Canada’s Beresford Clements wins silver at Egna Spring Trophy

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EGNA, Italy – Beresford Clements of Gibsons, B.C., overcame an injury-plagued season to win the silver medal on Sunday in the men’s junior event at the Egna Spring Trophy figure skating competition.

Gabriele Frangipani of Italy took the gold with 179.93 to edge the Canadian who earned 179.89. Nikolaj Memola of Italy was third at 124.15.

“I reached my goal by doing a clean free skate,” said Clements. “I got all my spins and just competed the way I trained. It was exciting to show off my abilities on the ice.”

This was Clements’ first career international assignment. He withdrew from an event earlier this season and didn’t qualify for the national championships.

“For this event I wanted to make sure I was fully healed,” said Clements. “I just trained really hard and focused on getting better. It was a slow process. It took about six months and required a lot of physio and days off.”

Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ont., second after the short program, withdrew from the free skate.

In junior women competition, Sarah-Maude Blanchard of Sherbrooke, Que., dropped from first to fourth overall with 139.46 points.

Full results: http://www.fisg.it/upload/result/4597/index.html.

Canadians dominating their events at Egna Spring Trophy

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EGNA, Italy – Canada’s junior and novice skaters produced strong results in Friday’s short programs at the Egna Spring Trophy figure skating competition.

In junior women, Sarah-Maude Blanchard of Sherbrooke, Que., tops the 22-entry field with 58.77 points. Hanna Harrel of the U.S. is second at 50.80 and Marina Piredda of Italy third at 48.30.

In junior men’s competition, Gabriel Frangipani of Italy is first with 72.98. Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ont., follows at 63.00 and Beresford Clements of Gibsons, B.C. is third at 62.06.

Canada stands 1-2-3 in novice men with Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., first at 43.39, Alexei Guinzbourg of Kingston, Ont., second at 37.84 and Brian Chiem of Edmonton third at 37.72.

In novice women group 1, Canada has four in the top-five with Sandrine Bouchard of Levis, Que., first at 42.21, Amelia Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., second at 37.87, Daria Carr of Kelowna, B.C. fourth at 34.02 and Mélaurie Boivin of Alma, Que., fifth at 33.93.

Leah Lee of Vancouver is sixth in novice women group 2.

Canada has the only three entries in novice pairs. Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Brandon Toste of Mississauga, Ont., lead with 35.83, Marine Pouliot of Lorraine, Que., and Alexandre Simard of Rivière-Ouelle, Que., are second at 35.05 and Camille Perrault of Orford, Que., and Bryan Pierro of St-Hubert, Que., are third at 30.24.

The novice free skates are Saturday and the junior free skates are Sunday.

Full results: Egna Spring Trophy.

Canadian teams fifth and eighth at ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – Les Suprêmes from St-Léonard, Que., and Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., placed fifth and eighth at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships which concluded on Saturday.

Marigold Ice Unity from Finland climbed from third after Friday’s short program to win the gold medal with 209.02 points. Surprise from Sweden took the silver at 207.99 and Paradise from Russia was third at 200.97.

Les Suprêmes climbed from sixth to fifth with a 192.88 score.

The skaters for Les Suprêmes were Jessica Allaire, Rebecca Allaire, Julia Bernardo, Audrey-Anne Blouin, Joannie Brazeau, Kayla Grace Charky, Marie-Ève Comtois, Laurie Desilets, Molly Farber, Raphaelle Gauthier, Sora Hatano, Dana Malowany, Agathe Merlier, Christina Morin, Andreanne Paradis, Martha Maria Pietrasik, Alessia Polletta, Florence Poulin, Claudia Sforzin and Sofya Squalli.

“We are pleased and happy with our performances,” said Agathe Merlier, the team captain. “We executed two strong programs.”

“Our goal was to skate in unity, enjoy the moment and skate like we have in practice,” added Laurie Desilets.

Nexxice was seventh after the short but dropped a spot with 190.45.

The skaters for Nexxice were Nadine Banholzer, Payton Beckett, Marlyne Bernier, Kelly Britten, Abigail Chase, Emma Daigle, Laura Emery, Ariana Gould-Tasoojy, Celina Hevesi, Taylor Johnston, Emma Kim, Kaitlin Lees, Megan MacLellan, Caroline Marr, Emiko Marr, Courtney McNaughton, Morgan Stang, Alessandra Toso, Brooklyn Williamson and Emily Wright.

“We’re really feeling proud of ourselves,” said Kelly Britten. “We were very inspired by the arena as it was an excellent venue to skate. We really thought we brought our programs up and out. We skated for ourselves, had fun and really wanted to give a good show.”

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/wcsys2018/.

Medal bonanza for Canadian novice skaters at Egna Spring Trophy

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EGNA, Italy – Canada swept the medals in novice women competition on Saturday to cap a productive day at the Egna Spring Trophy figure skating competition.

Sandrine Bouchard of Lévis, Que., won the gold in novice women Group 1 with 106.97 points. Mélaurie Boivin of Alma, Que., won the free skate to surge from fifth to second at 106.50 and Amelia Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., was third at 105.29.

“It was a wonderful experience and we learned a lot,” said Bouchard. “It’s going to beneficial for us in our upcoming competitions. My Salchow today wasn’t on because I was feeling a bit nervous.”

Boivin picked up big points with a double Axel-triple toe combination.

“They are my two favorite jumps and I love doing combinations,” she said.

Orzel’s highlight was a triple Lutz and a triple toe combination.

“The Lutz is my first jump so I was a bit nervous going into it,” she said. “But it worked out and that gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the program.”

Daria Carr of Kelowna, B.C., was fifth at 91.42.

Canada was 1-2 in novice men competition. Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., won the gold medal with 129.62 points with Brian Chiem of Edmonton taking the silver with 117.16 and Maxim Knorr of Germany third at 110.70.

“I tried to replicate what I did in training,” said Rakic. “It was great to end that program on a high note. Now I’ll start preparing new programs with new elements with more jumps and more jumps in combination.”

Alec Guinzbourg of Kingston, Ont., second after the short program on Friday, withdrew.

Canada fielded all three entries in novice pairs. Brooke McIntosh of Toronto and Brandon Toste of Mississauga, Ont., took gold with 94.48, Marine Pouliot of Lorraine, Que., and Alexandre Simard of Rivière-Ouelle, Que., were second at 92.58 and Camille Perrault of Orford, Que., and Bryan Pierro of St-Hubert, Que., were third at 86.61.

“It was amazing and a lot of fun,” said McIntosh. “The crowd was really supportive for us. That really motivated and inspired us.”

Leah Lee of Vancouver was sixth in novice women group 2.

The junior free skates are Sunday.

Full results: http://www.fisg.it/upload/result/4597/index.html.

Canadians need to play catch-up at ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – Canadians teams are in sixth and seventh place after the short programs Friday at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships but stand less than three points from the podium.

Paradise from Russia is in first place with 76.05 points, Surprise from Sweden is second at 72.83 and Marigold Ice Unity from Finland third at 72.61.

Les Suprêmes from St-Léonard, Que., are in sixth place with 70.64 and Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., the defending bronze medallists, follow in seventh at 69.91 out of 25 entries.

The skaters for Les Suprêmes are Jessica Allaire, Rebecca Allaire, Julia Bernardo, Audrey-Anne Blouin, Joannie Brazeau, Kayla Grace Charky, Marie-Ève Comtois, Laurie Desilets, Molly Farber, Raphaelle Gauthier, Sora Hatano, Dana Malowany, Agathe Merlier, Christina Morin, Andreanne Paradis, Martha Maria Pietrasik, Alessia Polletta, Florence Poulin, Claudia Sforzin and Sofya Squalli.

The skaters for Nexxice are: Nadine Banholzer, Payton Beckett, Marlyne Bernier, Kelly Britten, Abigail Chase, Emma Daigle, Laura Emery, Ariana Gould-Tasoojy, Celina Hevesi, Taylor Johnston, Emma Kim, Kaitlin Lees, Megan MacLellan, Caroline Marr, Emiko Marr, Courtney McNaughton, Morgan Stang, Alessandra Toso, Brooklyn Williamson and Emily Wright.

The free skate is on Saturday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/wcsys2018/.

Canadian figure skaters in Italy for Egna Spring Trophy

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have 14 entries, for a total of 17 skaters competing in Egna, Italy, for the 2018 Egna Spring Trophy. The international event takes place April 5-8, 2018, with competition for men, women and pairs at the novice, junior and senior levels. Canada will have entries in novice and junior, including two junior men, one junior woman, three novice men, five novice women and three novice pairs.

Canadian junior champion Matthew Markell, 18, Prescott, Ont., is the first of two junior Canadian men entries. Markell trains in Prescott, Ont., with coaches Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno.

Beresford Clements, 16, Gibsons, B.C., is the second Canadian junior men entry. This season, Clements won the silver medal in junior at the Autumn Classic International. He is coached by Joanne McLeod and Neil Wilson in Burnaby, B.C.

Canadian junior silver medallist Sarah-Maude Blanchard, 17, Sherbrooke, Que., is the Canadian entry in junior women. She trains in Sherbrooke, Que., with coaches Marie-Christine Grenier and Odrée Grenier.

Canadian novice champion Alec Guinzbourg, 13, Kingston, Ont., is the first of three Canadian novice men entries. He trains in Richmond Hill, Ont., with coaches Andrei Berezintsev and Inga Zusev.

Canadian novice silver medallist Aleksa Rakic, 13, Burnaby, B.C., is the second Canadian novice men entry. Rakic trains in Burnaby, B.C., with coaches Joanne McLeod and Neil Wilson.

Canadian novice bronze medallist Brian Chiem, 16, Edmonton, Alta., rounds out the Canadian novice men entries. He trains in Edmonton, Alta., with coach Ravi Walia.

Canadian novice champion Amelia Orzel, 14, Woodbridge, Ont., is the first of five Canadian novice women entries. Orzel trains in Richmond Hill, Ont., with coach Eva Najarro.

Canadian novice silver medallist Daria Carr, 14, Kelowna, B.C., is the second Canadian novice women entry. She trains in Kelowna, B.C., with coaches Karen Mongrain and Jason Mongrain.

Canadian novice bronze medallist Sandrine Bouchard, 15, Lévis, Que., is the third Canadian novice women entry. Bourchard trains in Lévis, Que., with coaches Lise Bellemare and Martine Simard.

Leah Lee, 13, Vancouver, B.C., is the fourth Canadian novice women entry. Lee trains in Vancouver, B.C., with coach Jennifer Yibing Jiang.

Mélaurie Boivin, 14, Alma, Que., will also represent Canada in novice women. She trains in Chicoutimi, Que., with coach Marlène Picard.

Canadian novice champions Brooke McIntosh, 13, Toronto, Ont., and Brandon Toste, 15, Mississauga, Ont., are one of three Canadian novice pairs entries. They train in Mississauga, Ont., with coach Andrew Evans.

Canadian novice silver medallists Marine Pouliot, 13, Lorraine, Que., and Alexandre Simard, 17, Rivière-Ouelle, Que., will also represent Canada in novice pairs. Pouliot and Simard train in Rosmère, Que., under coaches Yvan Desjardins and Violaine Émard.

Canadian novice bronze medallists Camille Perreault, 13, Orford, Que., and Bryan Pierro, 17, St-Hubert, Que., are the final Canadian novice pairs entry. They train in Chambly, Que., with coach Marc-André Craig.

André Bourgeois, Skate Canada NextGen Director, and Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que., are the Canadian team leaders at the event. André-Marc Allain of Gatineau, Que., is the sole Canadian official at the event.

For results, full entries and more information please visit isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT 2018 EGNA SPRING TROPHY

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Junior Men Matthew Markell 18 Prescott, Ont. Prescott FSC Allie Hann-McCurdy / Michael Coreno
Junior Men Beresford Clements 16 Gibsons, B.C. Champs International SC Joanne McLeod / Neil Wilson
Junior Women Sarah-Maude Blanchard 17 Sherbrooke, Que. CPA Sherbrooke Marie-Christine Grenier / Odrée Grenier
Novice Men Alec Guinzbourg 13 Kingston, Ont. Richmond Training Centre Andrei Berezintsev / Inga Zusev
Novice Men Aleksa Rakic 13 Burnaby, B.C. Champs International SC Joanne McLeod / Neil Wilson
Novice Men Brian Chiem 16 Edmonton, Alta. Ice Palace FSC Ravi Walia
Novice Women Amelia Orzel 14 Woodbridge, Ont. York Region Skating Academy WC Eva Najarro
Novice Women Daria Carr 14 Kelowna, B.C. Kelowna FSC Karen Mongrain / Jason Mongrain
Novice Women Sandrine Bouchard 15 Lévis, Que. CPA St-Romuald/St-Jean Lise Bellemare / Martine Simard
Novice Women Leah Lee 13 Vancouver, B.C. Sunset FSC Jennifer Yibing Jiang
Novice Women Mélaurie Boivin 14 Alma, Que. CPA Chicoutimi Marlène Picard
Novice Pairs Brooke McIntosh / Brandon Toste 13/15 Toronto, Ont. / Mississauga, Ont. Canadian Ice Academy / Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club Andrew Evans
Novice Pairs Marine Pouliot / Alexandre Simard 13/17 Lorraine, Que. / Rivière-Ouelle, Que. CPA Lorraine / CPA La Pocatière Yvan Desjardins / Violaine Émard
Novice Pairs Camille Perreault / Bryan Pierro 13/17 Orford, Que. / St-Hubert, Que. CPA Magog / CPA St-Hubert / Centre Jeunesse Performance Plus Marc-André Craig

Canadian synchronized skating teams headed to Sweden for 2018 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON: Canada will have two teams competing at the 2018 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships this week from April 6-7 in Stockholm, Sweden. Twenty-five teams from 20 countries across the globe will be competing for the world title.

Nexxice, from the Burlington Skating Centre, and Les Suprêmes, from CPA Saint-Léonard, earned their entries to the world championships winning gold and silver respectively at the 2018 Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships earlier this year in Oshawa, Ont.

Nexxice, the 2017 world bronze medallists, will be the first Canadian entry at the event. This season, they placed fifth at the 2018 French Cup and won gold at the 2018 Trophy D’Ecosse. The two-time consecutive Canadian champions are coached by Shelley Simonton Barnett and Anne Schelter.

Les Suprêmes will be the second Canadian entry. Last year, they placed eighth at this event. This season, they placed fourth at the 2017 Shanghai Trophy and won gold at the 2018 Mozart Cup. The Canadian silver medallists are coached by Marilyn Langlois, Pascal Denis and Amélie Brochu.

Karen Robertson of Chelsea, Que., will be the Canadian team leader at the event. Dr. Albert Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., and physiotherapist Karen Seymour, of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director, will also be traveling with the team.

For results and full entries, please visit the official event website or isu.org.

Weaver and Poje snare the bronze at world championships

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MILAN, Italy – Kaitlyn Weaver and Andre Poje of Waterloo, Ont., won the bronze medal on Saturday in ice dancing to conclude the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron took the gold with 207.20 points, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. were second at 196.64 and Weaver and Poje collected their third career world championship medal with a personal best 192.35.

‘’I don’t have words for this moment right now,’’ said Weaver. “The program went by so fast and before we knew it we were standing on the podium.’’

The couple were performing their popular Je Suis Malade program.

“We will remember this moment,’’ said Poje. ‘’We really wanted to have that last one go and have a smile on our face at the end of it.’’

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto were sixth and Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver 14th.

‘’To finish on a high note is so rewarding,’’ said Gilles. ‘’This was a roller coaster season for us but we’ve really been pushing ourselves to improve.’’

Soucisse and Firus were hoping to fare better.

‘’Our performances were not as solid as we wanted them to be,’’ said Soucisse. ‘’But overall we gave a good impression at our first worlds.’’

In men’s competition, Nathan Chen of the U.S. took the gold medal with Shoma Uno of Japan second and Mikhail Kolyada of Russia third.

Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., was eighth in his worlds debut a four spot improvement on his Olympic performance last month.

‘’To go out there and miss a couple of elements I’ve been nailing all week is a little hurtful,’’ said Messing. ‘’Still I tried to keep my head up and give a good performance. I hope the crowd still loved it.’’

Canada ends the competition with two medals. On Friday Kaetlyn Osmond won an historic gold in the women’s event.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond wins world figure skating title

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MILAN, Italy – Kaetlyn Osmond won the gold medal in women’s competition on Friday at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. It is Canada’s first women’s world figure skating crown in 45 years.

‘’This feels unbelievable for me,’’ said Osmond. ‘’Being world champion is something I never expected. I was fighting to skate clean and fighting to hit the podium.’’

The 22-year-old Olympic bronze medallist from Marystown, N.L., was the first skater in the final flight of six and put down a free skate that couldn’t be matched. She scored 150.50 points for her Black Swan routine to finish with 223.23 points overall, and in the process, climbed from fourth after Wednesday’s short program.

The last time a Canadian woman was golden at worlds was Karen Magnussen in 1973. Osmond is the fourth Canadian woman to ever win a world title. Petra Burka took gold in 1965 and Barbara Ann Scott scored back-to-back wins in 1947 and 1948.

‘’Canada has such a strong history of competitors in all disciplines,’’ said Osmond. ‘’Just that gold medal was always a fight for the ladies. Hopefully now we’ll be able to be champions a lot more.’’

Osmond’s jammed packed routine opened with two combos, a triple flip – triple toe and double Axel-triple toe. Those were followed by a triple Lutz, triple loop, triple flip, triple Salchow-double toe-double loop combo and another double Axel.

‘’It took a lot of mental focus today to do that, it’s been a really long year,’’ said Osmond. ‘’I wanted to show that my bronze at the Olympics wasn’t a fluke.’’

Wakaba Higuchi of Japan was second at 210.90 and her compatriot Satoko Miyahara third at 210.08.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., was seventh.

In ice dancing, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., set a personal best score in their short dance to stand third with 78.31. Olympic silver medallists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France lead with 83.73 and Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue sit second at 80.42.

‘’We’ve struggled with the short program this season so we are happy and pleased to deliver one that we are proud of,’’ said Poje.

The couple, two-time worlds medallists, is coming off a self-described disappointing seventh place performance at the Olympics.

‘’We were discouraged and exhausted after the Games,’’ said Weaver. ‘’But we knew how hard we worked and how good our product is and we prepared ourselves to arrive here with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.’’

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto also set a new personal best and are sixth at 74.51. Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver are 11th.

‘’It was a physically hard skate for both of us being the end of the season,’’ said Poirier. ‘’The Olympics took a lot out of us. We reorganized the short dance so we could skate a little bit freer and that really paid off especially with a stronger technical score.’’

Soucisse and Firus are in their worlds debut.

‘’We went out there and enjoyed the moment,’’ said Soucisse.

Competition ends Saturday with the free dance and the men’s free skate.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Canadians in medal hunt at ISU World Figure Skating Championships

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MILAN, Italy – Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L. and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., are fourth and sixth after Wednesday’s women’s short program and still in striking distance of the podium at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Carolina Kostner of Italy is the leader with 80.27, Alina Zagitova of Russia is second at 79.51 and Satoko Miyahara of Japan third at 74.36.

Osmond, the Olympic bronze medallist in PyeongChang last month, posted a 72.73 while Daleman earned 71.61. Both Osmond and Daleman helped Canada to Olympic gold in the team event.

In her Edith Piaf program, Osmond opened with a triple-flip, triple-toe combo followed by a triple Lutz but had trouble on her double Axel.

‘’That program wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever done it,’’ said Osmond. ‘’I don’t usually make a mistake on the double Axel. But I was a little bit nervous today and I felt I had to fight through myself.’’

Daleman produced a clean program featuring a triple-toe, triple-toe combination, a triple Lutz and a double Axel.

‘’I couldn’t have asked for anything more,’’ said Daleman. ‘’I’m happy with how I pushed myself after the Olympics and put it all together.’’

Larkyn Austman of Coquitlam, B.C. was 25th.

‘’I was happy with it,’’ said Austman, who missed the cut for the free skate by one spot. ‘’The Olympics and here have been great experiences and set me up well for next season.’’

In pairs after the short program, Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany are first, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia second and Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France third.

Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are 10th.

‘’It was difficult today,’’ said Moore-Towers, who is battling an ankle injury. ‘’We haven’t done a full program since the Olympics. But we were successful in staying present in each moment and finished strong.’’

The other two Canadian pairs were out of the top-16 and do not advance to the free skate. Camille Ruest of Rimouski, Que., and Drew Wolfe of Calgary were 18th and Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., 22nd.

Competition continues Thursday with the men’s short program and the pairs free skate. The women’s free skate is Friday.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018

Oakville to host 2018 Autumn Classic International

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada has announced that it will host the 2018 Autumn Classic International in Oakville, Ont. The fifth edition of the event will take place from September 20-22, 2018, at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.

The senior international figure skating competition has previously been a stop on the International Skating Union’s (ISU) Challenger Series in 2014, 2016 and 2017, with hopes of again being included in 2018. A decision regarding Challenger Series status will be announced this summer by the ISU. Events for men, women, pairs and ice dance will feature some of the top skaters in the world. The 2017 competition featured 47 entries (63 skaters) from 15 countries.

“The Autumn Classic International has become a highly anticipated event on the Canadian and international skating calendar,” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “We are excited to bring a competition with such great talents from around the world to Oakville and the beautiful facility at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.”

Tickets for the event will go on sale this summer at a date to be announced. All-event tickets will be priced at $85, with single day passes being priced as follows: $30 for Thursday, $35 for Friday and $35 for Saturday. Tickets include entry to view practices on the date(s) of each ticket.

To register for notification of ticket on-sale dates for Skate Canada events, please fill out the form located here.

Moore-Towers and Marinaro surge to sixth in gutsy performance at ISU World Figure Skating Championships

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MILAN, Italy – Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were profiles in courage on Thursday as they produced the fourth best free skate to climb from 10th to sixth in pairs at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Olympic champions Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany took the gold with 245.84 points. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia were second at 225.53 and Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France third at 218.36.

Moore-Towers and Marinaro scored a personal best 204.33. Their training was derailed after their 11th place finish at the Olympics due to an ankle injury to Moore-Towers. They had not started doing throws until this week and had not done two in one day since the Olympics.

‘’We are extremely happy,’’ said Moore-Towers. ‘’ We had a tough couple of weeks leading into this competition with not much training to rely on. We didn’t have that same confidence so this is a testament to how hard we worked all season.’’

The Canadians seemed to get better as the program progressed. After an uneneven side-by-side jump early and just hanging on on the throw triple loop, they finished strong with their side-by-side triples and throw triple Salchow.

‘’We’d been putting in a full work load since July so I think that allowed us to put up personal bests under the circumstance,’’ said Marinaro.

Keegan Messing of Sherwood Park, Alta., skated to a personal best score of 93.00 to sit sixth after the men’s short program.

‘’I was filled with joy going into the last spin,’’ said Messing. ‘’I’ve never felt that in a program before.’’
American Nathan Chen leads with 101.94, Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada is second at 100.08. Vincent Zhou of the U.S. is in third at 96.78.

Toronto’s Nam Nguyen was 25th and didn’t qualify for Saturday’s free skate.

‘’It’s a little upsetting,’’ said Nguyen. ‘’It’s always a different ball game when two of your three jumps in the short program are quads. I thought I was ready for it but it didn’t go well.’’

Competition continues Friday with the women’s free skate featuring Canadians Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman who were fourth and sixth in the short and the short dance.

Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018