Relay leads the way as British Royals open World Tour season in Vancouver
The British Royals opened their 2026/27 ISU Short Track World Tour season in Vancouver at the weekend, with the men's 5000m relay team reaching the B final and finishing seventh overall to lead the way at the Pacific Coliseum.
It was a demanding start to the new Olympic cycle for a young team, racing against the world's leading short track nations as the sport returned to Vancouver for the first time since the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. But there were clear positives to take into next weekend's second stop in Montreal.
Relay team into the B final
Five skaters played their part in the men's 5000m relay across the weekend, with Adam Hill joining Willem Murray, Joseph Armstrong, Albie Barlow and Niall Treacy in the squad. The team came through their quarterfinal in second place and finished third in their semifinal to earn a place in Sunday's B final, where they finished third for seventh place overall, the team's best result of the weekend.
Treacy into the 1500m semifinals
Niall Treacy, the World Championship bronze medallist over 1000m, produced his strongest individual run of the weekend in the 1500m. He won his quarterfinal to reach the semifinals, then finished fifth in the B final for 13th place overall.
He also won his 1000m heat before a penalty in the quarterfinal ended his run, and battled back through the repechage rounds in the 500m to reach the repechage semifinal.
Murray and Green show their fight
Willem Murray was one of the busiest skaters on the team, racing through multiple rounds in all three individual distances. He won his preliminary heat in the 1000m and his heat in the 1500m, and fought on through the 1000m repechages to reach the repechage semifinal.
Annabelle Green showed the same resilience in the women's events, fighting back through the repechage rounds to reach the repechage semifinals in all three distances, including third place in the 1000m repechage semifinal.
Valuable experience across the team
Albie Barlow, Joseph Armstrong and Adam Hill all gained valuable experience at World Tour level, and all three were part of the men's relay squad. Chloe Cameron raced all three individual distances, and she and Hill joined Green and Barlow in the mixed team relay.
Next up for British Royals: Montreal
The team stays in Canada for World Tour 2 at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal from 30 October to 1 November, with the British Royals looking to build on the progress made in Vancouver.
Montreal holds good memories for the squad: it was there in March that Niall Treacy won World Championship bronze in the 1000m, Great Britain's first short track medal at a World Championships since 2017. After Montreal, the World Tour heads to Asia, with stops in Seoul (20 to 22 November), Shanghai (27 to 29 November) and Beijing (4 to 6 December) completing the first half of the season.
British Ice Skating would like to thank our equipment partner Skate-Tec for their support of the British Royals and our speed skating programmes.
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