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Canada’s Stephen Gogolev wins gold in junior Grand Prix debut

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia –Thirteen-year-old Stephen Gogolev of Toronto burst onto the international stage in spectacular style Friday as he landed three quadruple jumps en route to a golden performance in men’s competition at the season opening stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

In his skate to excerpts from the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack Gogolev also became the first Canadian, of any age group, to land a quad Lutz in competition.

Gogolev totalled 226.13 points for the victory with Mitsuki Sumoto of Japan second at 210.31 and Daniel Grassl of Italy third at 199.26.

‘’To land those three quads really brings up my confidence,’’ said Gogolev, who is coached by Brian Orser and Lee Barkell. “I still need to get some runs though done so I can improve the second half of my skate.’’

Aleksa Rakic, also 13, from Burnaby, B.C. was eighth in 180.13.  ‘’I feel really good about how I skated and how I was able to connect with the audience,’’ said Rakic. ‘’I reached my goal to get into the top-10.’’

Russian couples swept the medals in pairs competition. Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov were first, Apollinarria Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov second and Ksenila Akhanteva and Valerii Kolesov third.

Patricia Andrew of London, Ont., and Paxton Fletcher of Rodney, Ont., were fourth with a clean free skate and Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Brandon Taste of Mississauga, Ont., were fifth.

‘’The Russian pairs were really impressive,’’ said Fletcher. ‘’They were fast with big and strong elements and their style and look was superb. For a young team like ours it’s fun to see what’s possible and it just motivates us to go back and work harder.’’

In ice dancing after the short dance, Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., are fourth at 58.91 less than two points behind third spot. Nadiia Bashynska of Markham, Ont., and Peter Beaumont of Unionville, Ont., are ninth.

In Thursday’s women’s short program, Alison Shumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., was eighth.

The women’s free skate and the free dance are on Saturday.

Full results: ISU JGP Bratislava 2018

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

Eleven-year-old wows crowd at 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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Novice Men Podium National Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Men

Novice Dance Podium National-Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Dance

HALIFAX – Eleven-year-old Stephen Gogolev of Toronto landed a triple Axel en route to the gold medal in men’s novice competition which concluded on Wednesday at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Gogolev scored 142.30 to outdistance his nearest rival by more than 20 points. Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ont., took silver at 120.25 and Bruce Waddell of Toronto was third at 106.91.

‘’I felt more comfortable in the long program than the short,’’ said Gogolev, who is coached by Brian Orser. ‘’I just wanted to go out there and do my best for my first nationals.’’

Markell also delivered a personal best performance. ‘’There are some elements I know I could have done better but it is a great way to end the season,’’ he said.

Ontario skaters grabbed all four Canadian titles in novice.

In ice dancing, Olivia Han and Grayson Lochhead of Kitchener, Ont., took the gold with 90.26 points. Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Claudio Pietrantonio and Laval, Que., were second at 89.22 and Irina Galiyanova and Tommy Tang of Toronto were third at 87.50.

‘’It was pretty intense and lots of fun,’’ said Han. ‘’We are pretty proud of our performances.’’

Novice Pair Podium national skating championships 2016

Novice – Pair

Novice Women Podium National Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Women

In pairs, first-year teammates Jamie Knoblauch and Cody Wong of Milton, Ont., were the victors at 119.90. Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber of Calgary were second at 104.81 and Hannah Dawson of Hawkesbury, Ont., and Daniel Villeneuve of Sherbrooke, Que., were third at 103.50.

‘’We did exactly what we wanted,’’ said Wong. ‘’We had fun with it.’’

In women’s competition, Aurora Cotop of Thornhill, Ont., overcame a three point deficit after the short program to win gold with 123.85. Olivia Gran of Kelowna, B.C., the leader heading into the long, followed at 121.84 and Natalie D’Alessandro of Thornhill was third 117.56.

‘’For my free program I really wanted to just perform after getting the nerves out in the short,’’ said Cotop. ‘’I wanted to show what I could do.’’

Competition continues Thursday with the completion of the junior event.

The seniors go Friday and Saturday.

More information: 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships