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Sixteen Canadian Athletes to Compete at September Challenger Events
September 18, 2023/by Skate Canada
OTTAWA, ON (September 18, 2023) – Sixteen Canadian athletes across four disciplines are set to compete at the ISU Challenger Series events taking place over the next two weeks. A team of ten skaters will be representing Canada at the Nebelhorn Trophy from September 20-23, 2023 in Oberstdorf, Germany, while six additional skaters will be taking part in the Ondrej Nepela Memorial from September 28-30, 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The delegation travelling to Germany includes 2022 Skate America bronze medalists, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier, as well as Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, who most recently finished with a solid 6th place at the 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
Canadian Champion Madeline Schizas will be headlining the women’s event at the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, while Conrad Orzel, 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships silver medalist, will be looking to shine in the men’s event. The ice dance competition will be fierce with 2023 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships bronze medalists Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha presenting their new programs for the first time. They will be competing alongside Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, who placed third at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
The Challenger Series is an International Figure Skating Series designed to give skaters adequate opportunities to compete at the international senior level and to earn precious World Standing Points.
Madeline Schizas Brings Home Bronze from Nepela Memorial
October 1, 2023/by Skate Canada
Bratislava, Slovakia (October 1, 2023) – Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., the reigning Canadian Champion in women’s figure skating, captured a bronze medal at the Nepela Memorial ISU Challenger Cup Series event that wrapped up Saturday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
“I’m really happy with my skates here this week. Not perfect, but a big step-up from where we started last season, so I’m overall pretty happy with that, and I’m happy to have won my first early-season Challenger Cup medal,” said Schizas who finished this competition with a total score of 188.88.
Chaeyon Kim of Korea dominated the women’s competition, winning gold with a total score of 202.26, while her teammate Haein Lee took silver with a score of 191.10.
Conrad Orzel of Oakville, Ont., finished 9th overall in the men’s competition with a total score of 213.52. Gabriele Frangipani of Italy won gold (243.91), while Nika Egadze of Georgia took silver (243.31), and Mark Gorodnitsky of Israel took bronze (236.30).
In ice dance, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., finished fifth with a total score of 179.18, while Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., competing in their first senior Challenger event, finished seventh with a total score of 164.81.
“The overall experience was I think more than I expected from my first Challenger event. It was way more satisfying than I thought it was going to be which makes me really happy that we did so well,” said Bashynska who together with Beaumont were bronze medallists at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. “We’re learning, and this was the first year of many years ahead of us, and I think we can both agree that this is the first step towards a long process.”
The ISU Challenger Series moves to Finland next week for the Finlandia Trophy which takes place from October 4-8, 2023 in Espoo and which will feature eight Canadian skaters.