ISU GP#2 - Skate Canada International 2023 - Vancouver - Oct. 27-29

[Elizabeth]

The Opening Ceremonies are now being shown on the Skate Canada live stream (9 p.m. EDT) - there's a synchro team on the ice to start things off.

[Elizabeth]

Event #3 of Day 1 - the Pairs SP - the results


The 3 CDN teams




The top 3




Press conference photo

[Elizabeth]

The 4th and final event of Day 1 was the Men SP
The results


The CDN men







The top 3

[Elizabeth]

ISU review articles from Day 1:
Women SP: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15
Rhythm Dance: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15
Pairs SP: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15
Men SP: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15


Skate Canada review of Day 1:
https://skatecanada.ca/2023/10/canadian ... rnational/

[Elizabeth]

Just a couple of former competitors armed with T-shirt guns

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Some fun moments in the Kiss 'n Cry on Day 1 compliments of Danielle Earl



The ears on her hat flapped as the "ties" were pulled

[Elizabeth]

Today's practices are underway and are being live streamed, with commentary by "Skate Canada Productions".

Today competition events (in local time in Vancouver - 3 hours behind EDT):




The event will conclude with the Gala tomorrow.

[Elizabeth]

In today's first event Maddie Schizas rebounded from her SP troubles to have a personal best FS score, finished 2nd in the FS, and moved up to 4th place.



Our other 2 CDN Women


The FS results


The overall results


The press conference (funny) photo




The ISU review of the Women FS: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15


Bev Smith's article on Maddie Schizas: https://bevsmithwrites.com/schizas/

[Elizabeth]

The 2nd event of Day 2 - the Free Dance - the results


The overall results






Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier claim a 4th Skate Canada title in a row. They're the first duo to win four consecutive at SCI since Shae-Lynn Bourne and Viktor Kraatz, who won five in a row 1994-98

The podium selfie shot


Press conference (fun) photo


The ISU review of the free dance: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15

Icedance.com recap of the ice dance component of SCI: https://www.ice-dance.com/site/recap-2023-skate-canada/

Bev Smith's article on Gilles & Poirier's FD: https://bevsmithwrites.com/gilles-and-p ... sterpiece/
It includes this touching tidbit:

Back behind this drama was another one: all of the flower girls at Skate Canada were dressed in costumes that were a version of the red Olympic free dance outfit worn by Alexandra Paul, who was killed in a car crash in August. The costumes had “AP” stitched on them. Paul’s mother-in-law, Debbie Islam was at Skate Canada, working as a technical controller for the women’s event. As she sat down to watch the rhythm dance, a friend told her about the outfits so that she wasn’t caught unaware. It was a lovely tribute. The skating family spreads from coast to coast.

[Elizabeth]

The results of the Pairs FS, the third event of Day 2


The overall results bring Canada the 2nd gold medal of the day






The last time Deanna Stellato-Dudek skated at Skate Canada International was 2000. She finished 5th as a singles skater. Now 23 years later, at the age of 40, she's the Skate Canada International champion in pairs.

The podium


Press conference photo



The ISU review article: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9lOYDkbUAA ... name=small

Bev Smith on Steallo-Dudek & Deschamps FS: https://bevsmithwrites.com/stellato-dud ... he-podium/

[Elizabeth]

The final event of the competition was the Men FS - the results (shocking for some):


The overall results:




The CDN men





The top 3





The podium selfie - a tradition now


Press conference photo (after the medal ceremony):


ISU review article: https://isu.org/figure-skating/news/new ... teParam=15

[Elizabeth]

The Exhibition Gala program



Some photos from the Gala
Kaiya Ruiter Conrad Orzel

Laurin & Ethier Fabgri & Ayer

Wesley Chiu Rizzo

Miura Maddie Schizas

Tomono got a little help from Yamamoto

Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps Sota Yamamoto

Piper & Paul Kaori & Sota

Pairs "pinwheel" The final bows

One more selfie

One final photo - a traditional "gold medalists leap"

[Elizabeth]

The late Alexandra Paul was remembered in the design of the flower retrievers dresses at SCI - they were designed by Charlene Bailey (cb.) whom you may have seen in the 3-turn-3 videos with PJ Kwong for Skate Ontario.

Alexandra's Olympic FD dress


The SCI dresses with "AP' on them:


This tribute was mentioned at the end of Beverley Smith's Gilles/Poirier SCI23 article (Oct. 29, 2023): https://bevsmithwrites.com/gilles-and-p ... sterpiece/

... all of the flower girls at Skate Canada were dressed in costumes that were a version of the red Olympic free dance outfit worn by Alexandra Paul, who was killed in a car crash in August. The costumes had “AP” stitched on them. Paul’s mother-in-law, Debbie Islam was at Skate Canada, working as a technical controller for the women’s event. As she sat down to watch the rhythm dance, a friend told her about the outfits so that she wasn’t caught unaware. It was a lovely tribute. The skating family spreads from coast to coast.

[Elizabeth]

Lots of photos on various website from SCI - here are some links:
* Figure Skaters Online: https://figureskatersonline.com/news/20 ... rnational/
* icedance.com: https://photos2.ice-dance.com/2023-24/23SC/

[Elizabeth]

The individual video segments (with English or French Commentary) are now available on the Skate Canada DailyMotion channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/skatecanada