LAKE PLACID, USA (Nov. 16, 2025) – Marjorie Lajoie (Boucherville, QC) and Zachary Lagha (Saint-Hubert, QC) earned their season’s best with 197.16 points at Skate America, the fifth stop on the ISU Grand Prix series, and took second place in ice dance on Sunday. This was Canada’s second medal at the competition in Lake Placid, New York, after Kelly Ann Laurin (St-Jérôme, QC) and Loucas Éthier (St-Alphonse-de-Granby, QC) won bronze in the pairs event on Saturday.

Lajoie and Lagha finished behind the Americans and three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates (212.58). France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (192.61) completed the podium.

“We are really proud and happy with our performance and our result. Finishing second here means a lot to us because we worked very hard between the Skate Canada and Skate America competitions. I think we did a very good job,” said Lajoie.

“We couldn’t have done better. Under the circumstances, it was perfect!” added her partner Lagha.

The day before, Laurin and Éthier (182.87) fought hard for their third place in the pairs competition, as the Canadian duo was sixth after the short program. This spectacular comeback, which led to their best Grand Prix result this season, came as a surprise to Laurin.

“We didn’t expect to win a medal and we’re very happy!”

Her partner Éthier put the result into context: “It’s important for us because we had a roller-coaster kind of start to the season, and to be able to bounce back with our best performance on the international stage feels great!”

Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (215.99) took gold, while Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (195.73) were awarded silver.

Alicia Fabbri (Terrebonne, QC) and Paul Ayer (Brossard, QC) placed ninth (165.68) in ice dance. Competing in the NHK Trophy in Osaka last weekend in Japan, the duo had little time to return home before heading to Lake Placid.

“Our goal coming here was to deliver two performances that were a little better than what we had done before. We succeeded in both programs, so we’re very proud,” said Ayer.

The final Grand Prix of the season will take place next weekend in Finland and will be followed by the Grand Prix Final in Japan from December 4-7, 2025.

The full competition results can be found here.