Bronze for Pair Skaters Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps at ISU Grand Prix Final

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Beijing, China (December 8, 2023) – Canadian skaters captured their first medal of the ISU Grand Prix Final on Friday with Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., winning a bronze medal in the senior pair competition.

The pair was sitting in second following their short program on Thursday, and despite no major mistakes, some small execution errors dropped them into third in the free skate to finish the competition with bronze and an overall score of 204.30.

“We were the top team by, like, 10 points so we know this is way below expectations,” said Stellato-Dudek about their performance and the fact that they were the top-team coming into this competition. “But we are still scoring really competitively with mistakes on almost all the big elements, so if we can just clean it up, we’re know going to get higher than what we got at Skate Canada.”

Deschamps added: “After coming back from the Cup of China, we have been working on a lot of stuff and we were able to perform it today. We are so proud overall of the week and also what we wanted to make better this week.”

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany also had some small mistakes in their program, and have been battling illness, but hung on to win the gold medal with a total score 106.43, while the Italian team of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii had the best free skate of the day to move up to take the silver medal with a total score of 205.88

Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., who were competing in their first Grand Prix Final, finished sixth with a total score of 185.16.

“We’re proud of what we did today,” said Pereira. “Coming from a not-so-good short – we haven’t had to do that yet, we’ve been fortunate to skate good shorts in most of our competitions so far, so that was a setback mentally and I think we did a really good job recovering from that today, and wanting to continue to push ourselves and have new experiences.”

While the senior pair competition wrapped up, competition began for senior ice dance, and saw strong performances from all six teams. Piper Gilles of Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., the reigning Grand Prix Final Champions are the top Canadian team, sitting in third with a score of 85.17 for their rhythm dance.

“I think we’re pleased. We’ve made quite a few changes in the program since the Cup of China to try to boost the energy, and we’re really proud of that skate. We just enjoyed the moment,” said Gilles.

Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen of Montreal, Que., had a small touch in their side-by-side twizzles that put them in fifth with a score of 74.82, while Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., the youngest team in the competition, are sitting just behind in sixth with a score of 74.74.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA are sitting in first with a score of 89.15, while Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy sit second with a score of 85.82.

The ISU Grand Prix Final concludes Saturday with the free dance for the senior ice dance teams, and the free program for the junior pair skaters.

For full results please click here

Canadian Pair Teams Shine on Opening Day of the ISU Grand Prix Final

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Beijing, China (December 7, 2023) – Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., came into the 2023 ISU Grand Prix Final as strong favourites after an undefeated Grand Prix season, and didn’t disappoint on the first day of competition, taking second place in the senior pair short program.

Skating to the music “Oxygène”, the pair gave a dynamic performance, but were a little less than perfect on the landing of their throw triple loop, which gave the German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin the opening to take top spot in the short program.

“We’ve been struggling with this short all year. We’ve never done it well in my opinion and today was no different. We had a struggle on the throw, struggle on the jump. So still a pretty good performance other than that, but you can’t have that many mistakes,” said Stellato-Dudek following the performance.

The German team leads going into the free skate on Friday with a score of 72.56. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 71.22, while the Italian team of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii are sitting third with a score of 70.30.

Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., had a fall on their throw triple loop and are currently sitting in sixth with a score of 61.78.

In the junior pair competition, Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov of Winnipeg, Man., ended the day as the top Canadian team with a new personal best score for their short program of 57.91 to sit second behind Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia who dominated the competition to score 70.48.

“We’re a little bit disappointed in our spins, I was so disoriented in that spin with the huge stadium, but we’ve been working hard on spins, and in our practices they’ve been pretty good, but things happen,” said Elizarov. When asked about their goals for the competition, he added: “We just want to score PBs, and we got one, so we’re halfway there.”

Martina Ariano Kent of Mount Royal, Que., and Charly Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., finished the day in third with a new personal best score as well of 55.97, while Jazmine Desrochers of Mississauga, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., sit just behind in fourth with a score of 54.91.

The ISU Grand Prix Final continues Friday with the free program for the senior pair, and the rhythm dance for the senior ice dance teams. The event concludes on Saturday with the free program for the junior pair skaters, and the senior ice dance teams.

For full results please click here.

Eight young figure skaters announced to Team Canada’s Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Team

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OTTAWA (December 5, 2023) – Skate Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced Canada’s figure skating team selected to compete at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. 

The Team Canada figure skating team for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games is: 

Ice Dance
Audra Gans (Prévost, Que.) and Michael Boutsan (Prévost, Que.)
Caroline Kravets (Kitchener, Ont.) and Jacob Stark (Kitchener, Ont.) 

Men’s Singles
David Li (Richmond, B.C.) 

Pairs
Annika Behnke (Peace River, Alta.) and Kole Sauve (Grand Prairie, Alta.) 

Women’s Singles
Kaiya Ruiter (Calgary, Alta.) 

The athletes were selected based on their performances at various junior international competitions in 2023 and the age requirement for these Games. 

National Team member Kaiya Ruiter brings the most international experience to the figure skating team. The 2023 Canadian National Skating Championships silver medallist competed at her first senior ISU Grand Prix event in late October. Most recently, she finished second at the 2023 Autumn Classic International competition in Montreal. In March 2023, the 17-year-old had the opportunity to compete at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in her hometown of Calgary where she skated to a top-10 finish. 

“I feel honoured and beyond excited to be named to Canada’s Youth Olympic Games Team,” said Ruiter. “My dream, and what drives my training, is to represent Canada on the grandest stages in figure skating. With this opportunity, I get to compete on the same ice where my idol, Kaetlyn Osmond, won two Olympic medals. I am so proud, and I will do my best for myself, my family and Canada. Thank you to everyone who has supported me to make this dream come true.” 

David Li, a recipient of the Canadian Olympic Foundation’s Toller Cranston Award in 2022, kicked off his international competition season with a silver medal in the junior men’s event at the 2023 Cranberry Cup. He proceeded to compete at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events where he finished in the top-10 at both. In 2022, the 15-year-old won a gold medal at his first-ever international overseas event — the Egna Spring Trophy in Italy — where he competed in the novice men’s event. 

“Being named to the team and having the opportunity to compete in the Youth Olympic Games is an immense honour and a culmination of years of hard work, dedication and passion for my sport,” said Li. “This represents not only a personal achievement but also a chance to represent my country at a very high level of sport. The prospect of participating in the Youth Olympic Games fills me with excitement and gratitude, as it provides a unique platform to connect with athletes from around the world and share experiences.” 

Each of Team Canada’s ice dance teams competed at an ISU Junior Grand Prix event this fall, gaining valuable experience that will serve them well in Gangwon. Fifteen-year-old Audra Gans and 14-year-old Michael Boutsan, who train at the Ice Academy of Montreal, made their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at the Solidarity Cup in Gdansk, Poland, and are excited to perform their free dance to music composed by three-time Olympic medallist Eric Radford in Gangwon. Long-time partners Caroline Kravets, 15, and Jacob Stark, 17, who have skated together for more than five years, made their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in Budapest this past September. The team trains at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.

The pairs team of Annika Behnke and Kole Sauve, who train in Sherwood Park, Alta., made their international debut at the 2023 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. They were also bronze medallists at the 2023 Novice Canadian Championships.

“Skate Canada is pleased to send a young talented team with a range of experience to the Winter Youth Olympic Games,” said André Bourgeois, NextGen Director for Skate Canada. “Canada will be sending one of the larger figure skating teams to the Games and we are excited to see our young skaters compete on the international stage while gaining valuable experience.” 

Figure skating will take place January 27 to February 1 (Days 8 to 13) at the Gangneung Ice Arena — the same venue that was used for figure skating at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The final medal event of Gangwon 2024 will be the figure skating team event, which will make its Youth Olympic Games debut. The mixed NOC figure skating team event was on all previous editions of the Winter Youth Olympic Games sport program, but has been replaced for Gangwon 2024 to more closely resemble the figure skating team event format at the Olympic Winter Games.

Team Canada figure skaters have won two medals at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, both in the mixed NOC team event. To date, Team Canada has converted three Youth Olympic figure skaters into Olympians – Marjorie Lajoie, Zachary Lagha, and Roman Sadovsky, who all competed at the Lillehammer 2016 edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games and became Olympians at Beijing 2022.  

“Congratulations to the athletes named to Canada’s figure skating team at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games,” said Lisa Weagle, Team Canada’s Gangwon 2024 Chef de Mission. “Their talent and dedication reflect the bright future of figure skating in Canada. Their performances will not only showcase their individual skills but also inspire others to chase their dreams. As Chef de Mission, I am incredibly proud to support them on this remarkable journey and I wish them every success as they shine on the Youth Olympic Games stage.” 

Team Canada’s figure skating alternate athletes, coaches and support staff for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games are: 

Alternate Athletes
Auréa Cinçon-Debout (Montreal, Que.) and Earl Jesse Celestino (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.) – Ice Dance Alternates
Victoria Carandiuc (Saint-Constant, Que.) and Andrei Carandiuc (Saint-Constant, Que.) – Ice Dance Alternates
Grayson Long (Oakville, Ont.) – Men’s Singles Alternate
David Bondar (Richmond Hill, Ont.) – Men’s Singles Alternate
Justine Miclette (Chambly, Que.) – Women’s Singles Alternate
Hetty Shi (Northville, Michigan) – Women’s Singles Alternate 

Coaches
Élise Hamel (Montreal, Que.)
Scott Davis (Calgary, Alta.) 

Support Staff
André Bourgeois (Toronto, Ont.) – Team Leader 

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are the world’s largest multi-sport event for high-performance young athletes aged 15-18. Gangwon 2024 will begin on January 19 and will end on February 1, 2024 and will feature 1900 athletes. Gangwon 2024 will be the fourth edition of the Winter YOG and the first in Asia. It will have a fully gender-balanced sporting program, and will feature seven sports, 15 disciplines, and a total of 81 events.  

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organisations. 

New Faces Shine at 2023 – 2024 Skate Canada Challenge – Junior/Senior in Winnipeg

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Winnipeg, MB (December 3, 2023) – The 2023 – 2024  Skate Canada Challenge – Junior/Senior wrapped up Sunday after three days of intense competition at the Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg, Man., with many new faces taking top honours in both the junior and senior categories in the men’s, women’s, pair, and ice dance disciplines.

In the senior men’s category, Conrad Orzel of Toronto showed that he’s ready to fight for gold at the 2024 Canadian Championships next month in Calgary, Alta., with his gold medal performance at this competition. Orzel, who was the silver medallist at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Championships, had the top score for both his short program and free skate to take the win with a total score of 222.85.

“No matter how good the second half of my season was, I always feel a little bit of an underdog,” said Orzel who had two top-10 finishes at international competitions this fall. “I feel like there are four or five really good Canadian skaters that can all come first at nationals, so I don’t have an advantage – I’m just going to have to work really hard until then.”

Aleksa Racic of Burnaby, B.C., captured the silver medal with a total score of 216.92 while last year’s gold medallist Matthew Newnham of Edmonton, Alta., finished with the bronze medal and a total score of 210.84.

The senior women’s competition saw two brand new seniors on the podium with Fée-Ann Landry of Gatineau, Que., winning gold with a total score of 182.05 after two first-place scores for her short program and free skate, and Hetty Shi of Mississauga, ON, who was the 2023 Junior National Champion capturing bronze with a total score of 171.31. Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., took the silver medal with a total score of 176.42.

“I put out two solid programs. We were really happy about it – we worked really hard,” said Landry following her win. Looking forward to the national championships in January she commented: “We’re going to try to fit in some new jumps, probably a triple-triple combo, and just keep working on some of the things that I missed in the long program.”

The senior pair podium was also full of new faces with Émy Carignan and Bryan Pierro of Quebec winning gold with a total score of 144.06. Fiona Bombardier, who also competed in the senior women’s competition and finished 9th, made her pair debut with Gabriel Farand and took silver with a total score of 143.47, while Cadence Derenisky and Raine Eberl of Saskatchewan took bronze with a total score of 141.06.

In senior ice dance, Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, ON claimed their first senior title (185.96) after winning gold as juniors at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Championships, and the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge. Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer of Quebec captured silver (182.64), while Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of B.C., took bronze (171.60).

“Both Nadiia and I are coming off of Finland, and are a little tired, so it was nice to come here and skate relatively clean programs. They might not have felt amazing to skate, but we’re happy with how we did relative to how physically tired we are,” said Beaumont who together with Bashynska finished eighth at the Grand Prix Espoo in Finland just a couple of weeks ago.

The junior competition was rife with up-and-coming Canadian stars and saw David Shteyngart of Ottawa, Ont., win the men’s competition with a total score of 186.81. Grayson Long of Toronto, Ont., repeated as the silver medallist (183.85), while hometown Winnipeg star, David Howes captured bronze (179.71).

In the junior women’s competition, both Lulu Lin of Mississauga, Ont., and Aleksa Volkova of Lac-Brôme, Que., moved up one on the podium to win gold (164.81) and silver (153.42) respectively after finishing second and third last year, while last year’s winner – Kara Yun of Burnaby, B.C., took the bronze (148.72).

The junior pair podium was completely full of new faces this year with Beau Callahan of St-Amable, Que., and Christophe Roch of St-Basile-Le-Grand, Que., winning gold with a total score of 119.07, Noémie Rolland of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-lac, Que., and Étienne Lacasse of Quebec City, Que., taking silver (114.47), and Annika Behnke of Peace River, Alta., and Kole Sauve of Grande Prairie, Alta., taking bronze (108.83).

Chloe Nguyen of Vancouver and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, B.C., who won a silver medal at a Junior Grand Prix event in Austria in September, won gold in junior ice dance with a total score of 159.03. Last year’s bronze medallists Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys of London, Ont., moved up to silver this year with a total score of 154.59, while Alisa Korneva and Kieran Macdonald of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., took bronze (145.27).

Next up for most of these skaters will be the 2023 Canadian National Skating Championships taking place at the WinSport Arena in Calgary, Alta., from January 8-14, 2024.

For full results please click here: https://skatecanada.ca/2023-2024-skate-canada-challenge-junior-senior/#entries-starting-orders-and-results

Eight Canadian Teams Qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

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OTTAWA, ON (November 28, 2023) – Canadian skaters of all levels had a remarkable 2023 Grand Prix season, winning a total of 16 medals on the world stage and 16 of them earning the opportunity to represent Canada at the ISU Grand Prix Final taking place in Beijing, China from December 7-12, 2023. In the senior field, Canada will count two pair teams and three ice dance teams, and will be represented by three pair teams in the junior field. 

Senior pair skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps have claimed gold at every competition they entered this season, starting with the Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Que., followed by Skate Canada International and the Cup of China. The duo also set a new personal best score and broke the 200-point barrier for the first time, placing them as some of the top contenders in their discipline. They will be joined by Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud who have had a breakthrough first Grand Prix season together where they claimed silver at Skate America and gold at the Grand Prix de France.  

In ice dance, 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships bronze medalists Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier will be looking to defend their 2022 Grand Prix Final title and looked in fine form to do so after winning gold at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China. Canadian Champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Soerensen are also looking strong after capturing silver medals at the Grand Prix de France and NHK Trophy, while Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha, who also claimed two silver medals, will be competing at their first Grand Prix Final. 

Junior Grand Prix series rookies Martina Ariano Kent & Charly Laliberté Laurent were the top Canadian junior pair team to qualify for the final with a gold medal finish at the ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Austria, and a bronze medal at the Budapest, Hungary Junior Grand Prix. The new team of Jazmine Desrochers & Kieran Thrasher also made their Junior Grand Prix series debut this year and captured two bronze medals from the Istanbul, Turkey and Gdansk, Poland Junior Grand Prix events. In their second year on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov won gold at the Gdansk, Poland event, and finished fourth at the Budapest, Hungary competitions to earn their spot at the Final for the second year in a row. 

The competition starts on Thursday, December 7 with the junior and senior pair short programs. The following day, medals will be awarded to senior pair skaters, while the senior ice dance teams will complete their rhythm dance. The competition will wrap up on Saturday, December 9 with medals being awarded to both junior pair skaters and senior ice dance teams. The exhibition gala will take place on Sunday. 

For full entry lists and results, please click here.  

Team Canada   

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location   

Senior Pair
Lia Pereira | 19 | Milton, Ont. &  Trennt Michaud | 27 | Brantford, Ont. | Alison Purkiss | Brantford, Ont.  

Deanna Stellato-Dudek | 40 | Chicago, USA & Maxime Deschamps | 31 | Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. | Josée Picard | Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. 

Senior Ice Dance
Laurence Fournier Beaudry | 31 | Montreal, Que. &  Nikolaj Soerensen | 34 | Montreal, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.  

Piper Gilles | 31 | Toronto, Ont. & Paul Poirier | 32 | Unionville, Ont. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont. 

Marjorie Lajoie | 23 | Boucherville, Que. &  Zachary Lagha | 23 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Pascal Denis & Romain Haguenauer | Montreal, Que.  

Junior Pair 
Martina Ariano Kent | 16 | Mount Royal, Que. & Charly Laliberté-Laurent | 18 | Boucherville, Que. | Marc-André Craig & David Alexandre Paradis | Chambly, Que.   

Jazmine Desrochers | 16 | Mississauga, Ont. & Kieran Thrasher | 19 | Amherstburg, Ont. | Bruno Marcotte | Oakville, Ont. 

Ava Kemp | 15 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 19 | Winnipeg, Man. | Lee Barkell & Kevin Dawe | Toronto, Ont. 

Team Leaders – Andre Bourgeois & Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Mireille Landry & Lee Schofield
Officials – Jodi Abbott & Reaghan Fortin 

ISU Grand Prix Series Wraps Up at NHK Trophy in Japan

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Osaka, Japan (November 25, 2023) – The 2023 ISU Grand Prix series concluded on Saturday with the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan and saw Canadian skaters gaining more valuable experience for the future.

Ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault of Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Que., and Romain Le Gac of Laval, Que., closed out their Grand Prix season with a seventh-place finish and a total score of 176.26 after finishing fifth at the French Grand Prix two weeks ago.

“We were just happy to perform our programs. We love being here in Japan – the crowd is amazing. This may not have been the performance we wanted, but we are happy that we enjoyed the moment and were present and grateful for being here,” said Lauriault who also captured a silver medal with Le Gac at the 2023 Budapest Trophy earlier this fall.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain won their first Grand Prix gold with a final overall score of 215.19, edging out ISU European Champions Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy who took the silver with a total score of 214.56. Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania took the bronze with a total score of 196.86.

Kelly Ann Laurin of St-Jérôme, Que. and Loucas Éthier of St-Alphonse, Que., also finished seventh in the pair competition with a total score of 160.79. The pair struggled with their short program but had a much stronger free skate to end their Grand Prix season on a strong note.

“Overall, NHK has been an unreal experience and unlike anything we’ve ever experienced,” said Éthier who together with Laurin finished fifth at Skate Canada International in October. “Today in our free program, we skated for ourselves and for redemption and just to prove to ourselves what we could really do after our short performance.”

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won gold for the second weekend in a row after also winning gold at the Grand Prix in Espoo, Finland last weekend. They set new personal best scores with all of their performances to end the competition with an overall score of 202.51. Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise of Italy captured the silver with a total score of 190.31, and their teammates Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini took the bronze with a total score of 186.47.

In the men’s singles competition, Wesley Chiu of Vancouver, B.C., finished 11th overall with a total score of 209.16.

“This was definitely a fight for sure, but the NHK Trophy is just such a different experience – I feel just with the Japanese audience and the whole atmosphere it was really different, and it was a struggle to keep my focus,” said Chiu who set a season’s best score at Skate Canada International in October to finish seventh at that event. “I feel like I put some good stuff out there, but there were some big, costly mistakes.

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan thrilled his hometown crowd to win the gold medal with an overall score of 288.39 over his teammate and the reigning men’s singles world champion Shoma Uno who scored 286.55 to take the silver medal. Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland closed out the podium capturing the bronze with a total score of 254.60.

The ISU Grand Prix Series will wrap up at the Grand Prix Final set for December 6-9, 2023 in Beijing, China. The full announcement of the athletes that have qualified for that event will be announced shortly.

For full results please click here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/gpjpn2023/ 

Roman Sadovsky moves forward to Golden Spin of Zagreb

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OTTAWA, ON (November 23, 2023) – Olympian and 2022 Canadian Tire National Championships silver medallist Roman Sadovsky is set to compete at the Golden Spin of Zagreb from December 6-9, 2023 in Sisak, Croatia. This will be Sadovsky’s first international competition this season after he was forced to withdraw from the Warsaw Cup last month due to unforeseen circumstances. He will be the only Canadian competing in the event.  

The Challenger Series is an International Figure Skating Series designed to give skaters adequate opportunities to compete at the international senior level and to earn precious World Standing Points. For full competition schedules, entries and results for Challenger Series events, please click here.  

Team Canada  

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location     

Men 
Roman Sadovsky | 24 | Vaughan, Ont. | Tracey Wainman & Grzegorz Filipowski | Richmond Hill, Ont.  

Official – Susan Morriss  

Canadian Skaters Descend on Winnipeg for Skate Canada Challenge

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OTTAWA, ON (November 22, 2023) – More than 200 figure skaters from across the country are set to compete at the 2023-2024 Skate Canada Challenge – Junior/Senior in Winnipeg, Manitoba from November 30 to December 3, 2023.  

The Skate Canada Challenge serves as a qualifying event for junior and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships taking place in Calgary, Alberta, from January 8 to 14, 2024. Participants registered for the event have previously qualified by advancing through their respective sectional championships.   

Several household names will be competing throughout the week including Conrad Orzel, Kaiya Ruiter, and Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar – all silver medallists at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in the men’s, women’s, and pair competitions respectively. Joining them will be 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships ice dance bronze medallists Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont.

Up-and-coming skater Hetty Shi, the 2023 junior women’s national champion, will be making her senior women’s debut, while Grayson Long, the 2023 junior men’s national silver medallist, will be looking for a podium finish after his gold medal win at Skate Canada Challenge last year. 

Competition will kick off on Thursday, November 30th with the junior free dance and conclude on Sunday, December 3, 2023. Tickets will be sold on-site at Seven Oaks Arena at Garden City Community Centre with prices ranging from $25 for single-day tickets to $50 for all-event tickets (plus applicable taxes and fees). The event will also be live streamed on skatecanada.ca.  

For more information including the schedule, entries, and start orders, please click here.  

Five Skilled Skaters Head to Osaka to Compete at Final Grand Prix of the Season

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OTTAWA, ON (November 20, 2023) – Five talented skaters are set to compete at the NHK Trophy, which will mark the sixth and final stop of the ISU Grand Prix series circuit. The event, which will take place in Osaka, Japan from November 24-26, 2023, will feature Canadian athletes in the men’s, pair, and ice dance categories. 

In the men’s category, 2023 Cranberry Cup International silver medallist Wesley Chiu will be looking to improve on his results from Skate Canada International, where he set a season’s best score to finish seventh overall. 

Pair skaters Kelly-Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier will also have big goals for the event after winning their first Grand Prix medal last season and finishing fifth at 2023 Skate Canada International. 

Completing the Canadian delegation will be ice dance duo Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac who captured silver at the 2023 Budapest Trophy, and very recently competed at the Grand Prix de France. 

The competition begins on Friday, November 24 with every discipline performing their short program/rhythm dance. All medals will be awarded on Saturday, November 25 as all disciplines will perform their free program/free dance. The event wraps up on Sunday with the exhibition gala.  

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org. To watch the event live, click here.   

Team Canada  

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location     

Men
Wesley Chiu | 18 | Vancouver, B.C. | Keegan Murphy & Eileen Murphy | Richmond, B.C.  

Pair  
Kelly Ann Laurin | 18 | St-Jérôme, Que. & Loucas Éthier | 23 | St-Alphonse, Que. | Stéphanie Valois | Rosemère, Que.     

Ice Dance 
Marie-Jade Lauriault | 27 | Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Que. & Romain Le Gac | 28 | Laval, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil | Montreal, Que.  

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Official – Limin Jao
Medical Team – Cole Beavis & Shirley Kushner  

Silver Medal Streak Continues for Ice Dancers Fournier Beaudry & Soerensen

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Espoo, Finland (November 18, 2023) – The Canadian ice dance team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen of Montreal, Que., captured their second consecutive ISU Grand Prix series silver medal on Saturday at the Grand Prix Espoo in Finland – a venue they also won a bronze medal at in early October at a Challenger Series event.

The reigning Canadian champions in ice dance, Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen set a new season’s best total score of 206.32 to secure the podium position with strong skates to both of their programs, setting them up well to qualify for the Grand Prix Final taking place in Beijing, China in early December.

“We’re just super happy. Finishing our second Grand Prix, and another great performance of this program that we love so very much,” said Soerensen following the event. “We love coming to Finland – the crowd is great, and the rink is really familiar to us, so this is an event we really enjoy.”

Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., made their senior Grand Prix debut at the event and finished eighth with a total score of 167.87.

“We came here with the goal of having clean and expressive performances. We did a lot of preparation for this event – the past three weeks have been really tough, so we’re really happy with how it went this weekend,” said Beaumont, who together with Bashynska captured a bronze medal at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The reigning World Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA won gold with a total score of 209.46 while Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis of Finland captured bronze with a total score of 195.80.

In the pair competition, Brooke McIntosh of Toronto, Ont., and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., who claimed their first Grand Prix medal last year at the NHK Trophy, finished seventh overall with a total score of 147.27. They were sitting in fifth after their short program but had a tougher time with their free skate that dropped them further down the final rankings.

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany won gold with a total score of 197.72. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy took the silver (188.60), while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary captured the bronze medal (186.19).

Next up for Canadian skaters is the final event of the 2023 ISU Grand Prix circuit – the NHK Trophy taking place in Osaka, Japan from November 24-26, 2023.

For full results please click here

Canadian Ice Dance and Pair Skaters to Compete at Grand Prix Espoo

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OTTAWA, ON (November 13, 2023) – After a great start to the season that has seen Canadian athletes win numerous medals on the ISU Grand Prix circuit, the competition continues this weekend in Espoo, Finland for the Grand Prix Espoo. From November 17-19, 2023, six skaters across the pair and ice dance disciplines will be competing for a spot on the podium and a chance to qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.  

Canadian Champions and Grand Prix de France silver medalists Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen will be among the favorites in the ice dance event after a breakthrough 2022-2023 season that saw the duo win medals at both of their Grand Prix assignments.  

Joining them will be Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, who will be making their senior Grand Prix debut after winning the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final last year and finishing third at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.  

National pair silver medalists Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar also have big goals for the season after claiming their first Grand Prix medal last year at the NHK Trophy. The pair most recently placed sixth at 2023 Skate Canada International.  

The competition will kick off on Friday, November 17 with both the pair and ice dance disciplines performing their short program/rhythm dance. All medals will be awarded following the free programs/free dance on Saturday, November 18. The event concludes on Sunday with the exhibition gala. 

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit  www.isu.org. To watch the event live, click here.   

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location    

Pair 
Brooke McIntosh | 18 | Toronto, Ont. & Benjamin Mimar | 22 | Terrebonne, Que. | Andrew Evans | Brantford, Ont.  

Ice Dance
Nadiia Bashynska| 19 | Ajax, Ont. & Peter Beaumont | 22 | Ajax, Ont. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont. 
Laurence Fournier Beaudry | 31 | Montreal, Que. & Nikolaj Soerensen | 34 | Montreal, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.      

Team Leader – Shae Zukiwsky
Official – Sabrina Wong
Medical Team – Marianne Chabot & Paige Larson  

Canadian Pair and Ice Dance Teams Golden again at Cup of China

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Chongqing, China (November 11, 2023) – It was a golden weekend for Canadian ice dance skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier and pair skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps who both won gold again at the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China that wrapped up Saturday in Chongqing, China. Both teams also won gold at Skate Canada International in early November.

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha also captured silver in the ice dance competition. All three teams have now qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final which will take place in Beijing, China in early December.

Gilles of Toronto, Ont., and Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were sitting in second behind Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., after the rhythm dance on Friday, but rebounded on Saturday with a strong free dance to score 126.79 points for a total of 207.83 points to win the gold.

“It was an interesting week here,” said Gilles. “The rhythm dance didn’t go as planned which was costly, but I think what we were really going for was stronger energy and a stronger performance – I think I got a little carried away with that and mistakes happened, but I think we’re really proud of what we did overall. There is still more we can do technically to prepare for Beijing but we’re really happy.”

Lajoie and Lagha set new personal best scores for both their rhythm and free skates to total 206.02 points – winning their second silver medal on the ISU Grand Prix circuit this season. Caroline Green and Michael Parsons of the USA took the bronze with a total score of 189.33.

“It was a great week for us,” said Lajoie. “The rhythm dance was pretty amazing, we were very, very happy. The free dance was a bit more challenging but we’re happy with how we handled it. Overall, it was a very good week for us.”

Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., battled through fatigue to win their third straight gold medal of the season in the pair competition with a total score of 201.48. Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy captured silver (191.00), while Cheng Peng and Lei Wang of China took bronze (178.06).

“It’s been a long three weeks, and everything was a fight today. This week was to test our mental and physical strength since I knew it was going to be difficult, and it was,” laughed Stellato-Dudek following the competition.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., finished fifth in the women’s competition with a total score of 179.58. Hana Yoshida and Rinka Watanabe of Japan had a battle for gold with Yoshida taking the win after she set a new personal best score in the free skate to take the win by just 0.75 points. Her final total score was 203.97 to Watanabe’s 203.22. Loena Hendrickx of Belgium was in the lead after the short program but fell to third after her free program to end the day with a total score of 201.49.

Next up for Canadian skaters on the ISU Grand Prix circuit is the Grand Prix Espoo taking place in Espoo, Finland from November 17-19, 2023.

For full results please click here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/gpchn2023/