Tag Archive for: 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

Weaver and Poje snare the bronze at world championships

MILAN, Italy – Kaitlyn Weaver and Andre Poje of Waterloo, Ont., won the bronze medal on Saturday in ice dancing to conclude the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron took the gold with 207.20 points, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. were second at 196.64 and Weaver and Poje collected their third career world championship medal with a personal best 192.35.

‘’I don’t have words for this moment right now,’’ said Weaver. “The program went by so fast and before we knew it we were standing on the podium.’’

The couple were performing their popular Je Suis Malade program.

“We will remember this moment,’’ said Poje. ‘’We really wanted to have that last one go and have a smile on our face at the end of it.’’

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto were sixth and Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver 14th.

‘’To finish on a high note is so rewarding,’’ said Gilles. ‘’This was a roller coaster season for us but we’ve really been pushing ourselves to improve.’’

Soucisse and Firus were hoping to fare better.

‘’Our performances were not as solid as we wanted them to be,’’ said Soucisse. ‘’But overall we gave a good impression at our first worlds.’’

In men’s competition, Nathan Chen of the U.S. took the gold medal with Shoma Uno of Japan second and Mikhail Kolyada of Russia third.

Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., was eighth in his worlds debut a four spot improvement on his Olympic performance last month.

‘’To go out there and miss a couple of elements I’ve been nailing all week is a little hurtful,’’ said Messing. ‘’Still I tried to keep my head up and give a good performance. I hope the crowd still loved it.’’

Canada ends the competition with two medals. On Friday Kaetlyn Osmond won an historic gold in the women’s event.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond wins world figure skating title

MILAN, Italy – Kaetlyn Osmond won the gold medal in women’s competition on Friday at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. It is Canada’s first women’s world figure skating crown in 45 years.

‘’This feels unbelievable for me,’’ said Osmond. ‘’Being world champion is something I never expected. I was fighting to skate clean and fighting to hit the podium.’’

The 22-year-old Olympic bronze medallist from Marystown, N.L., was the first skater in the final flight of six and put down a free skate that couldn’t be matched. She scored 150.50 points for her Black Swan routine to finish with 223.23 points overall, and in the process, climbed from fourth after Wednesday’s short program.

The last time a Canadian woman was golden at worlds was Karen Magnussen in 1973. Osmond is the fourth Canadian woman to ever win a world title. Petra Burka took gold in 1965 and Barbara Ann Scott scored back-to-back wins in 1947 and 1948.

‘’Canada has such a strong history of competitors in all disciplines,’’ said Osmond. ‘’Just that gold medal was always a fight for the ladies. Hopefully now we’ll be able to be champions a lot more.’’

Osmond’s jammed packed routine opened with two combos, a triple flip – triple toe and double Axel-triple toe. Those were followed by a triple Lutz, triple loop, triple flip, triple Salchow-double toe-double loop combo and another double Axel.

‘’It took a lot of mental focus today to do that, it’s been a really long year,’’ said Osmond. ‘’I wanted to show that my bronze at the Olympics wasn’t a fluke.’’

Wakaba Higuchi of Japan was second at 210.90 and her compatriot Satoko Miyahara third at 210.08.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was seventh.

In ice dancing, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., set a personal best score in their short dance to stand third with 78.31. Olympic silver medallists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France lead with 83.73 and Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue sit second at 80.42.

‘’We’ve struggled with the short program this season so we are happy and pleased to deliver one that we are proud of,’’ said Poje.

The couple, two-time worlds medallists, is coming off a self-described disappointing seventh place performance at the Olympics.

‘’We were discouraged and exhausted after the Games,’’ said Weaver. ‘’But we knew how hard we worked and how good our product is and we prepared ourselves to arrive here with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.’’

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto also set a new personal best and are sixth at 74.51. Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver are 11th.

‘’It was a physically hard skate for both of us being the end of the season,’’ said Poirier. ‘’The Olympics took a lot out of us. We reorganized the short dance so we could skate a little bit freer and that really paid off especially with a stronger technical score.’’

Soucisse and Firus are in their worlds debut.

‘’We went out there and enjoyed the moment,’’ said Soucisse.

Competition ends Saturday with the free dance and the men’s free skate.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Canadians in medal hunt at ISU World Figure Skating Championships

MILAN, Italy – Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L. and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., are fourth and sixth after Wednesday’s women’s short program and still in striking distance of the podium at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Carolina Kostner of Italy is the leader with 80.27, Alina Zagitova of Russia is second at 79.51 and Satoko Miyahara of Japan third at 74.36.

Osmond, the Olympic bronze medallist in PyeongChang last month, posted a 72.73 while Daleman earned 71.61. Both Osmond and Daleman helped Canada to Olympic gold in the team event.

In her Edith Piaf program, Osmond opened with a triple-flip, triple-toe combo followed by a triple Lutz but had trouble on her double Axel.

‘’That program wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever done it,’’ said Osmond. ‘’I don’t usually make a mistake on the double Axel. But I was a little bit nervous today and I felt I had to fight through myself.’’

Daleman produced a clean program featuring a triple-toe, triple-toe combination, a triple Lutz and a double Axel.

‘’I couldn’t have asked for anything more,’’ said Daleman. ‘’I’m happy with how I pushed myself after the Olympics and put it all together.’’

Larkyn Austman of Coquitlam, B.C. was 25th.

‘’I was happy with it,’’ said Austman, who missed the cut for the free skate by one spot. ‘’The Olympics and here have been great experiences and set me up well for next season.’’

In pairs after the short program, Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany are first, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia second and Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France third.

Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are 10th.

‘’It was difficult today,’’ said Moore-Towers, who is battling an ankle injury. ‘’We haven’t done a full program since the Olympics. But we were successful in staying present in each moment and finished strong.’’

The other two Canadian pairs were out of the top-16 and do not advance to the free skate. Camille Ruest of Rimouski, Que., and Drew Wolfe of Calgary were 18th and Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., 22nd.

Competition continues Thursday with the men’s short program and the pairs free skate. The women’s free skate is Friday.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Moore-Towers and Marinaro surge to sixth in gutsy performance at ISU World Figure Skating Championships

MILAN, Italy – Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were profiles in courage on Thursday as they produced the fourth best free skate to climb from 10th to sixth in pairs at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Olympic champions Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany took the gold with 245.84 points. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia were second at 225.53 and Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France third at 218.36.

Moore-Towers and Marinaro scored a personal best 204.33. Their training was derailed after their 11th place finish at the Olympics due to an ankle injury to Moore-Towers. They had not started doing throws until this week and had not done two in one day since the Olympics.

‘’We are extremely happy,’’ said Moore-Towers. ‘’ We had a tough couple of weeks leading into this competition with not much training to rely on. We didn’t have that same confidence so this is a testament to how hard we worked all season.’’

The Canadians seemed to get better as the program progressed. After an uneneven side-by-side jump early and just hanging on on the throw triple loop, they finished strong with their side-by-side triples and throw triple Salchow.

‘’We’d been putting in a full work load since July so I think that allowed us to put up personal bests under the circumstance,’’ said Marinaro.

Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., skated to a personal best score of 93.00 to sit sixth after the men’s short program.

‘’I was filled with joy going into the last spin,’’ said Messing. ‘’I’ve never felt that in a program before.’’
American Nathan Chen leads with 101.94, Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada is second at 100.08. Vincent Zhou of the U.S. is in third at 96.78.

Toronto’s Nam Nguyen was 25th and didn’t qualify for Saturday’s free skate.

‘’It’s a little upsetting,’’ said Nguyen. ‘’It’s always a different ball game when two of your three jumps in the short program are quads. I thought I was ready for it but it didn’t go well.’’

Competition continues Friday with the women’s free skate featuring Canadians Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman who were fourth and sixth in the short and the short dance.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Canadian team en route to Italy for 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will send 11 entries, for a total of 17 skaters to the 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. The event will take place from March 19-25, 2018, in Milan, Italy, at the Mediolanum Forum. Canada will have three entries per discipline in women, pairs and ice dance and two entries in men.

Canadian silver medallist Keegan Messing, 26, Sherwood Park, Alta./Brampton, Ont., is the first of two Canadian men entries. This will be his first time competing at this event. In February, Messing placed 12th at the Olympic Winter Games. He is coached by Ralph Burghart in Anchorage, AK, USA.

Canadian bronze medallist Nam Nguyen, 19, Toronto, Ont., will be the second Canadian men entry. This will be his fourth time competing at this event; he earned his best result, fifth place, in 2015. Most recently, he placed ninth at the ISU Four Continents Championships. The three-time Canadian medallist is coached by Robert Burk in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Olympic gold medallist (team) and defending world bronze medallist Gabrielle Daleman, 20, Newmarket, Ont., is the first of three Canadian entries in women’s. In February, Daleman won gold in the Olympic team event and placed 15th in women’s singles at the Olympic Winter Games. The two-time Canadian champion is coached by Lee Barkell and Brian Orser in Toronto, Ont.

Three-time Olympic medallist and defending world silver medallist Kaetlyn Osmond, 22, Marystown, Nfld./Edmonton, Alta., will also represent Canada in the women’s category. Osmond won gold in the team event and bronze in women’s singles at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. The three-time Canadian champion is coached by Ravi Walia in Edmonton, Alta.

Canadian bronze medallist Larkyn Austman, 20, Coquitlam, B.C., rounds out the Canadian women’s entries. This will be her first time competing at this event. Most recently, Austman placed 25th at the Olympic Winter Games. She is coached by Zdenek Pazdirek and Liz Putnam in Coquitlam, B.C.

Canadian silver medallists Julianne Séguin, 21, Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau, 24, Trois-Pistoles, Que., will be the first of three Canadian pairs at the event. Last year, they placed 11th at this event. In February, they placed ninth at the Olympic Winter Games. Séguin and Bilodeau are coached by Josée Picard in Chambly, Que.

Canadian bronze medallists Kirsten Moore-Towers, 25, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 26, Sarnia, Ont., are the second Canadian entry in pairs. This will be their second time competing at this event, having placed eighth in 2016. Most recently, Moore-Towers and Marinaro placed 11th at the Olympic Winter Games. They are coached by Bruno Marcotte, Richard Gauthier and Sylvie Fullum in Montreal, Que.

Camille Ruest, 24, Rimouski, Que., and Drew Wolfe, 22, Calgary, Alta., will round out the Canadian entries in pairs. This will be their first time competing at this event. Earlier this season, they placed seventh at the ISU Four Continents Championships. Ruest and Wolfe are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte in Montreal, Que.

Canadian silver medallists Piper Gilles, 26, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 26, Unionville, Ont., will be one of three Canadian entries in ice dance. This will be their sixth time competing at this event, with consecutive top-ten finishes the past four years. Most recently, they placed eighth at the Olympic Winter Games. They are coached by Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs in Scarborough, Ont.

Two-time world medallists Kaitlyn Weaver, 28, Toronto, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 31, Waterloo, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their 10th time competing at this event; last season they placed fourth. In February, Weaver and Poje placed seventh at the Olympic Winter Games. The two-time Canadian champions are coached by Nikolai Morozov and train in Hackensack, NJ, USA.

Carolane Soucisse, 23, Châteauguay, Que., and Shane Firus, 24, North Vancouver, B.C., will be the third Canadian entry in ice dance. This will be their first time competing at this event. Earlier this season, they won silver at the ISU Four Continents Championships. Soucisse and Firus are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Que.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director, will be travelling with the team. Cynthia Ullmark of Canmore, Alta., and Carolyn Allwright of Kitchener, Ont., will be the Canadian team leaders at the event. Dr. Ed Pilat of Winnipeg, Man., and physiotherapist Josiane Roberge, of Sillery, Que., will be the Canadian medical staff at the event.

Susan Blatz of Burlington, Ont., Lynne Dey of Edmonton, Alta., Karen Howard of Regina, Sask., and Jean Senft of West Vancouver, B.C., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

For results and full entries please visit isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT 2018 ISU WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Men Keegan Messing 26 Sherwood Park, Alta. & Brampton, Ont. Sherwood Park FSC Ralph Burghart
Men Nam Nguyen 19 Toronto, Ont. Richmond Training Centre Robert Burk
Ladies Gabrielle Daleman 20 Newmarket, Ont. Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club Lee Barkell / Brian Orser
Ladies Kaetlyn Osmond 22 Marystown, Nfld. & Edmonton, Alta. Ice Palace FSC Ravi Walia
Ladies Larkyn Austman 20 Coquitlam, B.C. Coquitlam SC Zdenek Pazdirek/ Liz Putnam
Pairs Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau 21/24 Longueuil, Que. / Trois-Pistoles, Que. CPA Longueuil / CPA Chambly Josée Picard
Pairs Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro 25/26 St. Catharines, Ont. / Sarnia, Ont. Kitchener-Waterloo SC / Point Edward SC Inc. Bruno Marcotte / Richard Gauthier / Sylvie Fullum
Pairs Camille Ruest / Drew Wolfe 24/22 Rimouski, Que. / Calgary, Alta. CPA De Rimouski / Glencoe Club Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Ice Dance Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier 26/26 Toronto, Ont. / Unionville, Ont. Scarboro FSC / Scarboro FSC Carol Lane / Juris Razgulajevs
Ice Dance Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje 28/31 Toronto, Ont. / Waterloo, Ont. Sault FSC / Kitchener-Waterloo SC Nikolai Morozov
Ice Dance Carolane Soucisse / Shane Firus 23/24 Châteauguay, Que. / North Vancouver, B.C. CPA Repentigny / CPA Ahuntsic Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon