Stakelum 29th At Nebelhorn Trophy

Earlier today Conor Stakelum (28) concluded the second of two consecutive days of competition at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, the final qualifying event for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, finishing in 29th outside of a quota place.

Stakelum skated in the first warm-up group of the short programme yesterday morning where he debuted his new routine to “Soulseeker” by Thomas Bergersen. This season he is including the triple flip jump which he successfully landed as well as a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination. After an uncharacteristic mistake on a double Axel, he rallied to to execute a Level 4 flying sit spin and a Level 3 step sequence to earn 53.01 points for the segment.

For the free skating this season, Stakelum has chosen to perform to music from “Riverdance” by Bill Whelan. After a cautious start, he delivered a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination, a triple Salchow on its own followed by a Level 4 flying sit spin and a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination. He closed out the programme with a Level 4 change foot combination spin. He scored 87.66 for a combined total of 140.67 points.

“I am happy to have competed again after such a long time off,” Stakelum said. “This was the first free programme I have done in competition since November 2019, so 21 months!

“All the same I am disappointed that I couldn’t perform as well as I have been training. I was glad to get a triple flip out in the short which is new for me.

“I am looking forward to showing what I can do at more competitions this season.”

Seven skaters from the United States, France, Russia, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Australia and Canada claimed the remaining quota places available for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.