Walsh and Michaud finish sixth in pairs at world juniors
SOFIA, Bulgaria – Despite a recent injury, Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Trenton, Ont., earned a personal best score and took sixth spot in pairs on Thursday at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Russia swept the medals with Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin winning gold, Polina Kostiukovich and Dmitrii Ialin the silver and Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galiamov the bronze.
Walsh and Michaud scored 158.96 more than a five-point improvement over their previous best set last season. Walsh sprained her ankle three weeks ago, which cost some valuable training time for the pair.
‘’We had some obstacles to overcome going into this event so we feel great with the skate,’’ said Walsh. ‘’That’s the best we could have done with the circumstances we were facing.’’
The injury put their participation in peril.
‘’It was touch and go,’’ said Michaud. ‘’We’re proud of each other and our team that helped us get here.’’
Lori-Anne Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., also had injury issues this season and gained a spot to place ninth.
‘’It was our best free skate this season,’’ said Matte, who suffered a broken elbow earlier this season and will have a screw removed in surgery next week. ‘’We were ready and confident and just duplicated what we’ve been doing in practice.’’
In men’s competition, Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., and Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., are 14th and 15th after the short program. Alexei Krasnozhon of the U.S. leads.
‘’It was quite rough,’’ said Phan, 16. “I had trouble with my skates in my warm-up and I think that affected me in my program. I couldn’t focus and attack like I’m able too.’’
Orzel also wasn’t satisfied with his skate.
‘’I was quite disappointed with how I skated,’’ he said. ‘’I made a lot of silly mistakes which should not be happening at this point in my career.’’
On Friday, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., go for a medal in the free dance. They were second in Wednesday’s short dance.
The women’s short program is also on Friday. The men’s free skate is Saturday.
Full results: ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018
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