Gold Medal Win for Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell in Ice Dance

KOSICE, Slovakia: Another medal for Canada on the Junior Grand Prix Circuit. Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto, Ont. won the gold medal in Ice Dance this morning with a score of 163.04. D’Alessandro and Waddell were sitting in second place after their Rhythm Dance yesterday by only 0.36 of a point. With great teams in front and behind them, this team delivered a flawless skate and continued to accelerate throughout their program today. This is the couple’s first Junior Grand Prix Win.

D’Alessandro and Waddell shared with us, “Winning our first event is amazing. Even when the nerves did hit, which of course they did because we wouldn’t be human without them, we were able to trust our training, turning our nerves into good energy.”

Russia took home both the silver and bronze medal in ice dance. Winning the silver is Vasilisa Kaganovskaia and Valeriy Angelopol with a score of 160.72 and capturing the bronze medal is Sofya Tyutyunina and Alexander Shustitskiy with 155.98 points.

Finishing in eleventh is Chloe Nguyen of Edmonton, Atla., and Alec Roueche of Surrey, B.C., with a score of 117.02.

It was a sweep for Russia in the women’s competition as their skaters secured gold, silver and bronze. Taking the gold medal was Veronika Zhilina with 216.92 points. Winning the silver medal, Sofia Muravieva with a score of 208.25 and capturing the bronze medal was Adeliia Petrosian with 201.21 points.

Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que finished in fifteenth place with a score of 126.71.

It was a 1-2 finish for Russia in the men’s competition. Kirill Sarnovskiy won gold with a score of 215.96 and Ilya Yablokov captured the silver medal with a score of 207.39. The American William Annis secured the bronze medal with a score of 204.60.

Ranking fourth was Corey Circelli of Toronto, Ont. with a score of 191.13.

In pairs Russia’s Anastasia Mukhortova and Dmitry Evgenyev took home the gold medal with a score of 171.99. Capturing the silver medal was Karina Safina and Luka Berulava of Georgia with 168.26 and scoring the bronze medal was Polina Kostiukovich and Aleksei Briukhanov of Russia with 158.82 points.

Canada’s pair, Meghan Fredette, of Gatineau, Que., and William St-Louis of Shawinigan, Que., finished in sixth with a score of 131.36.

This concludes the event in Kosice, Slovakia and brings Canada’s current medal count on the Junior Grand Prix circuit to 5 medals: 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze.

The next ISU Junior Grand Prix will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia from September 15 to 18, 2021.

Full results: www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/jgpsvk2021/