Tag Archive for: Natalie d’Alessandro / Bruce Waddell

Canada Wins Two Medals in Ice Dancing at ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

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TALLIN, Estonia – Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto, Ont. and Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., won the silver and bronze medals in ice dancing Sunday at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

It is the first time ever that Canada has won two medals in the same event at a world juniors which were launched in 1976.

Oona Brown and Gage Brown of the U.S., earned the gold medal with 170.25 points followed by D’Alessandro and Waddell with 162.56 and Bashynska and Beaumont at 157.64.

‘’It’s a pretty surreal feeling that we are on the podium and it really hasn’t sunk in yet,’’ said Waddell.

D’Alessandro and Waddell conclude a successful season, most recently capturing the silver in February at the Egna Dance Trophy and gold in January at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

‘’We didn’t have placement expectations here,’’ said D’Alessandro. ‘’We didn’t want anything blocking us from skating the way we know we can. We wanted two skates in which we didn’t hold back going into the elements.’’

In addition to their medal on Sunday, Bashynska and Beaumont took silver at nationals this season and bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria.

‘’We just aimed for a clean skate with this new program and we delivered,’’ said Beaumont. ‘’We were super pleased with the result.’’

‘’We were definitely aiming for a top-five so we could assure three Canadian entries at the next world juniors,’’ added Bashynska.

In women’s competition, Isabeau Levito of the U.S. took the gold with Jia Shin of South Korea second and Lindsay Thorngren of the U.S. third.

Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., was 14th and Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que., 21st.

Canada ends the world juniors with three medals. On Friday, Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., took bronze in pairs.

The 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships are slated for Calgary.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/wjc2022/

McIntosh and Mimar Win Comeback Bronze at ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

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TALLIN, Estonia – Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., won the bronze medal on Friday in pairs at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The Canadians were fourth after Thursday’s short program but delivered the third best free skate to climb into the podium position finishing with 156.80 points.

The medal capped a great season for the pair who also captured gold at both Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and the Bavarian Open in 2022.

‘’We focused on what we had to do for the free skate,’’ said McIntosh, 10th at the world juniors with her previous partner in 2019. ‘’We knew we were prepared, and we just had to go and show that. Even through the uncertainty of this season we kept training and kept motivated.’’

Karina Safina and Luka Berulava of Georgia took the gold with 188.12 and Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia were second at 169.91.

Chloe Panetta of Oakville, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., remained in seventh with 129.70.

In ice dancing, Canadian couples are second and third after the rhythm dance. Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto are second with 64.00 points and Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., are third at 63.45. They trail leaders Oona Brown and Gage Brown of the U.S. first at 66.98.

D’Alessandro and Waddell continue a successful season, most recently capturing the silver last week at the Egna Dance Trophy and gold in January at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

‘’We had speed and aggression and there was no holding back which allowed us to have one of our best skates of the year,’’ said Waddell.

‘’We got a lot of good feedback on the technical side from our performance in Italy and some of those elements we were able to accomplish here,’’ added D’Alessandro.

This season Bashynska and Beaumont took silver at nationals and bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria.

‘’When we finished that program, it was an explosion of emotions,’’ said Bashynska. ‘’We did everything we wanted basically.’’

‘’There was no thinking going on,’’ added Beaumont. ‘’Everything was natural.’’

Competition continues Saturday with the men’s free skate featuring Canadians Wesley Chiu and Stephen Gogolev second and sixth after Thursday short program and the women’s short program. The free dance is Sunday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/wjc2022/

Junior Skaters head to Estonia for Junior Championships

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have a total of 12 skaters competing at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships®2022 in Tallinn, Estonia. Canada will have two entries in each discipline.  The event will take place April 13 – 17, 2022.  

Wesley Chiu, 16, Richmond, B.C., will be the first Canadian entry in men’s. Wesley has had a great season thus far, winning both gold and bronze on the ISU Junior Grand Prix. Recently, Wesley competed at the senior level at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships where he finished third. Wesley is coached by Keegan Murphy and Eileen Murphy in Richmond, B.C. 

Stephen Gogolev, 16, Toronto, Ont., is the second Canadian entry in the men’s discipline. Gogolev finished eleventh at the 2021 Warsaw Cup.  Domestically Gogolev captured gold at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge. Gogolev is coached by Rafael Arutyunyan in Irvine, California, and Lee Barkell in Toronto, Ont.  

Justine Miclette, 16, Chambly, Que., will be the first entry for Canada in women’s. This season, Miclette placed first at both the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge in junior women. Internationally, Miclette competed at the junior grand prix event in Kosice, Slovakia, where she finished 15th. Most recently Miclette competed at the Challenge Cup in the Netherlands where she placed fourth. She is coached by Stéphanie Fiorito in Chambly, Que. 

Lia Pereira, 18, Milton, Ont., is the second entry in women. This season, Pereira finished in 10th place at the 2021 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. She also competed at the senior level domestically, finishing fourth at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge and 10th at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The most recent competition for Pereira was the Challenge Cup in the Netherlands in which she finished in sixth place. Pereira is coached by Nancy Lemaire and Derek Schmidt in Milton, Ont. 

Brooke McIntosh, 17, Toronto, Ont., and Benjamin Mimar, 20, Terrebonne, Que., are the first Canadian entry in pairs. The pair captured gold at both the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and the 2022 Bavarian Open in Germany. They are coached by Andrew Evans, Alexander Sheldrick-Male, and Pavol Porac in Mississauga, Ont. 

Chloe Panetta, 18 from Oakville, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher, 17 from Amherstburg, Ont., are Canada’s second pairs entry. This duo previously placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland. The pair also finished fourth at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Panetta and Thrasher are coached by Bruno Marcotte and Brian Shales in Oakville, Ont. 

Natalie D’Alessandro, 17, Toronto, Ont., and Bruce Waddell, 20, Toronto, Ont., are the first entry in ice dance. D’Alessandro and Waddell have had a great season, most recently capturing the silver medal in junior ice dance at the 2022 Egna Dance Trophy and gold at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. They are coached by Andrew Hallam, Joey Russell, and Tracy Wilson in Toronto, Ont. 

Nadiia Bashynska, 17, Ajax, Ont., and Peter Beaumont, 20, Ajax, Ont., are the second of two teams representing Canada in ice dance. Bashynska and Beaumont previously won silver at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Linz, Austria. They are coached by Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs in Scarborough, Ont. 

Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que., and Andre Bourgeois, Skate Canada NextGen Director will be the team leaders at the event. Skate Canada President Karen Butcher will be the team official. Cynthia Benson of Quispamsis, N.B., Reaghan Fortin of Aurora, Ont., Veronique Gosselin of Saint-Jean-sur- Richelieu, Que., Sabrina Wong of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian judges at the event. Sylvia Ciurysek of Berwyn, Alta., and Dr. Erika Persson of Edmonton, Alta., will be the Canadian medical staff on site.  

Fans can watch the event by accessing the ISU livestream.  

D’Alessandro and Waddell Continue Fantastic Season at Egna Dance Trophy with Silver

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SOFIA, Bulgaria- Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto are now four-for-four in international podium performances this season after a silver medal in junior ice dancing on Sunday at the Egna Dance Trophy figure skating competition.

Katerina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek of the Czech Republic won the gold medal with 167.06 points. D’Alessandro and Waddell followed at 159.71 and Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov of Israel were third at 153.02.

There were 21 entries.

‘’We’re pretty happy with our performance,’’ said Waddell, 20. ‘’We know what we want to improve on and ramp up for junior worlds. We went out and did what we could today and we are pretty happy with it.’’

D’Alessandro said she was happy with the progress they showed.

‘’We felt like our performance definitely took a step forward from some of our others throughout the season,’’ said D’Alessandro.  ‘’But we still have lots of areas to improve with our technical scores, so we’ll go back to training and evaluate all the areas we need to improve.’’

On the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, the Canadian couple collected gold and silver in their two assignments and earned a berth in the Junior Grand Prix Final. The Final was cancelled due to COVID-19 issues in Japan.

They also won an international event in Austria and took gold in junior ice dance at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. They are coached by Andrew Hallam, Joey Russell, and Tracy Wilson in Toronto.  

Their next competition is the world juniors set for March 7-13, also in Sofia. Waddell was able to pinpoint some elements that need more polish.

‘’Cleaner turns, more for sure on each element so there’s nothing to be questioned technically,’’ he said.

‘’We want to maintain the same level of performance while adding the technical aspects to that and of course just improving our speed across the ice,’’ added D’Alessandro.

D’Alessandro and Waddell were the only Canadian entries in Sofia.

Full results: https://www.fisg.it/upload/result/5601/index.html

Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen on Track for a Third Medal this Season at Cup of Austria

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GRAZ, Austria – Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen of Montreal are on track for a third international medal this season as they stand third after the rhythm dance in ice dancing at the Cup of Austria, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy are first with 82.78 points, Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain second at 78.53 and the Canadian ice dancers follow at 77.38, a season’s best score.

Fournier Beaudry and Sørensen also took bronze at Skate America earlier this month and silver at the Lombardia Trophy.

Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Calgary are sixth and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., and Molly Lanaghan of Scarborough, Ont., are 12th.

In the men’s event, Nika Egadze of Georgia rocketed from 12th after the short program to win the gold medal. Lucas Honda of Japan was second and Ilia Malinin of the U.S. jumped from 13th to third.

Corey Circelli of Toronto moved from 14th to 10th and Beres Clements of Gibson, B.C., was 16th.

Wakaba Higuchi of Japan hung on to gold in the women’s event despite the fourth best free skate with Yeongjeong Park of South Korea second and Niina Petrokina of Estonia third.

Emily Bausback of Vancouver was seventh and Allison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., moved from 17th after the short program to 13th with the eighth best free skate.

Competition ends Sunday with the free dance.

Gold and silver medals for Canada in the Junior Event

The Cup of Austria also featured a junior competition which concluded Saturday. The big news for Canada was a victory for Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell in ice dancing on Saturday. It was a second victory this season after they won an ISU Junior Grand Prix event in September.

‘’There were lots of positives but also a couple of negatives we weren’t as happy about,’’ said Waddell. ‘’But that’s super necessary for us to happen in order to realise the difference between this and an amazing performance.’’

‘’There are a lot of things we want to change and improve when we get home,’’ added D’Alessandro.

Sandrine Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and  Quentin Thieren of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., were ninth.

Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., nearly grabbed another victory for Canada in the junior men’s event. He took the silver medal with 180.04 points with the winner Naoki Rossi of Switzerland first with 180.82.

Rose Théroux of Ste-Victoire-de-Sorel, Que., won the women’s junior short program but couldn’t duplicate that performance in the free skate and placed fourth overall less than three points from the podium.

Full results:

Junior: http://skateaustria.vs91-250-98-130.cloud-he.de/img/competition/7.2021_22/031/index.htm

Challenger Series: http://skateaustria.vs91-250-98-130.cloud-he.de/img/competition/7.2021_22/030/index.htm

Canadian ice dancers in hunt for second gold at ISU Junior Grand Prix

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LJUBLJANA – Ice dancers Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell are chasing a a second victory on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit this season.

The Toronto couple are second after Friday’s rhythm dance with 64.26 points, just slightly behind Russians Vasilia Kaganovskaia and Valeriy Angelopol currently first with 66.00. Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen of the U.S. are third at 62.99.

D’Alessandro and Waddell earned their first international victory at the third stop in Kosice finishing ahead of the same Russians. They were just 0.22 points off their personal best rhythm dance set three weeks ago.

Alyssa Robinson of Ridgetown, Ont., and Jacob Portz of Calgary are 11th.

The men’s free skate was also held on Friday. Alec Guinzbourg of Aurora, Ont., finished 10th in his third appearance on the circuit. Ilya Yablokov of Russia won the event.

‘’My experience here was great,’’ said Guinzbourg, 17. ‘’Even tough the programs were not the best, it still felt good to be out there competing.’’

In Thursday’s women’s short program, Audréanne Foster of Forestville, Que., was ninth.

Competition ends Saturday with the free dance and the women’s free.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/jgpslo2021/

Gold Medal Win for Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell in Ice Dance

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KOSICE, Slovakia: Another medal for Canada on the Junior Grand Prix Circuit. Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto, Ont. won the gold medal in Ice Dance this morning with a score of 163.04. D’Alessandro and Waddell were sitting in second place after their Rhythm Dance yesterday by only 0.36 of a point. With great teams in front and behind them, this team delivered a flawless skate and continued to accelerate throughout their program today. This is the couple’s first Junior Grand Prix Win.

D’Alessandro and Waddell shared with us, “Winning our first event is amazing. Even when the nerves did hit, which of course they did because we wouldn’t be human without them, we were able to trust our training, turning our nerves into good energy.”

Russia took home both the silver and bronze medal in ice dance. Winning the silver is Vasilisa Kaganovskaia and Valeriy Angelopol with a score of 160.72 and capturing the bronze medal is Sofya Tyutyunina and Alexander Shustitskiy with 155.98 points.

Finishing in eleventh is Chloe Nguyen of Edmonton, Atla., and Alec Roueche of Surrey, B.C., with a score of 117.02.

It was a sweep for Russia in the women’s competition as their skaters secured gold, silver and bronze. Taking the gold medal was Veronika Zhilina with 216.92 points. Winning the silver medal, Sofia Muravieva with a score of 208.25 and capturing the bronze medal was Adeliia Petrosian with 201.21 points.

Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que finished in fifteenth place with a score of 126.71.

It was a 1-2 finish for Russia in the men’s competition. Kirill Sarnovskiy won gold with a score of 215.96 and Ilya Yablokov captured the silver medal with a score of 207.39. The American William Annis secured the bronze medal with a score of 204.60.

Ranking fourth was Corey Circelli of Toronto, Ont. with a score of 191.13.

In pairs Russia’s Anastasia Mukhortova and Dmitry Evgenyev took home the gold medal with a score of 171.99. Capturing the silver medal was Karina Safina and Luka Berulava of Georgia with 168.26 and scoring the bronze medal was Polina Kostiukovich and Aleksei Briukhanov of Russia with 158.82 points.

Canada’s pair, Meghan Fredette, of Gatineau, Que., and William St-Louis of Shawinigan, Que., finished in sixth with a score of 131.36.

This concludes the event in Kosice, Slovakia and brings Canada’s current medal count on the Junior Grand Prix circuit to 5 medals: 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze.

The next ISU Junior Grand Prix will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia from September 15 to 18, 2021.

Full results: www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/jgpsvk2021/

Canadian skaters sweep men’s medals at Bavarian Open

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OBERTSDORF, Germany –Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., led a Canadian medal sweep in junior men’s competition Saturday at the Bavarian Open figure skating competition.

Nadeau was first in both the short and long programs for 213.58 points. Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., was second at 197.45 and Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., third at 197.28.

Next month, Nadeau is hoping to climb a step at the world junior championships after earning silver last season. The Canadian world junior team is using this event as a tune-up.

‘’It was an OK performance, not my best,’’ said Nadeau. ‘’There were a bit too many errors overall. Still it’s a preparation for the world juniors so I accomplished my goals for this point. I’m working on improving my quad toe in the long and I’ll probably not make changes to my short program.’’

Orzel landed a quad and two triple Axels.

‘’I kept focused at the beginning of my program and did all the hard elements,’’ he said. ‘’It was great to accomplish the big jumps in an international setting. I’m really comfortable now with my programs and I just want to boost some elements for the world juniors and get more points.’’

The 15-year-old Phan is the first sub for the world junior squad. He is keeping sharp with third men’s member Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., currently injured.

‘’I was really happy about landing my quad toe in the long,’’ said Phan. ‘’It hadn’t been going well at all in practice so I was pretty stressed about it. To get it in the competition was a big moment. Right now I’m on standby for the world juniors but I’m preparing like I would be going.’’

Canadian 12-year-old lands quad and two triple Axels
In novice competition, 12-year-old Stephen Gogolev of Toronto landed two triple Axels and a quad toe Salchow to win the gold in the men’s event with 140.52 points. Corey Circelli of Vaughan, Ont., missed the podium by just over five points for fourth.

‘’I just wanted to do well in the programs,’’ said Gogolev at his second career international event. ‘’The first half of the long stood out for me. Both triple Axels were really good and it was the second time I ever landed a quad Salchow. It had been pretty consistent all week in practice so it felt great when I landed it.’’

Catherine Carle of Georgetown, Ont., was fourth in the women’s event as were ice dancers Natalie d’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto.

Competition ends Sunday.

Full results: Bavarian Open 2017