Irish Wolfhounds Look To Close Out World Tour With A Bang In Milan
The ISU Short Track World Tour reaches its climax this weekend and eyes begin to look ahead to next season as the Irish Wolfhounds take on the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic test event in Milan, Italy.
Sean McAnuff (Co. Antrim) and Liam O’Brien (Co. Cavan) are coming off the back of some great racing last weekend in Tilburg, The Netherlands. McAnuff brought the 500m Irish record under 42 seconds for the first time ever and O’Brien set a new season best for the 1500m. They will contest the 500, 1000 and 1500 metre distances over three days inside the Unipol Forum vying against the best skaters from in the world at the arena that will host the short track speed skating and figure skating events at next year’s Olympics. It will present an opportunity for the Wolfhounds to get a taste of Olympic ice and act as a motivation to try and secure spots for Ireland later this year in the designated qualifying competitions.
“I hope to take away all the positives from last week and correct the smaller details,” O’Brien said. “It’s a great venue here and I will soak it all up before Olympic qualifiers next season.”
“It’s really exciting to be racing in the Olympic test event here in Milan,” McAnuff said. “The venue is huge and the Olympic atmosphere is here! I look forward to breaking new barriers this weekend by lowering my personal best times and furthering my defensive skating tactics. And to be honest, I have to say I’m really looking forward to enjoying a big pizza on Sunday evening!”
The ISU Short Track World Tour can be followed live on the Skating ISU YouTube channel and via the #ShortTrackWorldTour and #ShortTrackSkating hashtags on social media.
Competition Schedule (Milan, Italy)
Friday, 14 February – Qualification Rounds
Saturday, 15 February – 500m/1500m
Sunday, 16 February – 1000m
