The Top Ten Years of Skate Canada International

From October 25-27, 2024, Halifax, Nova Scotia hosted the 50th edition of Skate Canada International (SCI). As we close out this milestone, discover the top ten Canadian highlights from the past five decades of SCI.

1973– The first SCI is held in Calgary, Alberta where men’s skaters Toller Cranson and Ron Shaver, women’s skaters Lynn Nightingale and Barbara Terpenning, and ice dance team Louise Soper and Barry Soper bring home medals for Canada.

1983– Halifax, Nova Scotia hosts their first SCI where Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall are the first Canadian team to win gold in the ice dance event. Brian Orser claims gold in the men’s event.

1984– The pairs category is added to Skate Canada International. In this new event, teams Cynthia Coull and Mark Rowsom win silver and Katherina Matousek and Llyod Eisler earn bronze.

1994– Ice dance team Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz win gold. This is the first SCI title in their five-year consecutive streak.

Emanuel Sandhu, Ben Ferreira, and Jeffrey Buttle at the 2004 SCI.

2004– Canada gets a hat trick in the men’s event, with Emanuel Sandhu winning gold, Ben Ferreira getting silver, and Jeffrey Buttle earning bronze. In total, Canada won five medals with Cynthia Phaneuf winning gold for women’s singles and ice dance team Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon claiming silver.

2014– Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are the first Canadians to claim gold in the pairs event since 2001. This is the first of their four back-to-back SCI titles.

2016– Patrick Chan earns his sixth gold medal at SCI which surpasses Elvis Stojko’s record of five SCI titles. Canada captures 7 medals this year with Kevin Reynolds earning bronze, Kaetlyn Osmond winning silver, pairs Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford getting gold, and Luibov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch claiming bronze. Ice dance teams Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir claimed gold, and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took home bronze.

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, and Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier on the podium at the 2016 SCI.

2017– Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win their seventh gold medal at SCI which is the most SCI titles any Canadian has won to date. Pairs team Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, and women’s skater Katelyn Osmond also capture gold.

2019– Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier win gold for the first time as an ice dance team at SCI. Their win is the 13th time over 15 years that Canada has won the ice dance event.

2024– Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier win their fifth consecutive SCI title in the ice dance event. They join Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz as the only ice dancers to win five consecutive titles at Skate Canada. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha joined the ice dance podium, securing silver. In the pairs event, World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxine Deschamps claim their second consecutive SCI title.

Thanks for coming along with us through these significant moments. We can’t wait to welcome you again next year to Skate Canada International!

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