Gold for Duhamel and Radford at Skate Canada International

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Two-time Canadian world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the gold medal in pairs on Saturday at Skate Canada International.

Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L., added a silver in women’s competition while Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were third in pairs.

In pairs, Duhamel and Radford had a mishap on their throw quadruple Salchow but otherwise wowed the crowd with their side-by-side triple Lutz and remarkable lifts performed to Non, je ne regrette rien by Patricia Kaas.

They totalled 218.30 points for their third consecutive Skate Canada International crown and fifth career victory on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

‘’After the fall I was little worried was Meagan OK,’’ said Radford, from Balmertown, Ont. ‘’But I was really happy with how we fought back and I think we finished the program really strong.’’

Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., felt they continued to improve.

‘’I think that performance was a major step up from what we did three weeks ago at an event in Finland,’’ she said. ‘’The program is growing and we are doing a really good job with our lifts and spins and those are points we are always looking to collect as well.’’

Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch made two errors in their program but the high difficulty of the performances kept them in the medals finishing with 190.22. Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang of China were second at 202.08

‘’It wasn’t an ideal run through,’’ said Moscovitch. ‘’But we stuck to our training and we kept refocusing throughout the program and working as a team. By not letting the other points slip away we were able to keep the integrity of the program and get on the podium.’’

In women’s competition, world champion Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia won the gold medal with 220.65 points. Osmond landed five triple jumps and followed at 206.45 and Satoko Miyahara of Japan was third at 192.08.

It was the first time, Osmond surpassed the magic 200-point barrier.

‘’I’m beyond excited to be where I am right now,’’ said Osmond, 20, who skated to music from La Bohème. ‘’I made two personal best scores this weekend and there is still a lot of room for improvement so I’m super happy to compete at this level this early in the season.’’

Canadian champion Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., was fifth at 185.56.

‘’There were things that could have been improved,’’ said Chartrand. ‘’But I was happy with how I attacked my program and didn’t let anything get to me.’’

Competition continues this evening with the men’s free skate and the free dance.

Full results: 2016 Skate Canada International

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