NAGOYA, JAPAN (Dec. 4, 2025) – The Canadian team performed well at the start of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, with two duos finishing third in their respective disciplines on Thursday in Nagoya, Japan. 

Piper Gilles (Toronto, ON) and Paul Poirier (Unionville, ON) stood out in senior ice dance. The Canadians, two-time Grand Prix medallists this season, delivered a superb performance in the rhythm dance, earning 82.89 points and third place in the competition. Reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States are in first place with 88.74 points, while Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, representing France, are second with 87.56 points. 

“We’re pretty happy with our performance. We wanted to skate with a lot of confidence and joy, and we succeeded. We felt in control and believed in ourselves, and that carried us through the program today,” said Poirier, who will now prepare for Saturday’s free dance. 

In junior pairs, Ava Kemp (Winnipeg, MN) and Yohnatan Elizarov (Winnipeg, MN) made a strong comeback after missing last year’s Junior Grand Prix season due to injury. Gold medallists at the Junior Grand Prix events in Riga and Ankara this season, the Canadian skaters missed one element in the short program but managed to recover. They earned a score of 62.82 and are in third place, just 0.07 points behind China’s Xuanqi Zhang and Wenqiang Feng in second. First place went to Rui Guo and Yiwen Zhang, also from China, who scored 63.84 points. 

“We prepared well and felt good. Even though we made a mistake, we can put it aside and be proud of the rest. It’s good to be back! We haven’t competed in a major international competition in quite a while,” said Kemp. 

Jazmine Desrochers (Mississauga, ON) and Kieran Thrasher (Oakville, ON) are fifth with 54.45, while Julia Quattrocchi (Laval, QC) and Étienne Lacasse (Sainte-Thérèse, QC) are sixth with 51.88 points. 

In the senior pair competition, Deanna Stellato-Dudek (Chicago, USA) and Maxime Deschamps (Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC) also made a comeback to the Final after missing the event last year due to illness. The judges awarded the team a score of 71.07 on Thursday, placing them in sixth in the short program. Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara finished first with a score of 77.32, a narrow 0.10-point lead over Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (77.22). Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava are in third place with 75.04. 

Junior ice dancers Layla Veillon (London, ON) and Alexander Brandys (London, ON) will perform their rhythm dance on Friday. On the senior side, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps will return to action in the pairs free skate. 

Full competition results are here.