Fred's, (Used to be Barb's), Board

Five Canadian Skaters Kick Off the Senior Grand Prix Season at Skate America This Weekend
October 15, 2024/by Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON (October 15, 2024) – Five Canadian athletes will be heading to Allen, Texas this week for Skate America 2024, the first event on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. Taking place from October 18-20, 2024, the event will see Canadians compete in men’s and ice dance.

Leading the charge for the Canadian delegation will be 2024 Canadian National Champion Wesley Chiu. Chiu will be looking to climb the leaderboard after finishing fourteenth last month at the 2024 Challenger Series Nebelhorn Trophy.

He will be joined by Canadian ice dance team Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, who claimed their first Grand Prix medal at this same event in 2022. The duo will be entering the competition on strong footing after taking home gold earlier this season at the 2024 Lake Placid International Ice Dance Competition.

Rounding out the Canadian delegation will be ice dance duo Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer. The team will be looking to build off their recent success at the Denis Ten Memorial Challenge where they claimed personal best scores and the bronze medal.


Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach

Men
Wesley Chiu | 19 | Vancouver, B.C. | Eileen Murphy

Ice Dance
Alicia Fabbri | 21 | Terrebonne, QC & Paul Ayer | 26 | Brossard, QC | Patrice Lauzon
Marie-Jade Lauriault | 27 | Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, QC & Romain Le Gac | 29 | Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, QC | Patrice Lauzon

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Officials – Andre-Marc Allain & Patty Klein
Medical Team – Scott Fraser

Elizabeth wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:20 am October 16th - There's a last minute change in the Ice Dance line up for Skate America:
Annabelle Morozov / Jeffrey Chen replace Isabella Flores / Ivan Desyatov at Skate America

2024 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Kicked off at Skate America
October 20, 2024/by Skate Canada

Allen, TX, USA (October 20, 2024) – The 2024 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit kicked off this weekend in Allen, Texas at Skate America and saw Canadian skaters gaining valuable experience for the season ahead.

Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., the reigning Canadian senior men’s champion, got the competition going for Canada, finishing ninth overall in the men’s competition with a total score of 206.94.

“Overall, I think this was a good experience. I learned a lot of new lessons, so I’m glad to get those bumps and wobbles out of the way at the beginning of the season. Now it’s time to go back and work hard for the next event,” said Chiu whose next appearance on the Grand Prix Circuit will be at the Cup of China at the end of November.

Ilia Malinin of the USA, the reigning World Champion, won his third straight Skate America title with a total score of 290.12, and became the first skater to perform a legal backflip in competition. He was given a good challenge by silver medallist Kevin Aymoz of France who took the top marks for the free skate and finished with a total score of 282.88. Kao Miura of Japan captured bronze after setting a new personal best score for his short program to finish with a total score of 278.67.

The ice dance competition featured two Canadian teams – Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que., and Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Brossard, Que. Fabbri and Ayer started off strong, sitting in fourth following the short program, but they struggled in the free skate with Fabbri falling during their twizzle sequence and they finished the day in 10th place overall with a total score of 165.96.

Lauriault and Le Gac put out two strong performances with a couple of errors to finish seventh overall with a total score of 174.91.

“It was definitely not the free dance we were expecting to put out their today, we were just a bit off today. I think there’s a lot to learn from this competition. We’re going to take everything we can and leave this weekend behind,” said Lauriault following the competition.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain won gold with a total score of 206.38 to dethrone the two-time Skate America Champions, and 2024 World Champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA who settled for silver (205.63). Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck of Spain captured bronze (189.44).

The next stop on the Grand Prix Circuit is the 50th edition of Skate Canada International taking place in Halifax, Nova Scotia from October 25-27, 2024 which will feature Canadian skaters competing in every discipline.