Canadian NextGen Skaters to Break onto the International Scene in Gdansk, Poland

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OTTAWA, ON (September 20, 2023) – Canada is proud to announce its talented lineup of athletes who will be representing the country at the sixth ISU Junior Grand Prix, set to take place in Gdansk, Poland, from September 27-30, 2023. The Canadian team comprises a diverse group of young and promising athletes across various categories, including women, men, pair, and ice dance. 

Lulu Lin, silver medalist at the 2023 NextGen Competition, will compete in the women’s event at her first-ever Junior Grand Prix, while 2022 Cranberry Cup International bronze medalist Alec Guinzbourg will be taking part in the men’s competition.  

The pair event will be led by 2023 NextGen Competition silver medalists Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, in back-to-back competitions following their performances at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary. Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher will also be competing after winning bronze at the ISU Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Two newly formed ice dance teams comprised of Jamie Fournier and Everest Zhu, as well as Audra Gans and Michael Boutsan, will be competing together for the first time on the world stage. 

The competition kicks off on Thursday, September 28 with the women’s, pair and men’s short programs. The following day, athletes will tackle the rhythm dance, as well as the pair and women’s free programs. The event will wrap up on Saturday with the men’s free program and the free dance. 

Team Canada    

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location    

Women
Lulu Lin | 13 | Mississauga, Ont. | Paul Parkinson & Andrew Evans | Mississauga, Ont. 

Men
Alec Guinzbourg | 18 | Aurora, Ont. | Lee Barkell | Toronto, Ont. 

Pair
Jazmine Desrochers | 16 | Mississauga, Ont. & Kieran Thrasher | 19 | Amherstburg, Ont. | Jeff Langdon | Oakville, Ont.
Ava Kemp | 15 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 19 | Winnipeg, Man. | Andrew Evans & Kevin Dawe | Mississauga, Ont. 

Ice Dance
Jamie Fournier | 18 | Brossard, Que. & Everest Zhu | 20 | Waterloo, Ont. | Benjamin Brisebois & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.
Audra Gans | 15 | Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que. & Michael Boutsan | 14 | Thornhill, Ont. | Benjamin Brisebois, Ariane Emard-Lauzon & Julien Lalonde | Montreal, Que. 

Team Leaders – Andre Bourgeois & Laurene Collin-Knoblauch
Officials – Cynthia Benson & Leslie Keen
Medical Team – Scott Fraser & Lydia Schultz 

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org.  

Sixteen Canadian Athletes to Compete at September Challenger Events 

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OTTAWA, ON (September 18, 2023) – Sixteen Canadian athletes across four disciplines are set to compete at the ISU Challenger Series events taking place over the next two weeks. A team of ten skaters will be representing Canada at the Nebelhorn Trophy from September 20-23, 2023 in Oberstdorf, Germany, while six additional skaters will be taking part in the Ondrej Nepela Memorial from September 28-30, 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia.  

The delegation travelling to Germany includes 2022 Skate America bronze medalists, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier, as well as Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, who most recently finished with a solid 6th place at the 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.  

Canadian Champion Madeline Schizas will be headlining the women’s event at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, while Conrad Orzel, 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships silver medalist, will be looking to shine in the men’s event. The ice dance competition will be fierce with 2023 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships bronze medalists Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha presenting their new programs for the first time. They will be competing alongside Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, who placed third at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. 

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.  

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location    

Nebelhorn Trophy  

Women 
Sara-Maude Dupuis | 18 | Montreal, Que. | Stéphane Yvars & Françoise Parisé | Boucherville, Que. 

Men 
Aleksa Rakic | 19 | Burnaby, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C.  

Pair 
Kelly Ann Laurin | 17 | St-Jérôme, Que. & Loucas Éthier | 23 | Deux-Montagnes, Que. | Stéphanie Valois | Rosemère, Que.  
Lia Pereira | 18 | Milton, Ont. & Trennt Michaud | 26 | Trenton, Ont. | Alison Purkiss & Nancy Lemaire| Brantford, Ont.      

Ice Dance 
Alicia Fabbri | 20 | Terrebonne, Que. & Paul Ayer | 25 | Brossard, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Montreal, Que.
Molly Lanaghan | 24 | Doncaster, GB & Dmitre Razgulajevs | 26 | Ajax, Ont. | Carol Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.  

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Emma Lis 
Officials – Ron Conacher & Karen Howard  

Ondrej Nepela Memorial  

Women 
Madeline Schizas | 20 | Oakville, Ont. | Nancy Lemaire & Derek Schmidt | Milton, Ont.  

Men 
Conrad Orzel | 23 | Toronto, Ont. | Ravi Walia | Edmonton, Alta.  

Ice Dance  
Nadiia Bashynska | 19 | Ajax, Ont. & Peter Beaumont | 22 | Ajax, Ont. | Carol Lane, Jon Lane & Juris Razgulajevs | Scarborough, Ont.
Marjorie Lajoie | 22 | Boucherville, Que. & Zachary Lagha | 24 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Romain Haguenauer | Montreal, Que.   

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Sylvia Ciurysek 
Officials – Christine Bourdeau & Reaghan Fortin  

For full competition schedules, entries and results for Challenger Series events, please click here. 

Canadian Skaters Gain Valuable Experience at Junior Grand Prix in Japan

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Osaka, Japan (September 16, 2023) – The fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition wrapped up Saturday in Osaka, Japan with lots of lessons learned and experience gained for the seven Canadian athletes that competed.

Chloe Nguyen, 18, of Vancouver and Brendan Giang, 19, of Burnaby, B.C., were hoping to get on the podium again after bringing home a silver medal from the second Junior Grand Prix event in Austria at the beginning of September, but despite two good performances, they ended up sixth overall – the top Canadian result from the event. Layla Veillon, 17, and Alexander Brandys, 18 of London, Ont., finished just behind in seventh with a score of 133.15.

“The rhythm dance went pretty well and our free for the most part was pretty good, but we had a few small mistakes that we’re going to improve for next time,” said Nguyen, who, along with Giang finished with a total score of 138.35. “We were super excited to come compete here, we’ve never been in Asia before, either of us, so we were super excited to come and compete here. There are a lot of really big skating fans, so it was really nice to see a full crowd supporting us.”

Leah Neset and Artem Markalov of the USA won gold with a total score of 167.51, while Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov of Israel took silver with a score of 166.16. Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux of France took bronze with a score of 151.13.

David Shteyngart, 17, of Ottawa, Ont., was the top Canadian in the men’s event, finishing 13th overall with a score of 164.74, while fellow Canadian, Anthony Paradis, 16, of Boisbriand, Que., finished 16th with a total score of 162.11.

“This was an experience that took a lot of effort out of me this week,” said Paradis who is the 2023 junior national bronze medallist. “There was a lot of noise, but I really liked my experience. The Japanese were really warm with the Canadians and it’s much appreciated.”

François Pitot of France won gold with a score of 219.86. Juheon Lim of Korea grabbed the silver with a score of 217.95, while Daniel Martynov of the USA rounded out the podium, taking home the bronze with a score of 207.98.

Rose Theroux, 16, of Ste-Victoire-de-Sorel, Que., the lone Canadian in the women’s competition, was sitting in eighth after her short program, but had a difficult free skate and finished 14th overall with a total score of 139.81.

Japanese skaters almost swept the women’s podium with Mao Shimada and Yo Takagi taking home gold and silver with scores of 213.86 and 188.15 respectively. Yu-Feng Tsai of Chinese Taipei took the bronze with a score of 178.62 – just nudging Japanese skater Ikura Kushida into fourth.

The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Budapest, Hungary from September 20-23, 2023 and will feature 10 NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, one man, two pair teams, and two ice dance teams.

For full results please click here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/jgptur2023/

Bronze for Gogolev to Close out Autumn Classic International

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Pierrefonds, Quebec (September 16, 2023) – The 2023 Autumn Classic International skating competition wrapped up on Saturday in Pierrefonds, Que., and was headlined by Canadian Stephen Gogolev of Toronto bringing home a bronze medal in the men’s event.

Gogolev, who was sitting in second following his short program, struggled a bit with his free skate but held on to finish third overall with a total score of 233.26. Fellow Canadian Wesley Chiu of Vancouver also struggled a little bit with his free skate and dropped from third to finish seventh overall with a total score of 208.82.

“The beginning started a bit shaky, and I think that was part of the competition nerves kicking in, but overall I’m pretty satisfied with the second half of the program and I was able to pull everything together,” said Gogolev who was the Skate Canada Challenge champion in 2022.

Ilia Malinin of the USA won gold with a total score of 281.68 while Kevin Aymoz of France improved mightily from his short program to capture the silver with a total score of 237.35.

The Canadian ice dance team of Sandrine Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and Quentin Thieren of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., finished the competition sixth with a total score of 154.78, while Alyssa Robinson of Ridgetown, Ont., and Jacob Portz of Calgary, Alta., finished 9th with a total score of 134.30.

“We’re pretty proud of what we managed to put out there,” said Thieren. When asked what they plan to work on as they move into their first international season as seniors, Gauthier added: “We want to work on the details, and the expression of the program, but projection is the main thing for us.”

Eva Pate and Logan Bye of the USA won gold in ice dance with a total score of 191.20, while Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France took silver (186.94), and Hanna Lim and Ye Quan of Korea took bronze (170.70).

The next international figure skating competition to take place in Canada will be the Skate Canada International event, happening in Vancouver from October 27 to 29, 2023. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at https://skatecanada.ca/2023-skate-canada-international/

For full results from the Autumn Classic International, please click here.

Canadian Skaters Win Four Medals on Second Day of Autumn Classic International

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Pierrefonds, Quebec (September 15, 2023) – Canadian skaters had an amazing day on Friday at the 2023 Autumn Classic International taking place in Pierrefonds, Que., finishing the day with four medals – 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze from the pair and women’s events.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek, 40, of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps, 31, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., debuted their new free skate to music from “Interview with a Vampire” and were very happy with their score of 131.82 which combined with their first-place score from their short program, earned them a total score of 203.62 to win gold in the pair competition.

“It was the first time we came out with that program so we’re happy with it overall. We have stuff we still need to work on, but overall, we were able to pass the 200-point mark and that was a big goal we set this year and now that’s already done!” said Deschamps following the competition.

Fellow Canadian pair skaters Emmanuelle Proft, 21, of Ottawa, Ont., and Nicolas Nadeau, 25, of Boisbriand, Que., who were competing in their first international competition as a pair, also had a strong free skate, despite a couple of errors, that saw them mount the podium to take the bronze medal with a total score of 165.39.

“Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed in myself as I would have really liked to have done the triple loop side-by-side, but aside from that, I’m happy with our performance. I stayed in the character, and in the choreography, and the solo and I’m really happy about that and I’m even more happy that I get to come home with a medal on home ice,” said Proft.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan, the 2023 World Pair Champions who live and train in Oakville, Ont., captured the silver medal with a total score of 188.05.

In the women’s competition, two-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan was unstoppable, winning the gold with a total score of 203.20. Kaiya Ruiter, 17, of Calgary, Alta., improved from her fourth-place finish in the short program to finish second in the free skate, garnering her the silver medal with a score of 172.68.

“It was a fight for sure, but it felt like a good fight,” said Ruiter who was competing in her first international competition this season. “It felt like a good performance, and I’m very excited to take some things that I’ve been working on and put them towards the next performance this season.”

Justine Miclette, 17, of Chambly, Que., rounded out the podium, bringing home the bronze medal with a total score of 169.24.

“I’m pretty happy, I was going out there to have some fun, and I had some fun. The crowd was even bigger than yesterday so that was fantastic. I really felt their energy and it helped me keep going when I was tired at the end. It was an incredible experience,” said Miclette.

The men’s event started today with the short program, and Canadians Stephen Gogolev of Toronto, and Wesley Chiu of Vancouver finished the day sitting in the silver and bronze positions respectively behind Ilia Malinin of the USA. Their competition will wrap up Saturday with the free skate.

After the rhythm dance, Sandrine Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and Quentin Thieren of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., are sitting in sixth, while Alyssa Robinson of Ridgetown, Ont., and Jacob Portz of Calgary, Alta., are sitting 9th. The ice dance competition will wrap up Saturday with the free dance.

For full results click here

Quebec-based Pair Dominate Opening Night of 2023 Autumn Classic International

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Pierrefonds, Quebec (September 14, 2023) – 2023 Canadian pair champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorian, Que., dominated the first night of competition on Thursday at the 2023 Autumn Classic International taking place in Pierrefonds, Que., finishing their short program more than 12 points ahead of the reigning world champions from Japan with a score of 71.90.

“We were coming here just to show off what we worked on this summer, and we’re proud and happy to have been able to deliver a performance like this after all of the work we did this summer,” said Deschamps following the competition.

Stellato-Dudek added: “We really focussed this summer on adding speed and power. We made some new lift positions, more signature to us, and we’re really looking forward to showing those – we did one of them today. We have really unique programs and program choices, and we’re really excited to debut our ‘Interview with the Vampire’ program tomorrow.”

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan, the 2023 World Pair Champions who live and train in Oakville, Ont., sit second with a score of 59.13, while Emmanuelle Proft of Ottawa, Ont., and her partner Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., are sitting in third with a score of 58.44. Caidence Derenisky and Raine Eberl of Regina, Sask., are sitting fifth with a score of 52.76.

Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que., had the top Canadian performance in the women’s event with her short program scoring a 59.45 to put her in third at the end of the evening.

“It was a pretty good skate, I was supposed to do the triple flip-triple toe, but I wasn’t feeling super good on the triple toe, so I did a double instead, and I was just trying to do a clean program all the way through because of that,” said Miclette who recently placed 11th at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. “My goal here was to enjoy every moment and so I think I nailed that on the short program.”

Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., sits just behind Miclette in fourth with a score of 58.87.

Two-time women’s World Champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan sits in first with a score of 75.62, while Audrey Shin of the USA sits second with a score of 60.07.

Friday will see the women’s and pair competitions wrap-up with their free skates, while the men will skate their short program, and the dance competition will begin with the rhythm dance. The event will wrap up Saturday with the men’s free skate and the free dance.

For full results please visit: https://skatecanada.ca/results/23aci/cscan2023/

Canadian Skaters Aiming for the Podium at ISU Junior Grand Prix #5 in Budapest

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OTTAWA, ON (September 13, 2023) – A team of 10 skaters will represent Canada at the fifth ISU Junior Grand Prix, taking place in Budapest, Hungary from September 20-23, 2023. One woman, one man, two pair teams and two ice dance teams will be competing throughout the week. 

2023 Coupe de Printemps bronze medalist Aleksa Volkova will be competing in the women’s event, while 2023 Novice Canadian Champion David Howes will be competing in the men’s event.  

Martina Ariano Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent, who mostly recently claimed gold at the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria, will be competing in the pair event along with Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, who placed second at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in the junior category. 

In the ice dance event, 2023 NextGen Competition silver medalists Dana Sabatini-Speciale and Nicholas Buelow will be heading to their second international event of the season, having most recently competed at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey. Caroline Kravets and Jacob Stark will be making their international debut. 

The competition will begin on Thursday, September 21 with the men’s, pair and women’s short programs. The following day, ice dancers will perform their rhythm dance, while pairs and men will complete their free programs. Competition ends on Saturday with the women’s free program and the free dance. 

Team Canada   

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location   

Women 
Aleksa Volkova | 14 | Lac-Brôme, Que. | Martine Dagenais | Boucherville, Que. 

Men 
David Howes | 16 | Winnipeg, Man. | Keegan Murphy | Richmond, B.C.  

Pair 
Ava Kemp | 15 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 19 | Winnipeg, Man. | Andrew Evans & Kevin Dawe | Mississauga, Ont.
Martina Ariano Kent | 16 | Mount Royal, Que. & Charly Laliberté-Laurent | 17 | Boucherville, Que. | Marc-André Craig & David Alexandre Paradis | Chambly, Que.  

Ice Dance 
Caroline Kravets | 15 | Petersburg, Ont. & Jacob Stark | 17 | Waterloo, Ont. | Tyler Morris | Waterloo, Ont.
Dana Sabatini-Speciale | 17 | Springwater, Ont. & Nicholas Buelow | 16 | Barrie, Ont. | Mitch Islam & Kelly Johnson | Barrie, Ont. 

Team Leaders – Christopher Mabee & Manon Perron
Officials – Sarah Coombs & Erica Topolski
Medical Team – Cole Beavis & Mireille Landry 

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org. 

 

Desrochers & Thrasher Capture Pairs Bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Turkey

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Istanbul, Turkey (September 9, 2023) – Jazmine Desrochers of Mississauga, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., highlighted the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition that wrapped up Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, capturing a bronze medal in the pair competition.

Desrochers and Thrasher, a newly formed team that were competing in their first Junior Grand Prix competition, finished with a total score of 146.34 after sitting in second following the short program.

“There was definitely a lot of learning curves this week,” said Desrochers following their free skate. “We were really happy with how our scores ended up in the short program so going into the long there was a bit more pressure, but I’m happy we still got to do it together and to get through it with some ease.”

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia won gold with a total score of 181.31, while Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA captured silver with a total score of 154.52.

Uliana Shiryaeva of Coquitlam, B.C., made her international debut for Canada in the women’s competition and finished 9th overall with a total score of 147.27. Ami Nakal of Japan won gold (194.65), while Rena Uezono of Japan took silver (187.71), and Yujae Kim of Korea took bronze (183.65).

“For me, my first junior grand prix, I was so excited to be here. I prepared a lot for this competition, and it was a little bit hard for me to be 100% but I tried my best to do everything,” said Shiryaeva who was a bronze medallist at the most recent NextGen competition in Canada.

Canada had two teams in the ice dance event with Dana Sabatini-Speciale of Springwater, Ont., and Nicholas Buelow of Barrie, Ont., finishing 8th overall with a total score of 125.62 and Emma Goodstadt of Oakville, Ont., and Christian Bennett of Charlotte, North Carolina finishing 14th overall with a total score of 117.45.

Mariia Pinchuk and Mykyta Pogorielov of Ukraine won gold (148.82), Yahli Pedersen and Jeffrey Chen of the USA silver (146.37), and Gina Zehnder and Beda Leon Sieber of Switzerland the bronze (143.65).

“Our first practice wasn’t where we would want it to be, but I feel like we fought back and had some good practices after that,” said Buelow who together with Sabatini-Speciale will compete next at the Junior Grand Prix event in Hungary in two weeks. “Rhythm dance wasn’t our best, but we fought back in the free dance and I think we’re both happy with it.”

Canada also had two skaters competing in the men’s event, with David Bondar of Richmond Hill, Ont., finishing 12th (163.23) and Terry Jin of Surrey, B.C., finishing 15th (159.88).

Minkyu Seo of Korea dominated the men’s competition winning gold with a total score of 231.30. Rio Nakata of Japan took silver (222.35), while Daiya Evihara, also of Japan, took bronze (207.17).

The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Osaka, Japan from September 13-16, 2023 and will feature seven NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, two men, and two ice dance teams.

For full results, please click here.

Canadian Skaters Set to Dazzle at the 2023 Autumn Classic International

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OTTAWA, ON (September 7, 2023) – Over 75 athletes from around the world will be competing at the 2023 Autumn Classic International, which will take place in Pierrefonds, Quebec, from September 14-16, 2023. The Canadian delegation will count fourteen athletes, including two ISU Grand Prix gold medalists. 

Kaiya Ruiter, the 2023 national silver medalist, will be competing in the women’s event, along with Justine Miclette, who recently placed 11th at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. 

In the men’s event, the spotlight will be on 2023 Cranberry Cup International silver medalist Wesley Chiu and 2022 Skate Canada Challenge champion Stephen Gogolev. 

The pair event will be led by 2023 Canadian champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who are looking to continue their streak of strong performances on the international stage. Also competing will be Emmanuelle Proft and Nicolas Nadeau, as well as Caidence Derenisky and Raine Eberl, who respectively placed fifth and sixth at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships. 

2023 junior national silver medalists Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren will be looking to make their mark in their first season competing as seniors, while Alyssa Robinson and Jacob Portz will complete the ice dance squad. 

Competition will be fierce with a stacked field of international competitors which includes the two-time women’s World Champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN), young phenom Ilia Malinin (USA), who placed third at the 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, and pair World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN). 

The event kicks off on Thursday, September 14 with the pair and women’s short programs, followed by the men’s short program, rhythm dance, and the pair and women’s free program on Friday, September 15. Competition concludes on Saturday, September 16 with the men’s free program and the free dance. 

Team Canada  

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location  

Women
Justine Miclette | 17 | Chambly, Que. | Yvan Desjardins | Chambly, Que.  
Kaiya Ruiter | 17 | Calgary, Alta. | Scott Davis | Calgary Alta. 

Men
Wesley Chiu | 18 | Vancouver, B.C. | Keegan Murphy & Eileen Murphy | Richmond, B.C.
Stephen Gogolev | 18 | Toronto, Ont. | Rafael Arutyunyan & Lee Barkell | Irvine, USA 

Pair
Caidence Derenisky | 17 | Regina, Sask. & Raine Eberl | 24 | Regina, Sask. | David Schultz | Montreal, Que.
Emmanuelle Proft | 21 | Ottawa, Ont. & Nicolas Nadeau | 25 | Boisbriand, Que. | Stephanie Valois | Rosemère, Que.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek | 40 | Chicago, USA & Maxime Deschamps | 31 | Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. | Josée Picard | Sainte-Julie, Que. 

Ice Dance
Sandrine Gauthier | 19 | Saint-Constant, Que. & Quentin Thieren | 19 | Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que. | Patrice Lauzon & Benjamin Brisebois | Montreal, Que.
Alyssa Robinson | 20 | Ridgetown, Ont. & Jacob Portz | 22 | Calgary, Alta. | Madison Hubbell & Scott Moir | London, Ont.  

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Meaghan Shewchuk
Officials – Limin Jao, Patty Klein, Nicole LeBlanc-Richard & Lorna Schroder 

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please visit skatecanada.ca. 

Seven Canadian Athletes to Compete at Junior Grand Prix #4 in Osaka, Japan

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OTTAWA, ON (September 6, 2023) – Seven NextGen skaters will be competing at the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan from September 13-16, 2023, including one woman, two men and two ice dance teams.  

In the women’s event, Canada will be represented by Rose Théroux, the 2023 junior national silver medalist, who will be competing for the first time this season. 

2023 junior national bronze medalist Anthony Paradis will be skating in the men’s event alongside David Shteyngart, who placed sixth at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. 

Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang will be aiming to repeat their recent podium performance at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria, while Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys, who recently finished just off the podium at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand, will also be aiming for a medal. 

The competition will kick off with the rhythm dance and the men’s short program on Thursday, September 14, with the women’s short program and men’s free program taking place on Friday. The event will conclude with the free dance and women’s free program on Saturday. 

Team Canada     

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location     

Women 
Rose Théroux | 16 | Ste-Victoire-de-Sorel, Que. | Marc-André Craig | Chambly, Que. 

Men
Anthony Paradis | 16 | Boisbriand, Que. | Yvan Desjardins | Rosemère, Que.
David Shteyngart | 17 | Ottawa, Ont. | Darlene Joseph | Ottawa, Ont. 

Ice Dance 
Chloe Nguyen | 18 | Vancouver, B.C. & Brendan Giang | 19 | Burnaby, B.C. | Aaron Lowe & Megan Wing | Burnaby, B.C.
Layla Veillon | 17 | London, Ont. & Alexander Brandys | 18 | London, Ont. | Scott Moir & Cara Moir | London, Ont. 

Team Leader – Andre Bourgeois and Marie Bowness
Medical Team – Erik Torshia
Officials – Andre-Marc Allain & Guylaine Seguin  

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org.  

Quebec Pair Skaters Win Gold in International Debut at Austrian Junior Grand Prix

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Linz, Austria (September 2, 2023) – Martina Ariano Kent of Mount Royal, Que., and Charly Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., started off their international competitive career with a bang on Friday as they won gold in the pair event at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition that wrapped up Saturday in Linz, Austria. Chloe Nguyen of Vancouver, B.C. and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, B.C., captured silver in ice dance.

Ariano Kent and Laliberté-Laurent, who have only been skating together for five months, led the competition in both the short program and free skate and finished the competition with a total score of 158.28. Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA took silver with a total score of 147.22 while Wenning Shi and Zhiyu Wang of China captured bronze with a total score of 123.50.

“We didn’t think about changing any elements or doing anything differently than we do in practice,” said Laliberté-Laurent following the free skate when asked if they considered changing anything after sitting in first after the short program. “We weren’t really going out there for a medal, it was more about having fun during the competition and we did that.”

Nguyen and Giang were also making their international debut as a team and laid down two great skates to finish second with a total score of 144.75. Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy of Germany won gold (154.33), while Elliana and Ethan Pearl of the USA captured bronze (142.83). The second Canadian ice dance team of Savanna Martel and William Oddson, both of Calgary, Alta., finished 9th overall with a total score of 118.76.

“Because it’s our first international together, and our first season together, I think we just came in not expecting much, but I think we’re both really happy with how we did,” said Giang following their free skate.

Nguyen added: “We just wanted to come out and have a good skate and we did that. We’ve been putting out good skates in practice and we just wanted to do the same thing here.”

Kara Yun of Burnaby, B.C. competed in the junior women’s competition and finished seventh overall with a total score of 156.24. Jia Shin of Korea won gold (201.33), while Haruna Murakami of Japan took silver (168.37), and Minsol Kwan of Korea took bronze (165.93).

In the junior men’s competition, David Li of Richmond, B.C., finished 8th overall with a total score of 177.02. Adam Hagara of Slovakia won gold (220.33), while Hyungyeom Kim of Korea took silver (211.76), and Beck Strommer of the USA the bronze (210.92).

The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Istanbul, Turkey from September 6-9, 2023 and will feature nine NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, two men, one pair team, and two ice dance teams.

For full results please visit: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/jgpaut2023/

 

New and Experienced Skaters to Compete at Third ISU Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul

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OTTAWA, ON (August 30, 2023) – A solid squad of 9 NextGen skaters, including one woman, two men, one pair team and two ice dance teams, will represent Canada at the third stop of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The event will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from September 6-9, 2023. 

New NextGen Team member and NextGen Competition bronze medalist Uliana Shiryaeva will be the sole Canadian to compete in the women’s event. She will be joined by David Bondar, 2022 Skate Canada Challenge silver medalist, as well as Terry Jin, who will both be taking part in the men’s competition.   

In the pair discipline, the newly formed team of Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher will have their sights set on the podium. In 2022, Thrasher and his former partner, Chloe Panetta, won a bronze medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit and qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. 

Two promising ice dance teams will also be competing, with 2023 NextGen Competition silver medalists Dana Sabatini-Speciale and Nicholas Buelow and the newly formed team of Emma Goodstadt and Christian Bennett both looking to gain valuable international experience. 

Competition begins on Thursday with the women’s, pair, and men’s short programs, followed by the rhythm dance and the pair and women’s free programs the following day. The event concludes on Saturday with the men’s free program and the free dance.  

Team Canada  

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location  

Women 

Uliana Shiryaeva | 16 | Coquitlam, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C.  

Men 

David Bondar | 16 | Richmond Hill, Ont. | Lee Barkell | Toronto, Ont.
Terry Jin | 17 | Surrey, B.C. | Joey Russell | Toronto, Ont.  

Pair 
Jazmine Desrochers | 17 | Mississauga, Ont. & Kieran Thrasher | 19 | Amherstburg, Ont. | Bruno Marcotte | Oakville, Ont. 

Ice Dance 

Emma Goodstadt | 18 | Oakville, Ont. & Christian Bennett | 20 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Carol Lane | Scarborough, Ont.
Dana Sabatini-Speciale | 17 | Springwater, Ont. & Nicholas Buelow | 16 | Barrie, Ont. | Mitch Islam | Barrie, Ont. 

Team Leaders – Josée Bourdon & Michael Slipchuk
Medical Team – Shirley Kushner & Lydia Shultz
Officials – Jodi Abbott & Lynne Dey  

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org.