Tag Archive for: Alicia Fabbri/ Paul Ayer

Top Ice Dance Moments from the 2023/2024 Season

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The 2023/2024 figure skating season came to a crowd-roaring conclusion at the 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at home in Montreal, Quebec. From the junior to senior level, Canada’s ice dancers impressed this season, capturing a total of 14 international medals.

Here are some of the top ice dance moments from the season.

The king and queen of Canadian ice dance, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier continue to impress year after year, and what a year it was for this dynamic duo! Gilles and Poirier posted their best-ever finish at the 2024 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, winning the free dance and capturing the silver medal. Their road to the silver medal included their first championship gold medal at the 2024 ISU Four Continents Championships, a bronze medal at Grand Prix Final, and their fourth title win at Skate Canada International.

Not only did Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha overcome adversity this season, but they also found their place in the upper ranks of Canadian ice dance. After winning two silver medals on the Grand Prix circuit and making their first appearance at Grand Prix Final, Lajoie suffered a concussion that sidelined the duo for months. Finally in the clear to train again just before the World Championships, these previous Junior World Champions (2019) wowed the home crowd to place 5th in Montreal. A huge leap from their previous 11th place finish in 2022.

On the topic of impressive comebacks, Paul Ayer and Alicia Fabbri also had career highlighting moments this year. After being sidelined the previous season due to Ayer’s shoulder injury, Fabbri and Ayer captured their first podium finish – a bronze medal – at Nationals in Ayer’s hometown of Calgary, Alberta. They finished their season strong by winning the first senior international medal of their career, a bronze at the 2024 Challenge Cup.

Skate Canada’s junior teams also shone brightly this season. Ontario’s Layla Vellion and Alexander Brandys claimed their first national title, rising from their fifth-place finish at Nationals the year before. While Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang, the newly formed team from British Columbia, took home a silver medal on the junior Grand Prix circuit at the Cup of Austria. Both teams also had standout performances at the 2024 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, placing in the top-10.

The future of Canadian ice dance is looking strong as we approach the halfway mark to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina. Make sure to stay tuned to skatecanada.ca and sign up for the Fan List to be the first to know about the 2024/2025 Grand Prix assignments and who’s named to the National Team in the months ahead.

Canadian ice dancers fourth at ISU Junior Grand Prix

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., took fourth place in their international debut as a team on Saturday in ice dancing to conclude the first stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

It was a 1-2 Russian finish with Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Nikita Nazarov first with 160.24 points and Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy second at 152.42. Eliana Gropman and Ian Sommerville of the U.S. were third at 148.96.

Fabbri and Ayer, who both skated with different partners last year, produced the sixth best free dance but remained in fourth place in 136.04 less than three points ahead of a French couple.

‘’We showed a bit of stress skating our first free dance together internationally,’’ said Fabbri, 15, whose skates were lost in travel but eventually arrived in time. ‘’We were pleased with the free dance minus one error.’’

The couple says they are pleased with the progress of the partnership.

‘’We connected pretty quickly,’’ said Ayer, 20. ‘’There were so many changes I wasn’t sure initially how we were going to click right off the start but I don’t remember being a time we didn’t click even in the try-out.’’

Nadiia Bashynska of Markham, Ont., and Peter Beaumont of Unionville, Ont., scored the fifth best free dance but remained in ninth at 124.64. The couple remained unfazed after someone threw a toy stuffed animal on the ice in the middle of their performance.

‘’We noticed it right away, said Bashynska. ‘’We talked to each other and guided each other where we were going. It actually happened to us once before so we knew what to do in the situation. Just no matter what, keep calm and do your thing.’’

In women’s competition, Russians were 1-2 again with Anna Shcherbakova first and Anna Tarusina second. Young You of South Korea was third.

Alison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., was ninth.

‘’I feel like it was a good start to my international season,’’ said Schumacher. ‘’I fought through my program today. But I feel I’m ready for the rest of the season.’’

Canada ends the competition with one gold medal earned by 13-year-old Stephen Gogolev in the men’s event on Friday.

The second stop on the circuit runs this Thursday to Saturday in Linz, Austria.

Full results: ISU JGP Bratislava 2018