New Pair Team to Compete at the 54th Golden Spin of Zagreb

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 29, 2022) – The ISU Challenger series is scheduled to come to an end with the 54th Golden Spin of Zagreb taking place in Sisak, Croatia from December 7-10, 2022. Canada will be sending a small team to the event, including one woman, one man and one pair team.  

National champion Madeline Schizas will be representing Canada in the women’s event. The Olympian has had a strong season so far, finishing 5th at the 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy, 7th at the 2022 Skate Canada International and 5th at the Grand Prix Espoo.  

Corey Circelli of Toronto, Ontario, will be the sole Canadian entry in the men’s competition. Circelli claimed bronze at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge and finished 10th at the MK John Wilson Trophy, which marked his first-ever ISU Grand Prix participation.  

They will be joined by the newly formed pair team of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, who will be competing at their first international competition. Michaud won bronze at the 2022 Four Continents and is a three-time national silver medalist, while Pereira placed 4th at last year’s Skate Canada Challenge in the women’s discipline. The pair have already won a gold medal at the 2023 Skate Ontario Junior & Senior Sectional Championships.  

Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Women
Madeline Schizas | 19 | Oakville, Ont. | Nancy Lemaire & Derek Schmidt | Milton, Ont.    

Men
Corey Circelli | 20 | Toronto, Ont. | Brian Orser & Oula Jaaskelainen| Toronto, Ont. 

Pair
Lia Pereira | 18 | Milton, Ont. & Trennt Michaud | 26 | Trenton, Ont. | Alison Purkiss & Nancy Lemaire| Milton, Ont.  

Team Leader – Laura Baker 
Official – Sabrina Wong  

Gilles and Poirier Earn Second Grand Prix Win This Season

/by

ESPOO, Finland (November 26, 2022) – Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier posted their best-ever international score and won the gold medal Saturday at the season’s last stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

The Toronto skaters were victors in their two Grand Prix assignments this season which assures them a berth in the Grand Prix Final December 8-11 in Torino, Italy. Gilles and Poirier totaled 219.49 points to eclipse the 215.70 they skated in their win at Skate Canada International last month.

‘’What worked well this week is how much we trusted our training and trusted each other,’’ said Poirier. ‘’We didn’t force anything and really let the skating happen by itself like we know how to do. We are really proud of our performance today.’’

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S. took the silver with 202.46 and Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis of Finland were third at 191.79. Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver were sixth at 175.63.

In women’s competition, Mai Mihara of Japan collected her second win on the circuit with 204.14 points. She edged Loena Hendrickx of Belgium, the leader after the short, second with 203.91. Mana Kawabe of Japan was third at 197.41. Olympian and national champion Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., remained in fifth spot totaling 187.84, two spots better than her performance at Skate Canada International.

Ilia Malinin of the U.S. took the men’s title with 278.39. Shun Sato of Japan was second at 262.21 and Kevin Aymoz of France was third at 255.69. Two-time Canadian Olympian Keegan Messing was eighth with 205.02.

For full results, click here.

Winnipeg to Host Over 200 Canadian Skaters

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 23, 2022) – More than 200 skaters from across the country are set to compete at the 2022-2023 Skate Canada Challenge – Junior/Senior in Winnipeg, Manitoba from November 30 to December 3, 2022.

Skate Canada Challenge serves as a qualifying event for junior and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, taking place in Oshawa, Ontario, from January 9 to 15, 2023. Participants registered for the event have previously qualified by advancing through their respective sectional championships.

Several notable athletes will be competing throughout the week, including Skate America ice dance and pairs bronze medalists Marie-Jade Lauriault & Romain Le Gac and Kelly Ann Laurin & Loucas Éthier, NHK Trophy bronze medalists Brooke McIntosh & Benjamin Mimar, as well as Manitoba-based Grand Prix finalists Ava Kemp & Yohnatan Elizarov.

Tickets will be sold on-site at Seven Oaks Arena at Garden City Community Centre with prices ranging from $25 (plus applicable fees) for single-day tickets, and $50 for all-event tickets.

For more information including the schedule, entries and start orders, click here.

Single Session Tickets on Sale for 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 22, 2022) – Single session tickets for the 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will be available for pre-sale on Thursday, November 24, 2022, at 10:00 AM EST, and on sale to the general public on Monday, November 28, 2022, at 10:00 AM EST. The Championships will take place at Tribute Communities Centre, in Oshawa, Ontario, from January 9-15, 2023, and will feature some of Canada’s top skating talents in singles, pairs, ice dance, and synchronized skating at the junior and senior level.  

Single session tickets begin at $25 (plus applicable fees) and prices range by session. Tickets can be purchased online at Tributecommunitiescentre.com. 

ABOUT THE CANADIAN TIRE NATIONAL SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS 

Athletes competing at the event vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships® 2023, the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships® 2023, the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2023, the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships® 2023, and the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships® 2023. 

This will mark Oshawa’s second time hosting the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, having last hosted the event in 1952. Most recently, Oshawa and Durham Region hosted the Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships in 2018.  

Join our exclusive mailing list to receive advance event and ticket information for Skate Canada events. 

Six Canadian Skaters Head to Final Grand Prix of the Season

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 21, 2022) – Six experienced athletes are set to compete for Canada at the final Grand Prix of the season in Espoo, Finland, which will mark the last qualifying event before the ISU Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy. Team Canada will be comprised of two entries in ice dance as well as one entry in both women and men at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Espoo, scheduled to take place from November 25-27, 2022.  

National champion Madeline Schizas will be the sole Canadian entry in the women’s competition. Schizas has been building on her breakthrough Olympic year by finishing 5th at the 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy and 7th at Skate Canada International.  

Olympian Keegan Messing will be looking to clinch a spot on the podium in the men’s event. Messing has had a strong start to the season, winning a gold medal at the 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy and putting on an entertaining performance that earned him a 4th place at the 2022 Skate Canada International.   

Ice dance stars Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier will be one of two Canadian entries in ice dance. Gilles and Poirier are the current Skate Canada International champions, as well as the national ice dance champions. Shane Firus and Carolane Soucisse, who won bronze at the 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy, will be completing the team. 

The competition starts Friday, November 25 with every discipline performing their short program/rhythm dance. Medals will be awarded on Saturday, November 26 as all disciplines will perform their free program/free dance. The event concludes on Sunday with the exhibition gala.   

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Women 
Madeline Schizas | 19 | Oakville, Ont. | Nancy Lemaire & Derek Schmidt | Milton, Ont.   

Men 
Keegan Messing | 30 | Girdwood, USA | Ralph Burghart | Anchorage, USA  

Ice Dance
Piper Gilles | 30 | Toronto, Ont. & Paul Poirier | 31 | Unionville, Ont. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.
Carolane Soucisse | 27 | Châteauguay, Que. & Shane Firus | 28 | North Vancouver, B.C. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.    

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Marianne Chabot & Scott Fraser
Officials – Laura Carr & Erica Toplski  

Canadian skaters gain valuable international experience at Warsaw Cup

/by

WARSAW – Canadian teams in pairs and ice dancing launched their international careers at the Warsaw Cup, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series figure skating circuit, which continued on Saturday.
In ice dancing, Emmy Bronsard of Montreal and Jacob Richmond of St-Lambert, Que., took seventh overall. They ranked seventh for their rhythm dance on Friday and sixth for their free skate, performed to a Pink Floyd medley, on Saturday.

They were less than two points from a top-five finish. Bronsard was ninth at the 2020 world juniors with another partner but this was her first international assignment with Richmond.
Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier of France, who posted two fourth place finishes this season on the Grand Prix circuit, won the gold medal.

In pairs, Tilda Alteryd and Gabriel Farand of Oakville, Ont., placed ninth. The event was won by world junior silver medallists Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia.
The Challenger Series provides opportunities for senior skaters to compete at an international level and earn world ranking points.

The next competition is December 7-10 in Zagreb.

Full results: https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2223/CSPOL2022/

Canada’s Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen win first Grand Prix gold

/by

SAPPORO, Japan – Canadian ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen earned their first career gold on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit on Saturday at the NHK Trophy.

The Montreal skaters totalled 210.41 points, a career high at the international level.

It was one of two medals on the day for Canada. In pairs, Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., collected a bronze medal for their first Grand Prix podium finish.

In ice dancing, the Canadians edged world championship bronze medallists Madison Chock and Eva Bates of the U.S. second at 209.13. Another American couple Caroline Green and Michael Parsons was third at 191.10.

“There are a lot of emotions and a lot of thoughts,’’ said Soerensen. ‘’We were just extremely proud of being able to deliver these two performances that brought us to the top of the podium.’’

The Canadian Olympians also won silver at their other Grand Prix assignment two weeks ago in France and will advance to the ISU Grand Prix Final next month for the first time in their careers.

In pairs, McIntosh and Mimar overcame a fall in their program to post an international best 175.65.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the gold with 216.16 and Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe of the U.S. were second at 187.49.

“We are very happy about our first Grand Prix medal, and I am proud of my partner,” Mimar said. “Even with fall she fought to the end.”

Japanese skaters were 1-2 in men’s competition with world champion Shoma Uno taking the gold and Sota Yamamoto the silver. Junhwan Cha of South Korea was third.

Stephen Gogolev of Toronto was eighth and Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., 10th.

The sixth stop on the circuit is this upcoming Friday and Saturday in Espoo, Finland.

Full results: ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating NHK Trophy

New Faces Make Their International Skating Debut in Warsaw

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 15, 2022) – Four Canadian athletes will be making their international debut at the Warsaw Cup in Warsaw, Poland from November 17-20, 2022. The Warsaw Cup is the ninth in a series of ten events that are part of the 2022-23 Figure Skating Challenger Series.  

Oakville natives Tilda Alteryd and Gabriel Farand will be competing in the pair discipline. The duo most recently competed at the 2023 Skate Ontario Junior & Senior Sectional Championships as seniors and came in second place with a new personal best.  

Ice dancers Emmy Bronsard and Jacob Richmond, who recently finished in first place at the sectional championships in Quebec, will also be competing in their first international competition.  

Competition for Canadian skaters kicks off on Thursday, November 17 with the pair short program. The next day, ice dancers will perform their rhythm dance, followed by the pair free program and free dance on Saturday.  

Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Pair 
Tilda Alteryd | 24 | Oakville, Ont. & Gabriel Farand | 21| Oakville, Ont. | Jeff Langdon | Oakville, Ont.  

Ice dance 
Emmy Bronsard | 18 | Montreal, Que. | & Jacob Richmond | 22 | St-Lambert, Que. | Pascal Denis | St-Lambert, Que. 

Team Leader – Andre Bourgeois
Medical Team – Paige Larson
Official – Andre-Marc Allain 

Six Skaters to Represent Canada at the NHK Trophy in Japan

/by

OTTAWA, ON (November 14, 2022) – After a successful trip to Sheffield, Great Britain, Canadian skaters make their way to Sapporo, Japan for the fifth stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit. Canada will be sending a small squad comprised of two men and one team in pair and ice dance at the NHK Trophy, scheduled to take place from November 18-20, 2022.

Stephen Gogolev and Conrad Orzel will represent the maple leaf in the men’s discipline. Gogolev kicked off his first senior season by finishing 6th at the 2022 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic and 7th at the 2022 Skate Canada International. Orzel has competed at both the Finlandia Trophy and Skate Canada International, where he finished 11th.

The young team of Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar will be the face of Canada in the pair discipline. McIntosh and Mimar have gotten off to an electric start in their senior careers by winning bronze at the 2022 Finlandia Trophy and placing 4th on home soil at Skate Canada International.

In ice dance, Olympians Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen will look to continue their medal streak, with the duo securing a gold medal at the 2022 Finlandia Trophy and a silver medal at the 2022 Grand Prix de France.

The competition starts on Friday, November 18 with every discipline performing their short program/rhythm dance. All medals will be awarded on Saturday, November 19, as all disciplines will perform their free program/free dance. The event concludes on Sunday with the exhibition gala.

Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location

Men
Stephen Gogolev | 17 | Toronto, Ont. | Rafael Arutyunyan & Lee Barkell | Irvine, USA
Conrad Orzel | 22 | Toronto, Ont. | Ravi Walia | Edmonton, Alta.

Pair 
Brooke McIntosh | 17 | Toronto, Ont. & Benjamin Mimar | 21 | Terrebonne, Que. | Andrew Evans & Alexander Sheldrick | Toronto, Ont.

Ice Dance
Laurence Fournier Beaudry | 30 | Montreal, Que. & Nikolaj Soerensen | 33 | Montreal, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.

Team Leaders – Mike Slipchuk & Cynthia Ullmark
Medical Team – Shirley Kushner
Officials – Susan Morriss & Sabrina Wong

For more information about the event and full schedules, click here.

Lajoie and Lagha win second Grand Prix medal this season

/by

SHEFFIELD, England (November 13, 2022) – Canadian ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha stepped on the podium for the second time this season on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit finishing third Sunday at the MK John Wilson Trophy.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy, the winners at last week’s Grand Prix in France, took the gold again at this week’s fourth stop with 213.74. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain were second at 205.56.

Lajoie, from Boucherville, Que., and Lagha, from St-Hubert, Que., followed at 198.95.  The 2019 world junior champions were less than four points off their international best set earlier this season in one of their two victories on the ISU Challenger circuit.

‘’We are happy with our four Grand Prix performances this season (two short and two free skates),’’ said Lajoie, a bronze medallist with her partner at Skate Canada International last month, their other Grand Prix assignment. ‘’There were some little errors but nothing too costly.’’

Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., were eighth and Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Langley, B.C., ninth.

Mai Mihara of Japan took the women’s gold with Isabeau Levito of the U.S. second and Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia third.

Two-time Olympian Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was eighth.

The fifth stop on the circuit is the NHK Trophy this Friday and Saturday in Sapporo, Japan.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/gpgbr2022/

Canadians win two medals at ISU Challenger Series event

/by

GRAZ, Austria (November 13, 2022) – Canada won two medals at the 2022 Ice Challenge, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series figure skating circuit which concluded on Sunday.

Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary earned the silver in women’s competition to highlight Canadian performances coming back from sixth spot after the short program. The 16-year-old already has four career international podiums.

Anna Pezzetta of Italy took the event 174.49 points edging the Canadian in second at 172.42. Kimmy Repond of Switzerland was third at 169.35.

Canadian junior champion Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que., second after the short, was fifth at 167.87 and Sara-Maude Dupuis of Montreal 11th out of 29 entries.

In ice dancing, it was a bronze medal and a first career international podium for Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers of London, Ont., with 155.30.

Emily Bratti and Ian Sommerville of the U.S. won gold with 179.07 and Natacha Lagouge and Arnaud Caffa of France were second at 160.43.

In junior competition, there were only two entries in pairs but Ashlyn Schmitz of Shellbrook, Sask., and Tristan Taylor of Regina were first with 110.69 points.

In women’s junior singles, Fiona Bombardier of Newmarket, Ont., was sixth, Audréanne Foster of Forestville, Que., eighth and Fée Ann Landry of Gatineau, Que., ninth out of 32 entries.

Full results: http://skateaustria.vs91-250-98-130.cloud-he.de/img/competition/8.2022_23/030/index.htm

Roman Sadovsky places sixth at ISU Grand Prix

/by

SHEFFIELD, England (November 12, 2022) – Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., placed sixth Saturday in men’s competition at the MK John Wilson Trophy, the fourth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Daniel Grassl of Italy took the gold medal with 264.35 points. Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia won the silver with 254.56 and Shum Sato of Japan was third with 249.03.

Sadovksy was first after a brilliant short program on Friday but he struggled in his free skate. The 23-year-old Olympian was fifth at the season opening stop at Skate America last month.

In ice dancing, Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy, the winners last week in France, lead after the rhythm dance with 86.30 points.
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain are second at 85.37 and Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., are third at 81.09.

Their dance to Cha Cha and Samba included level-four twizzles and a level-four rotational lift.

‘’We were both in the present moment even though we were very stressed,’’ said Lajoie, third with her partner two weeks ago at Skate Canada International.
‘’It was fun and I think the crowd really helped us.’’

Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., are eighth and Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Langley, B.C., are ninth.

Mai Mahara of Japan is first in the women’s event after the short program. Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., is eighth.

Competition ends Sunday with the women’s free skate and the free dance.
Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/gpgbr2022/