New Novice Canadian Figure Skating Champions Crowned in Waterloo
February 23, 2024/by Skate Canada
Waterloo, ON (February 23, 2024) – The 2024 Novice Canadian Championships wrapped up on Friday at the Waterloo Memorial Complex in Waterloo, Ont., with Lia Cho of Calgary, Alta., rewriting the record books yet again with another Canadian record to win gold in women’s singles.
Cho’s total score of 166.56 obliterated the record of 153.81 she set just two weeks ago at the 2024 Skate Canada Challenge – Pre-Novice/Novice competition held in Oakville, Ont.
“I feel amazing,” enthused Cho following her free skate performance. “This feels nice, but it’s not about winning, it’s about showing how much I love skating. I like both of my programs, I like my short music a lot, but I really like my long program because it has more jumps and I’m kind of a jumper.”
The women’s podium was a mirror image of the podium from the Skate Canada Challenge with Cho winning gold, Sandrine Blais of Quebec taking silver (133.90), and Ksenia Krouzkevitch of Ontario taking bronze (132.24).
The podium for ice dance looked quite similar to the Challenge podium as well with Laurence Brière of Carignan, Que., and Julien Lévesque of Boucherville, Que., winning gold again with an improved total score of 116.35. Taking silver this weekend however was Alyson Lacombe of St-Césaire, Que., and Morgan Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., who captured bronze (108.38) at Challenge. Tasha Lai and Mickey Becker-Pos of Vancouver, B.C., the silver medallists from Challenge, took bronze (107.68).
“This is an awesome feeling. We’re really grateful for everything. Next year we’re going to junior, so we’re going be changing the program, changing category, so we’re going to be looking to improve everything,” said Lévesque.
There was a shuffle of the podium from Challenge in the pair competition as well, with Siyul Bella Back and Gavin Mahoney from Innisfail, Ont., improving from silver at Challenge to win gold at Canadian Championships with a total score of 116.84. Challenge’s gold medallists Remi Muramoto and Keith Lau of Mississauga, Ont., took silver this weekend with a total score of 111.90, and Julia Di Menna and Félix-Antoine Chartrand of Quebec, who had to withdraw from Challenge, took the bronze with a total score of 95.80.
“The competition went really well, it was the best performance we’ve had all season,” said Mahoney. “There were a lot of proud and fun moments here, but honestly, my proudest moment was finishing the competition here with Bella and being able to share that experience together.”
The men’s competition at Novice Canadians was the only category to truly see a change-up from the Skate Canada Challenge just two weeks ago, with Kento Nakashima of Edmonton, Alta., improving from a seventh-place finish at Challenge to win gold this weekend with a total score of 131.65 after posting top scores for both his short and free programs.
“I’m so excited and I’m overwhelmed that I took first place,” said Nakashima who finished eighth at the 2023 Novice Canadian Championships. “I feel like one of the factors that got me to first was that I was having fun, and I was confident, and I think that’s really important in skating.”
Rui Qin of Mississauga, Ont., the gold medallist at Skate Canada Challenge, took bronze this weekend with a total score of 122.44, while Travis Tang of Edmonton, Alta., the bronze medallist from Challenge took silver with a total score of 122.59.
The Skate Canada Cup competition for synchronized skating starts tomorrow with competition at the novice, intermediate, open, and Senior Elite 12 levels. Competition wraps up Sunday.
