Tag Archive for: Skate Canada International

Canadian Pair and Ice Dance Teams lead after First Day of Skate Canada International

Vancouver, Canada (October 27, 2023) – 2023 World Championship bronze medallists Piper Gilles of Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., showed they are back on form Friday at the Skate Canada International competition taking place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C., as they set a season’s best score in the ice dance competition.

Gilles and Poirier have won this event three times in the past, and with a score of 87.55 in the rhythm dance, they look poised to repeat again this year.

“We’re really pleased with our skate today, it’s the first competition of the season for us and it’s the first time performing this program in front of people, so I think we’re really pleased with how that went,” said Poirier. “We really took our time, and allowed the program to come to us, and that’s the way we want to approach competitions this early in the season. We want this program to emotionally grow as we go through the season, but (today) we really focussed on the skating and making sure it was clean and I think we accomplished that today.”

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain sit in second with a score of 83.51, while Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania sit third with a score of 75.60. Canadian skaters Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., currently sit seventh (68.31), while Molly Lanaghan of Doncaster, GB and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax. Ont., sit 9th (65.97).

Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorian, Que., gold medallists at the 2023 Autumn Classic International in Montreal earlier this fall, dominated the pair competition and set a season’s best score of 72.55 in their short program to sit first heading into Saturday’s free skate.

“This is a fast song with lots of fast, dynamic arm movements, so we had to work a lot on that, and a lot on the intricacies of the in-between the element parts so we’re happy with that. The twists and the toes were nice, but I’m not happy with the throw,” said Stellato-Dudek following the skate.

Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise of Italy currently sit second (65.83), and Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia sit third (62.80). Brooke McIntosh of Toronto, Ont., and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., are sitting fifth with a score of 59.83, while Kelly Ann Laurin of St-Jérôme, Que., and Loucas Éthier of Deux-Montagnes, Que., sit seventh with a score of 57.14.

In the women’s competition, 2023 Canadian Champion Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., is the top Canadian following the short program, despite downgrading her double axel to a single midway through her program. Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., and Sara-Maude Dupuis of Montreal, Que., who are both making their senior grand prix debuts, are sitting 9th (55.82) and 10th (52.17) respectively following the short program.

The men’s short program closed out the event on Friday night and 2023 Canadian Championships silver medallist Conrad Orzel, of Toronto, Ont., led the Canadian men’s efforts with a score of 77.68 to head into the free skate on Saturday in 6th position.

“To be honest, I was really nervous for this competition because it’s my only Grand Prix and I really wanted to have a good showing because I felt I’ve improved a lot, and it would mean a lot for me to be able to show it. I was proud that I was able to control my nerves for my quads but I lost focus on the axel and that sort of ruined the happiness I had before the axel,” said Orzel. “I’m really looking forward to showing a good performance (tomorrow).”

Wesley Chiu had his hometown Vancouver fans cheering loudly for him as he scored a 76.94 to end the day sitting in 7th, while Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., who was a late addition to the competition following the withdrawal of Roman Sadovsky, did himself proud in his senior Grand Prix debut scoring a season’s best 72.56 to sit 9th heading into Saturday’s free skate.

The event will wrap up Saturday with the free programs/free dance for all disciplines. For more information about the event or to view the livestream, visit skatecanada.ca. For full results, please click here.

2023 Skate Canada International Single Session Tickets Available Next Week!

OTTAWA, ON (July 20, 2023)  Single session tickets for the 2023 Skate Canada International will be available for pre-sale on Monday, July 24, 2023, at 10:00 AM ET, and on sale to the public on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 10:00 AM ET. The 2023 Skate Canada International will take place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, in Vancouver, B.C., from October 27-29, 2023. 

The line-up will feature 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships® bronze medalists and defending ice dance champions Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier, as well as Canadian Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek, Maxime Deschamps, and Madeline Schizas. 

Single session tickets begin at $45 and prices range by session. All prices are in Canadian dollars, plus applicable taxes, and fees. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca. 

ABOUT SKATE CANADA INTERNATIONAL 

Skate Canada International is the second competition in the annual International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating® Series. The other events take place in the United States (Skate America), France (Grand Prix de France), China (Cup of China), Finland (Grand Prix Espoo), and Japan (NHK Trophy). 

Each skater/team can be assigned to a maximum of two events. Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their events. The top six from each discipline (men, women, pairs, and ice dance) qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final®. 

Skate Canada International Rewind

For just the second time in its storied history, the arena lights will be dark during the week of Skate Canada International.

Facing the same uncertainty as many sporting events around the globe, the 2020 Skate Canada International, scheduled to be held October 30-31 in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, Ontario, was recently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The only other year that Skate Canada International has not been held was way back in 1979 due to a pre-Olympic figure skating competition in Lake Placid, N.Y., host city for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

While TD Place will be empty this week, Skate Canada has skating fans covered. We are reaching back into the SCI vault all week long, with highlights, polls and unforgettable performances in Skate Canada International’s renowned history.

Skate Canada International was a part of the ISU Champions Series from 1995-1997, which eventually became the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in 1998. Skate Canada International is now the second competition in the annual ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.

We kick off the week with a historical timeline looking back at one of Canada’s premier annual international sporting events.

Skate Canada International Historical Results

1973 – The first Skate Canada International takes place in Calgary, Alberta. Canadians Toller Cranston and Lynn Nightingale win gold in men’s and women’s, while Hilary Green and Glyn Watts of Great Britain take the title in ice dance. Pair competition was not introduced until 1984.

1977 – A four-year reign atop the podium for Canadian men ends as Robin Cousins of Great Britain wins in Moncton, N.B.

1979 –Skate Canada International is cancelled due to Flaming Leaves, a competition that took place in Lake Placid, N.Y, as a pre-Olympic event. The decision is made not to hold Skate Canada International to allow skaters to compete on Olympic ice.

1983 –Brian Orser wins his first of three Skate Canada International men’s titles in Halifax, N.S. Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall of Canada capture gold in ice dance while East Germany’s Katarina Witt wins the women’s crown.

1984 – Held in Victoria, B.C., this is the first year that pair skating is included at Skate Canada International. Elena Bechke and Valery Kornienko of the USSR win gold.

1984 – Midori Ito of Japan wins the women’s gold medal in Victoria. She would go on to capture the 1989 world title and Olympic silver in 1992.

1985 –Russian pair legends Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov win gold in London, Ont. They would win gold again eight years later in Ottawa.

1986 –Elizabeth Manley of Canada tops the podium in Regina, Sask. Two years later, she would win Olympic silver in Calgary.

1988 –Kurt Browning wins his first Skate Canada International gold medal in Thunder Bay, Ont. He would add SCI titles in 1990 and 1993.

1989 – Before winning Olympic gold, Kristi Yamaguchi of the USA is a Skate Canada International gold medalist, winning the women’s event in Cornwall.

1989 – A fours competition is held at Skate Canada International for the first time. Fours is held the next year before being permanently removed from the schedule.

1990 – It’s a golden sweep for Canadians in Lethbridge, Alb., with gold in all four disciplines: Kurt Browning in men’s; Josée Chouinard in women’s; Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler in pair; and Jacqueline Petr and Mark Janoschak in ice dance.

1994 – Canadian ice dancers Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz start their gold medal winning streak winning streak in 1994 in Red Deer, Alb., their first of five consecutive golds at SCI. Bourne and Kraatz would also win in 2001.

1995 – Saint John, N.B. hosts Skate Canada International for the first time. Michelle Kwan of the U.S. wins her first of three SCI gold medals. Kwan’s other SCI titles also came in the Canadian Maritimes – 1997 in Halifax, N.S. and once again in Saint John in 1999.

1997 – Elvis Stojko wins his last Skate Canada title in Halifax, N.S.. He also won the title in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996.

1996 – Germany’s Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer strike gold in pair in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Two years later, they would become Olympic bronze medallists in Nagano, Japan.

1998 – Skate Canada International joins the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, becoming one of six events held annually.

1999 – Alexei Yagudin of Russia wins his first of three consecutive Skate Canada International gold medals in Saint John, N.B.

2000 – Back-to-back winners in 2000 and 2001, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier debut their Love Story at Skate Canada International before sharing it with the world at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

2004 – Cynthia Phaneuf wins the women’s title in Halifax, N.S., at just 15 years old.

2004 – Canada sweeps the men’s podium in Halifax. Emanuel Sandhu wins gold, followed by Ben Ferreira (silver) and Jeffrey Buttle (bronze).

2005– Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy win their first of four Skate Canada International pair crowns in St. John’s, Nfld.

2006 –Canadian Joannie Rochette wins her first Skate Canada International gold in Victoria, starting a run of three titles in four years.

2007 – Canadian ice dance legends Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win their first of seven Skate Canada International titles.

2010 – Kevin Reynolds of Canada becomes the first skater to land two quadruple jumps in a men’s short program, landing a quad Salchow, triple toe combination, and a quad toe in Kingston, Ont.

2011 – Javier Fernandez of Spain wins silver in the men’s competition, his country’s first-ever medal on the senior ISU Grand Prix circuit.

2012 – Making her senior Grand Prix debut, Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond wins the women’s crown in Windsor, Ont.

2013 –As the 40th year of Skate Canada International is celebrated in Saint John, N.B., it’s double gold for Canada as Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir finish atop the ice dance podium and Patrick Chan holds off young Japanese sensation Yuzuru Hanyu in the men’s competition.

2014–Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje claim ice dance gold in Kelowna, B.C., while fellow Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earn silver. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford capture gold in pair, their first of four consecutive SCI wins.

2015–Canadians earn gold in three of the four disciplines at the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alb. Patrick Chan beats Yuzuru Hanyu for gold in the men’s event, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford finish in top spot in pair and Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are golden in ice dance.

2016 –The Maple Leaf is flying high in Mississauga, Ont. as Canadian athletes capture seven of 12 medals, highlighted by gold medals for Patrick Chan (men), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (ice dance) and Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (pair).

2017 –It’s triple gold for Canada in Regina, Sask. as Katelyn Osmond (women), Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (pair) and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (ice dance) finish in top spot. Shoma Uno of Japan wins gold in the men’s event.

2018 –Japan’s Shoma Uno wins SCI gold for the second straight year, while Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia is the women’s champion. The U.S. team of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue are crowned ice dance champions. Canadians Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro (pair) and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (ice dance) take home bronze medals.

2019 –In what is believed to be the largest margin of victory in ISU Grand Prix history, Yuzuru Hanyu wins the men’s event by 59.82 points, landing six quads over his two programs. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier capture the gold medal in ice dance, the 13th time in 15 years that a Canadian team has won the ice dance event at Skate Canada International. Russian sensation Alexandra Trusova wins gold in the women’s competition, while fellow Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii finish atop the podium in pairs.

2020–Skate Canada International, scheduled to be held in Ottawa, Ontario, is cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is only the second time the event will not be held since 1973. The 1979 edition of the event was not held due to a pre-Olympic competition that was held in Lake Placid, N.Y.