Canadians en route to Japan for 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will send 10 entries, for a total of 15 skaters to the  2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. The event will take place from March 18-24, 2019, in Saitama City, Japan. Canada will have three entries in women and ice dance, and two entries in men and pair.

Canadian gold medallist Nam Nguyen, 20, Ajax, Ont., is the first of two Canadian entries in the men’s category. This will be his fifth time competing at this event; he earned his best result in 2015, finishing fifth. Most recently, he finished 10^th at the ISU Four Continents Championships. The four-time Canadian medallist is coached by Robert Burk in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Canadian bronze medallist Keegan Messing, 27, Sherwood Park, Alta./Brantford, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in men’s. This will be his second time competing at this event, having finished 8th in 2018. Messing placed fourth at the ISU Four Continents Championships in February. He is coached by Ralph Burghart in Anchorage, Ak, USA.

Canadian gold medallist Alaine Chartrand, 22, Prescott, Ont., is the first of three Canadian women competing at the event. Chartrand recently finished 16^th at the ISU Four Continents Championships. This will be her third time competing at this event. She is coached by Tracey Wainman and Grzegorz Filipowski at York Region Skating Club.

Canadian silver medallist Aurora Cotop, 16, Thornhill, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in the women’s discipline. This will be her first time competing at this event. Most recently, she finished third at the 2019 Bavarian Open. Cotop is coached by Ravi Walia in Edmonton Alta.

Gabrielle Daleman, 21, Newmarket, Ont., will be the final Canadian entry in women’s. She finished fifth at the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in January. This will be her sixth time competing at this event, having finished 7^th in 2018 and winning bronze in 2017. She is coached by Lee Barkell and Brian Orser in Toronto, Ont.

Canadian gold medallists Kirsten Moore-Towers, 26, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 27, Sarnia, Ont., will be the first of two Canadian entries in pair. The two are coming off a silver medal finish at the ISU Four Continents Championships. This will be their third time competing at this event, having finished sixth in 2018. They are coached by Bruno Marcotte, Richard Gauthier and Sylvie Fullum in Saint-Leonard, Que.

Canadian silver medallists Evelyn Walsh, 17, London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, 22, Trenton, Ont., will be the second pair representing Canada. They finished 7th at the ISU Four Continents Championships in February. This will be their first time competing at this event. The two are coached by Alison Purkiss in Brantford, Ont.

Canadian champions Kaitlyn Weaver, 29, Toronto, Ont. and Andrew Poje, 32, Waterloo, Ont., will be the first of three entries in ice dance. The two finished second at the 2019 ISU Four Continents Championships. This will be their 11th time competing at this event; last season they won their third world medal with a bronze medal performance. The three-time world medallists are coached by Nikolai Morozov, Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo in Hackensack, New Jersey/Novi, Michigan, USA.

Canadian silver medallists Piper Gilles, 27, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 27, Unionville, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. The two won a bronze medal at the ISU Four Continents Championships in February. This will be their seventh time competing at this event, having finished in the top ten the past five consecutive years. They are coached by Carol Lane, Juris Razgulajevs and Jon Lane in Scarborough, Ont.

Canadian bronze medallists Laurence Fournier Beaudry, 26, Montreal, Que., and Nikolaj Sorensen, 30, Montreal, Que., will be the third Canadian entry in ice dance. At their first international event representing Canada, the two finished sixth at the ISU Four Continents Championship. They are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer in Montreal, Que.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director and Cynthia Ullmark of Canmore, Alta., will be the team leaders at the event. Dr. Lee Schofield of Toronto, Ont., and physiotherapist Sylvia Ciurysek of Berwyn, Alta., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Cynthia Benson of Quispamsis, N.B., and André-Marc Allain of Ottawa, Ont., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

Emma Bowie, Skate Canada Communications Manager, will be the media attaché at the event. She can be reached onsite at [email protected].

For results and full entries, please visit isu.org or wfc2019.jp.

Canadian Entries at 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships