Canadian Figure Skaters Travel to Russia for Final Stop on ISU Grand Prix Circuit

OTTAWA, ON: Canada will send six athletes to Moscow, Russia, for the 2013 Rostelecom Cup. The event, which is the sixth and final stop on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit, will take place from November 22-24, 2013. Canada will have a total of three entries in two disciplines: one in pair, and two in ice dance.

Kirsten Moore-Towers, 21, St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch, 29, Toronto, Ont., are the Canadian pair entry. This will be their first time competing at this event. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch won silver at their first ISU Grand Prix assignment this season, Skate America, and won gold at the 2013 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. Last season, they placed fourth at the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch train with Kris Wirtz and Kristy Wirtz at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.

Kaitlyn Weaver, 24, Waterloo, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 26, Waterloo, Ont., will represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their second time competing at this event, having won silver in 2011. The dance duo representing Sault FSC and Kitchener-Waterloo SC won silver at both events they have competed at this season, Skate Canada International and the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. Last season, Weaver and Poje placed fifth at the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. They are coached by Pasquale Camerlengo and Angelika Krylova in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Piper Gilles, 21, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 22, Unionville, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their first time competing at this event. Gilles and Poirier earned a fifth place finish at their first ISU Grand Prix assignment this season, NHK Trophy. Representing Scarboro FSC, the 2013 Canadian silver medallists placed fourth at Skate Canada International and sixth at Trophée Eric Bompard last season. Gilles and Poirier are coached by Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs at Ice Dance Elite in Scarborough, Ont.

Cynthia Ullmark of Canmore, Alta., will be the Canadian team leader at the event. Dr. Ed Pilat of Winnipeg, Man., and physiotherapist Shirley Kushner of Westmount, Que., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Leslie Keen of Vancouver, B.C., and Andrea Derby of Windsor, Ont., will be the Canadian officials at the event.