Another productive weekend for Canadian figure skaters in Europe

OTTAWA, ON – Canadian figure skaters collected gold and silver this past weekend at European stops on the ISU Challenger Series and ISU Junior Grand Prix.

In Espoo, Finland at the third stop on the Challenger series, ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., picked-up where they left off last season with a gold medal performance in their season debut on Saturday.  Weaver and Poje, who won five gold medals last season in international competition, totalled 161.67 points placing first in both the short dance and free skate.

“We had two great programs although there were some mistakes,” said Weaver, third with her partner at the world championships this past March. “But these events are an opportunity to see the areas we need to improve and get some important feedback.”

The next event for Weaver and Poje is Skate Canada International October 30 to November 1 in Lethbridge, Alta.

Brianna Delmaestro of Port Moody, B.C., and Timothy Lum of Burnaby, B.C., were seventh.

In men’s competition on Sunday, Liam Firus of North Vancouver produced the fifth best free skate to climb from ninth to seventh overall. Konstantin Menshov of Russia edged Adam Rippon of the U.S. by six points for the gold.

Meanwhile in Zagreb, Croatia at the seventh stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit which concluded Saturday, Nicolas Nadeau of Blainville, Que., was the Canadian star with a silver medal in men’s singles.  Nadeau bettered his personal best by nearly 50 points.

“My success was because I finally put together and strong short program and strong free program,” said Nadeau, 18. “Usually one or the other I tend to struggle with. I came into this competition with no hope of making the Grand Prix Final so I just wanted a strong international performance and impress the judges.”

Kim Decelles of Baie-Comeau Que., finished ninth in women’s singles and ice dancers Audrey Croteau-Villeneuve of Montreal and Jeff Hough of Russell, Ont., were also ninth.

The Grand Prix Final for the junior and seniors is December 10-13 in Barcelona.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/jgpcro2015/index.htm and http://www.figureskatingresults.fi/results/1516/CSFIN2015/index.htm

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