Canadian Pair Skaters Finish Just off the Podium at World Junior Figure Skating Championships

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN (February 29, 2024) – The pair competition at the 2024 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships concluded on Thursday in Taipei City, Taiwan with Martina Ariano Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent and Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Ariano Kent of Mount Royal, Que., and Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., had a strong start to the competition on Wednesday to finish third in the short program with a score of 55.67. After earning a score of 85.89 to finish sixth in the free skate, the pair closed out the competition fifth overall with a total score of 141.26.

“I felt really good about it,” said Ariano Kent of the short program. “It was a lot better than how we were doing in practice, so I was really happy that we were able to improve and do a good performance.”

Kemp and Elizarov, both from Winnipeg, Man., finished fifth in both the short program (54.86) and the free skate (85.81) to finish sixth overall with a total score of 140.67, short of their personal best score of 168.83.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia continued their dominant season to win gold with a total score of 179.32. Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA took silver (166.89), while Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer, also of the USA, captured bronze (146.00).

The women’s competition started on Wednesday with 2024 Canadian junior national champion Lulu Lin of Mississauga, Ont., posting a new personal best short program score of 57.12 to finish the day in 15^th – the top Canadian result of the day. 2024 Canadian senior women’s champion Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., was close behind in 19^th with a score of 54.62. Both skaters qualified for the free skate which takes place on Friday.

Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., laid down an impressive short program in the men’s competition on Thursday, scoring a new personal best of 77.74 to finish the day in fourth place. Anthony Paradis of Boisbriand, Que., also posted a new personal best international score of 63.19 to finish in 21^st – both skaters have qualified for the free skate which will close out the competition on Saturday.

For full results please click here.