Archive for category: Speed Skating

Tomorrow Ryan and Sean McAnuff will begin racing in their final Audi ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup event of the season in Seoul, South Korea in what is the final stage of the 2018 Olympics qualifying process.

The brothers began their Olympic qualifying campaign late September in Budapest, Hungary and raced the following week in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Last week they were in Shanghai, China.  This week they will race once more against athletes from 40 countries over three disciplines – 500 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres. 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.

You can follow the McAnuffs’ progress in South Korea via the Ice Skating Association of Ireland Facebook and Twitter accounts and, on 18 and 19 November, via the ISU Skating Channel.

ISU World Cup Results

ISU Skating Channel

The Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) has received the following nominations for the vacant positions on the ISAI Board of Directors and Speed Skating Technical Committee:

Performance and Development Director

Alan Seabrook

Speed Skating Technical Committee

Michelle Hegarty

Raymond Hegarty

Elections for the above positions will take place at the ISAI Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dublin on Wednesday 25 October 2017.

Full Members are also invited to submit any questions they may have relating to the accounts in advance of the AGM by email to info@isai.ie or finance@isai.ie, so that detailed responses and figures can be prepared.

Questions should be submitted no later than 5pm on the 24th of October 2017.

This week Irish short track speed skaters Ryan McAnuff (22) and Sean McAnuff take to the ice in Dordrecht, Netherlands for the second stop of the Audi International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in the qualification process to secure berths for Ireland at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea.

The McAnuffs kicked off their Olympic qualifying campaign last week in Budapest, Hungary. In the Netherlands, they will race against athletes from 40 countries over three disciplines – 500 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres. The subsequent two World Cup meets will be in 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.

“As we have been training in the Netherlands for the past few months, it’s going to be nice to race in a familiar atmosphere on such a big stage” Sean said.

“We are looking forward to building on what we did in Hungary last week and push ourselves up the rankings,” Ryan added.

You can follow the McAnuffs’ progress in the Netherlands via the Ice Skating Association of Ireland Facebook and Twitter accounts and, on 7 and 8 October, the ISU Skating Channel.

Ryan McAnuff ISAI Bio

Sean McAnuff ISAI Bio

ISU World Cup Results

ISU Skating Channel

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.

In another first for Irish speed skating, Ryan McAnuff will make his and Ireland’s debut at the KPN ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands this weekend.

The racing for McAnuff begins tomorrow at the Ahoy Arena in the Dutch city. The gruelling preliminary rounds tomorrow will initially see him compete over 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metre distances against skaters from across the globe. The competition continues until Sunday.

“I am thrilled to be representing Ireland again at the pinnacle of our sport,” McAnuff said. “I am honoured to be putting our country on the speed skating map.”

You can follow McAnuff’s progress on the official results page.