Bronze for Gogolev to Close out Autumn Classic International

Pierrefonds, Quebec (September 16, 2023) – The 2023 Autumn Classic International skating competition wrapped up on Saturday in Pierrefonds, Que., and was headlined by Canadian Stephen Gogolev of Toronto bringing home a bronze medal in the men’s event.

Gogolev, who was sitting in second following his short program, struggled a bit with his free skate but held on to finish third overall with a total score of 233.26. Fellow Canadian Wesley Chiu of Vancouver also struggled a little bit with his free skate and dropped from third to finish seventh overall with a total score of 208.82.

“The beginning started a bit shaky, and I think that was part of the competition nerves kicking in, but overall I’m pretty satisfied with the second half of the program and I was able to pull everything together,” said Gogolev who was the Skate Canada Challenge champion in 2022.

Ilia Malinin of the USA won gold with a total score of 281.68 while Kevin Aymoz of France improved mightily from his short program to capture the silver with a total score of 237.35.

The Canadian ice dance team of Sandrine Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and Quentin Thieren of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., finished the competition sixth with a total score of 154.78, while Alyssa Robinson of Ridgetown, Ont., and Jacob Portz of Calgary, Alta., finished 9th with a total score of 134.30.

“We’re pretty proud of what we managed to put out there,” said Thieren. When asked what they plan to work on as they move into their first international season as seniors, Gauthier added: “We want to work on the details, and the expression of the program, but projection is the main thing for us.”

Eva Pate and Logan Bye of the USA won gold in ice dance with a total score of 191.20, while Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France took silver (186.94), and Hanna Lim and Ye Quan of Korea took bronze (170.70).

The next international figure skating competition to take place in Canada will be the Skate Canada International event, happening in Vancouver from October 27 to 29, 2023. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at https://skatecanada.ca/2023-skate-canada-international/

For full results from the Autumn Classic International, please click here.