Team North America Ready to Compete at the 2016 KOSÉ Team Challenge Cup
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, USA: For the first time ever, skaters from Skate Canada and U.S. Figure Skating will come together to compete as Team North America at the inaugural KOSÉ Team Challenge Cup. The event will be held April 22-24 at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington, USA.
Team North America will consist of four Canadian and six American entries for a total of 10 entries and 14 skaters in total.
TEAM NORTH AMERICA – 2016 KOSÉ TEAM CHALLENGE CUP
| Discipline | Name | Hometown | Training Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladies | Gabrielle Daleman | Newmarket, Ontario | Toronto, Ontario | CAN |
| Ladies | Gracie Gold | Hermosa Beach, California | El Segundo, California | USA |
| Ladies | Ashley Wagner | Alexandria, Virginia | Los Angeles, California | USA |
| Men | Jason Brown | Highland Park, Illinois | Monument, Colorado | USA |
| Men | Nam Nguyen | Toronto, Ontario | Toronto, Ontario | CAN |
| Men | Adam Rippon | Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania | Los Angeles, California | USA |
| Pairs | Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford | Lively, Ontario / Balmertown, Ontario | Montreal, Quebec | CAN |
| Pairs | Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim | Addison, Illinois / San Diego, California | Colorado Springs, Colorado | USA |
| Ice Dance | Madison Chock / Evan Bates | Redondo Beach, California / Ann Arbor, Michigan | Novi, Michigan | USA |
| Ice Dance | Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje | Kitchener, Ontario | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan | CAN |
An ISU-sanctioned event, the Team Challenge Cup will feature 42 figure skaters competing in a continental team competition (Team Asia vs. Team Europe vs. Team North America). Each Team will consist of three ladies, three men, two pairs teams and two ice dance teams. ISU World Standings (as of Jan. 1, 2016) and the Captain’s Pick Fan Vote were used to determine Team Challenge Cup athletes.
Each team will have a Team Captain, a legend of the sport, who will not compete but help determine team strategy. Team North America will be captained by American Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic champion. Great Britain’s Christopher Dean, the 1984 Olympic ice dance champion with partner Jayne Torvill, will captain Team Europe and Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa, the 2006 Olympic champion, will captain Team Asia.
The Team Challenge Cup will feature two days of competition, opening Friday night with the singles competition as the ladies and men compete in head-to-head matchups for more than $100,000 in prize money. Saturday’s Team Competition (all disciplines) will feature an aggregate scoring format to determine the 2016 Team Challenge Cup winner with a prize purse of nearly $500,000, for a total prize purse of $617,000 (US Dollars).
For more information, please visit 2016 KOSÉ Team Challenge Cup.