Canada’s Top Figure Skaters Descend on Halifax for the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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HALIFAX, NS – From January 18 to 24, the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will bring together Canada’s top 250 figure skaters for a week of on-ice competition in Halifax. The all-Canadian championships take place at the Scotiabank Centre and will feature competition in the men’s, women’s, pair and ice dance disciplines at the senior, junior and novice levels.

“From our reigning champions to the novice skaters attending the event for the first time, the Canadian Tire National Skating Championship is the pinnacle of Canadian skating season,” explains Dan Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. “Skate Canada, together with our title partner, Canadian Tire are thrilled to be in Halifax to celebrate the 102nd instalment of this historic event.”

“At Canadian Tire, we believe in the power of sport to change lives, bring communities together and inspire greatness,” says Allan MacDonald, Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Tire. “Nova Scotia is my home province and I’m so proud to welcome and cheer on Canada’s top skaters, as well as their coaches, families and friends as they advance the sport of figure skating in Canada.”

The week long competition will begin with the novice ice dance on Monday, January 18 and the senior events will begin on Friday, January 22. Athletes will vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2016 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 2016 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and 2016 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Leading the senior events are 2015 World Pair Champions Meagan Duhamel, 30, from Lively, ON, and Eric Radford, 30, from Balmertown, ON. The four-time Canadian champions will look to win their fifth consecutive title, taking on Canada’s best.

In ice dance, two-time world medallists Kaitlyn Weaver, 26, from Waterloo, ON, and Andrew Poje, 28, from Waterloo, ON, plan to capture their second Canadian title. They will be challenged by a rising field of ice dance talent.

Current Canadian champion Nam Nguyen, 17, from Toronto, ON, will go head-to-head with three-time world champion Patrick Chan, 25, from Toronto, ON, as he returns to the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships after a year off.

In women’s Gabrielle Daleman, 17, from Newmarket, ON, will defend her 2015 Canadian title against two-time Canadian champion Kaetlyn Osmond, 20, from Marystown, NL, and Sherwood Park, AB, who will return to competition after missing last season due to injury.

For full entries and the event start orders please click here.

Skate Canada is adding some extra sheen to the event with the addition of three-time World Champion, Elvis Stojko. He will be returning to the competitive sphere, but this time as the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships Athlete Ambassador. Representing his fellow athletes, Stojko will lend his engaging personality and time to public appearances, media interviews and in-venue fan activities.

Kids will add to the glow of the week through the Skate Canada School Program. As part of Skate Canada’s vision to help youth develop a love for skating, over 1,000 kids from grades three to five will have the opportunity to participate in a free session to watch and learn about the sport during the senior practices on Thursday, January 21.

The spotlight will also shine on 2008 world champion Jeffrey Buttle who will be officially inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame on Sunday, January 24. There will be a special ceremony to honour his tremendous career in skating during the Gala. In addition, Buttle will skate a solo in the Gala and choreograph the closing group number.

TICKETS

Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketatlantic.com, by phone at 902-451-1221 or toll free 1-877-451-1221 or in person at the Ticket Atlantic box office located on the Scotiabank Centre Promenade.

Senior competition prices range from $30-$55 per session, plus surcharges. Promotional four-packs are available for $100-$175, for senior events only.

Tickets for the junior and novice competition are $15-$20 per day. Seating for the junior and novice competition days is general admission. Children 12 and under are free for the junior and novice events only.

In addition, all-event ticket packages are still available for purchase. All-event ticket packages range from $125-$175, plus applicable surcharges.

ABOUT SKATE CANADA

Skate Canada is the nation’s governing body for skating and dedicated to creating a nation of skaters both recreationally and competitively. At over 125 years old, it is the world’s oldest skating organization and Canada’s preeminent leader in skate training and education, providing high performance coaching and skating development education. Over 130,000 Canadians participate in Skate Canada educational programs each year.

Canada’s most successful governing sport body, Skate Canada athletes have won 25 Olympic medals and 32 world championships. Today’s Canadian world and Olympic medalists all began at one of our 1,200 local Skate Canada clubs or skating schools. Through our programs, more than 5,200 certified professional coaches encourage Canadians of all ages to skate together as a family, pursue competitive ice sports and enjoy an active lifestyle.

Skate Canada has a National Service Centre in Ottawa, marketing headquarters in Toronto and High Performance facilities in Toronto and Calgary.

ABOUT CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, (TSX:CTC.A) (TSX:CTC) or “CTC,” is a family of businesses that includes a retail segment, a financial services division and CT REIT. Our retail business is led by Canadian Tire, which was founded in 1922 and provides Canadians with products for life in Canada across its Living, Playing, Fixing, Automotive and Seasonal categories. PartSource and Gas+ are key parts of the Canadian Tire network. The retail segment also includes Mark’s, a leading source for casual and industrial wear, and FGL Sports (Sport Chek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts, National Sports, Intersport, Pro Hockey Life and Atmosphere), which offers the best active wear brands. The nearly 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets are supported and strengthened by our Financial Services division and the tens of thousands of people employed across the Company. For more information, visit Corp.CanadianTire.ca.

2016 Skate Canada Adult Figure Skating Championships headed to Oakville

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada announced today that Oakville, Ont., will host the 2016 Skate Canada Adult Figure Skating Championships. The competition will take place at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, from April 22-24, 2016.

This will be their first time hosting the Skate Canada Adult Figure Skating Championships. The venue is home to Skate Canada member club, Skate Oakville and earlier this year they also hosted the 2016 Skate Canada Central Ontario Sectional event.

The event will see hundreds of adult skaters from across the country competing in four disciplines: free skate, interpretive, ice dance and synchronized skating.

Skate Canada offers recreational, test and competitive opportunities to adult skaters through our AdultSkate program. Programs available to adult skaters include CanSkate, STARSkate, CanPowerSkate, and SynchroSkate.

Weaver and Poje repeat as Grand Prix Final champions

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BARCELONA – For the second year in a row, ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., won the gold medal at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition.

The Canadians produced 182.66 points on Saturday, a mere 0.27 off their personal best set last season. Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. were second at 177.55 and Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy third at 176.37.

It was the sixth straight victory for Weaver and Poje on the circuit over the past two seasons.

‘’We felt great about the performance today,’’ said Poje. ‘We improved upon our other Grand Prix showings this season. We didn’t perfect everything we wanted to, so there is still work to be done.’’

Weaver was also delighted with the performance.

‘’We felt in the zone,’’ she said. ‘’We injected some emotion into this program and skated with our hearts out there. That is the most rewarding experience you can get. I can’t believe we won this event again, it hasn’t sunk in yet.’’

In men’s competition, Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan gave another interstellar performance raising his world record score to 330.43 points. Javier Fernandez of Spain was second at 292.95 and Shoma Uno of Japan third at 276.79. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto climbed from sixth after the short to fourth  with the third best long program for 264.45 points.

‘’I was really scared and nervous,’’ said Chan, who sat out last season. ‘’I’ve had shaky practices this week. But my free program is very comfortable and once the music starts it’s almost like auto-pilot. It shows my training is going really well and I can rely on it.’’

Synchronized skating made its debut at the Grand Prix Final and world champions Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., won the bronze medal with 120.34 points. Team Paradise from Russia took the gold at 131.09 and Team Rockettes from Finland were second at 127.66.

The 18  Nexxice skaters were Shannon Aikman-Jones, Cassandra Ablack, Ellicia Beaudoin, Kelly Britten, Anna Cappuccitti, Alessia Chiovitti, Lee Chandler, Samantha Defino, Courtney Gray, Celina Hevesi, Victoria Kwan, Renata Khuzina, Lauren Malott, Courtney McNaughton, Lisa Miadovnik, Rachel Ng, Kiesten Tietz and Jillian Tyler.

‘’It’s just incredible to be here,’’ said Defino. ‘’We just loved skating out and seeing that crowd. We were very pleased with our skate. This is very early in the season for us to be performing our free program and to get a medal was a success.’’

Canada ends the competition with three medals – one of each colour. On Friday, Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., took silver in pairs.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpchn2015/index.htm

 

Silver medal for Duhamel and Radford at ISU Grand Prix Final

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BARCELONA – One of the most impressive winning streaks in international figure skating is now history.

World champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., won the silver medal in pairs in on Friday at the ISU Grand Prix Final.  They had strung together nine straight international victories going back to the fall of 2014.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia took the title with a flawless free skate earning 229.44 points. Duhamel and Radford, climbed from third after the short to the silver with a season’s best 216.67. Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia were third at 206.59.

“We were really proud, we came back fighting after struggling in the short program,” said Duhamel. “It wasn’t perfect today but it was a step in the right direction. We plan to come back strong in the second half of the season.’’

First year seniors Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., were fourth with a personal best 200.98 and showed they will be a force to reckon with in the future.

“We are happy with what we did even though we made a couple of mistakes,” said Séguin. “One of our goals was to break the 200-point barrier. It really means a lot and shows we’ve reached another level.”

In ice dancing after the short dance, defending champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., are in first place with 72.75 points. Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. are second at 71.64 and Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy third at 70.14.

“We are so happy with our short dance today,” said Weaver. “We felt great this whole week and today we skated our short dance with grace and felt the energy of the Spanish fans.”

Canada has one entry in the Grand Prix Junior Final which is also being held here this week. Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., finished sixth in men’s competition.

“I definitely wanted to put out a better program,” said Sadovsky. “I sort of rushed my combinations and didn’t trust my technique today.”

Competition ends Saturday with the men’s free skate, the free dance and, for the first time, a synchronized skating final.

Full results: ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

Canadian pairs in heated battle for medals at ISU Grand Prix Final

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BARCELONA – World champions champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are in the midst of a heated battle for medals following Thursday’s pairs short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition.

Duhamel and Radford are sitting third at 72.74 just ahead of first year seniors Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., in fourth at 71.16. Russians are 1-2 with Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov first at 74.84 and Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov second at 73.64.

Duhamel and Radford, the defending Grand Prix Final champions, had a fall on a throw near the end of the program.

‘’It was the best short program we’ve done this season,’’ said Duhamel. ‘’But we know we are capable of more. Falling on a throw triple is uncharacteristic of us. We possibly got carried away with the moment with everything else being so good.’’

Radford says they don’t feel pressure with their impressive streak of six straight Grand Prix wins on the line.

‘’We approach every event the same,” he said. “When the music starts we bring ourselves back to the same place. That’s what we’ll do tomorrow (Friday) we know we are capable of skating a great long program.”

Séguin and Bilodeau also posted a season’s best score.

‘’We felt really great out there,’’ Séguin said. ‘’We are taking it as an experience and this gives us some confidence for the free skate.’’

In men’s competition it wasn’t a great day for three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto who is sixth after the short program with 70.61 which is more than 20 points off his personal best.

‘’I messed up,’’ said Chan. ‘’I tried to add the combo on the Lutz because you never want to give up. I tried to feel the program, feel the jumps but it wasn’t successful. I just have to put that behind me and have a fresh start.’’

Canada has one entry for the Junior Grand Prix Final also taking place here. Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., is in sixth spot in men’s competition after the short program.

“I think my mind was just racing today,” said Sadovsky, 16, a gold and bronze medallist on the circuit this fall. “I’ve had a good season up till now and I wanted to put together my best skate but it didn’t happen. I felt the extra pressure and it didn’t work.”

Competition continues Friday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpf1516/

Canadian Skaters in Barcelona for ISU Grand Prix Final

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have five entries at the 2015 ISU Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Barcelona, Spain, taking place from December 9-13, 2015. Canada will have one entry in men’s, two entries in pair, one entry in ice dance and one entry in synchronized skating.

The ISU Senior Grand Prix Final is the concluding event of the ISU Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. The series hosts six stops: United States (Skate America), Canada (Skate Canada International), China (Cup of China), France (Trophée Eric Bompard), Russia (Rostelecom Cup), and Japan (NHK Trophy). Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their assigned two events and the top six in each of the four disciplines advance to the Final.

In senior, Canada will be represented by Patrick Chan, 24, Toronto, Ont., in men’s, Meagan Duhamel, 30, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 30, Balmertown, Ont., and Julianne Séguin, 19, Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau, 22, Trois-Pistoles, Que., in the pair category, as well as Kaitlyn Weaver, 26, Toronto, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 28, Waterloo, Ont., in ice dance.

For the first time in the event’s history, the ISU Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final will also include synchronized skating. One entry was assigned to each of the top five ranked ISU members in synchronized skating; Canada being represented by Nexxice. The synchronized skating competition will consist of free skating, which will take place on Saturday, December 12, 2015. The teams will not perform a short program.

Earlier this season, Canada qualified one entry, Roman Sadovsky, 16, Vaughan, Ont., to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, also taking place in Barcelona, Spain from December 9-13, 2015. Similar to the senior qualification, juniors are assigned two events on the seven-event series, with the top six in each category advancing to the Final.

ISU Senior Grand Prix Final

Three-time World Champion and double Olympic silver medallist (men’s and team) Patrick Chan, 24, Toronto, Ont., will represent Canada in men’s. Chan won gold at Skate Canada International and placed fifth in the short program at Trophée Éric Bompard to earn a berth at the ISU Grand Prix Final. The representative of the Granite Club has previously competed at this event six times, medalling four times and winning gold on two occasions (2010 and 2011). He is coached by Kathy Johnson and trains at the Detroit Skating Club.

World champions and Olympic silver medallists (team) Meagan Duhamel, 30, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 30, Balmertown, Ont., are the first of two Canadian pair entries. The representatives of CPA Saint-Léonard have previously competed at this event four times and are the defending champions. This season on the grand prix circuit, they won gold at Skate Canada International and at the NHK Trophy, qualifying in first place for this competition. Duhamel and Radford are coached by Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte, and Sylvie Fullum.

Julianne Séguin, 19, Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau, 22, Trois-Pistoles, Que., are the second Canadian pair entry at the event. Last year, they won gold at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final; this will be their first time competing in this event at the senior level. The representatives of CPA Longueuil and CPA Chambly won bronze at Skate America and placed third in the short program at the Trophée Éric Bompard to qualify for this competition. Séguin and Bilodeau are coached by Josée Picard in Chambly, Que.

Nexxice.

Nexxice

Two time world medallists Kaitlyn Weaver, 26, Toronto, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 28, Waterloo, Ont., will be the Canadian entry in ice dance. This will be their fifth time competing at this event and they are the defending champions. Weaver and Poje won gold at Skate Canada International and the Rostelecom Cup to qualify first for this competition. The representatives of Sault FSC and Kitchener-Waterloo SC are coached by Angelika Krylova, Pasquale Camerlengo and Shae-Lynn Bourne in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Two-time world champions, Nexxice, will be the Canadian entry in synchronized skating. The nine-time consecutive Canadian champions most recently won the 2015 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships. Representing the Burlington Skating Centre, Nexxice is coached by Shelley Simonton Barnett and Anne Schelter.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final

Roman Sadovsky Junior Grand Prix gold.

Roman Sadovsky

Roman Sadovsky, 16, Vaughan, Ont., will be Canada’s sole entry in men’s. Earlier this season, he won gold at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia and bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Poland. Last season he placed fifth at this event. Sadovsky is coached by Tracey Wainman at the YSRA Winter Club.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director, will be the Canadian team leader at the event. Dr. Ghislaine Robert of Montreal, Que., and physiotherapist Agnes Makowski of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Diane Kamagianis of Mission, Ont., Leanna Caron of Timmins, Ont., and Jeff Lukasik of Calgary, Alta., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

Emma Bowie, Skate Canada Communications Manager, will be the media contact at the event. To arrange onsite interviews please contact her by email at [email protected].

For results and full entries please visit www.isu.org.

 

 

 

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT THE 2015 ISU SENIOR GRAND PRIX FINAL

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Mens Patrick Chan 24 Toronto, Ont. Granite Club Kathy Johnson
Pair Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford 30/30 Lively, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont. CPA Saint-Léonard / CPA Saint-Léonard Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte / Sylvie Fullum
Pair Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau 19/22 Longueuil, Que. / Trois-Pistoles, Que. CPA Longueuil / CPA Chambly Josée Picard
Ice Dance Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje 26/28 Toronto, Ont. / Waterloo, Ont. Sault FSC / Kitchener-Waterloo SC Angelika Krylova / Pasquale Camerlengo / Shae-Lynn Bourne
Synchronized Skating Nexxice N/A N/A Burlington Skating Centre Shelley Simonton Barnett / Anne Schelter

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT THE 2015 ISU JUNIOR GRAND PRIX FINAL

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Mens Roman Sadovsky 16 Vaughan, Ont. YRSA Winter Club Tracey Wainman

Nicolas Nadeau wins at Skate Canada Challenge, Soucisse and Tanguay take ice dance title

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EDMONTON – Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., won the gold medal in the senior men’s event on Sunday at the Skate Canada Challenge figure skating competition.

Nadeau, a silver medallist earlier this season at the Junior Grand Prix event in Croatia, totalled 233.01 points. Olympian Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., took the silver at 207.09 and Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., was third at 200.50.

“It wasn’t perfect but I achieved my goals,’’ said Nadeau. “I feel I’ve set myself up well for the nationals.’’

In ice dance, Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Simon Tanguay of Montreal were the winners at 143.70.  They edged Lauren Collins and Shane Firus of Barrie, Ont., in second at 142.98 and Andréanne Poulin and Marc-André Servant of Montreal in third at 142.96.

‘’We didn’t expect the gold medal,’’ said Soucisse. ‘’We wanted to do a good performance in both programs. We were more clean with the elements especially in the short dance.’’

In junior competition, Joseph Phan of Gatineau, Que., took the men’s title while Melinda Meng and Andrew Meng of Montreal were the ice dance winners.

‘’I didn’t feel nervous here because I was well prepared,’’ said Phan. ‘’I just need to keep working hard for the nationals.’’

‘’We produced two pretty solid performances,’’ said Melinda Meng. ‘’We really wanted to bring up the emotion in our programs and we skated our best so far in that sense.’’

The weekend’s winners in novice competition were Stephen Gogolev of Toronto for the men and Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Claudio Pietrantonio of Laval, Que., in ice dancing.

The pre-novice winners were Koen Kucher of Regina for the men and Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto in ice dancing.

This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Halifax, N.S., from January 18-24, 2016.

Full results: 2016 Skate Canada Challenge.

Grenier, Deschamps take pairs title, Daleman wins handily at Skate Canada Challenge

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EDMONTON – Vanessa Grenier of Johnville, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.,  are the senior pairs champion at the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge being held through to Sunday at the the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.

Grenier and Deschamps earned a season-high 162.10 points for their short and long programs. Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto were second at 148.70 and Shalena Rau of Waterloo, Ont., and Sebastian Arcieri Montreal were third at 140.12.

“We improved our score and everything was much better,” said Deschamps, who competed at two ISU Grand Prix’s this fall. “We want to keep improving for nationals.”

Grenier says preparation will be key to success at the national championships next month.

“We have to keep being solid in training,” she said. “We have to keep working on improving our lifts and spirals so we don’t lose those little points that can often wind up costing us.”

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont.,  took the senior women’s title convincingly with 193.62 points. Véronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., was second at 152.40 and Larkyn Austman of Coquitlam, B.C., third at 148.76.

‘’I was very pleased with how it went,’’ said Daleman, a 2014 Olympian. ‘’I came here especially to get another long program under my belt and I know what I need to work on towards nationals.’’

In junior competition, winners so far are Amanda Tobin of Burlington, Ont., in women’s singles and Hope McLean of Newbury, Ont.,  and Trennt Michaud of Strathroy, Ont., in pairs.

“I feel I competed really well and brought a lot of confidence in my two programs,” said Tobin. “I need to bring more consistency in my free program for the nationals so I can produce a clean skate more often and also land my triple-triple combination which I have been working really hard on in training.”

McLean and Michaud performed a new short program.

‘’The short program wasn’t our best but it just gave us more motivation for the free skate,’’ said Michaud. ‘’We want to keep pushing the envelope and build our speed.’’

Winners in novice competition so far are, Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber of Calgary in pairs and Olivia Gran Kelowna, B.C., in women’s singles.

Pre-novice winners so far are Vasilisa Matantseva of Burnaby, B.C.,  in women’s singles and Keara Harney of Candiac, Que.,  and Zachary Freedman of Kingston, Ont., in pairs.

Competition continues through to Sunday. This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Halifax, N.S., from January 18-24, 2016.

Full results: 2016 Skate Canada Challenge

Skaters headed to 2016 Skate Canada Challenge in Edmonton

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OTTAWA, ON: Approximately 500 skaters from across Canada are headed to Edmonton, Alta., for the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge. This year’s event will be taking place from December 2-6, 2015, at the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.

This is the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Halifax, N.S., from January 18-24, 2016. Skaters have qualified for the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge by advancing through their home sectional championships.

The 2016 Skate Canada Challenge will also see the crowning of the 2016 Canadian Pre-Novice Champions in men’s, women’s, pair, and ice dance.

National team member and Alberta/Northwest Territories/Nunavut Section representative Keegan Messing, 23, Girdwood, AK., will be competing in his home section in the senior men’s competition. Other national team members entered in the competition are Canadian champion Gabrielle Daleman, 17, Newmarket, Ont., (senior women’s), Canadian bronze medallist Véronik Mallet, 21, Sept-Îles, Que., (senior women’s), Roxanne Rheault, 20, Victoriaville, Que., (senior women’s), Kim DeGuise-Léveillée, 17, Sorel-Tracy, Que., (senior women’s), and Vanessa Grenier, 23, Johnville, Que., and Maxime Deschamps, 23, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., (senior pair).

Local Edmonton skating clubs will have a strong representation at the event with a total of 25 entries across all categories and disciplines, including six senior entries, five junior entries, three novice entries and 11 pre-novice entries.

For schedule, entries and start orders please click here.

General admission tickets will be available for purchase at the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre throughout the event. All-event tickets are $50, day tickets will be available for purchase for $10 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and $20 on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free for children ages 12 and under.

Media who have not already applied for accreditation are asked to contact Allan Gordon, Communications Coordinator. He will be the media contact at the event and can be reached at [email protected].

Skate Canada Qualifies Five Entries for the ISU Grand Prix Final

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada has qualified five entries for a total of eight skaters for the ISU Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain from December 10-13, 2015. The ISU Senior Grand Prix Final will be held jointly with the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

The Canadian team will consist of:

SENIOR MEN’S

Patrick Chan

SENIOR PAIR

Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford

Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau

SENIOR ICE DANCE

Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje

JUNIOR MEN’S

Roman Sadovsky

The ISU Senior Grand Prix Final is the concluding event of the ISU Senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. The series hosts six stops: United States (Skate America), Canada (Skate Canada International), China (Cup of China), France (Trophée Eric Bompard), Russia (Rostelecom Cup), and Japan (NHK Trophy). Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their assigned two events and the top six in each of the four disciplines advance to the Final.

Due to the tragic events in France that caused the cancellation of the free program and free dance segments of the Grand Prix event in Bordeaux, there has been an adjustment to the qualifying process. Any first substitute skater/team that placed 7th in the 2015/16 Grand Prix ranking has been invited to the Final, provided that they skated the short program or short dance at the event in Bordeaux.

Similar to the senior qualification, juniors are assigned two events on the seven-event series. Only the top six in each category advance to the Final.

For results and full entries please click here.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT THE 2015 ISU GRAND PRIX FINAL

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Senior Mens Patrick Chan 24 Toronto, Ont. Granite Club Kathy Johnson
Senior Pair Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford 29/30 Lively, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont. CPA Saint-Léonard / CPA Saint-Léonard Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte / Sylvie Fullum
Senior Pair Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau 19/22 Longueuil, Que. / Trois-Pistoles, Que. CPA Longueuil / CPA Chambly Josée Picard
Senior Ice Dance Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje 26/28 Toronto, Ont. / Waterloo, Ont. Sault FSC / Kitchener-Waterloo SC Angelika Krylova / Pasquale Camerlengo / Shae-Lynn Bourne
Junior Mens Roman Sadovsky 16 Vaughan, Ont. YRSA Winter Club Tracey Wainman / Gregor Filipowski

Gold medal for Duhamel and Radford

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NAGANO, Japan – Skating to Adele’s My Hometown Meaghan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., won the gold medal in pairs on Saturday at the NHK Trophy, the sixth stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

Duhamel and Radford earned 202.72 points for their fifth straight victory on the circuit. They will easily qualify for the Grand Prix Final in two weeks in Barcelona. Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China were second at 191.02 and Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim of the U.S. third at 190.66.

The Canadians had two noticeable mistakes in their free skate but their loaded program remained superior to the rest of the competition.

“As was the case in the short program, we missed a few things we know we can do a lot better,” said Radford. “On the plus side, we got great execution on our pairs elements such as lifts, twists and spins.  So we have a lot of good things we can bring with us to the Grand Prix Final. We may change a couple of things so we can go for a cleaner skate which we will need to do to remain competitive with the other top teams.”

Duhamel agrees the program needs to show more polish.

“We need to go to Barcelona and do a clean short and clean long,” she said. “When we skate clean programs we are in control of our own destiny. That was the situation last year and we’ll do what it takes to achieve that again.”

Second-year partners Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were fifth with a personal best 180.63.

In men’s competition, Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 11th while Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L. moved from eighth to sixth overall after her free skate in women’s singles.

Osmond was pleased to improve on her 11th place finish at Skate Canada last month.

“It was a long gap between here and Skate Canada,” she said. “For me I just really wanted to go out and compete after all the training.”

Canada had no entries in ice dancing.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpjpn2015/index.htm

 

Duhamel and Radford top pairs after short program

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NAGANO, Japan – World champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are in first place after the pairs short program on Friday at the NHK Trophy, the sixth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Duhamel and Radford earned 71.04 points in their short program skated to Elton John’s Your Song. They are looking for a fifth straight victory on the circuit. Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim of the U.S. are second at 68.43 and Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China third at 67.00.

“We had to fight through this,” said Duhamel. “Our strength and training really showed today. We know we can do this program a lot smoother and we know if we want to be first against all the top teams we have to be better.”

“There were a couple of little miscues that never happened before,” said Radford. “But some quick thinking and we still pulled off a decent program.”

Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto are fifth at 63.80.

In men’s competition, Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., is 11th after the short program while Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L. is eighth after the women’s short program.

The short dance and the free skates for men, women and pairs are on Saturday. The free dance is on Sunday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpjpn2015/index.htm