Canadian NextGen Skaters Claim Silver and Bronze in Poland

Gdansk, POL (September 28, 2024) – Canadian NextGen skaters had a fantastic week in Gdansk, Poland at the fifth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) circuit, with Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren capturing silver in ice dance, and Julia Quattrocchi and Simon Desmarais taking their second bronze of the season in pairs, qualifying them for the Junior Grand Prix Final in December.

Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and Thieren of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., delivered a beautiful free dance to earn a new personal best score of 96.79. Their total score of 160.75, which secured them the silver medal, was also a new personal best.

“Both performances were great for us,” said Thieren who together with Gauthier finished fifth at the JGP in Riga, Latvia at the end of August. “We revamped pretty much our whole rhythm dance, and it scored well – much better than what we did in Riga, so we’re very proud of that.”

In their first JGP of the season, Summer Homick of Tilsonburg, Ont., and Nicholas Buelow of Barrie, Ont., finished seventh with a total score of 135.86. Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski of the USA won gold with a total score of 166.88, while Dania Mouaden and Theo Bigot of France took bronze (153.19).

Quattrocchi of Laval, Que., and Desmarais of Carignan, Que., recorded a new personal best score of 46.05 for their short program in the pair competition, but it was still only good enough for sixth. It was once again their free skate that moved them onto the podium with a total score of 134.88 to secure bronze, and their spot in the Grand Prix Final.

“We’re really happy with our performances, and we’re going back home with a lot of knowledge and a lot of things to work on too,” said Quattrocchi after their free skate. When asked about qualifying for the Grand Prix Final, she added: “We’re really happy, really, really happy, and we’re excited to go there and perform like we can.”

First-time JGP competitors Noémie Rolland of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-lac, Que., and Étienne Lacasse of Quebec City, Que., finished seventh overall with a total score of 130.39. Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang of China won their second gold of the season with a total score of 161.96, while Sofiia Holichenko and Artem Darenskyi of Ukraine took silver (136.58).

In the men’s competition, Anthony Paradis of Boisbriand, Que., laid down a fantastic short program to secure a new personal best score of 70.71. He narrowly missed the podium, finishing fifth overall with a total score of 192.70. Edward Vasii of Rosemère, Que., finished 12^th overall with a new personal best score for his short program (60.86) and a total score of 153.70. Lukas Vaclavik of Slovakia won gold (207.78), while Sena Takahashi of Japan took silver (198.42). Minkyu Seo of Korea came back from sitting 11^th following the short program to win the free skate and take bronze with a total score of 195.86.

Lulu Lin of Mississauga, Ont., was competing in her second JGP of the season and was looking for a strong performance in the women’s competition after finishing just off the podium in fourth at the JGP in Latvia. It wasn’t too be unfortunately, as she ended the event ranked 12^th place overall (148.30). Mao Shimada of Japan won gold with a total score of 224.68. Kaoruko Wada, also of Japan, took silver (198.22), while Nayeon Ko of Korea captured bronze (180.14).

The sixth Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place next week in Ljubljana, Slovenia from October 2-5, 2024 and will feature Canadian athletes competing in the men’s, women’s, and ice dance competitions.

For full results please click here.

Photo Credit: Jurij Kodrun – International Skating Union