(March 16, 2004)

Gold Ice, the 2004 Canadian Junior Synchronized Skating Champions, took home the bronze medal from the 2004 International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Challenge Cup, which was held March 11-14 in Milan, Italy.

The team, which is coached by Wendy Coates in Brampton, Ont., delivered two strong performances, placing second in the short program and third in the free skate to finish in third-place overall.

In the free skate, Gold Ice was awarded marks ranging from 4.7 to 5.2 for technical merit and from 5.0 to 5.4 for presentation.

Ice Image, of Burlington, Ont., placed sixth in both the short program and the free skate to finish in sixth-place overall. The team is just coming off a bronze medal win in the Junior event at the 2004 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Synchronized Championships.

The judges awarded Ice Image’s marks ranging from 4.5 to 4.8 for technical merit and from 4.7 to 4.8 for presentation for the free skate.

Winning both the short program and the free skate to take home the gold medal was the Musketeers, of Finland. Another Finnish team, Team Mystique, won the silver medal.