Canadian Skaters Bring Home Two Bronze from Junior Grand Prix in Czechia

Photo Credit: International Skating Union

Ostrava, CZE (September 7, 2024) – Canadian junior skaters Julia Quattrocchi and Simon Desmarais and Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys captured bronze medals in pairs and ice dance respectively this weekend at the second ISU Junior Grand Prix of the season in Ostrava, Czechia.

Pair skaters Quattrocchi of Laval, Que., and Desmarais of Carignan, Que., finished fourth in the short program on the first day of competition on Thursday and then laid down a brilliant free program that saw them place first with a score of 91.94 on Friday to finish third overall with a total score of 137.54.

“We felt really good on the ice. It was a little bit more stressful than the other competition, but I think we delivered what we know we could do, and we’re really happy about it,” said Quattrocchi who together with Desmarais made her Junior Grand Prix debut this weekend.

Xuanqi Zhang and Wenqiang Feng of China won gold (145.55), while Romane Telemaque and Lucas Coulon of France took silver (139.84).

In the ice dance competition, Veillon and Brandys, both of London, Ont., skated a beautiful free dance to place second overall in that portion of the competition with a new personal best score of 89.78. Combined with their rhythm dance score of 55.04, they came away with a total score of 144.82 to take home bronze and their best international result to date.

“We’re really proud to be able to come out here and get our first international medal,” said Veillon who together with Brandys are the reigning Canadian junior champions. “Obviously, it didn’t come without some issues, but we’re just proud we were able to come together today and skate to the best of our capabilities.”

Fellow Canadians Laurence Brière of Carignan, Que., and Julien Levesque of Boucherville, Que., who were making their Junior Grand Prix debut, finished 12th overall with a total score of 116.99.

Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux of France won gold (158.66), while Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski of the USA took silver (144.94).

David Bondar of Richmond Hill, Ont., had a very strong start to his season, laying down personal best scores for both his short program (68.35) and his free skate (120.73) to finish seventh overall in the men’s competition.

Minkyu Seo of Korea, the reigning junior world champion, won gold (224.78), while Patrick Blackwell of the USA took silver (221.56), and Adam Hagara of Slovakia, bronze medallist at last year’s Junior World Championships, took bronze (211.23).

Canada did not have any competitors in the women’s event.

The third Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place next weekend in Bangkok, Thailand from September 11-14, 2024 and will feature Canadian men’s, women’s, and ice dance teams.

For full results please click here.