Newly Crowned National Champions in Laval

LAVAL, QC (January 16, 2025) – After finishing third in yesterday’s junior men’s short program at the Canadian National Skating Championships in Laval, Quebec, Ontario’s David Bondar put in an extraordinary performance in Thursday’s free program, soaring right to the top of the podium.

Trailing by 8.62 points after the first day of competition at Place Bell, Bondar came roaring back on Thursday, collecting 135.07 points to bring his total to 196.86 and secure the title of Junior Canadian Champion in his final year of eligibility.

“It feels great to be national champion. I’m glad I was able to perform as well as I knew I could in today’s competition, and finish with a high score. My mom and my big sister are here to celebrate with me. I hope they’re proud,” said Bondar.

Edward Nicholas Vasii (Quebec) finished second with a final score of 181.52 points. Manitoba’s David Howes (174.10) completed the podium.

In junior ice dance, the competition was fiercely contested. British Columbians Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang, who held first place following yesterday’s rhythm dance, saw Quebec’s Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren make a strong recovery on Thursday.

Gauthier and Thieren took first place in the free dance with a score of 103.26 points. However, it was not enough to edge out Nguyen and Giang, who nevertheless clinched the title of Canadian Champions with an overall score of 170.99 points, only .38 points ahead of the competition (170.61).

“We feel great! I don’t even know what to say. We skated really well this week. We felt positive all week, which came through on the ice. Now we want to take a little break before getting back to work for the Junior World Championships,” said Giang.

“It was a pretty stressful competition, but we’re proud of our performances, and the gold medal is the icing on the cake! We wanted to keep our expectations simple this week, so as not to put too much pressure on ourselves,” added Nguyen.

Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys of Ontario finished third with 160.22 points.

A Canadian record for Les Suprêmes Junior

After taking the lead in yesterday’s short program, Les Suprêmes Junior maintained their momentum on Thursday in the synchro free program, winning the gold medal and setting a new Canadian record with a score of 195.76.

“We’re so excited, not only to have won the gold medal, but also to have broken our own Canadian record. When we saw our final score, we exploded with joy. It feels amazing to win the national championships here at home,” said Gabriella Musi, co-captain of Les Suprêmes.

Team NEXXICE (Ontario) won silver with 186.33 points, while Nova (Quebec) secured bronze with 175.83.

Later in the evening, the reigning world champions Les Suprêmes Senior put in a successful performance in the senior synchro short program, where they earned a score of 79.53 points to take the lead.

“Things went really well today. Our goal was to skate well and put in the best possible performance for our fans. We’ve worked really hard, and we want that to continue,” explained Olivia Di Giandomenico.

“We’re very excited to be competing at the Canadian Championships right here at home, in front of our families and friends. We want to make them proud, without putting too much pressure on ourselves. So far, so good, I think,” added Julia Bernardo.

Team Nova of Quebec placed second with 75.13 points. NEXXICE of Ontario came in third with 68.59 points.

The junior pairs competition also got underway on Thursday at Place Bell. Ontario’s Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov led the short program, scoring 59.49 points to top the standings.

“We trained really hard to be ready for the Canadian Championships. We showed that we weren’t nervous and that we really enjoyed our short program. The crowd in Laval is really noisy, which gave us a lot of energy,” said Elizarov.

Second and third place are currently held by two teams from Quebec: Noémie Rolland and Étienne Lacasse with 50.34 points, and Martina Ariano-Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent with 50.27.

The junior pairs final and senior synchro final will take place on Friday.

For the complete results, click here.