Tag: Canadian Figure Skating Championships

Top Teams Ready for Battle at Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

by Jacquelyn Thayer Ottawa is no stranger to a Canadian championships; chosen this year in part to recognize 2017’s Canada 150 celebration, it’s also hosted the national skating championships 14 previous times—including, most recently, 2014’s Olympic qualifying event, where several of this year’s top skaters then contended for a spot to Sochi. Chief among those…

Road to Nationals: Duhamel and Radford

Defense of a Canadian title is nothing new for four-time national champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who in past seasons had to battle through a tight rivalry with Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch. This time around, the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships present a chance for the pair to regroup after the stresses of…

Road to Nationals: Weaver and Poje, Chock and Bates

For reigning Canadian dance champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, next week’s Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Halifax marks a full circle moment — the couple made their national, and senior, debut together there at 2007’s event, capturing a surprise bronze medal alongside Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.…

Behind the Program, Ep. 1: Paul and Islam, 2015 Free Dance

by Jacquelyn Thayer After disappointing results on the Grand Prix circuit, 2015 Canadian bronze medalists Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam made a bold move to regroup before those national championships: swapping out a jazzy Frank Sinatra free dance, choreographed by Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, for a turn to the contemporary — an adaptation of…

2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships: By the Numbers

Senior dance teams competing: 15 Senior pairs competing: 7 New teams: 5 Catherine Daigle-Roy & Dominic Barthe (sixth, dance, Skate Canada Challenge) Lubov Iliushechkina & Dylan Moscovitch (first, pairs, Skate Canada Challenge) Alexa Linden & Jean-Luc Jackson (eighth, dance, Skate Canada Challenge) Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Marinaro (Grand Prix competitors; second, pairs, Skate Canada Challenge)…

Purdy and Marinaro Ready for Senior Stage

by Jacquelyn Thayer; photos by Danielle Earl Canadian pair Margaret Purdy & Michael Marinaro capped off their junior international career with their best season to date. After taking gold at both JGP Lake Placid and JGP Croatia Cup, qualifying them for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Sochi, the team concluded their third trip to…