Scholarship

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Irish short track speed skater Sean McAnuff has been awarded an International Skating Union (ISU) Development Programme Junior Scholarship.

The scholarship is given to young skaters of outstanding talent from developing members federations. Athletes are deemed eligible to be considered for the scholarship based on their participation and results at the most recent Junior World Championships. Individual skaters are awarded scholarships worth US$6,000. The number of scholarships awarded each year is limited.

McAnuff has recently moved to the Netherlands with his brother Ryan to train under Dutch coach and former Olympian Dave Versteeg for the upcoming season.

“I am very happy to have been chosen to receive this scholarship,” McAnuff said. “Training facilities in the Netherlands are first class and the scholarship will help me enormously with training camp and competition travel expenses.

“The scholarship is also very motivating for me to continue pursuing my skating dreams and to develop the sport further in Ireland,” McAnuff added.

This is the first time an Irish skater has been awarded an ISU Junior Scholarship.