Gold for Weaver and Poje at ISU Four Continents
SEOUL – Canadian ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje earned one of their most satisfying victories in an undefeated season on Friday at the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition.
The Waterloo, Ont., couple climbed from third after the short dance to top spot totalling 177.46 points for their second career Four Continents title. They edged Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. in second at 176.18 and another American couple, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, third at 170.79.
‘’It wasn’t easy coming from behind, but that’s a position that we’ve been in for seemingly our whole career so it was nothing new to feel like we had to fight for this free dance,’’ said Weaver. ‘’ There is a little bit of extra gusto in there, because the desire to move up and that helped us to perform today.’’
The Canadians skated to “The Four Seasons” and the routine was highlighted by intricate footwork and beautiful lifts. The world silver medalists earned a level four for the twizzles, lifts and the spin while the step sequences garnered a level three. The Canadian champions picked up 109.15 points, just short of their seasons best and totalled 177.46 points.
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Weaver and Poje have four international victories including the Grand Prix title and also won the national crown last month.
‘’We are building on our success,’’ said Poje. ‘’It’s a good way to end our last competition before the world championships. We’re going to head home with some good feedback. Now we just need to keep working hard to insure we have our strongest performance in Shanghai. ‘’
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto were fourth and Alexandra Paul of Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., sixth.
In the women’s short program, Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., kept herself in medal contention standing sixth at 58.50 less than three points from third place. Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., is sixth and Veronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., 13th.
Competition continues Saturday with the pairs free program featuring Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., who are first after Thursday’s short program. The men’s free is also on Saturday and the women’s free on Sunday.
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