36 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2019
LADIES MEN PAIRS ICE DANCEAurora COTOP CAN Brendan KERRY AUS Liubov ILYUSHECHKINA/Charlie BILODEAU CAN Paul POIRIER CANPiper GILLES/Gabrielle DALEMAN CAN Nicolas NADEAU CAN Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS/Michael MARINARO CAN Zachary LAGHA CANMarjorie LAJOIE/TBD CAN Nam NGUYEN CAN TBD CAN Nikolas WAMSTEEKER CANHaley SALES/Rika KIHIRA JPN Roman SADOVSKY CAN Yongchao YANG CHNFeiyao TANG/ Lewis GIBSON GBRLilah FEAR/Mai MIHARA JPN Paul FENTZ GER Dmitrii KOZLOVSKII RUSAleksandra BOIKOVA/ Sofia EVDOKIMOVA/Egor BAZIN RUSYelim KIM KOR Matteo RIZZO ITA Vladimir MOROZOV RUSEvgenia TARASOVA/ Sergey MOZGOV RUSBetina POPOVA/Young YOU KOR Yuzuru HANYU JPN Brian JOHNSON USAJessica CALALANG/ Kirill KHALIAVIN ESPSara HURTADO/Evgenia MEDVEDEVA RUS Keiji TANAKA JPN Alexa SCIMECA KNIERIM/Chris KNIERIM USA Michael PARSONS USACaroline GREEN/Serafima
SAKHANOVICH RUS Deniss VASILJEVS LATKaitlin HAWAYEK/
Jean-Luc BAKER USAAlexandra TRUSOVA RUS Mikhail KOLYADA RUS Zachary DONOHUE USAMadison HUBBELL/Alexia PAGANINI SUI Andrei LAZUKIN RUSBradie TENNELL USA Camden PULKINEN USA2019 GRAND PRIX ASSIGNMENTS
SKATE CANADA – October 25-27 – Kelowna, British Columbia
T
he Series heads directly north
for the second event — Skate
Canada — to the city of
Kelowna, British Columbia,
which lies almost 400 kilometers (250
miles) northeast of Vancouver.
Along with the veterans on the circuit,
an octet of newly minted seniors will
make their debuts at this event: Korea’s
Yelim Kim and Young You; Alexandra
Trusova of Russia; Camden Pulkinen of
the U.S.; Canadian ice dancers Marjorie
Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, and Caroline
Green and Michael Parsons of the U.S.
Green formerly skated with her brother and
Parsons with his sister. The duo teamed up
in the off-season after their siblings retired.
Yuzuru Hanyu will, without a doubt,
be the star of the show at this stop on the
Grand Pri x circuit. The reigning Olympic
champion has apparently recovered from
the injury he suffered last year. At one
of his annual “Fantasy on Ice” shows in
early June, Hanyu landed a quad Lutz and
Kelowna
attempted a quad loop. It is unlikely that
he will be challenged at this competition.
Silver and bronze is an entirely different
conversation. Italy’s Matteo Rizzo, the
2019 European bronze medalist is at the
top of the challenger list, but others will
also be gunning for a podium finish.
They include Canada’s Nam Nguyen,
and Mikhail Kolyada and Andrei Lazukin
of Russia.
The ladies event is the polar opposite
to that of the men. Evgenia Medvedeva
will go up against her teammate, Trusova,
who will come armed with a trio of quads:
Lutz, Salchow and toe loop. With Japan’s
Rika Kihira, the 2018 Grand Prix Final
champion added to the mix, the ladies
event promises to be the toughest battle
in Kelowna.
Though competitions are not won on
technical prowess anymore, any lady
chasing a podium finish will need to have
a solid technical repertoire to balance the
artistic content.Russia’s Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir
Morozov headline the pairs event and
are odds-on favorites to take the gold
in Kelowna.
The highlight of this discipline could
be the battle between the two Canadian
teams for silver and bronze. Reigning
national champions Kirsten Moore-Towers
and Michael Marinaro will go up against
the tandem of Liubov Ilyushechkina and
Charlie Bilodeau. We are expecting a
showdown between them.
In ice dance, Madison Hubbell and
Zachary Donohue, the top-ranked team at
this competition, w i l l be look ing to secu re
a berth at the Grand Prix Final.
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier,
who defeated the Americans at 2019 Four
Continents, will be aiming to repeat that
feat and capture the top step of the podium.
Bronze is up for grabs. Top contenders
include Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc
Baker of the U.S., and Spain’s Sara
Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin.