CANADIAN FIGURE SKATING ELITE TRAVEL TO KINGSTON FOR CANADIAN TIRE NATIONAL SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

OTTAWA, ON:  Canada’s top-ranked figure skaters are set to take the ice for the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The event runs from January 19 to January 25, 2015, at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ontario. The competition will begin with the novice ice dance on Monday, January 19 and the senior events begin on Friday, January 23.

As declared by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, 2015 marks the Year of Sport in Canada. The Canadian Tire National Skating Championships are one of the first events to help kick off this memorable year.

“Canada is a world leader in creating champion skaters. The investment of our partners, like Canadian Tire in amateur sport, allows us to showcase our world class athletes’ hard work, passion, and commitment to the sport,” said Dan Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. “Canadian Tire and Skate Canada are excited to crown our senior, junior, and novice national champions in Kingston for the first time in the city’s history.”

“From the playground to the podium, the Canadian Tire Corporation understands the power of sport and its ability to inspire greatness,” said Kim Saunders, Associate Vice President, Canadian Tire. “We have celebrated skating for over 90 years and are proud to support the athletes, coaches, families and friends for their hard-work, support and commitment to skating in Canada.”

Canadian Tire, in partnership with Skate Canada, will host a special Family Skate on Saturday, January 17 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (ET), at Springer Market Square at Kingston City Hall to celebrate the upcoming championships. Olympians Elvis Stojko and Paige Lawrence will both be in attendance, as well as Mayor Bryan Paterson. The celebration is open to the public and will feature public skating, ticket giveaways and autograph sessions.

Approximately 250 skaters in the men’s, women’s, pair and ice dance disciplines at the senior, junior, and novice levels, will compete for the title of Canadian champion. Athletes will vie for spots on Skate Canada’s National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2015 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the 2015 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the 2015 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Leading the way in the pair category are Olympic silver medallists (team), two-time world bronze medallists, and most recently, the 2014 ISU Grand Prix Final gold medallists, Meagan Duhamel, 29, Lively, Ontario, and Eric Radford, 29, Balmertown, Ontario.

National team members Kirsten Moore-Towers, 22, St. Catharines, Ontario and Michael Marinaro, 23, Sarnia, Ontario, will be competing at their first Canadian Tire National Skating Championships together.

Newly formed pair team Lubov Ilyushechkina, 23, Moscow, Russia, and Dylan Moscovitch, 30, Toronto, Ontario, will also be making their first Canadian Tire National Skating Championships debut together.

This year’s ISU Junior Grand Prix Final champions and 2014 Canadian junior pair silver medallists Julianne Séguin, 18, Longueuil, Quebec, and Charlie Bilodeau, 21, Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, will compete in the senior pair category for the first time.

World silver medallists, 2014 Olympians, and 2014 ISU Grand Prix Final gold medallists, Kaitlyn Weaver, 25, Waterloo, Ontario, and Andrew Poje, 27, Waterloo, Ontario, lead the Canadian entries in ice dance.

Olympians and 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships bronze medallists Alexandra Paul, 23, Midhurst, Ontario, Mitchell Islam, 24, Barrie, Ontario, and national team members and 2014 ISU Grand Prix finalists, Piper Gilles, 23, Toronto, Ontario, and Paul Poirier, 23, Unionville, Ontario, return to the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships to battle for podium positions.

The men’s discipline will feature 2014 Olympic silver medallist (team) and three-time Canadian silver medallist Kevin Reynolds, 24, Coquitlam, British Colombia, as well as 2014 Olympian and Canadian Tire National Skating Championships bronze medallist Liam Firus, 22, North Vancouver, British Colombia, and 2014 world junior champion and national team member Nam Nguyen, 16, Toronto, Ontario.

In the ladies competition, 2014 Olympian and two-time Canadian silver medallist Gabrielle Daleman, 17, Newmarket, Ontario, and 2013 Canadian bronze medallist Alaine Chartrand, 18, Prescott, Ontario, will headline the field.

For full entries and the event start orders please click here.

Tickets are available and can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.ca, by phone at 1.855.985.5000 or in person at the Rogers K-Rock Centre.

Media who have not already applied for accreditation are asked to contact Emma Bowie, Communications Manager. She will be the onsite media contact at the event and can be reached at 613.914.2607 or at [email protected].

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