Sep 28, 2021

Final 20 Olympic figure skating quota places awarded in Oberstdorf

A total of 16 countries secured Olympic quota places for skaters or couples over three days of competition at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf. Seven spots were awarded for Men, six for Women, three for Pairs and four for Ice Dance.

Great Britain was unable to add to the Ice Dance and Women’s places that were won at the World Championships in March.

PJ Hallam finished 12th in the Men’s with a score of 196.39. Although narrowly outside the Olympic quota places he was a firm favourite of both the crowd and commentary team.

A silhouette of ice skater PJ Hallam on an ice rink. — PJ Hallam skates his short program. Photo credit: International Skating Union (ISU)

USA’s Vincent Zhou won the event by a staggering 40 points, in turn securing USA’s third men’s place at the Games. Others to win berths for their nations included Siao Him Fa (France), Mark Kondratiuk (Russia), Sihyeong Lee (south Korea) and Brendan Kerry (Australia).

With just 3 places for pairs, and an incredibly competitive field, it was always going to be tough for Zoe Jones and Chris Boydji to win a quota spot. They put on a wonderful display in both their short and free skate, finishing 15th with a score of 129.12.

Zoe Jones and Chris Boyadji skate on the ice. — Zoe Jones and Chris Boyadji. Photo credit: International Skating Union (ISU)

Laura Barquero and Marco Zandron of Spain and Georgia’s Karina Safina and Luka Berulava earned their countries a first ever Pairs Olympic quota place. Hailey Kops and Evgeni Krasnopolski of Israel took the final spot.

Sasha Fear was hoping to emulate her sister Lilah’s performance at the World Championships and secure a second GB Ice Dance place in Beijing with her partner George Waddell. They were awarded 60.52 for their Rhythm Dance then 93.73 in their free dance. A total of 154.24 was not enough for an Olympic spot but left them in a very respectable 11th.

Sasha Fear and George Waddell skate on the ice. — Sasha Fear and George Waddell. Photo credit: International Skating Union (ISU)

Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, Georgia’s Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya, Armenia’s Tina Garabedian and Simon Proulx Senecal and the Czech Republic’s Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler took the four quota places on offer.

The Nebelhorn Trophy was the final opportunity for countries to gain extra figure skating quota places meaning Great Britain will send one woman and one Ice Dance couple to Beijing. The skaters who will fill these places will be selected in December.

You can watch all of the action again here.