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Two fourth place finishes for Canadian figure skaters at Youth Olympics

LILLEHAMMER, Norway – Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., came within four points of a podium finish on Monday in men’s singles figure skating action at the Youth Olympics.

Sota Yamamoto of Japan held on to first place for gold with 215.52 points followed by Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia in second at 214.43 and Dmitri Alieb of Russia third at 209.77. Sadovsky, a double medallist this season on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, followed at 205.69.

Sadovsky was in second spot after Saturday’s short program but a missed triple Axel in free skate which hurt his medal chances.  He had landed it for the first time in competition in Saturday’s short.

“I’m mildly disappointed not to win a medal here,’’ said Sadovksy, 16. ‘’Popping the triple Axel pretty much cost it all for me. It’s still not consistent in competition but I had been landing quite a few in practice. I just need to get more miles with it.’’

In pairs, Justine Brasseur of Brossard, Que., and Mathieu Ostiguy of Ste-Angele-de-Monnoir, Que., were also fourth with a personal best 140.59.  Ekaterina Borisova and Dmitry Sopot of Russia took the gold at 168.66.

“It went super well for us,” said Brasseur, 14, the niece of Isabelle Brasseur who won two Olympic medals in pairs with Lloyd Eisler. “It was a great experience. Our side-by-side jump and lifts were solid as well as one of our throws.”

Brasseur and Ostiguy are also tuning up for the world junior championships next month.

“We definitely reached our objectives heading into the world juniors,” said Ostiguy, 19, in his second season with Brasseur. “They were the best performances we’ve ever done together. We hit the 140 point overall and 90 point mark for the long and came within two points of getting 50 for the short.”

In ice dancing, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of St-Hubert, Que., are fourth after Sunday’s short dance.

The free dance is on Tuesday. There are no Canadian entries in women’s competition.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/yog2016/.

Canadian ice dancers fourth at Youth Olympic Games

Photo : Jon Buckle

LILLEHAMMER, Norway – Ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., earned Canada’s third fourth place finish in figure skating on Tuesday at the Youth Olympic Games.

Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov of Russia won the gold medal with 141.88 points. Chloe Lewis and Logan Bye of the U.S. were second at 136.37 and Anastasia Skoptcova and Kirill Aleshin of Russia third at 134.62.

Lajoie and Lagha, in their fifth season together, followed at 125.87.

“It was a super fun competition,” said Lajoie, 15. “Everything was really solid for us today. I was particularly pleased with our twizzles.  But overall it went very well.”

This season they placed seventh at their first international assignment, ISU Junior Grand Prix in Spain. Earlier this year they won the silver medal at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in junior ice dance. Lajoie and Lagha train in Montreal with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer and Pascal Denis.

“We didn’t get the scores we wanted but what’s most important is the public and ourselves were satisfied with the performance,” said Lagha, 16. “This is our first season as juniors so we didn’t really set any precise goals except to get better at each competition.”

On Monday, Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont.,was fourth in men’s competition while Justine Brasseur of Brossard, Que., and Mathieu Ostiguy of Granby, Que., were fourth in pairs.

Full results: Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games

Skaters ready to compete at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games

OTTAWA, ON: Canada will have three entries in the figure skating events at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway from February 12-21, 2016. The Canadian figure skating team will consist of one entry in men’s, pair and ice dance, for a total of five skaters.

Roman Sadovsky, 16, Vaughan, Ont., will be Canada’s entry in men’s. This season Sadovsky won gold at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia, bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Poland and placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. Most recently he placed ninth at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in the senior men’s category. Sadovsky is coached by Tracey Wainman at the YSRA Winter Club.

Justine Brasseur, 14, Brossard, Que., and Mathieu Ostiguy, 19, Granby, Que., are the Canadian pair entry at the event. They competed on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit earlier this season placing sixth and fifth at their two assignments. In January they placed fourth in the junior category at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Brasseur and Ostiguy train in Saint-Léonard, Que., with coach Bruno Marcotte.

Marjorie Lajoie, 15, Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, 16, Greenfield Park, Que., will represent Canada in ice dance. This season they placed seventh at their first international assignment, ISU Junior Grand Prix Logrono. Earlier this year they won the silver medal at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in junior ice dance. Lajoie and Lagha train in Montreal, Que., with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer and Pascal Denis.

Scott Rachuk of Strathroy, Ont., will be the Canadian figure skating team leader/coach and Tracey Wainman of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian coach in Lillehammer. Susan Blatz of Burlington, Ont., and Janice Hunter of West Vancouver, B.C., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

For more information the 2016 Youth Olympic Games please visit the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) website.

Canadian entries at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games

DISCIPLINE NAME AGE HOMETOWN CLUB COACH
Mens Roman Sadovsky 16 Vaughan, Ont. YRSA Winter Club Tracey Wainman
Pair Justine Brasseur / Mathieu Ostiguy 14/19 Brossard, Que. / Granby, Que. CPA Brossard / CPA Saint-Césaire Bruno Marcotte
Ice Dance Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha 15/16 Boucherville, Que. / Greenfield Park, Que. CPA Boucherville / CPA St-Lambert Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon / Romain Haguenauer / Pascal Denis