Tag Archive for: Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2022

Lajoie and Lagha win gold at ISU Challenger Series event

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (October 1, 2022) – Canadian ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha  won their first international senior event Saturday at the Nepela Memorial figure skating competition, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series circuit.

The 2022 Olympians posted an ISU event personal best score 193.35 points bettering the 192.11 they skated at the 2020 Four Continents meet.

Eva Pate and Logan Bye of the U.S. were second at 178.69 and Marie Dupayage and Thomas Nabais of France third at 165.78.

For their first senior victory, Lagha, from St-Hubert, Que., and Lajoie, from Boucherville, Que., the 2019 world junior champions, weren’t screaming off the rooftops.

‘’It was O.K. for a first skate despite a little mistake,’’ Lagha, 23. ‘’We don’t want to do mistakes anymore.’’

Lajoie, 21, was happy to return to competition.

‘’It was a long time since we competed,’’ she said. ‘’You have to get use to that feeling again and for us, we wanted to skate very good and have a good result. But there is a lot to improve.’’

Lajoie and Lagha were the only Canadians at the event.

Full results: Challenger Series Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2022

Two Canadian Skaters to Compete at Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2022

OTTAWA, ON (September 23, 2022) The senior figure skating season is well underway after a successful stop in the United States that saw Team Canada finish just shy of the podium. Two Canadian athletes, Ice Dance team Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, now travel to Bratislava, Slovakia for the Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2022, taking place from September 29 – October 1, 2022.    

Olympians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha will lead the Canadian contingent in ice dance. Lajoie and Lagha had a breakthrough 2021-2022 season, winning bronze at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and placing 13th at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.  

Friday, September 30th will see the men complete their short program and ice dancers perform their rhythm dance. The competition concludes on the following day with the free dance and the men’s free program. For more information regarding the event, click here.     

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Ice Dance 
Marjorie Lajoie | 21 | Boucherville, Que. & Zachary Lagha | 23 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Romain Haguenauer | Montreal, Que.  

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Karen Seymour
Officials – Laura Carr & Leslie Keen