2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

Patrick Chan fourth as Canada ends ISU Four Continents with four medals

February 19, 2017/0 Comments/in News & Press Releases /by Skate Canada

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto took fourth spot in the men’s event on Sunday to conclude the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition.

Nathan Chen of the U.S. won the gold medal with 307.46 points, Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan was second at 303.71 and his compatriot Shoma Uno was third at 288.05. Chan, fifth after the short program, followed at 267.98.

‘’I need to work on my snap off the ice and being more efficient,’’ said Chan, who opened with successful quad toe-triple and triple Axel but struggled the rest of the way. ‘’I’m looking forward to going back home and working on that. Those are also things that I can work on both on and off the ice.’’

Nam Nguyen of Toronto produced a strong free skate to jump from 13^th after the short to eighth overall for a season’s best 237.08. His program included three quads. He fell on the first one but the rest of the skate was clean.

‘’My free program went really well,’’ said Nguyen. ‘’Especially since my practices leading up were not as successful. It’s great to go out there and show everyone I can put out my technical content and push my component elements.”

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., remained in 12^th place. He produced a strong second half after a difficult first couple of minutes.

‘’It was a tough opening to recover from,’’ said Reynolds. ‘’With each mistake you lose your energy and focus. But I thought I did as well as I could in the second half considering it was a disappointing performance.’’

Canada, which featured its team for next month’s world championships in Helsinki, ends the competition with four medals.

Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., took gold in ice dancing; Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., and Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto won silver and bronze in pairs and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., added a silver in women’s competition.

The competition was held at the venue for next year’s Olympic Winter Games.

Full results: ISU Four Continents Championships 2017

Three medals for Canada at ISU Four Continents

February 18, 2017/0 Comments/in /by Skate Canada

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – World champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., and Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto won silver and bronze in pairs and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., added a silver in women’s singles on Saturday at the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition.

In pairs, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China took the gold with 225.03 points. Duhamel and Radford followed at 212.23 and Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch were third at 205.31.

Duhamel and Radford started their free skate with an impressive triple twist but their side-by-side, throw quad Salchow and throw triple Lutz were not as smooth.

‘’It was one of those fighting skates for us which has been a theme for us this season,’’ said Radford. ‘’But considering how we were feeling coming into this long program we are both very proud of ourselves and did some pretty good things.

‘’It’s always an up and down through the season and we’ll take this as a step up towards the world championships in March.’’

Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch were on fire in their free skate landing a triple twist, side-by-side triple toe-double toe, side-by-side triple Salchow and throw triple flip. The only glaring mishap was Ilyushechkina falling on a throw triple loop near the end of the program.

‘’It got rough near the end and some spots were sticky but we got through it,’’ said Moscovitch. ‘’Each event this season we have been improving and we’ve worked very hard to keep moving in the right direction.’’

Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were seventh.

In women’s competition, Mai Mihara of Japan moved from fourth after the short program to top spot with 200.85. Daleman followed in second – a career-best international result – at 196.91, Mirai Nagasu of the U.S. was third at 194.95 and Kaetlyn Osmond of Maystown, N.L. fourth at 184.17.

Daleman produced a strong start and ending with a little blip in the middle on which she stepped out of a jump and put her hand down after landing a double Axel.

‘’I’d never been at a big championship leading after the short so it was a whole new experience,’’ said Daleman. ‘’It’s wasn’t my best skate at all but I’m happy to be leaving here with an international medal.’’

Daleman and Osmond were 1-2 after Thursday’s short program. In her free skate, Osmond struggled after opening with a powerful triple flip-triple toe and double Axel-triple toe combos.

‘’The beginning went super well,’’ she said. ‘’I’ve been getting a lot better and being able to refocus after I miss an element and today that just didn’t happen.’’

Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., climbed from 14^th to 11^th after producing the eighth best free skate.

Competition ends Sunday morning with the men’s free program (9 p.m. Saturday evening EST on cbc.ca)

Full results: ISU Four Continents Championships 2017

Perfect season continues for Virtue and Moir with gold at ISU Four Continents

February 17, 2017/0 Comments/in /by Skate Canada

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir continued their amazing comeback season with a golden performance on Friday at the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition.

The 2010 Olympic champions finished ahead of three American couples nearing a personal best 196.95 points at the Olympic venue for the 2018 Games. Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani were second at 191.85 and Madison Chock and Evan Bates third at 185.58.

On Friday, Virtue/Moir delivered a strong Free Dance to “Pilgrims on a Long Journey” and “Latch”, collecting a level four for their lifts, the twizzles, the diagonal step sequence and the spin and a level three for the circular step sequence.

They set a new personal best for the free dance with 117.20 points.

“It was an interesting performance for us as we left a couple of points on the board,” said Moir, from Ilderton, Ont. “We really felt the energy and we’re really happy with certain parts of our performance. We’re going to be pretty excited, looking forward to the next five weeks preparing for the World Championship.”

Virtue and Moir, in their first season since winning the silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, have strung together six wins in six events this winter. This included their three Grand Prix assignments, including the Final in December, the Canadian championships last month and the Autumn Classic back in October to launch their comeback.

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., were fifth at 180.09 and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto sixth at 170.14.

In the men’s short program, three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto sits fifth with 88.46. Chan fell on his opening quad toe loop and had a step-out on his triple Lutz-triple toe combination.

“I’ve had good days with that program and today wasn’t one of them,” said Chan. “When you compete at such a high level the mistakes you make have more impact and you learn from them. My timing for the quad toe was off which was unexpected because I was on in practice.”

Nathan Chen of the U.S. is first at 103.12, Shoma Uno of Japan second at 100.28 and his compatriot Yuzuru Hanyu third at 97.04.

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C. and Nam Nguyen of Toronto are 12th and 13th.

Full results: ISU Four Continents Championships 2017

Virtue and Moir, Daleman lead after short programs at ISU Four Continents

February 16, 2017/0 Comments/in /by Skate Canada

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Canadian Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., are leaders after Thursday’s short programs at the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition.

The event is being held at the Gangneung Ice Arena, the figure skating venue for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games set to start in less than a year.

In women’s competition, Daleman produced a 68.25 score to grab the lead. Canadian champion Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L. is second at 68.21 and Elizabet Tursynbaeva of Kazakhstan third at 66.87.

‘’The short program was a little bit of a fight,’’ said Daleman, who produced a clean program. ‘’I’m happy with it but it wasn’t perfect. I’m thrilled I fought for every thing and didn’t give up.’’

Osmond fell on her double Axel attempt.

‘’I can’t remember the last time I made a mistake on my double Axel,’’ she said. ‘’It’s just makes me hungrier to deliver a clean long program.’’

Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., is 14^th.

Virtue and Moir, from London, Ont., and Ilderton, Ont., lead the 16-team ice dance field with 79.75 points. The Canadians are in the midst of a superb comeback season which has seen them post five victories in five events so far.

Three American couples follow including Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani in second at 76.59 and Madison Chock and Evan Bates third at 74.67.

‘’We made a little technical error in the middle which is not ideal because we really want to capitalize on those technical points,’’ said Moir. ‘’Still we are pleased because we came out and attacked the program. It was really special to perform here a year before the Games.’’

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., are fifth but still in striking distance of the podium with 71.15 and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto are seventh at 61.21.

In pairs, Chinese teams are 1-2. Wenjing Sui and Cong Han lead with 80.75 and Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang follow at 75.20.

The three Canadian entries are next: world champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are third at 74.31, Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto are fourth at 73.04 and Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are fifth at 70.89.

Radford fell on the side-by-side jump early in the program.

‘’That was a very uncharacteristic mistake,’’ said Duhamel. ‘’We are very proud we came back with a very strong lift and throw afterwards and didn’t let the energy slip from the program. That’s hard to do when you start the program with a mistake.’’

It was a rare sight to see Radford make a jumping mistake.

‘’I’m disappointed I missed the jump,’’ added Radford. ‘’ I can count on one hand the times I missed that jump in competition so I’ll just be looking forward to doing it in the long program.’’

Competition continues Friday.

Full results: ISU Four Continents Championships 2017.

Canadian team in Republic of Korea for 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

February 14, 2017/0 Comments/in News & Press Releases, News & Press Releases, News & Press Releases, News & Press Releases, News & Press Releases /by Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON: Canada will have 12 entries, for a total of 18 skaters, competing at the 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Gangneung, Republic of Korea. The competition takes place from February 16-19, 2017, at the Gangneung Ice Arena, and will serve as the test event for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The Canadian team will have three entries per category in men, ladies, pairs and ice dance.

Patrick Chan, 26, Toronto, Ont., will be the first of three Canadian men entries. He has previously competed at this event in 2009, 2012 and 2016, winning gold each time. This season, Chan won the silver medal at the Finlandia Trophy, gold medals at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China, and placed fifth at the ISU Grand Prix Final. The nine-time Canadian champion is coached by Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein and Johnny Johns in Canton, MI, USA.

Kevin Reynolds, 26, Coquitlam, B.C., is the second Canadian men entry. This will be his sixth time competing at this event, which he won in 2013. This season, Reynolds won silver at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, bronze at Skate Canada International, and silver at the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. He is coached by Joanne McLeod in Burnaby, B.C.

Nam Nguyen, 18, Toronto, Ont., is the third Canadian men entry. He previously competed at this event in 2014, placing 10^th and 2015, placing 11^th. This season, Nguyen placed fifth at the 2016 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, sixth at Skate America, eighth at the NHK Trophy, and won bronze at the Canadian championships. He is coached by Tracey Wainman and Gregor Filipowski in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Kaetlyn Osmond, 21, Marystown, Nfld./Edmonton, Alta., is the first of three Canadian representatives in the ladies category. Last year, she placed sixth at this event, and in 2013 placed seventh. This season, Osmond won gold at the Finlandia Trophy, silver at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China, placed fourth at the ISU Grand Prix Final, and won her third Canadian title. She is coached by Ravi Walia in Edmonton, Alta.

Gabrielle Daleman, 19, Newmarket, Ont., will also represent Canada in ladies. This will be her second time competing at this event, having placed seventh in 2015. This season, Daleman won bronze at the Nebelhorn Trophy, placed fourth at Skate America and the Trophée de France, and won silver at the Canadian championships. Daleman is coached by Lee Barkell and Brian Orser in Toronto, Ont.

Alaine Chartrand, 20, Prescott, Ont., rounds out the Canadian entries in the ladies category. This will be her fourth time competing at this event; last year she placed 11^th. This season, she won silver at the 2016 Autumn Classic International, placed fifth at Skate Canada International, 10^th at the NHK Trophy, and won bronze at the Canadian championships. Chartrand is coached by Michelle Leigh and Brian Orser.

Meagan Duhamel, 31, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 32, Balmertown, Ont., lead the Canadian entries in the pairs discipline. They have previously competed at this event four times, winning in 2013 and 2015. This season, Duhamel and Radford won gold at the Finlandia Trophy, Skate Canada International and the NHK Trophy, and won bronze at the ISU Grand Prix Final. The six-time consecutive Canadian champions are coached by Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte and Sylvie Fullum in St. Leonard, Que.

Lubov Ilyushechkina, 25, Moscow, Russia, and Dylan Moscovitch, 32, Toronto, Ont., will be the second Canadian pairs entry. They have previously competed at this event in 2015, placing sixth, and last season, placing fifth. Earlier this season, Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch won the silver medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy, bronze at Skate Canada International, bronze at the Cup of China, and silver at the Canadian championships. The pair are coached by Lee Barkell, Bryce Davison and Tracy Wilson in Toronto, Ont.

Kirsten Moore-Towers, 24, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 25, Sarnia, Ont., are the third Canadian entry in pair. This will be their second time competing at this event; they placed ninth in 2015. Moore-Towers and Marinaro won the bronze medal at the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships after returning from an injury earlier this season. They are coached by Bruno Marcotte, Richard Gauthier, Sylvie Fullum, Julie Marcotte and Cynthia Lemaire in St. Leonard, Que.

Tessa Virtue, 27, London, Ont., and Scott Moir, 29, Ilderton, Ont., will be the first of three Canadian entries in ice dance. This will be their seventh time competing at this event, which they won in 2008 and 2012. This season, Virtue and Moir won gold at each of their events: Autumn Classic International, Skate Canada International, NHK Trophy and ISU Grand Prix Final, as well as their seventh Canadian title. Virtue and Moir are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Que.

Kaitlyn Weaver, 27, Toronto, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 29, Waterloo, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their eighth time competing at this event, having won in 2010 and 2015. This season, Weaver and Poje won the bronze medal at the Rostelecom Cup, silver at the Cup of China, and silver at the Canadian championships. They are coached by Nikolai Morozov and train in Hackensack, NJ, USA.

Piper Gilles, 25, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 25, Unionville, Ont., will be the final Canadian entry in ice dance. This will be their fifth time competing at this event; they won silver in 2014. This season, Gilles and Poirier won the bronze medal at each of their events: Nebelhorn Trophy, Skate Canada International, Trophée de France, and most recently, the 2017 Canadian championships. They are coached by Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs in Scarborough, Ont.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director, and Carolyn Allwright of Waterloo, Ont., will be the Canadian team leaders at this event. Dr. Erika Persson of Edmonton, Alta., will be the Canadian team doctor and Agnes Makowski of Toronto, Ont., will be the team physiotherapist.

Canadian officials at the event are Nicole Leblanc-Richard of Dieppe, N.B., Lynne Dey of Edmonton, Alta., Cynthia Benson of Quispamsis, N.B., and André-Marc Allain of Gatineau, Que.

For results and full entries please visit www.isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT 2017 ISU FOUR CONTINENTS FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Discipline	Name	Age	Hometown	Club	Coach
Men	Patrick Chan	26	Toronto, Ont.	Granite Club	Marina Zoueva / Oleg Epstein / Johnny Johns
Men	Kevin Reynolds	26	Coquitlam, B.C.	Vancouver SC	Joanne McLeod
Men	Nam Nguyen	18	Toronto, Ont.	Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club	Tracey Wainman / Gregor Filipowski
Ladies	Kaetlyn Osmond	21	Marystown, Nfld. & Edmonton, Alta.	Ice Palace FSC	Ravi Walia
Ladies	Gabrielle Daleman	19	Newmarket, Ont.	Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club	Lee Barkell / Brian Orser
Ladies	Alaine Chartrand	20	Prescott, Ont.	Nepean Skating Club	Michelle Leigh / Brian Orser
Pairs	Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford	31/32	Lively, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont.	CPA Saint-Léonard / CPA Saint-Léonard	Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte / Sylvie Fullum
Pairs	Lubov Ilyushechkina / Dylan Moscovitch	25/32	Moscow, Russia / Toronto, Ont.	Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club / Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club	Lee Barkell / Bryce Davison / Tracy Wilson
Pairs	Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro	24/25	St. Catharines, Ont. / Sarnia, Ont.	Kitchener-Waterloo SC / Point Edward SC Inc.	Bruno Marcotte / Richard Gauthier / Sylvie Fullum / Julie Marcotte / Cynthia Lemaire
Ice Dance	Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir	27/29	London, Ont. / Ilderton, Ont.	Regroupement élite de patinage artistique de Montréal / Regroupement élite de patinage artistique de Montréal	Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon
Ice Dance	Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje	27/29	Toronto, Ont. / Waterloo, Ont.	Sault FSC / Kitchener-Waterloo SC	Nikolai Morozov
Ice Dance	Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier	25/25	Toronto, Ont. / Unionville, Ont.	Scarboro FSC / Scarboro FSC	Carol Lane / Juris Razgulajevs

SKATE CANADA NAMES TEAMS FOR 2017 ISU CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 22, 2017/0 Comments/in /by Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON: At the conclusion of the senior events at 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, Skate Canada named the teams for three upcoming ISU Championships. The championships took place in Ottawa, Ont., from January 16-22 at TD Place.

2017 ISU WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Helsinki Finland, March 29 – April 2, 2017

MEN
Patrick Chan
Kevin Reynolds

WOMEN
Kaetlyn Osmond
Gabrielle Daleman

PAIR
Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford
Lubov Ilyushechkina & Dylan Moscovitch
Julianne Séguin & Charlie Bilodeau

ICE DANCE
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir
Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier