Tag Archive for: 2021 Skate Canada International

Gilles and Poirier Take the Road to Gold at Skate Canada International

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VANCOUVER – The long and winding road led to gold for Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier as they won the ice dance competition on Saturday at Skate Canada International, the second stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

Skating to the Beatles classic, the Toronto duo enthralled the crowd at UBC totalling 210.97 points less than four points off their personal best set in a bronze medal performance at the world championships in March. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were second at 200.05 and Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain third at 192.83.

‘’The free dance was a little more shaky than our short program,’’ said Poirier. ‘’We have some nerves to work through, but this is really a big step forward moving through the rest of the Grand Prix season.’’

Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., were sixth and Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Langley, B.C. 10th.

‘’We didn’t get the score we wanted but that ovation from the crowd at the end that for me was really awesome,’’ said Lajoie.

In pairs, Canadians Vanessa James and Eric Radford came within less than two points from the podium finishing fourth with 187.92 points.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China took the gold with 224.05, Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin of Russia were second at 193.08 and Ashley Cain -Gribble and Timothy Leduc of the U.S. climbed from sixth after the short to third with 189.90.

First year partners James and Radford were less than three points off their best score set earlier this month at the Finlandia Trophy.

‘’Aspects of our program grew and improved, aspects of certain elements that we focused on after Finlandia improved but certain other elements need improvement,’’ said Radford.

‘’This is a step up,’’ added James. ‘’A lot of the transition elements are better, but we are still working on getting that clean program.’’

Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were sixth and Lori-Anne Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., were seventh.

In men’s competition, Nathan Chen of the U.S. was the only skater in the top group to deliver a clean program and he won the gold outright landing four quads and totalling 307.18 points. Jason Brown of the U.S. was second at 259.55 and Evgeni Semenenko of Russia moved from fifth to third with 256.01.

Canada’s Keegan Messing struggled in his free skate and dropped from third to fifth overall with 238.34. Conrad Orzel of Woodstock, Ont., couldn’t gain ground with the sixth best free skate and remained ninth and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., was 12th.

‘’I was pretty disappointed I wasn’t able to give the performance I wanted to today,’’ said Messing, sixth at the world championships this past March. ‘’After my fall I felt a bit shaky but I tried to forget about it. I’m just going to put my best foot forward towards the next competition.’’

Orzel was determined to bounce back after a subpar short.

‘’I was disappointed about my short program, so it was great to come back in the long and do two quad toes in the free skate,’’ said Orzel, 21, in his season debut. ‘’Although there were some mistakes, I was happy with the general performance.’’

Russia swept the medals in women’s competition with Kamila Valieva first, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva second and Alena Kostornaia third.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., was eighth, Emily Bausback of Vancouver 11th and Alison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., 12th.

‘’I was really happy with my free program today,’’ said Schizas, 18, 13th at the 2021 worlds. ‘’My coaching team and I made a lot of changes since my last competition to make the second half of the program more successful and that reflected in my performance today.’’

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/gpcan2021/

Gilles and Poirier First After Rhythm Dance at Skate Canada International

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VANCOUVER – Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto are in first place after Friday’s rhythm dance at Skate Canada International, the second stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.

Skating to music by Elton John, Gilles and Poirier notched a personal best international score of 85.65 bettering the 83.92 set at the ISU Four Continents in early 2020. In their bright orange suits they wowed the crowd with a smooth program and were awarded level four marks for their sequential twizzles and rotational lift.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy are second at 78.82 and Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain third at 76.97.

‘’We haven’t really been conscious of having a target on our back,’’ said Poirier, third with his partner at last spring’s world championships. ‘’Our focus is on the Olympics and getting a medal there. We are very aware of all the places we need to improve – we need to focus on the work we need to do on ourselves.’’

Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., are sixth and Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Langley, B.C. are 10th.

The Americans are 1-2 in men’s competition after the short. World champion Nathan Chen stands first with 106.72 and Jason Brown is second at 94.00. Canada’s Keegan Messing is third ahead of two Russians at 93.28.

Messing nailed his his quad toe triple toe combo to open his program, turned slightly on his triple Axel landing and executed a solid triple Lutz.

‘’It’s great to be back on the circuit but I forgot the pressure that comes with it,’’ said Messing, sixth at the world championships. ‘’I was very thankful to go out there and put down a clean skate.’’

Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., is ninth and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughn, Ont., is 10th.

In pairs, Canadians are within striking distance of the podium after the short program.

Two-time Canadian champions Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are fourth at 66.43 just ahead of the new pairs team of Vanessa James of Scarborough, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., in fifth at 65.02. Lori-Anne Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., are seventh at 57.25.

‘’We were so excited to skate in front of a crowd,’’ said Moore-Towers. ‘’But we may have gotten a little bit too excited, and we got a little bit ahead of ourselves in parts of the program.’’

James and Radford, in their first season together, bring a lot of experience to the table but there is still an important adaptation period.

‘’We still need mileage and time in competition,’’ said James, who joined forces with Radford in April. ‘’Our practices are going very, very well. We’re learning a lot about how the other reacts in competition and what changes a little bit when we are under stress.’’

Olympic silver medallist Wenjing Sui and Cong Hang of China are first at 78.94, Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin of Russia are second at 69.46 and Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nolan Seegert of Germany third at 67.93.

Russia stands 1-2-3 in women’s competition after the short. Kamila Valieva is first, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva second and Alena Kostornaia third.

Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., is ninth, Emily Bausback of Vancouver 10th and Alison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., 11th.

‘’I’m very happy with my skate today it was one of my better ones,’’ said Bausback, 19, the reigning Canadian champion, who set a season’s best 59.53. ‘’Getting the energy from the crowd really helped me perform and I felt I made a connection with them.’’

Competition ends Saturday with the four free skates.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/gpcan2021/

Single Day Tickets: On Sale Today

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OTTAWA, ON: We have exciting news to share today. Single Day tickets for the 2021 Skate Canada International go on sale today at 1pm ET. With recent provincial restrictions being lifted, Skate Canada and the City of Vancouver were able to accommodate selling single day tickets to the event. We reiterate that there are still limited tickets for sale.

Friday: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/11005B4ED42D2F15

Saturday: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/11005B4ED43F2F1B

Sunday: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/11005B4ED44E2F23

The 2021 Skate Canada International will take place in Vancouver, B.C., at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre from October 29-31, 2021. Please note, the city of Vancouver requires proof of double vaccination against COVID-19 at least two weeks in advance to enter public venues, including the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

The line-up in Vancouver features Canadian favourites including Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, Keegan Messing, and Madeline Schizas. They will be joined by various current and former world medallists including Nathan Chen of the United States, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China, and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia. A full list of entries can be found on the ISU website.

Single session tickets range from $90 to $150 CAD depending on the competition day and section (plus applicable fees and taxes) and $55 to $90 CAD (plus applicable fees and taxes) for the exhibition gala on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 1-855-985-5000. Please note, a maximum of eight tickets can be purchased per individual.

This event will not have a Super Fan Section, but we do look forward to bringing this back to future events.

To get advance notice on ticketing information, subscribe to our fan mailing list.

EVENT INFO

Skate Canada International is the second competition in the annual International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figuring Skating series. The other events take place in the United States (Skate America), Italy (Gran Premio d’Italia), Japan (NHK Trophy), France (Internationaux de France), and Russia (Rostelecom Cup).

Each skater/team can be assigned a maximum of two events. Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their events. The top six from each discipline (men, women, pairs and ice dance) qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

This will be Vancouver’s second time hosting Skate Canada International, they previously hosted in 1978. Additionally, Vancouver has been a longtime partner of figure skating, hosting world renowned events such as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in 2001 and 1960, and the 2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

ISU Grand Prix is heading to Vancouver, B.C for the Skate Canada International

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will send 12 entries for a total of 18 skaters to the 2021 Skate Canada International (#SCI21) in Vancouver, B.C. Skate Canada will have three entries in men, women, pairs and ice dance. The 2021 Skate Canada International is the second event in the 2021/2022 ISU Grand Prix of figure skating Series. The ISU Grand Prix Series allows senior skaters to compete at an international level. Each skater/team can be assigned a maximum of two events. Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their events. The top six from each discipline (men, women, pair and ice dance) qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final to be held in Osaka, Japan on December 9-12, 2021.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT ISU GRAND PRIX SKATE CANADA INTERNATIONAL – VANCOUVER, B.C 

DISICIPLINE  NAME  AGE  HOMETOWN  CLUB  COACH 
Men  Keegan Messing  29  Girdwood, Alaska, USA  Ice Palace FSC  Ralph Burghart 
Men  Roman Sadovsky   22  Vaughan, Ont.   York Region Skating Centre  Tracey Wainman, Grzegorz Filipowski 
Men  Conrad Orzel  21  Woodbridge, Ont.   Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club  Brian Orser, Tracy Wilson 
Women  Madeline Schizas  18  Oakville, Ont.  Milton Skating Club   Nancy Lemaire, Derek Schmid 
Women  Emily Bausback  19  Vancouver, B.C  Champs International Skating Centre of BC  Joanne McLeod, Neil Wilson 
Women  Alison Schumacher  18  Tecumseh, Ont.   Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club  Joey Russell, Tracy Wilson, Ghislain Briand 
Pairs  Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro  29/29  St. Catharines, Ont. / Sarnia, Ont.   Skate Oakville  Bruno Marcotte, Alison Purkiss, Brian Shales 
Pairs  Vanessa James / Eric Radford  34/36  Scarborough, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont.   EPJM / C.P.A Saint Leonard  Julie Marcotte 
Pairs  Lori-Ann Matte / Thierry Ferland  22/25  Levis, Que. / Levis, Que.   CPA St. Romuald / St. Jean Levis  Ian Connolly  
Ice Dance  Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier  29/30  Toronto, Ont. / Unionville, Ont.   Ice Dance Elite-Scarboro FSC  Carol Lane, Juris Razgulajevs, Jon Lane 
Ice Dance  Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha  19/19  Boucherville, Que. / Saint-Hubert, Que.   CPA Boucherville / CPA Saint-Lambert  Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer 
Ice Dance  Haley Sales / Nikolas Wamsteeker  24/25  Kelowna, B.C / Langley, B.C  Kelowna SC / Champs International Skating Centre of BC  Scott Moir 

Manon Perron, Skate Canada High Performance Advisor and Cynthia Ullmark of Canmore, Alta., will be the Canadian team leaders at the event. Dr. Tatiana Jevremovic of London, Ont., and Physiotherapist Agnes Makowski of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff on site. Karen Howard of Regina, Sask., Glenn Fortin of Aurora, Ont., Nicole LeBlanc-Richard of Dieppe, N.B., and Andrea Derby of Uxbridge, Ont., will be the Canadian officials at the event.  

For More Information www.isu.org

All-Event Tickets on Sale Now: 2021 Skate Canada International

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OTTAWA, ON: All-event tickets for the 2021 Skate Canada International are on sale now. There will be a limited number of all-event tickets. Skate Canada thanks you for the continuous support during the pandemic and we cannot wait to see some of you in person later this month.  

The 2021 Skate Canada International will take place in Vancouver, B.C., at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre from October 29-31, 2021. Please note, the city of Vancouver requires proof of double vaccination against COVID-19 at least two weeks in advance to enter public venues, including the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. 

The line-up in Vancouver features Canadian favourites including Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, Keegan Messing, and Madeline Schizas. They will be joined by various current and former world medallists including Nathan Chen of the United States, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China, and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia. A full list of entries can be found on the ISU website.  

All-Event ticket packages will include all competitions, the exhibition gala. Practices are closed to the general public. Fans will be able to choose from seats in the lower portion of the bowl for $300 CAD and in the higher portion of the bowl for $250 CAD plus applicable fees and taxes. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 1-855-985-5000. Please note, a maximum of eight tickets can be purchased per individual. 

This event will not have a Super Fan Section, but we do look forward to bringing this back to future events.  

To get advance notice on ticketing information, subscribe to our fan mailing list.  

EVENT INFO 

Skate Canada International is the second competition in the annual International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figuring Skating series. The other events take place in the United States (Skate America), Italy (Gran Premio d’Italia), Japan (NHK Trophy), France (Internationaux de France), and Russia (Rostelecom Cup). 

Each skater/team can be assigned a maximum of two events. Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their events. The top six from each discipline (men, women, pairs and ice dance) qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. 

This will be Vancouver’s second time hosting Skate Canada International, they previously hosted in 1978. Additionally, Vancouver has been a longtime partner of figure skating, hosting world renowned events such as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in 2001 and 1960, and the 2018 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. 

Media Accreditation: Skate Canada International

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OTTAWA, ON: The media accreditation application for the 2021 Skate Canada International is now open. Skate Canada International will be held in person, but due to the pandemic and health regulations most media members will be off site. Skate Canada will allow a small number of TV Rights Holders on site as well as Skate Canada’s photographer and the ISU’s photographer on site. Skate Canada looks forward to hosting media in a virtual setting for this year’s event. The event will take place from October 29-31, 2021, in Vancouver, B.C.

All media must apply for virtual media accreditation through Skate Canada’s online form. The deadline to apply for accreditation is October 26, 2021.

Skate Canada will continue to monitor the provincial and federal health guidelines and determine on a per event basis whether media will be held in a virtual setting. We encourage our media partners to access the media accreditation form to apply for accreditation for the 2021-2022 season.

Accreditation will be granted to professional media personnel only. Freelance media must provide a letter from the editor of the media outlet they are representing during the time of application. All applications are evaluated on an event-by-event basis and are subject to Skate Canada’s media accreditation guidelines.

Please visit the event page for further event updates.