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Pair Champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford Retire from Competitive Skating

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OTTAWA, ON: Two-time world pair champions and three-time Olympic medallists Meagan Duhamel, 32, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 33, Balmertown, Ont., are retiring from competitive skating. Duhamel and Radford teamed up in 2010 and would go on to become one of Canada’s most accomplished pair teams.

“I am extremely thankful and grateful for the incredible journey that the sport of figure skating gave me. I’m thankful to my family, who were my first supporters and first fans; they instilled a work ethic in me that became the base of my success and they encouraged me to dream big. Thank you to all my coaches over the years at the Walden Skating Club: Lana, Becky and Nancy. Thank you to Lee Barkell and his team at the Mariposa School of Skating from 2000-2007 and to Bruno Marcotte, Richard Gauthier, Sylvie Fullum, Julie Marcotte and Ian Connolly, my team in Montreal since 2007, who took a chance on me and believed in me during times I couldn’t find faith,” said Duhamel.

Duhamel continued, “Most importantly, thank you to my skating partners: Ryan Arnold, Craig Buntin and Eric Radford. Ryan and Craig both gave me the fundamentals of pairs skating and the tools of how to work as a pair team so that I could eventually thrive with Eric. I cherish all the moments, both good and bad, with all three of my partners. Thanks to Eric for being the best partner anyone could ask for. One more big thank you goes to all the amazing fans of figure skating in Canada. It’s been a true pleasure to share my love of skating with you all. Thank you for supporting me over the years, I truly appreciate it. Although I’m leaving the competitive world of figure skating, I will never leave the sport completely. Figure skating was my first love and I want to spend the rest of my life with this sport, in many different capacities.”

“I could never have imagined that my skating career would be filled with so many incredible and unforgettable moments. From the outdoor rink in Balmertown to the Olympic podium, there were many people whose unwavering support made it all possible and gave the journey so much more meaning. Thank you to my parents and family for believing in me and my dream from day one, to my fiancé Luis for inspiring me and giving perspective to the most difficult times, to my friends for cheering for me no matter where I was in the world and to the team of coaches, Bruno, Julie, Ian, Richard and Sylvie that made Meagan and I the best pair team we could be.” said Radford.

“Finally, I want to thank Meagan. Her incredible drive and determination always pushed and inspired me to be my best and I’m so happy we got to share all those amazing moments together. I couldn’t feel prouder that we got to represent Canada around the world throughout our career. Your love of our sport and the support you show all the athletes have given me some of the best and most special moments in my career,” finished Radford.

Duhamel and Radford won their first of seven consecutive Canadian titles in 2012 and hold the record for most national titles won by a pair team. They competed at two Olympic Winter Games, winning three medals. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi they won silver in the team event and at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang they won bronze in their individual event and gold in the team event. Duhamel and Radford have won four medals at the ISU World Championships, winning back-to-back gold in 2015 and 2016.

“Meagan and Eric have been champions and innovators in pair skating. Their drive to push the sport forward by executing advanced elements has truly inspired a new generation of pair skating,” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “They have been staples on our national team for two quadrennials and their presence will be missed. Skate Canada thanks Meagan and Eric for their dedication to excellence and wishes them the best of luck with their future plans.”

At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games they became the first team to complete a quad throw salchow in Olympic competition. Over their career they won 14 medals on the ISU Grand Prix circuit and four medals at the ISU Grand Prix Final, winning the event in 2014. They also earned four medals at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, winning gold in 2013 and 2015.

“Meagan and Eric have been leaders worldwide in the pair discipline as they pushed the technical boundaries, which made them one of the best pairs in the world and an inspiration to future pair teams,” said Mike Slipchuk, High Performance Director, Skate Canada. “Their passion for the sport and accomplishments are evidence of their hard work and dedicated work ethic, always striving to be the best. We thank them for letting us enjoy this amazing journey with them.”

Duhamel and Radford are both currently living in Montreal, Que., and plan to stay involved in skating together through skating shows and seminars.

Duhamel is working on her lifestyle brand Lutz of Greens and has been involved with the Humane Society in the rescuing of dogs. She is finishing her studies in nutrition with a specialized certification in Sports and Fitness Nutrition and Vegetarian Nutrition and plans to develop a wellness program for figure skaters. Duhamel also plans to take the training to become a technical specialist.

Radford’s future plans include pursuing music and eventually composing for film, as well as coaching and choreography in skating. He is also planning his wedding to Spanish ice dancer Luis Fenero.

Duhamel, Radford win Olympic pairs bronze in dramatic fashion

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PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – In what may have been the swan song to a illustrious career, waiting turned out to be the hardest part for Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford.

Just a few days after helping Canada win gold in the figure skating team event, the two-time world and seven-time Canadian champions claimed pairs bronze Thursday in a drama-filled final hour of the pairs free program. Duhamel and Radford scored 153.33 in their free program, which included the first clean throw quad Salchow in Olympic history. The Canadians ended with a 230.15 total to win Canada’s first Olympic pairs medal since Jamie Salé and David Pelletier won gold in 2002.

Duhamel and Radford entered the free program in bronze medal position, just in front of Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot. The German pair laid down the performance of their lives, setting a world record free program score of 159.31 to finish at 235.90, edging out reigning world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China (235.47) for gold.

It was the first Olympic gold medal for the legendary Savchenko, a five-time world champion.

The final flight was not for the faint of heart. Savchenko and Massot were flawless in their free program, throwing down the gauntlet to the three teams left to skate. Duhamel and Radford laid down a strong program of their own to stay in medal contention before Weijing and Cong scored 153.08 to slip into second spot, just behind the Germans.

All the three podium hopefuls could do was hurry up and wait as the final pair of the evening, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov from the Olympic Athlete from Russia team, took to the ice.  Tarasova and Morozov had their struggles and fell to fourth.

“I think that was more intense that being backstage getting ready to skate,” said Radford of having to wait and see if they would stay on the podium. “I think we’re both really proud and a little surprised at how good we felt as the Germans were receiving their marks. It didn’t excite us or make us any more nervous. We were just like ‘all right, happy for them, they had a great skate, they got a great score, and now we’re going to do the same.’”

“While we were waiting and watching the Russian team skate, after they finished skating I was holding Eric’s hand and I said, ‘I think we did enough,’” said Duhamel.

“And Eric’s like, ‘No, I’m not going to believe it until the marks come up.’ And I was like ‘Eric, I need hope, I need to feel hopeful,’” she added with a laugh.

“We came to the Olympics and we just delivered four amazing performances – four out of four.”

The other two Canadian entries also had strong showings in their first Olympics together.

Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau scored 136.50 in their free program to finish ninth while Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro managed 132.43 to wind up 11th.

“Today was a little bit more of what we are capable of,” said Moore-Towers. “We had nothing to lose. There’s not an Olympic medal on the line for us. It was about bettering yesterday and bettering our performances this season.”

“Today was strictly about Kirsten and I, a learning experience and leaving it all out there on the ice,” added Marinaro.

“It was a great feeling,” said Séguin of their free program. “We were able to take the energy from the crowd, get in the zone and create a moment.”

With the pairs event now completed, the men take the ice for their short program Thursday night at 8:00 PM ET. Three-time world and ten-time Canadian champion Patrick Chan and first-time Olympian Keegan Messing represent Canada.

Medal Photo Credit: David Jackson/COC

PyeongChang 2018 Figure Skating Schedule & Results

Olympic Spotlight : Duhamel/Radford

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Fresh off their seventh consecutive national title at the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Vancouver, Duhamel and Radford have cemented their legacy as one of the best pair teams in Canadian figure skating history.

With signature elements and a history of raising the bar in pairs skating, Duhamel and Radford have also won a pair of world titles (2015, 2016). The back-to-back world crowns were the first from a Canadian pair team since Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul won four straight from 1957 through 1960.

Earlier this season, Duhamel and Radford won gold at Skate Canada International and followed that up with bronze at Skate America.

They were also part of Canada’s silver medal winning squad in the first team event at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Three medals for Canada at ISU Grand Prix Final

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NAGOYA, Japan – Canadians won three medals on Saturday at the ISU Grand Prix Final, the last major international figure skating event before the Olympic Winter Games in February.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took the silver in ice dancing while Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford added a bronze in pairs and Kaetlyn Osmond was also third in women’s competition.

In ice dancing, Virtue and Moir lost for the first time since their return to competition last season.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the gold with 202.16 points. Virtue and Moir followed at 199.86 and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the U.S. were third at 188.00.

‘’We made a couple of uncharacteristic glitches that we don’t even make in training that often,’’ said Moir, from Ilderton, Ont. ‘’We don’t like not winning competitions but in the grand scheme of things it was still a performance we were proud of.’’

The three-time world champions are pleased with their progress towards the Olympics.

‘’We’re on track,’’ said Virtue, from London, Ont. ‘’We’ve had an extremely successful season and we just have to continue taking care of the little details and making the tweaks so our programs are at their best come February.’’

In women’s competition, Osmond made a couple of mistakes in her Black Swan skate including a fall on her triple Salchow to drop from first after the short program to third with 215.16 points.

‘’The mistakes that I made were silly ones and they won’t happen again,’’ said Osmond, from Marystown, N.L. ‘’I made a lot of changes to my program since my last competition and I did those well.’’

It was a 1-2 Russian finish with Alina Zagitova first at 223.30 and Maria Sotskova second at 216.28.

In pairs, it was a comeback medal for Duhamel and Radford who climbed from fifth place after the short program to the medal position earning 210.83. Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany were first at 236.68 and world champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han second at 230.89.

‘’We took a nice step here and continued to build,’’ said Radford. ‘’We want to take another step up at the national championships (in January) get some more levels and hit that big peak at the Olympic Games.’’

In junior ice dancing, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., were sixth.

‘’It was a nice experience,’’ said Lagha. ‘’It was cool to skate at a big event like that.’’

Full results: Grand Prix Final 2017 Senior and Junior

Duhamel and Radford earn bronze at Skate America

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LAKE PLACID – Two-time Canadian world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are headed to the ISU Grand Prix Final following a bronze medal performance on Saturday at Skate America, the seventh stop on the figure skating circuit.

Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany won the gold medal with 223.13 points, Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang of China were second at 219.20 and Duhamel and Radford followed at 215.68.

‘’Today wasn’t our best skate but it wasn’t our worst,’’ said Duhamel, from Lively, Ont. ‘’We fought and I think overall we are happy with this competition. This is our next to last Grand Prix and I refuse to leave here frustrated.’’

Skating to music from Muse, Duhamel and Radford opened with a triple twist before Duhamel fell on the side-by-side jump and touched her hand down on the throw quad Salchow.

‘’We’re on the podium with these great teams, it was a great competition and we are really proud.’’

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

In men’s competition, Nathan Chen led the U.S. to a 1-2 finish with Adam Rippon second. Sergei Voronov of Russia was third.

Liam Firus of North Vancouver was eighth, Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., ninth and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., 10th.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., is in third spot after the women’s short program behind Japanese skaters Satoko Miyahara in first and Kaori Sakamoto in second.

‘’My program is definitely a step-up performance-wise,’’ said Daleman. ‘’On the technical side there’s a lot of improvement to be done. I need to work  hard on it and be prepared for the next time.’’

In the short dance, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto are fifth.

The women’s free skate and free dance are on Sunday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/gpusa2017/

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford update coaching team

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OTTAWA, ON: Two- time world pair champions Meagan Duhamel, 31, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 32, Balmertown, Ont., have updated their coaching team for the 2017-2018 season and will no longer be coached by Richard Gauthier.

“Meagan and I thank Richard from the bottom of hearts for all he has done for us. His influence in our lives will extend far beyond the arena. This was an extremely difficult decision but now we will concentrate and focus on the important upcoming season,” stated Radford.

“Eric and I felt like we wanted to make some changes to our training. We will be forever grateful to Richard. Everything we’ve achieved in our career wouldn’t have been possible without him. We wish him the best,” added Duhamel.

Bruno Marcotte will act as head coach with support from John Zimmerman. John Kerr has also joined the team as their choreographer, alongside Julie Marcotte.

Chan produces solid third in short program/ Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch a career best sixth at worlds

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HELSINKI – Patrick Chan scored a personal best to stand third after the short program in men’s competition while Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch were a career-best sixth in pairs.

In the men’s short, two-time defending champion Javier Fernandez of Spain stands first after the short program with 109.05 points. Shoma Uno of Japan is second at 104.86 and Chan posted a personal best 102.13 – the first time he has cracked the 100-point barrier internationally.

Chan, a three-time world champion from Toronto, opened with a quad toe loop- triple toe loop combo and also cleanly executed his triple Axel and triple Lutz.

‘’Breaking 100 points with one quad is huge for me,’’ said Chan. ‘’I didn’t go into it thinking I needed to be first. I just wanted to get the marks I deserved if I put everything on the table.’’

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., is 12th after producing a clean skate. He opened with a quad Salchow- triple toe combo and followed that up with a quad toe and triple Axel.

‘’I was able to refocus after a not so great warm-up,’’ said Reynolds, who had a 4:20 a.m.  wake-up call for a 6 a.m. practice being in the first group of skaters.  ‘’I trusted my training and turned things around.

‘’I couldn’t be happier with my performance today.’’

In pairs, there was no change in the top-three: Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China took gold, Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany the silver and Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia the bronze.

Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch remained in sixth spot with a personal best 206.19 points. They were seventh at last year’s worlds and 13th the year before.

‘’We worked hard through that program and the training paid off,’’ said Moscovitch.

‘’We did an amazing job on regrouping and refocusing for this program,’’ added Ilyushechkina. ‘’We were there in moment and worked hard from the beginning until the end.’’

Two-time defending world champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., stayed in seventh spot. Radford has been dealing with a hip injury this month.

‘’After the practice this morning I never felt so afraid and unsure,’’ said Radford. ‘’It was very difficult. I was thinking of withdrawing but our team around us gave us the confidence to go out there and try.

‘’Our effort was beyond what we could have expected.’’

Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., were 11th. Séguin has been dealing with a concussion in the new calendar year.

‘’We felt relief,’’ said Séguin. ‘’We had a really hard year but to finish on a strong note with our program was what we needed.’’

Competition continues Friday with the women’s free skate and the short dance. The men’s free skate is on Saturday.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/wc2017/index.htm

Strong start for Canadian women at ISU World Figure Skating Championships

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HELSINKI – Canadians Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman are in medal positions after Wednesday’s women’s short program which opened the 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Defending champion Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia stands first with 79.01 points followed by Osmond in second with a personal best 75.98 and Daleman is third at 72.19.

It’s the first time Canada has two skaters in the top three after the women’s short program at worlds.

Both Canadians displayed bright smiles after the completion of their programs, flawlessly executing their required seven elements. Osmond inserted her three jumps (triple combo, triple Lutz and double Axel) in her first four elements before finishing with her spins and step sequences.

“I was just trying to stay calm, just stay over my feet,” said Osmond of Marystown, N.L., at her first worlds since 2014. “I’ve worked hard this year at loving that feeling to compete and perform in front of a crowd. I’ve had a lot of personal bests with this program this year and that’s a great way to finish the season with it.”

Daleman, from Newmarket, Ont., also opened with her triple toe-triple toe combo with her Lutz and Axel as her fourth and fifth elements.

“You can always improve on the quality of the spins, jumps, footwork and everything in between,” said Daleman, ninth at the worlds last season. “I’m always determined to find the little details where I can improve more. I’ve gained a lot of confidence and I knew just what I wanted to do, completely enjoyed myself and just stayed in the moment.’’

In pairs, Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto, Ont., are the top Canadians in sixth with 73.14. Two-time world champions Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are seventh at 72.67 and Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., are 12th.

Radford is battling a hip injury which struck last week and which he described as “extremely frustrating.” However they went out there and produced a clean skate and expected a better placement. They are just over six points from third place.

“We were a bit surprised with how low the score was,” said Radford. “We anticipated it would be higher after a performance like that. Still it builds confidence for us for the long program.”

Radford said he has never experienced competing while injured.

“It still doesn’t feel 100 percent,” said Radford about the hip. “I was going in with a lot ‘what ifs’ in my head but I thought the way we skated was excellent for the condition I was in.”

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China are first at 81.23, Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany second at 79.84 and Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia third at 79.37.

Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch, competing at their third straight worlds, are looking to improve on last year’s seventh place finish. They are only five points back from third.

“We did exactly what we trained to do and came here to do,” said Moscovitch. “We continue to improve every time out. It’s a program we enjoy and it’s great to end it with a season’s best score.”

Seguin and Bilodeau competed for the first time since the Grand Prix Final in December where they placed fifth. Séguin had been dealing with a concussion in the new calendar year.

“We have an overall good feeling about our performance even though there were mistakes,” said Bilodeau. “The short program is more difficult for us right now and we are confident we can manage our free skate a lot better tomorrow (Thursday).”

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

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/wc2017/index.htm.

Three medals for Canada at ISU Four Continents

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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 14th to 11th 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

Duhamel and Radford win bronze/ world record for Virtue and Moir

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MARSEILLES, France – Canadian world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the bronze medal Friday in pairs at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition. The medal followed a world record performance in the short dance for Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

In pairs, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morosov of Russia won the gold medal with 213.85 points. Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang of China were second at 206.71 and Duhamel and Radford remained third at 205.99.

‘’We struggled with our side-by-side jumps and those are normally our strengths,’’ said Radford from Balmertown, Ont. ‘’We can’t afford missing them because it costs us too many points. We need to find the proper focus for those elements because everything else was really good.’’

Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., climbed to fifth with 186.85.

‘’Today was really great after a hard performance in the short,’’ said Séguin. ‘’We had a good connection and everything flowed perfectly for us.’’

In ice dancing, Virtue and Moir improved their world record short dance score from 79.47 cracking the 80-point barrier to 80.50 to stand in first place. Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the U.S. are second at 77.97 and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France are third at 77.86.

‘’It was a great skate for us,’’ said Moir, from Ilderton, Ont. ‘’We were able to bring the energy up in our performance in a pressure situation We were able to be in the moment at a big competition and had a ton of fun in the process.’’

Virtue, from London, Ont.,  says the reason the couple returned to competition this season is to experience those moments once again.

‘’We’re embracing the nerves, the pressure, the challenge,’’ she said. ‘’That was a great part of the appeal for us. Now with the lead we can’t be cautious. We have to attack the free dance tomorrow.’’

There was more good news for Canada in women’s competition as Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L., is second after the short program scoring a personal best 75.54. Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia leads at 79.21and Satoko Miyahara of Japan is third at 74.64.

‘’To get another clean program is really exciting,’’ said Osmond, who landed a triple-triple combo, triple Lutz and double Axel. ‘’It is so rewarding for me to be at the Grand Prix Final for the first time in my career. Every time out I improve something and hope that tendency continues for the free skate.’’

The men’s and women’s free skates and free dance are on Saturday.

Full results: ISU Grand Prix Final

 

Chan and Duhamel/Radford in medal hunt at ISU Grand Prix Final

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MARSEILLES, France –  Canadians Patrick Chan and pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are in position to chase a gold medal after Thursday’s short programs at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition.

In the men’s short, Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan holds the lead with 106.53 points followed by Chan with a personal best 99.76 and world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain third at 91.76.

‘’It’s the best I’ve skated this season in competition,’’ said Chan, a three-time world champion, who executed a clean skate featuring a quad-triple combo and triple Axel. ‘’It’s a good feeling to have again and super to do that against all the top men here. I feel I’m progressing through the season properly.’’

In pairs, Evegenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia are in first place with 78.60. Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang of China are second at 75.34 while Duhamel and Radford are third at 71.44.

The Canadian two-time world champs had a fall on their throw and Duhamel touched her hand down on the side-by-side jumps.

‘’The throw Axel has been right there in practice,’’ said Radford. ‘’It’s just unfortunate that it went very haywire in the program. We haven’t done one like that in awhile.’’

‘’It’s actually our most consistent throw,’’ added Duhamel. ‘’We land it way more than the other throws in practice. So we are a bit shell-shocked and disappointed. In the end we need to do clean short programs.’’

Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., are sixth at 60.86.

‘’Even though we missed some technical elements we really enjoyed the program,’’ said Séguin. ‘’We really have to trust ourselves for the free program and I think we will do well.’’

The pairs free skate is on Friday along with the women’s short program and short dance. The men’s free skate is on Saturday.

Full results: ISU Grand Prix Final

Biggest Canadian team in history headed to ISU Grand Prix Final

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada is sending its largest team ever – five entries, for a total of eight skaters – to the ISU Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France. The event takes place from December 8-11, 2016, at the Palais Omnisports Marseille Grand-Est. This is the first time that Canada has qualified a skater in every discipline. The event includes both the ISU Senior Grand Prix Final and the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final, however Canada did not qualify any entries for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

Patrick Chan, 25, Toronto, Ont., will represent Canada in men. This season, Chan won the silver medal at the Finlandia Trophy, and gold medals at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China. He is coached by Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein and Johnny Johns in Canton, MI, USA.

Kaetlyn Osmond, 21, Marystown, Nfld./Edmonton, Alta., is the Canadian representative in the ladies category. Osmond won the gold medal at the Finlandia Trophy, and earned the silver medal at both Skate Canada International and the Cup of China this season. She is coached by Ravi Walia in Edmonton, Alta.

Meagan Duhamel, 30, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 31, Balmertown, Ont., are one of two Canadian entries in the pairs discipline. Duhamel and Radford won gold at all of their events thus far this season: the Finlandia Trophy, Skate Canada International and the NHK Trophy. They are coached by Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte and Sylvie Fullum in St. Leonard, Que.

Julianne Séguin, 20, Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau, 23, Trois-Pistoles, Que., will be the second Canadian pairs team at the event. This season, the duo won gold at Autumn Classic International and Skate America and placed fifth at the Rostelecom Cup. Séguin and Bilodeau are coached by Josée Picard in Chambly, Que.

Tessa Virtue, 27, London, Ont., and Scott Moir, 29, Ilderton, Ont., will be the Canadian entry in ice dance. This season, Virtue and Moir won gold at each of their events: Autumn Classic International, Skate Canada International and the NHK Trophy. Virtue and Moir are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Que.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director, will travel with the team as team leader. Dr. Ghislaine Robert of Montreal, Que., and physiotherapist Agnes Makowski of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medial staff onsite. Beth Crane of Burnaby, B.C., and Nicole Leblanc-Richard of Dieppe, N.B., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

Emma Bowie, Skate Canada Communications Manager, will be the Canadian media contact. She can be reached onsite at [email protected] or 613-914-2607.

For results and full entries please click here.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT THE 2016-2017 ISU GRAND PRIX FINAL

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Senior Men Patrick Chan 25 Toronto, Ont. Granite Club Marina Zoueva / Oleg Epstein / Johnny Johns
Senior Ladies Kaetlyn Osmond 21 Marystown, Nfld. & Edmonton, Alta. Ice Palace FSC Ravi Walia
Senior Pairs Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford 30/31 Lively, Ont. / Balmertown, Ont. CPA Saint-Léonard / CPA Saint-Léonard Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte / Sylvie Fullum
Senior Pairs Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau 20/23 Longueuil, Que. / Trois-Pistoles, Que. CPA Longueuil / CPA Chambly Josée Picard
Senior 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