KELOWNA, B.C. (Oct. 31, 2026) — Canadian champions Lia Pereira (Milton, Ont.) and Trennt Michaud (Trenton, Ont.) captured their first Skate Canada International title and second gold medal of the season in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday. The pair earned 125.11 points in the free program, for a total score of 202.17.

“It feels so amazing just with both performances to have all of the Canadian fans on their feet and see all the flags waving in the audience,” Pereira said. “You just feel so at home and so comfortable, and to be able to put out two strong performances this early in the season and to be backed by such strong Canadian fans, you can’t really ask for more.”

“It’s really exciting,” Michaud added. “I’ve said it before, I remember watching this as a kid and volunteering as a young skater and imagining what it would be like to be on the podium, or to be on the top of the podium and hear your national anthem at your home Grand Prix. We got to experience that today, and I hope we inspire other young skaters or just young athletes in general to keep pushing for their dreams, because this is what that did for us as young skaters.”

They were joined on the podium by Americans Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov (191.90) and Switzerland’s Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart (183.12), who took silver and bronze, respectively.

Ava Kemp (Winnipeg, Man.) and Yohnatan Elizarov (Winnipeg, Man.) placed fifth overall. They scored 98.13 points in the free program, totalling 163.07 points. Miyu Yunoki (Osaka, Japan) and Tristan Taylor (Regina, Sask.) placed seventh with 96.63 points in the free program and a total score of 152.41 points.

Stephen Gogolev (Toronto, Ont.) finished fourth overall in the men’s event after earning 165.99 points in the free program, for a total 232.72 points. It was a comeback performance for the reigning Canadian champion, who finished last in Friday’s short program.

“The support that I’ve gotten over the past 24 hours, after the short program, has been really great,” he said. “I’ve gotten some good messages from a lot of people that I admire. It’s been really good.”

David Bondar (Richmond Hill, Ont.) placed ninth overall with a personal best 137.13 points in the free program and total score of 214.61 points. Wesley Chiu (Vancouver, B.C.) earned 127.07 points in the free program, totalling 200.94 points overall to finish 10th.

France’s Kevin Aymoz took gold in the event with 258.43 points. Japan’s Rio Nakata (249.25) won silver, while Estonia’s Mihhail Selevko (248.66) won bronze.

Saturday also marked the start of competition in both the women’s and ice dance events. In the women’s event, Sara-Maude Dupuis (Montréal, Que.) currently sits in seventh place after the short program, with a season-best 64.58 points.

“I think I executed everything really well, the best I’ve done the whole year,” Dupuis said after the short program. “What’s cool about it is there’s still room to grow. I lost a level on the layback and I got a negative GOE on the last spin, so I got a good score and there’s still room to grow. I’m really proud of what I did.”

Dupuis is followed by teammates Madeline Schizas (Oakville, Ont.) in ninth place with 57.95 points and Fée Ann Landry (Gatineau, Que.) in 10th place with 57.27 points.

Leading the women’s field is four-time junior world champion Mao Shimada (JPN) with 82.11 points. Isabeau Levito (USA) trails in second with 78.50 points, followed by Estonia’s Niina Petrokina with 77.24 points.

In ice dance, Canadian national bronze medallists Marie-Jade Lauriault (Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que.) and Romain Le Gac (Laval, Que.) are in fifth place after earning 72.10 points for their comedic “Mr. Bean”-inspired rhythm dance.

“It was really fun to create [the program], to skate it every day at home, and that’s why we created it,” Le Gac said. “We wanted to have fun, we wanted to bring something lighter. We don’t see much comedy on the ice, so I think we like this feeling. We like to play those characters, but we still want to keep the class in it, and I think it was really fun today to perform in front of the crowd here in Kelowna.”

“I think the best privilege is having people laughing while you skate,” Lauriault added. “It’s something really special that you don’t get every time. It’s truly a privilege to hear that and witness that while we skate.”

Alyssa Robinson (Calgary, Alta.) and Jacob Portz (Calgary, Alta.) are in ninth place with 60.22 points. Layla Veillon (London, Ont.) and Alexander Brandys (London, Ont.) sit 10th overall with 59.72 points.

Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson lead the event with 81.37 points. France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud are in second with 77.90 points, and Americans Caroline Green and Michael Parsons sit third with 74.24 points.

Competition wraps up Sunday with the women’s free program and ice dance free dance, with Canadian skaters looking to finish their Skate Canada International campaign on a high note.

For complete results, please click here.