Tag Archive for: 2022 Junior Grand Prix

11 NextGen Skaters to Represent Canada at Junior Grand Prix #3 in Latvia

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OTTAWA, ON (September 6, 2022) – Following a brief stop in Ostrava, Czech Republic, 11 Canadian NextGen skaters will be travelling to Riga, Latvia for the third Junior Grand Prix of the season from September 7 to September 10, 2022. The team will count one entry in women, as well as two in men, pair and ice dance. 

At only 14 years old, Grayson Long will be competing at his first Junior Grand Prix after claiming silver at both the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge and the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. First year junior David Shteyngart will also be representing Canada in this category. Shteyngart took home the gold medal at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge and the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships last season while competing as a novice. 

Justine Miclette, 16, will be the lone entry in the women’s event. The Chambly, Que., native is the current Canadian junior champion and placed fourth at the 2022 Challenge Cup in Tilburg, Netherlands earlier this year. 

Canadian novice champions Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov will be competing in the pair discipline for the first time alongside Ashlyn Schmitz and Tristan Taylor. The Saskatchewan-based duo of Schmitz and Taylor finished sixth at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge. 

Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren will be Canada’s first entry in ice dance, with the pair coming in fourth at last year’s Skate Canada Challenge, where they missed the podium by less than a point. Completing the team will be ice dancers Jordyn Lewis and Noah McMillan, who finished sixth at Skate Canada’s 2022 NextGen simulation. 

Competition starts on Thursday, September 8, with women, pair and men short program. Rhythm dance, pair and women free program will take place on September 9, followed by the men free program and free dance on September 10. The full schedule and results are available here. 

Team Canada
Name| Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location  

Men 
Grayson Long | 14 | Oakville, Ont. | Brian Orser & Karen Preston | Toronto, Ont.
David Shteyngart | 16 | Ottawa, Ont. | Darlene Joseph | Ottawa, Ont. 

Women 
Justine Miclette | 16 | Chambly, Que. | Stéphanie Fiorito & Ian Connolly | Chambly, Que. 

Pair 
Ava Kemp| 14 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 18 | Winnipeg, Man. | Kevin Dawe & Andrew Evans | Winnipeg, Man. 
Ashlyn Schmitz | 16 | Shellbrook, Sask. & Tristan Taylor | 20 | Regina, Sask. | David & Vicki Schultz | Regina, Sask. 

Ice Dance
Sandrine Gauthier | 18 | Saint-Constant, Que. & Quentin Thieren | 18 | Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que. | Patrice Lauzon & Benjamin Brisebois | St-Bruno, Que.
Jordyn Lewis | 18 | Komoka, Ont. & Noah McMillan | 18 | Ilderton, Ont. | Scott Moir & Cara Moir | Ilderton, Ont.  

Team Leaders – Andre Bourgeois & Manon Perron
Medical Team – Shirley Kushner & Ghislaine Robert
Officials – Ron Conacher, Lynne Dey, Lauren Senft & Laurene Collin Knoblauch 

For more information, please visit www.isu.org. 

Chloe Panetta and Kieran Thrasher Capture a Bronze Medal at the 2022 Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava

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OSTRAVA, CEZCH REPUBLIC (September 3, 2022) – Canada has captured its first international figure skating medal of the season at the Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Junior Pair and NextGen team members Chloe Panetta of Laval, Que and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ontario captured the bronze medal after the pair program and a new personal best with a score of 139.72.

The pair was ranked third coming into the short program and battled back from a few mistakes to score a second-place finish in the free and third overall.

“We did so much preparation on and off ice coming here, and we are really proud that we were able to show that in this competition,” said Panetta.

Rounding out the podium in the pair program was a one-two finish for the United States with Sophia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev winning the gold with a score of 171.36 and Cayla Smith and Andy Deng scoring the silver medal with 140.72 points.

In the men’s discipline Aleska Rakic of Burnaby, British Columbia showed up very consistent in both the short and free programs he skated, holding strong with a 7th place finish in both and finishing 7th overall.

“I feel good about my performance in the performing aspect, there are some technical parts I would prefer to be better but overall, I am happy with how I fought in the free program,” said Rakic who scored 117.49 points in the free and ended the competition with an overall score of 182.82.

Sara-Maude Dupuis of Montreal, Québec was Canada’s only entry in the women’s discipline and finished the event overall with a score of 143.17 to finish 11th.

In Ice Dance, both of Canada’s teams finished in the top ten. Hailey Yu and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, British, Columbia held onto their top ten finish with a strong free dance that saw them finish sixth with a score of 82.94 to finish the competition 9th overall with a score of 136.45.

Yu shared, “I think we showed we have potential later in the season. I think nerves and getting back to international competition again brought some challenges but overall, I think we handled it well. We are excited to get back to work and be ready for Gdansk, Poland in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Marianne Hubert of Trois-Rivières, Québec and William Oddson of Calgary, Alberta put in a strong showing at their first Junior Grand Prix to place tenth overall with a score of 133.63. This first-year team previously competed as singles skaters.

For a new team competing in their first international competition, Hubert said, “Our elements were solid, and it felt nice on the ice, and I think we did a good job, we’re really proud of it.”

This was the second of seven stops on the 2022 Junior Grand Prix circuit where skater’s from across the globe are competing for spots at the 2022 Junior Grand Prix Final taking place in Torino, Italy, from December 8th to 11th, 2022.

The next stop on the Junior Grand Prix circuit will take place in Riga, Latvia from September 7th to 10th, 2022.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/jgpcze2022/
For media inquiries: [email protected]

NextGen Skaters Travel to France to Kick Off the 2022-2023 Skating Season

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OTTAWA, ON (August 22, 2022) – Six NextGen skaters will be representing Canada across three events at the first ISU Junior Grand Prix Series of the season, set to take place in Courchevel, France from August 24-27, 2022. Canadian entries include one participant in each of the men’s and women’s events, as well as two in ice dance. 

David Li of Richmond, B.C., will be the sole athlete to represent Canada in the men’s discipline in his first year as a junior. The 15-year-old had a standout 2022 novice season, which included winning gold at the Egna Spring Trophy in Italy and bronze at the Skate Canada Challenge. He is currently coached by Keegan and Eileen Murphy in Vancouver, B.C. 

In women’s, 18-year-old Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., will be kicking off her season after finishing first at the 2022 Cranberry Cup International in Boston and 14th at the 2022 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She is coached by Nancy Lemaire and Derek Schmidt in Milton, Ont.   

Chaima Ben Khelifa, 17, Laval, Que., and Everest Zhu, 19, Waterloo, Ont., will be competing in ice dance, with the duo looking to better last year’s performance that landed them in 8th place. They will be joined by current Canadian novice champions Layla Veillon, 16, London, Ont., and Alexander Brandys, 17, London, Ont. who will be competing in the same event. The teams are coached by Shawn Winter and Elise Hamel in Pierrefonds, Que. and Alma Moir, Scott Moir and Cara Moir in London, Ont. respectively.  

Team Canada 

David Li – Men
Lia Pereira – Women 
Chaima Ben Khelifa & Everest Zhu – Ice dance
Layla Veillon & Alexander Brandys – Ice dance   

Team leaders – Mike Slipchuk & Josée Bourdon
Physiotherapist – Kirsten Lemmon 
Officials – Christine Bourdeau & Cynthia Benson  

For more information, please visit www.isu.org.