Skate Canada Names Teams for 2024 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON (February 13, 2024) – Skate Canada is pleased to name its teams for the upcoming ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships, which is set to take place from March 15-16, 2024 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, as well as the teams who will compete at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships from April 5-6, 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia.  

Skate Canada has a robust selection criterion for each ISU Championship to undertake the selection of teams who will represent Canada at these events. Skate Canada’s selection criteria for ISU Championships can be found on skatecanada.ca.  

2024 ISU WORLD JUNIOR SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS  

NEUCHÂTEL, SWITZERLAND – MARCH 15-16, 2024 

  • Les Suprêmes Junior  
  • NEXXICE Junior  

2024 ISU WORLD SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS 

ZAGREB, CROATIA – APRIL 5-6, 2024 

  • Les Suprêmes Senior 
  • Nova Senior 

Top Canadian Skaters Head to Waterloo for Novice Canadian Championships and Skate Canada Cup

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OTTAWA, ON (February 13, 2024) – Following the conclusion of the Skate Canada Challenge – Pre-Novice/Novice earlier this month, the country’s best novice skaters are set to compete for national titles in men, women, pair, ice dance and synchronized skating from February 21-25, 2024, at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Ontario.  

The competition week will kick off with the 2024 Novice Canadian Championships featuring recently crowned Skate Canada Challenge gold medalists Rui Qin (men), Lia Cho (women), Remie Muramoto and Keith Lau (pair) and Laurence Brière and Julien Lévesque (ice dance), as well as many other up-and-coming talents.   

Later in the week, the country’s top synchronized skating teams will be competing for national titles in novice, open and intermediate at the 2024 Skate Canada Cup on February 24-25, 2024. Last year’s champions, Les Suprêmes (novice) and NEXXICE (intermediate, open) will be looking to defend their titles and bring home another medal.   

Single day and all-event tickets for both events are available through KWTickets with prices starting at $40 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under (plus applicable fees and taxes).  

For more information including the schedule, entries and start orders, please click here. Both events will be live streamed and can be accessed through the event page or the Skate Canada Dailymotion page. 

Gold and Silver for Les Suprêmes Teams at Marie Lundmark Trophy

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Helsinki, Finland (February 11, 2024) – The Les Suprêmes skating club had a fantastic weekend at the Challenger Series Marie Lundmark Trophy in Helsinki, Finland this weekend with their junior team winning gold, and their senior team capturing silver in their respective divisions.

The junior team entered the weekend fresh off a bronze medal performance last weekend at the PGE Hevelius Cup in Poland and won the gold medal here with a total score of 198.65 – two points higher than last weekend. Finnish teams took the next two podium positions with the Valley Bay Synchro team taking silver (197.50), and the Fintastic team taking bronze (195.08).

“Our free program was very calm, and exactly what we’ve been training for this past week and we’re really proud of that,” said Gabriella Musi, co-captain for the Les Suprêmes junior team.

“The crowd is really fun and loud and entertaining so it’s really fun to skate here,” added co-captain Victoria Gimenez.

The Nova junior team from St. Hubert, Que., finished fifth overall with a total score of 169.55 after a much-improved free skate moved them up from eighth after their short program.

The senior competition was a close battle between the top-three teams with the Helsinki Rockettes from Finland winning gold (235.05), Les Suprêmes taking silver (226.72), and Team Unique from Finland taking bronze (223.43).

“We went into our free skate program being super calm and grounded. We wanted to show what we’ve been working hard on for the past few weeks cleaning up the program,” said Julia Bernardo, co-captain for the Les Suprêmes senior team.

“It wasn’t perfect, we know we need to work on our GOE (grade of execution), get it a better higher, so we’ll keep working hard, but we still enjoyed the crowd and had a great time,” added co-captain Olivia Di Giandomenico of their free skate which had some minor errors and gave them third-place scores.

The Nova senior team had two solid skates to finish fifth overall with a total score of 192.05.

This was the final competition for Canadian synchro teams before the Junior World Championships which take place in Neuchâtel, Switzerland from March 15-16, 2024, and the World Championships which take place in Zagreb, Croatia from April 5-6, 2024. Skate Canada will name the teams that will represent Canada at these events this week.

For full results please click here.

Lia Cho Sets New Canadian Novice Record to Wrap-up Skate Canada Challenge – Pre-Novice/Novice Competition

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Oakville, ON (February 4, 2024) – Lia Cho of Calgary, Alta., set a new Canadian record at the 2023-2024 Skate Canada Challenge – Pre-Novice/Novice competition that took place this weekend at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont., enroute to winning gold in the novice women’s category – just a year after winning the pre-novice category.

“Today felt amazing. It wasn’t the best I could, but I’m so happy to be here and it’s such an honour. I said to myself that it’s not about winning, or getting medals, it’s about how happy I am to be here, and showing the judges how happy I am to skate,” said Cho who scored an amazing 54.70 for her short program on Saturday but had a slightly tougher time in the free skate where she scored a 99.11 – the third-highest score of the day. Her total score of 153.81 bested the previous Canadian record of 152.50 set by Amy Shao Ning Yang at the Canadian Championships in 2020.

The women’s novice podium was a carbon copy of the pre-novice podium at last year’s event with Sandrine Blais of Quebec finishing second with a total score of 145.48, and Ksenia Krouzkevitch of Ontario finishing third with a total score of 144.46.

The men’s novice podium also looked remarkably similar to last year’s pre-novice podium with Rui Qin of Mississauga, Ont., winning gold (132.82), and Travis Trang of Edmonton, Alta. – last year’s silver medallist at pre-novice, taking bronze this year in novice (110.71). Parker Heiderich of Calgary, Alta., took the novice silver medal (114.49) – a healthy improvement from his 16th-place finish at the novice level last year.

Pre-novice pair skaters from last year that moved up to novice this year also performed well with Siyul Back and Gavin Mahoney from Innisfail, Ont., moving up from bronze last year to silver this year (104.47). Lily Evans of Pouch Cove, Nfld., and Mark Butt of Bloomfield, Nfld., finished just off the podium in fourth as pre-novices last year, and improved to take bronze in novice this weekend (91.86). Last year’s pre-novice silver medallist – Keith Lau, won gold this year in novice with new partner Remie Muramoto (108.76) – both skaters train in Mississauga, Ont.

“Coming into this competition was a little bit stressful, but once things were going, things felt better and we felt more confident in the skate,” said Lau.

In the novice ice dance competition, some new partnerships saw successful results with Laurence Brière of Carignan, Que., and Julien Lévesque of Boucherville, Que., winning gold after dominating the competition to finish with a total score of 110.24. Tasha Lai and Mickey Becker-Pos of Vancouver, B.C., who won gold last year at the pre-novice level, captured silver (105.99), and new duo Alyson Lacombe of St-Césaire, Que., and Morgan Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., took bronze (104.85).

Tobias Liu of Markham, Ont., was overjoyed to win the men’s pre-novice competition with a total score of 110.39 after finishing 15th last year. Alexander Ge of B.C. and Umberto Daher of Alberta had a close battle for second with Ge emerging victorious to take silver with a total score of 103.33, to Daher’s 103.31.

“I’m really happy and feel really accomplished. I’m proud of saving my triple toe,” said Liu following the competition.

The pre-novice women’s title was won by Vienna Vidinovski of Markham, Ont., with a total score of 101.95 with Maélia Ruel of Quebec not far behind taking silver with a total score of 101.30. Julianne Hébert of Quebec improved mightily from her 22nd-place result from last year to take the bronze with a total score of 100.15.

“This feels really good – almost unreal,” said Vidinovski. “I was thinking I’d come top-5, or top-10 – I really wasn’t expecting gold. I’m really proud of landing my triple toe in my free program.”

Jaslynn Wong and Nico Conforti from Richmond, B.C., won gold in the pre-novice pair competition after a huge free skate that moved them from fifth place after the short program to first and a total score of 83.05. Ava Cheung and Stephen Lee, also from B.C., moved up from 16th last year to take silver this year with a total score of 82.23, and Dana Yun and Kody Ng of Alberta captured bronze with a total score of 72.28.

The pre-novice ice dance competition was won by Annabelle Théroux and Rafael Gossard of Quebec with a total score of 93.17. Florence Beausoleil and Rémi Thibault, also of Quebec, took the silver with a total score of 90.10, and Kayleigh Chao and Jonathan Ma of Ontario improved from their 13th-place result last year, to take the bronze with a total score of 84.89.

The top-18 skaters in the novice division have now qualified for the 2024 Novice Canadian Championships taking place at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Ont., from February 21-24, 2024.

For full results please click here.

Gilles & Poirier Golden at ISU Four Continents Championships

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Shanghai, China (February 4, 2024) – Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier’s dream season continued on Sunday at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai, China as they won their first ISU Championships title in the ice dance competition. They were joined on the podium by Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen who captured silver for the second year in a row.

Gilles of Toronto, Ont., and Poirier of Unionville, Ont., led the competition from start to finish, making their performance to “Wuthering Heights” look effortless in their free skate today, garnering them a score of 128.87, and a total score of 214.36 for the win.

“It has been a long wait, but it’s been worth the wait,” said Gilles of the win after having come so close several times in the past to a win at this level. “You have to earn these moments, and I feel like we’ve finally timed things right and have finally earned it. We’re just really proud of this moment. Standing on top of the podium felt really surreal – I almost got a little bit emotional.”

Poirier added: “We’re really proud of ourselves. We had two really solid, enjoyable skates for the two of us. We really enjoyed our skating here and are proud of how we skated.”

Skating a dramatic love story to “Notre Dame de Paris,” Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen of Montreal, Que., had their best free skate of the season, earning a season’s best free skate score of 125.52 for a total score of 207.54 to earn them a silver medal for the second consecutive season.

“It was such a wonderful performance, with a lot of emotion, it was just a big relief, and a huge pleasure for us,” said Soerensen.

“We really felt free today and it was super fun to just perform. I think we stepped it up this week and we just will have a lot of motivation back home to build up towards Worlds,” added Fournier Beaudry.

Canadian skaters had all three of the top scores in the free dance as Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of Ste-Anne-des-plaines, Que., performed brilliantly to their “Corpse Bride” music, scoring 119.57 for their efforts – a season’s best score, which moved them up from seventh to finish fifth overall with a total score of 190.83 – also a season’s best score.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the USA captured the bronze medal to round out the podium with a total score of 194.14.

For full results please click here.

Successful Weekend with Four Medals for Canadian Synchronized Skating Teams

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Gdansk, Poland/Rouen, France (February 3, 2024) – Canadian synchronized skating teams had a very successful weekend bringing home two bronze medals from the Challenger Series PGE Hevelius Cup in Gdansk, Poland and two silver medals from the French Cup in Rouen, France.

The Nova senior team from St-Hubert, Que., climbed into the bronze-medal winning position at the Hevelius Cup after sitting in fifth position following the short program. Their total score of 216.04 was three points improved from their performance at the Canadian National Championships where they finished second.

“At every practice, we practiced every element to make sure that they were all OK. We know we lost some calls at nationals, and it seems like the hard work really paid off because we got all of those calls this weekend, so we’re really happy about that,” said Leonie Nadeau, co-captain of the Nova team that will have very little rest as they head off to Finland next weekend for the Marie Lundmark Trophy competition in Helsinki.

The NEXXICE senior team from Burlington, Ont., was sitting in third position after the short program, but dropped to finish fourth after their free skate with a total score of 212.70, which was also an improvement from their score at nationals where they finished third.

The Haydenettes from the USA won gold with a total score of 234.66, while the Marigold Ice Unity team from Finland captured silver with a total score of 228.81.

In the junior competition at the Hevelius Cup, Canada captured another bronze medal with the Les Suprêmes junior team from Saint-Léonard, Que., climbing onto the podium with a total score of 196.20. The Gold Ice junior team from Brampton, Ont., finished just behind in fourth with a total score of 162.55 which was a big improvement over their score of 146.20 at Canadian nationals.

“We did exactly what we did in practice and were really proud of both of our skates. We really loved the energy of everyone that was there, and it was definitely a fun experience,” said Victoria Gimenez, co-caption of Les Suprêmes.

Ishani Sama, co-captain for the Gold Ice team, added: “We were very excited for our first international competition. This is such a great opportunity for us, and we worked really hard. As a team collectively, we were hoping to achieve a season’s best in our first international and we did!”

The Elite junior team from the USA won gold with a total score of 205.54, while the Skyliners junior team, also from the USA, took silver with a total score of 202.07.

In the junior competition at the French Cup, the NEXXICE junior team added another silver to Canada’s medal haul for the weekend after winning bronze at last weekend’s Trophy d’Écosse in Great Britain. Their total score of 192.14 was an improvement from their score at nationals where they finished second. They were edged out from the top of the podium by the Fintastic team from Finland who won gold with a total score of 196.10. The Mystique team, also from Finland, rounded out the podium, taking bronze with a total score of 175.94.

“We’re very happy with our two clean performances this weekend. We worked hard during our training camp in Nottingham between our two international assignments and are pleased with our improvement,” said Celina Guo, co-captain of the NEXXICE junior team. Her co-captain Natalya Krywetsky added: “The crowd was electric tonight making it an experience we will never forget!”

The relatively new Elite 12 team from NEXXICE made their international debut at the French Cup and delivered two very strong performances to capture the silver medal as well with a total score of 173.73. The Hayden Select team from the USA won gold with a total score of 197.57, while Team Fusion from Spain took bronze with a total score of 125.45.

Next weekend will see the Nova and Les Suprêmes senior and junior teams competing at the Challenger Series Marie Lundmark Trophy in Helsinki, Finland.

For full results from the Challenger Series PGE Hevelius Cup, please click here.

For full results from the French Cup, please click here.

Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps Golden at Four Continents

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Shanghai, China (February 3, 2024) – Canadian pair skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., won their first major championships gold medal on Saturday in Shanghai, China at the ISU Four Continents Championships, setting themselves up nicely for the World Championships in Montreal this March.

The two-time Canadian national champions had a healthy lead after their short program, and despite a couple of mistakes in their free skate, were able to retain the lead with a score of 129.32 and a total score of 198.80 to take the win. Last year’s champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan settled for silver (190.77), while Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the USA captured bronze (187.28).

“We’re very happy with the result. We had some of our reliable elements cross us a bit – I really hurt my arm on the twist and it was hurting throughout the whole program, so we were happy with the fight that we were able to give despite that,” said Stellato-Dudek. “There is definitely still a lot of growth in the performance, we know we can do a lot better than that, and we’re looking forward to doing that at Worlds.”

Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Trenton, Ont., had a shortened training period preparing for this competition due to a back injury that Michaud sustained just following nationals, so were pleased with their fifth-place finish and total score of 182.05.

“We’re very proud of ourselves for this long program today. We really wanted to showcase our performance. We’ve been working with our choreographers and coaching team at home to really push the performance aspect, and I think we did that today, so we’re really happy,” said Pereira.

Kelly Ann Laurin of St-Jerôme, Que., and Loucas Éthier of Deux-Montagnes, Que., finished in eighth-place with a total score of 174.47.

Wesley Chiu of Vancouver, B.C., was the top-ranked Canadian finisher in the men’s competition, finishing seventh with a total score of 240.38.

“It’s been really eye-opening to be with all these amazing athletes. It’s not often you get to skate with five of them in a single warm-up,” said Chiu who skated in the final flight with the top skaters. “But when the music came on, and it was my turn to skate, I felt my heart rate go down and felt a little bit more like myself. In the warm-up, my legs were feeling like jello, so I was able to tap back into my own training and do everything how I do normally.”

Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., who skated in his first international competition this season due to a series of travel mishaps this fall, finished in 10th place with a total score of 217.83, while Conrad Orzel of Toronto, Ont., finished 17th.

“There are definitely a lot of improvements that I can do here and there, and just optimize the program overall. I was just super pleased that I had the opportunity to do it somewhere, and take notes, and have the opportunity to apply those notes in training later on,” said Sadovsky who last competed at the Four Continents Championships in 2020 where he finished 16th.

2022 Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan won gold (307.58) with a commanding 32-point lead over the silver medallist, his teammate Shun Sato (274.59). Junhwan Cha of Korea took the bronze (272.95).

For full results please click here.

Historic Team Bronze to Close-Out Winter Youth Olympic Games for Canada

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Gangwon, South Korea (February 1, 2024) – The figure skating team event made its debut at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea on Thursday after being a mixed-nations event at previous Games, and the Canadian team, composed of Audra Gans and Michael Boutsan, Annika Behnke and Kole Sauve, David Li, and Kaiya Ruiter secured a bronze medal after delivering four great performances to edge out China by one point.

Gans and Boutsan from Prévost, Que., got the competition started for Canada with their ice dance free skate that garnered them a score of 80.24, putting them in fifth place and securing one point for the team.

“This was great,” said Boutsan following their performance. “Canada supporting me, Canada supporting us – it’s an amazing feeling. It brings out your Canadian pride and I think that’s something magical. I can’t wait to go and cheer for our teammates – we’re going to out-cheer all the other countries!”

Next up was Canada’s newly minted Youth Olympic Games pair gold medallists Behnke (Peace River, Alta.) and Sauve (Grand Prairie, Alta.) who performed brilliantly to score a huge new personal best score of 82.39 for their free skate, a first-place finish, and five points for the team.

“This was really cool. I loved how everyone was cheering us on – I just really enjoyed it and am so grateful for it,” enthused Behnke who together with Sauve, carried the Canadian flag into the Closing Ceremonies for the Games later in the day.

Li from Richmond, B.C., scored a 116.61 for his men’s free skate, adding a further two points to the team total with his fourth-place finish.

“It was a little more nerve wracking having the whole team watching you, but I started off really strong, and I just need to keep that level of intensity throughout the program,” said Li.

Ruiter from Calgary, Alta., had a much better free skate than she did on Tuesday, scoring a 103.41 to finish fourth, adding another two points to the total, and securing the bronze medal for Canada.

“I think the team is what contributed to having a much better free skate today, it’s just having the energy and the team excitement – we helped each other rise up and it was a very special moment. I still can’t believe we won a medal. Wearing this medal around my neck with the Olympic rings, it’s just so surreal, it’s crazy! And so much fun to do as a team,” said an excited Ruiter after the medal presentations.

Because only two teams performed a pair routine during the team competition, the top-3 scores for each team were counted, leaving Canada with 9 points and the bronze medal. The Korean team won gold with 13 points, while the USA captured the silver with 12 points.

For full results please click here.

Two Top-10 Finishes for Canadian Ice Dancers at Youth Olympic Games

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Gangwon, South Korea (January 30, 2024) – Canadian skaters wrapped up the individual competition portion of the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea on Tuesday with two top-10 finishes in ice dance, and an 11th place for Kaiya Ruiter in women’s singles.

Audra Gans and Michael Boutsan from Prévost, Que., had the top Canadian finish of the day with a fifth-place in the ice dance competition. Their free skate, performed to music composed by three-time Olympic medallist Eric Radford, scored an 83.83 – a huge new personal best score for the team, giving them a new personal best total score of 136.82.

“This felt amazing. I felt really good on the ice, and everything went smoothly, and I really trusted my skating,” said Gans who made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut earlier this season in Poland with Boutsan.

“I felt the elements were clean, and I felt it was a good skate and I felt I was able to perform a little bit and I hope the crowd and the judges saw that,” added Boutsan.

The second Canadian ice dance team of Caroline Kravets and Jacob Stark of Kitchener, Ont., set a new personal short program score of 47.98 on Sunday, and finished the competition in 9th position after scoring a 67.72 for the free skate (total score 115.70).

“This felt a lot more comfortable than the first day, it felt more like what we do at home, so it was really good to put out a performance that we’re happy with,” said Stark. “This competition has really taught us to reach for the stars. We weren’t expecting to be here at the beginning of the season – we felt like we were a long shot, but we made it happen and so this has taught us that we can achieve anything we want, as long as we work hard and train for it.”

Newly-minted Canadian senior women’s champion Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., had a tougher skate today in her free program, finishing the competition in 11th position with a total score of 154.95. She had entered the day in sixth position after a fantastic short program, which saw her skating in the final group with the top skaters, but with one fall today, and some other jumps under-rotated, she wasn’t able to retain her top-10 position.

“There were certainly some highlights that I’m really proud of, and it wasn’t what I was hoping for, but I really enjoyed the experience and getting to compete on that Youth Olympic ice,” said Ruiter who cited skating in the last group as a real highlight of her time at the Games. “That was such a win for me. Getting to be part of that group of the most incredible girls in this skating world, was just incredible, and was an experience that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

The 2024 Youth Olympic Games figure skating competition will conclude on Thursday with the team competition where Canadian skaters will look to capture their first medal in this first edition of a non-mixed nations team competition.

For full results please click here.

Skate Canada’s Response to the ISU’s Statement Regarding the Awarding of Medals for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games Figure Skating Team Competition

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Skate Canada is extremely disappointed with the International Skating Union’s (ISU) position on the long-awaited awarding of medals for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games Figure Skating Team Competition.

The Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that in addition to a four-year ban from competition, the ban includes “the disqualification [of] all competitive results” achieved by Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva since the positive test. The ISU in its recent decision is not applying Rule 353, which states that “competitors having finished the competition and who initially placed lower than the disqualified competitor will move up accordingly in their placement.”

Skate Canada strongly disagrees with the ISU’s position on this matter and will consider all options to appeal this decision.

International Synchronized Skating Season Continues

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OTTAWA, ON (January 29, 2024) – The international synchronized skating season continues in February with Canadian junior, senior, and elite 12 teams competing in three events. Both the French Cup (Rouen, France) and the Challenger Series PGE Hevelius Cup (Gdansk, Poland) will take place from February 1-3, 2024, while the Challenger Series Marie Lundmark Trophy (Helsinki, Finland) will close out the month of synchronized skating competitions from February 10-11, 2024. 

After forming as a team in 2023, NEXXICE Elite 12 will compete in this relatively new skating category at the French Cup. They will be joined in France by their junior team who recently finished second at the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships. 

The NEXXICE senior team and the Nova senior team, who captured bronze and silver respectively at Nationals, will go head-to-head once again at the Hevelius Cup. The Les Suprêmes junior team, who won gold at Nationals, will compete in the junior competition along with Gold Ice who finished sixth.  

Nova Senior will compete again the following weekend at the Marie Lundmark Trophy, where they will be joined by Les Suprêmes Senior who recently won gold at the Budapest Cup. The Les Suprêmes junior team will also compete back-to-back, joined by the Nova junior team. 

Name | Coach | Training Location  

2024 FRENCH CUP 

Senior Elite 12
NEXXICE Elite 12| Shelley Simonton-Barnett & Jennifer Beauchamp-Crichton| Burlington, Ont.   

Junior
NEXXICE Junior | Trish Perdue-Mills | Burlington, Ont. 

2024 CHALLENGER SERIES PGE HEVELIUS CUP   

Senior
Nova Senior | Dominic Barthe | St-Hubert, Que.
NEXXICE Senior| Shelley Simonton-Barnett & Jennifer Beauchamp-Crichton | Burlington, Ont. 

Junior
Les Suprêmes Junior | Marilyn Langlois & Laurie Desilets | Saint-Léonard, Que.
Gold Ice Junior | Jessica Brown & Ashley Greenhalagh | Brampton, Ont.

2024 CHALLENGE SERIES MARIE LUNDMARK TROPHY 

Senior
Nova Senior | Dominic Barthe | St-Hubert, Que.
Les Suprêmes Senior | Marilyn Langlois | Saint-Léonard, Que. 

Junior
Nova Junior | Nadine Tougas | St-Hubert, Que.
Les Suprêmes Junior | Pascal Denis | Saint-Léonard, Que. 

Pairs Gold for Behnke and Sauve at 2024 Youth Olympic Games

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Gangwon, South Korea (January 29, 2024) – Annika Behnke and Kole Sauve made Canadian figure skating history on Monday at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea as they won Canada’s first-ever gold medal, and first-ever individual event medal at a Youth Olympic Games.

Behnke from Peace River, Alta., and Sauve of Grand Prairie, Alta., led throughout the competition, scoring a 39.09 for their short program on Saturday where despite falling on the element, they were the only team to attempt a throw triple loop.

Behnke had a small stumble at the very beginning of their free skate on Monday, but the pair recovered swiftly and performed flawlessly from then on to dominate the competition and score a 74.54 giving them a total score of 113.63. This was well ahead of the silver-medal winning team from the USA – Cayla Smith and Jared McPike (98.00), and the bronze medal team from Spain – Caroline Shan Campillo and Pau Vilella (94.03).

“It feels amazing, I’m really happy. I want to thank all my coaches who have helped me get this far,” said Behnke who together with Sauve were competing in front of their largest crowd ever at the Gangneung Ice Arena – scene of so much success for Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

When asked how they recovered after their stumble today, Sauve added: “We just took it one element at a time. After that happened and we got the twist done, we forgot about it. It’s a lot easier to have another person there with you, so they can bring you back up after a mistake.”

In the men’s singles competition, David Li from Richmond, B.C., skated a personal best free skate (118.57) to move up from 11th after the short program to finish 10th overall with a total score of 175.73.

“I think the free program, some of the jumps were a little bit shaky, but I’m happy to pull it out and I’m still working on my mental ability to correct things in the program,” said Li who was the junior men’s silver medallist at the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships last month in Calgary.

Hyungyeom Kim from Korea thrilled his home country crowd to win the gold (216.73) while Adam Hagara from Slovakia took the silver (216.23), and Yanhao Li from New Zealand the bronze (208.84).

The ice dance and women’s singles competitions will wrap up on Tuesday with their free skates, and the team competition will conclude the figure skating competition at the Youth Olympic Games on Thursday.

For full results please click here.