Yerevan, Armenia (October 7, 2023) – The last event in the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating wrapped up Saturday in Yerevan, Armenia with six young Canadian skaters gaining valuable international experience for the rest of the season.

In ice dance, Alisa Korneva and Kieran MacDonald of Waterloo, Ont., who were making their international debut as a team, finished fifth overall with a total score of 133.26, while Auréa Cinçon-Debout of Montreal and Earl Jesse Celestino of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., finished eighth with a total score of 113.97.

“I think we were a bit nervous at the beginning, but I think today we pulled it back together. Today we were more calm because the first program was done,” said MacDonald following the free skate. “Our goal was to just skate together at this competition. In training we’ve really been working on moving together and not forcing things.”

Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov of Israel won gold with a total score of 170.33, while Elliana and Ethan Peal of the USA took silver with a total score of 155.83 and Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara of Italy took bronze with a total score of 146.04.

In the men’s competition, David Li of Richmond, B.C., who was skating in his second Junior Grand Prix event this season after finishing 8^th in Austria, had the top Canadian result, finishing seventh with a total score of 168.54. Li has struggled a bit with his short program so far this season – he was sitting in 11^th place heading into the free skate, but a strong free skate where he placed sixth, bumped him up to finish seventh.

“I came to Armenia a little later than I expected, so I had a little bit less time to prepare, but overall, I gained some good experience with how I can progress and how I can improve,” said Li who arrived a day later than expected due to travel delays. “The short wasn’t ideal, but after practice the next day, I decided to come into the free skate with more attack.”

Shohei Law of Vancouver, B.C., who was skating in his first Junior Grand Prix event, finished 10^th with a total score of 155.67.

Danel Martynov of the USA won gold with a total score of 220.09, while Shunsuke Nakamura of Japan took silver with a total score of 214.67, and Fedir Kulish of Latvia took bronze with a total score of 205.23.

This event sees the conclusion of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Next up will be the Grand Prix finals which will be held in Beijing, China from December 7^th to 10^th.

For full results please click here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/jgparm2023/

OTTAWA, ON (September 13, 2023) – A team of 10 skaters will represent Canada at the fifth ISU Junior Grand Prix, taking place in Budapest, Hungary from September 20-23, 2023. One woman, one man, two pair teams and two ice dance teams will be competing throughout the week. 

2023 Coupe de Printemps bronze medalist Aleksa Volkova will be competing in the women’s event, while 2023 Novice Canadian Champion David Howes will be competing in the men’s event.  

Martina Ariano Kent and Charly Laliberté-Laurent, who mostly recently claimed gold at the 2023 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria, will be competing in the pair event along with Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, who placed second at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in the junior category. 

In the ice dance event, 2023 NextGen Competition silver medalists Dana Sabatini-Speciale and Nicholas Buelow will be heading to their second international event of the season, having most recently competed at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul, Turkey. Caroline Kravets and Jacob Stark will be making their international debut. 

The competition will begin on Thursday, September 21 with the men’s, pair and women’s short programs. The following day, ice dancers will perform their rhythm dance, while pairs and men will complete their free programs. Competition ends on Saturday with the women’s free program and the free dance. 

Team Canada   

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location   

Women 
Aleksa Volkova | 14 | Lac-Brôme, Que. | Martine Dagenais | Boucherville, Que. 

Men 
David Howes | 16 | Winnipeg, Man. | Keegan Murphy | Richmond, B.C.  

Pair 
Ava Kemp | 15 | Winnipeg, Man. & Yohnatan Elizarov | 19 | Winnipeg, Man. | Andrew Evans & Kevin Dawe | Mississauga, Ont.
Martina Ariano Kent | 16 | Mount Royal, Que. & Charly Laliberté-Laurent | 17 | Boucherville, Que. | Marc-André Craig & David Alexandre Paradis | Chambly, Que.  

Ice Dance 
Caroline Kravets | 15 | Petersburg, Ont. & Jacob Stark | 17 | Waterloo, Ont. | Tyler Morris | Waterloo, Ont.
Dana Sabatini-Speciale | 17 | Springwater, Ont. & Nicholas Buelow | 16 | Barrie, Ont. | Mitch Islam & Kelly Johnson | Barrie, Ont. 

Team Leaders – Christopher Mabee & Manon Perron
Officials – Sarah Coombs & Erica Topolski
Medical Team – Cole Beavis & Mireille Landry 

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org. 

Linz, Austria (September 2, 2023) – Martina Ariano Kent of Mount Royal, Que., and Charly Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., started off their international competitive career with a bang on Friday as they won gold in the pair event at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition that wrapped up Saturday in Linz, Austria. Chloe Nguyen of Vancouver, B.C. and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, B.C., captured silver in ice dance.

Ariano Kent and Laliberté-Laurent, who have only been skating together for five months, led the competition in both the short program and free skate and finished the competition with a total score of 158.28. Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA took silver with a total score of 147.22 while Wenning Shi and Zhiyu Wang of China captured bronze with a total score of 123.50.

“We didn’t think about changing any elements or doing anything differently than we do in practice,” said Laliberté-Laurent following the free skate when asked if they considered changing anything after sitting in first after the short program. “We weren’t really going out there for a medal, it was more about having fun during the competition and we did that.”

Nguyen and Giang were also making their international debut as a team and laid down two great skates to finish second with a total score of 144.75. Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy of Germany won gold (154.33), while Elliana and Ethan Pearl of the USA captured bronze (142.83). The second Canadian ice dance team of Savanna Martel and William Oddson, both of Calgary, Alta., finished 9^th overall with a total score of 118.76.

“Because it’s our first international together, and our first season together, I think we just came in not expecting much, but I think we’re both really happy with how we did,” said Giang following their free skate.

Nguyen added: “We just wanted to come out and have a good skate and we did that. We’ve been putting out good skates in practice and we just wanted to do the same thing here.”

Kara Yun of Burnaby, B.C. competed in the junior women’s competition and finished seventh overall with a total score of 156.24. Jia Shin of Korea won gold (201.33), while Haruna Murakami of Japan took silver (168.37), and Minsol Kwan of Korea took bronze (165.93).

In the junior men’s competition, David Li of Richmond, B.C., finished 8^th overall with a total score of 177.02. Adam Hagara of Slovakia won gold (220.33), while Hyungyeom Kim of Korea took silver (211.76), and Beck Strommer of the USA the bronze (210.92).

The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Istanbul, Turkey from September 6-9, 2023 and will feature nine NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, two men, one pair team, and two ice dance teams.

For full results please visit: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/jgpaut2023/