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.

ISAI Member Workshop

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A workshop regarding rule and regulation changes will be held for all Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) members at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown on 22 July from 10am.

Following a comprehensive review of the ISAI Rules and Regulations, a series of changes will become effective at the start of the 2017/2018 season. The rationale behind the changes is to ensure our Rules and Regulations conform to international rules as directed by the International Skating Union (ISU) and provide flexibility to be fit for purpose in Ireland.

The purpose of the workshop will be to summarise the changes. In due course, the revised sections (identifying the changes) will be circulated to  all members by email in advance of the workshop.  This is a great opportunity, if you have not already done so, to get your membership up to date to ensure that you receive your copy of the revised sections and are fully informed when the season begins.

The workshop is open to all members and their parents, and should be of particular interest to all coaches working with ISAI members to ensure that they are working with the correct test information and rules of the ISAI.

ISAI Members Participate In OMS Trophy

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A large contingent of Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) members participated this Easter weekend at the OMS Trophy international club competition in Paris, France.

The three Irish entrants in the Jeunes Adultes Argent Dames – Free Skating event all took home medals. Faye Donohoe finished first with a score of 16.65. Aoife Malone came second on 14.24 and Meg Elwood was third with 11.35.

Aoibhe Hennigan also medalled in the R2 Minimes Dames – Free Skating category when she came third with a score of 23.97.

In the R1 Minimes Dames – Free Skating, Laura Hegarty placed 14th and scored a total of 19.38.

There were medals for Fineas Nedelea and Alex James in the R3 Juniors/Seniors Messieurs – Free Skating event when they finished second (14.11) and third (10.74) respectively.

Rebekah Spiller came sixth in the R3 Novices Dames – Free Skating category with a score of 14.11. Andrea Fitzsimons placed behind her in seventh on 10.37.

Kevin Hegarty scored 20.32 to come second in the R3 Novices Messieurs event.

Detailed results for the competition can be found here.