Sixteen Canadian Athletes to Compete at September Challenger Events 

OTTAWA, ON (September 18, 2023) – Sixteen Canadian athletes across four disciplines are set to compete at the ISU Challenger Series events taking place over the next two weeks. A team of ten skaters will be representing Canada at the Nebelhorn Trophy from September 20-23, 2023 in Oberstdorf, Germany, while six additional skaters will be taking part in the Ondrej Nepela Memorial from September 28-30, 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia.  

The delegation travelling to Germany includes 2022 Skate America bronze medalists, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier, as well as Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, who most recently finished with a solid 6th place at the 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.  

Canadian Champion Madeline Schizas will be headlining the women’s event at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, while Conrad Orzel, 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships silver medalist, will be looking to shine in the men’s event. The ice dance competition will be fierce with 2023 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships bronze medalists Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha presenting their new programs for the first time. They will be competing alongside Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, who placed third at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. 

The Challenger Series is an International Figure Skating Series designed to give skaters adequate opportunities to compete at the international senior level and to earn precious World Standing Points.  

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location    

Nebelhorn Trophy  

Women 
Sara-Maude Dupuis | 18 | Montreal, Que. | Stéphane Yvars & Françoise Parisé | Boucherville, Que. 

Men 
Aleksa Rakic | 19 | Burnaby, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C.  

Pair 
Kelly Ann Laurin | 17 | St-Jérôme, Que. & Loucas Éthier | 23 | Deux-Montagnes, Que. | Stéphanie Valois | Rosemère, Que.  
Lia Pereira | 18 | Milton, Ont. & Trennt Michaud | 26 | Trenton, Ont. | Alison Purkiss & Nancy Lemaire| Brantford, Ont.      

Ice Dance 
Alicia Fabbri | 20 | Terrebonne, Que. & Paul Ayer | 25 | Brossard, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.
Molly Lanaghan | 24 | Doncaster, GB & Dmitre Razgulajevs | 26 | Ajax, Ont. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.  

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Emma Lis 
Officials – Ron Conacher & Karen Howard  

Ondrej Nepela Memorial  

Women 
Madeline Schizas | 20 | Oakville, Ont. | Nancy Lemaire & Derek Schmidt | Milton, Ont.  

Men 
Conrad Orzel | 23 | Toronto, Ont. | Ravi Walia | Edmonton, Alta.  

Ice Dance  
Nadiia Bashynska | 19 | Ajax, Ont. & Peter Beaumont | 22 | Ajax, Ont. | Carol Lane, Jon Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.
Marjorie Lajoie | 22 | Boucherville, Que. & Zachary Lagha | 24 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Romain Haguenauer | Montreal, Que.   

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Sylvia Ciurysek 
Officials – Christine Bourdeau & Reaghan Fortin  

For full competition schedules, entries and results for Challenger Series events, please click here.