Eight Canadian Teams Qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final
November 28, 2023/by Skate Canada
OTTAWA, ON (November 28, 2023) – Canadian skaters of all levels had a remarkable 2023 Grand Prix season, winning a total of 16 medals on the world stage and 16 of them earning the opportunity to represent Canada at the ISU Grand Prix Final taking place in Beijing, China from December 7-12, 2023. In the senior field, Canada will count two pair teams and three ice dance teams, and will be represented by three pair teams in the junior field.
Senior pair skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps have claimed gold at every competition they entered this season, starting with the Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Que., followed by Skate Canada International and the Cup of China. The duo also set a new personal best score and broke the 200-point barrier for the first time, placing them as some of the top contenders in their discipline. They will be joined by Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud who have had a breakthrough first Grand Prix season together where they claimed silver at Skate America and gold at the Grand Prix de France.
In ice dance, 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships bronze medalists Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier will be looking to defend their 2022 Grand Prix Final title and looked in fine form to do so after winning gold at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China. Canadian Champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Soerensen are also looking strong after capturing silver medals at the Grand Prix de France and NHK Trophy, while Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha, who also claimed two silver medals, will be competing at their first Grand Prix Final.
Junior Grand Prix series rookies Martina Ariano Kent & Charly Laliberté Laurent were the top Canadian junior pair team to qualify for the final with a gold medal finish at the ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Austria, and a bronze medal at the Budapest, Hungary Junior Grand Prix. The new team of Jazmine Desrochers & Kieran Thrasher also made their Junior Grand Prix series debut this year and captured two bronze medals from the Istanbul, Turkey and Gdansk, Poland Junior Grand Prix events. In their second year on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov won gold at the Gdansk, Poland event, and finished fourth at the Budapest, Hungary competitions to earn their spot at the Final for the second year in a row.
The competition starts on Thursday, December 7 with the junior and senior pair short programs. The following day, medals will be awarded to senior pair skaters, while the senior ice dance teams will complete their rhythm dance. The competition will wrap up on Saturday, December 9 with medals being awarded to both junior pair skaters and senior ice dance teams. The exhibition gala will take place on Sunday.
The SP results2. The Senior Short Program shall consist of the following required
elements:
Men
a) Double or triple Axel Paulsen;
b) Triple or quadruple jump;
c) Jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump or
two triple jumps or a quadruple jump and a double jump or a triple
jump;
d) Flying spin;
e) Camel spin or sit spin with only one change of foot;
f) Spin combination with only one change of foot;
g) Step sequence fully utilizing the ice surface
Canadian Pair Teams Shine on Opening Day of the ISU Grand Prix Final
December 7, 2023/by Skate Canada
Beijing, China (December 7, 2023) – Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., came into the 2023 ISU Grand Prix Final as strong favourites after an undefeated Grand Prix season, and didn’t disappoint on the first day of competition, taking second place in the senior pair short program.
Skating to the music “Oxygène”, the pair gave a dynamic performance, but were a little less than perfect on the landing of their throw triple loop, which gave the German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin the opening to take top spot in the short program.
“We’ve been struggling with this short all year. We’ve never done it well in my opinion and today was no different. We had a struggle on the throw, struggle on the jump. So still a pretty good performance other than that, but you can’t have that many mistakes,” said Stellato-Dudek following the performance.
The German team leads going into the free skate on Friday with a score of 72.56. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 71.22, while the Italian team of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii are sitting third with a score of 70.30.
Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., had a fall on their throw triple loop and are currently sitting in sixth with a score of 61.78.
In the junior pair competition, Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov of Winnipeg, Man., ended the day as the top Canadian team with a new personal best score for their short program of 57.91 to sit second behind Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia who dominated the competition to score 70.48.
“We’re a little bit disappointed in our spins, I was so disoriented in that spin with the huge stadium, but we’ve been working hard on spins, and in our practices they’ve been pretty good, but things happen,” said Elizarov. When asked about their goals for the competition, he added: “We just want to score PBs, and we got one, so we’re halfway there.”
Martina Ariano Kent of Mount Royal, Que., and Charly Laliberté-Laurent of Boucherville, Que., finished the day in third with a new personal best score as well of 55.97, while Jazmine Desrochers of Mississauga, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., sit just behind in fourth with a score of 54.91.
The ISU Grand Prix Final continues Friday with the free program for the senior pair, and the rhythm dance for the senior ice dance teams. The event concludes on Saturday with the free program for the junior pair skaters, and the senior ice dance teams.
Hase/Volodin are the first Pairs team to win the Grand Prix Final (née Champion Series Final) in their first season together.
Autumn Classic International Skate Canada International Cup of China
Grand Prix Final BRONZE
