Tag Archive for: Wesley Chiu

New, Defending, and Returning Champions Crowned on Final Day of 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships

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Calgary, AB (January 13, 2024) – The final day of competition at the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships taking place at the WinSport Arena in Calgary, Alta., saw two new senior champions crowned, defending champions retain their title, and former champions reclaim their title.

Canada has a new senior women’s national champion after Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., delighted her hometown family and friends with a new personal best free skate and the best free skate of the day to win gold with an overall score of 180.86. Ruiter dethroned Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., who was looking for her third-straight national title, but who had a tough skate today and finished the free program ranked third. Schizas had to settle for the silver medal (172.90), while Hetty Shi of Mississauga, Ont., last year’s junior national champion, claimed the bronze medal (162.51).

“That was one of the most special performances I’ve ever had in my life, and to be able to share that with my family and friends and everyone I love, is just surreal,” said Ruiter who will be representing Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in Korea at the end of the month. “I just wanted to enjoy the moment. I love this program so much and I just wanted to share that with the audience.”

Former champions reclaimed their senior national titles in the ice dance competition. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto, Ont., who missed last year’s championships while Gilles recovered from surgery, won their third senior Canadian title with a new personal best free skate (136.17) and a new personal best overall score of 222.95.

“Paul and I really skated like champions today. We stepped out onto the ice and remembered who we were, and why we’re here, and used this as a stepping stone for worlds. We want to be on the top of that podium, so we have to start acting like those champions and I think we really did that today,” said Gilles.

Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Que., claimed the silver medal, also with a new personal best free skate (122.50) and personal best overall score (200.50), as did the bronze medallists – Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que., whose free skate score (117.86) and overall score (195.61) were both personal bests as well.

The only skaters to defend their senior national title at these Championships were Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., who won gold in the pair competition, and their second-straight national title with an overall score of 205.79. Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., took the silver medal (193.14), while Kelly Ann Laurin of St-Jérôme, Que., and Loucas Éthier of St-Alphonse, Que., captured bronze with a huge new personal best free skate (125.19) and overall score (187.40).

“We’re happy that we were able to come back from that bad performance yesterday and show the work that we’ve been doing on our throws. I was not going to back down from those after what happened yesterday,” said Stellato-Dudek who had an uncharacteristic fall on a throw in yesterday’s short program. “We are our own biggest competitors. All we have to do is our own job and I know what the outcome is going to be,” she added.

There was a new national champion in the men’s competition following the retirement of last year’s champion Keegan Messing – last year’s bronze medallist Wesley Chiu of Vancouver, B.C. put in another solid program to finally claim gold with a total of 232.15, almost 7 points ahead of runner up Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C. Anthony Paradis of Boisbriand, Que., almost missed the podium after his lace broke mid-program, but came back with renewed energy to win the bronze with a total score of 209.98, only a fraction of a point ahead of Conrad Orzel.

“Having Canadian Champion on my back, I can skate with more pride now, but it also comes with responsibility. Overall, I think it’s really motivating to go back and train hard,” said Chiu.

The 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships will wrap up Sunday with the exhibition gala.

Follow the action via Skate Canada’s livestream here. For full results please click here.

Chiu, Gogolev Crack Top-Five at ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

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TALLIN, Estonia – Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., and Stephen Gogolev of Toronto, Ont. placed fourth and fifth on Saturday in the men’s competition at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Ilia Malinin of the U.S. won the gold medal with 276.11 points with Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan second at 234.31 and Tatsuya Tsuboi of Japan third at 233.82.

Chiu was second after Thursday’s short program but he fell on his quad toe loop and wasn’t sharp on his other jumps to drop in the standings. He totalled 228.29.

Gogolev, competing at his third world juniors, matched his result from 2019 with a clean program to improve from sixth after the short with 224.49.

In the women’s short program, Isabeau Levito of the U.S. posted the best score with 72.50 ahead of South Koreans Jia Shin in second at 69.38 and Ahsun Yun in third at 66.28

Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., is 12th and Canadian junior champion Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que., is 14th.

Competition ends Sunday with the free dance featuring Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto, Ont. and Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., second and third after Friday’s rhythm dance, and the women’s free skate.

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

Wesley Chiu Second After Short Program at ISU World Junior Championships

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TALLIN, Estonia – Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., is in second place after Thursday’s men’s short program at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Ilia Malinin of the U.S. stands first with 88.99 points, followed Chiu who bettered his personal best to 81.59. He is slightly ahead of Mihhail Selevko of Estonia in third at 81.26.

Chiu, third in the senior division at nationals in January, produced a clean short program landing his triple Axel, triple flip and combo triple Lutz-triple toe.

‘’I feel amazing this is a personal best by far and I’m very excited about that,’’ said Chiu, 16, a gold and bronze medallist this past season on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. ‘’I had really good practices leading up to this event, so I was confident and ready to go.’’

Stephen Gogolev of Toronto, competing at his third world juniors is in sixth spot and within striking distance of the podium with 78.75. He also landed his three jumps cleanly.

The men’s free skate is on Saturday.

Meanwhile Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Benjamin Mimar of Terrebonne, Que., are also in the medal hunt in pairs placing fourth in the short program with 58.00.

Karina Safina and Luka Berulava of Georgia lead with 67.77, Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia are second at 61.72 and Anastasiia Smirnova and Danylo Siianytsia of the U.S. are third at 60.38.

Chloe Panetta of Oakville, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., are seventh at 47.90.

Competition continues Friday with the pairs free skate and the rhythm dance.

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.  

Gabrielle Daleman Satisfied with Seventh at Warsaw Cup

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WARSAW – Two-time Olympian Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., gained some confidence on Saturday with a seventh-place finish in the women’s competition at the Warsaw Cup, an event on the ISU Challenger Series figure skating circuit.

Maiia Khromykh of Russia won the gold medal with 194.02 points followed by Niina Petrokina of Estonia in second at 188.86 and Ekaterina Kurakova of Poland in third at 187.80.

Daleman, who helped Canada win Olympic gold in the team event in 2018, was fifth after Thursday’s short program.

‘’It was an unusual schedule here, so I was pleased with how I managed everything,’’ said Daleman. ‘’My goal here was just to get out in front of a crowd and judges for only the second this season. My skate wasn’t perfect, but I kept fighting and took it step by step.’’

In ice dancing, Molly Lanaghan, and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., produced the seventh best free dance but remained eighth overall. The event was won by Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Russia.

The highlight for Canada here this week was Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., winning the men’s free skate on Friday to jump from 11th to fourth overall.

Full results: https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2122/CSPOL21/

Wesley Chiu Wins Free Skate, Nears Podium in Personal Best Performance at Warsaw Cup

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WARSAW – A great season continued for Richmond, B.C.’s, Wesley Chiu on Friday as he won the free skate and placed fourth overall with a personal best score in men’s competition at the Warsaw Cup, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series.

The 16-year-od Chiu, a gold and bronze medallist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit this season, sparkled against a senior field on Friday roaring from 11th after Thursday’s short program to near the podium with 232.39 points.

‘’It went amazing,’’ said Chiu. ‘’Missing that combination jump in the short really motivated me to go after it on the long program. I came here to get some minimum scores for senior competitions and I definitely achieved that.’’

Sota Yamamoto of Japan was the winner with 247.65, Daniel Grassl of Italy was second at 242.96 and Peter Gumemnik of Russia third at 242.91.

Chiu cleanly landed his seven jumps in his free program. That included back-to-back quads, three combo jumps and the triple Axel. It was the first time he landed two quads in a free skate.

‘’I knew I could do one quad toe so there was no reason why I can’t do a second one,’’ he said. ‘’But it was a tough aspect to learn in practice. Training overall has been going really well leading into this competition.’’

Stephen Gogolev of Toronto was 11th.

In pairs, Russia swept the medals with Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov in first. Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., were 10th and Deanna Stellato Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., 11th.

In the women’s short program, Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., stands fifth at 61.57 just over three points from third place. Maiia Khromykh of Russia leads with 69.24.

In ice dancing after the rhythm dance, Molly Lanaghan, and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., are in eighth place with 67.81 and appear on route to improve on their 11th place at last week’s Cup of Austria. Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Russia are the leaders at 81.30.

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

Full results: https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2122/CSPOL21/

Canada’s Wesley Chiu lands first international event quad, wins bronze medal at ISU Junior Grand Prix

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KRASNOYARSK, Russia – Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., landed his first quad jump at an international event on route to a bronze medal in men’s competition on Friday at the fourth stop on the the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Gleb Lutfullin led Russia to a 1-2 finish with 230.42 points while Egor Rukhin was second at 223.29. The sixteen-year-old Chiu, fourth after Thursday’s short program, climbed one spot for the bronze with a personal best 217.59.

Skating to music by Muse, Chiu executed a clean long program which included landing a quad toe loop for his second medal on the circuit this season. He earned gold at the second stop in France.

‘’It’s another great milestone I’ve achieved,’’ said Chiu, about landing the quad ‘’I look forward to doing more in the future.  Today’s free was a fight for sure, but it was all worth it in the end.’’

In the women’ short program, Russian skaters grabbed the top four spots led by Sofia Akateva. Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., in her Junior Grand Prix debut is ninth.

Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., are in the medal hunt in ice dancing standing fourth after the rhythm dance with a career international high 60.35 points. Russia stands 1-2 with Irina Khavronina and Dario Cirisano first at 66.52 and Sofia Leonteva and Daniil Gorelkin second at 63.70. Angela Ling and Caleb Wein of the U.S. are third at 60.35.

Emma Goodstadt of Oakville, Ont., and Michael Barsoum of North York, Ont. are ninth.

Canada has no entries in pairs.

Competition ends Saturday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/jgprus2021/