#Canadian Bronze Medallist

[canadachronicles]

On Thursday, cyclist Kate O'Brien won Canada's first medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, finishing third in the C4-5 Time Trial behind The Netherlands' Caroline Groot and France's Marie Patouillet. It was fantastic that one of the first podium of the Games had two proud lesbians --Kate and Marie-- standing on it, too!

[sywtwfs]

CAS Dismisses Canadian Appeal in 2022 Olympic Team Event Case

CAS Media Release

The ranking announced by the ISU on 30 January 2024 is confirmed as follows:

United States of America 65 pts (gold)

Japan 63 pts (silver)

Russia 54 pts (bronze)

The Appellants had sought a ruling from CAS re-ranking the figure skating Team Event as follows: re-ranking the figure skating Team Event, as follows: United States of America (Gold); Japan (Silver); Canada (Bronze).

Following the hearing that took place on 22 July 2024, the Panel of CAS arbitrators in charge of the matter deliberated and concluded that the results of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva in the Olympic Figure Skating Team Event were correctly disqualified, without any possibility in the ISU Rules to re-allocate points in favour of Team Canada, following the retroactive disqualification of Kamila Valieva.

The Panel issued the Operative Part of the Arbitral Award. The full award, with the grounds for the Panel’s decision, will be issued as soon as possible.

Skate Canada states that they accept the CAS decision.

The ISU statement regarding the medal ceremony:

the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will award the medals during a special ceremony which will be held at the Champions Park in Paris on August 7, 2024 for the gold and silver medallists. Further to today’s decision, the ISU is in contact with the IOC to determine the next steps for the third place.

[virtchandmoir]

skateontario: What a way to cap off an incredible day of skating! Congratulations to the Canadian Junior Dance champions, Layla Veillon & Alexander Brandys. 🥇🇨🇦👏 Having the 2nd best Free Dance today, Alisa Korneva & Kieran MacDonald moved up from 4th place in the Rhythm Dance to claim the bronze medal. 🥉 6th place - Dana Sabatini-Speciale & Nicholas Buelow 7th place - Sophia Gover & Billy Wilson-French 9th place - Nicole Bolender & Aiden Dotzert 12th place - Caroline Kravets & Jacob Stark 14th place - Charlotte Chung & Axel MacKenzie Coaches of the medallists: Layla & Alex - Cara and Scott Moir Alisa & Kieran - Carleigh MacDonald We are #SkateOntarioProud of all of you!

[gogogogolev]

Skate Canada's press release ahead of 2024 Nationals.

Excerpt about the men's event:

With the retirement of last year’s men’s champion Keegan Messing, the men’s title will be up for grabs with several skaters in the mix including 2023 silver medallist Conrad Orzel, 2023 Autumn Classic International bronze medalist Stephen Gogolev, 2022 Olympian Roman Sadovsky, and 2023 Cranberry Cup International silver medallist Wesley Chiu. 

No entries have been posted as of yet.

[lboogie1906]

Andre De Grasse OOnt (November 10, 1994) is a Canadian sprinter. A seven-time Olympic medallist, he is the 2020 Olympic champion in the 200 m and won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4×100 relay in 2020. He has three Olympic bronze medals, placing third in the 100 m at both the 2016 and 2020 Games and in the 4×100 m relay in 2016. He won his second Olympic gold medal as a part of the 4×100 m relay team at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The win tied him as Canada’s most decorated Olympian of all time.

At the World Athletics Championships, he won a gold medal with the Canadian 4×100 relay team in 2022, as well as a bronze medal in the same event in 2015. He has three individual World medals, winning silver in the 200 m in 2019 in Doha, and two bronzes in the 100 m in 2015 and 2019. He was the double Pan American champion and the NCAA champion in the 100 m and 200 m. He is the Canadian record holder in the 200 m, running a 19.62 in Tokyo and making him the eleventh fastest man in history in the 200 m.

He is the first Canadian sprinter to win three medals in a single Olympics. His gold medal finish at the 2020 Olympics was the first Canadian Olympic gold in track in 25 years and the first in the 200 m in 93 years. He won a medal in every Olympic and World Championship final he competed in from 2015 until the 2023 World Championships.

He was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His mother, Beverley De Grasse, was a high school sprinter in Trinidad and Tobago. His father, Alexander Waithe, moved from Barbados to Canada as a teenager. He attended Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy and Milliken Mills High School.

At the 2013 Canada Games, he won three gold medals in the 100, 200, and 4×100-metre relay.

He and his wife, American hurdler Nia Ali, have two children. He is Catholic. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[theonlyfanslife]

OnlyFans star who won Olympic medal reveals 'wild' amount she has made on channel after R-rated celebration

An Olympic medallist who produced an R-rated celebration in Paris saw her OnlyFans page crash after going viral online. Canadian Alysha Newman won the bronze medal in the pole vault, with only USA’s Katie Moon and Australian Nina Kennedy finishing ahead of her after she scored 4.85m in the final. Newman broke a national record and became the first female pole vaulter to secure an Olympic medal…

[stateofsport211]

JJOO 2024 🎾 XD F: Katerina Siniakova/Tomas Machac def. Xinyu Wang/Zhizhen Zhang 6-2, 5-7, [10-8] Match Stats

📸 Eurosport LV

K. Siniakova/T. Machac nailed their return games in the first set thanks to their timely poaches at the net, but Xinyu/Zhizhen utilized the open court well to break for the second set. It also came down to the deeper returns and the +1 volleys to add to their second serve issues, which played a significant role during the tie-breaker. As a result, the cleaner strike allowed the Czechs to commit 17 lesser unforced errors than the Chinese pair's 31, winning 4% more receiving points while creating 4 break points, even if they converted 50% of them and scored 13 less shot winners than the latter.

Furthermore, Katka/T. Machac also had the slight edge on their service games. Even though Xinyu/Zhizhen scored 4 aces, the Czechs won 77% of their first serve points, 3% more than the latter, which helped them navigating through some moments. On the other hand, Xinyu/Zhizhen's apparent second serve troubles were statistically confirmed as they double-faulted four times than Katka/T. Machac's 1, thus the Czech pair won 4% more points on their serves.

Interestingly, even if this is Czech Republic's first Mixed Doubles gold medal, this is Katka's second Olympic gold medal after the Women's Doubles in Tokyo 2020 (held 2021, with Barbora Krejcikova), while T. Machac will contest the Men's Doubles bronze medal contest the next day (with Adam Pavlasek). To add, Katka had a blast of a summer starting with her Roland Garros title (with Coco Gauff), followed by Wimbledon (with Taylor Townsend), both in the Women's Doubles category, to add to her Australian Open semifinalist, Dubai Masters 1000 title, as well as the Indian Wells Masters 1000 finals from the start of the year. The bronze medallist was the Canadians Gabriela Dabrowski/Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated the Dutch pair of Demi Schuurs/Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 7-6(2) earlier that day. What a night in this sector.

[shahananasrin-blog]

[ad_1] The Canadian women's eight rowing team have booked their place at next summer's Paris Olympic Games with a fifth-place result at the World Rowing Championships on Sunday in Belgrade, Serbia.Canada finished the race in six minutes 7.15 seconds, taking the last Olympic qualification spot just ahead of the Italian crew, who were the only team to miss qualifying for Paris.Romania won gold in 6:01.28, followed by the silver-medallists from the U.S. (6:03.73), while early race leader Australia (6:04.17) held on for bronze.Canada won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and Sunday's result means they will have the chance to defend their Olympic title in 2024.The Canadian team in action at worlds consisted of Toronto's Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, B.C., Calgary's Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Morgan Rosts of Jordan, Ont., Cassidy Deane of Whistler, B.C., Kirsten Edwards of Port Moody, B.C., Alexis Cronk of London, Ont., Jessica Sevick of Strathmore, Alta., and coxswain Kristen Kit of St. Catharines, Ont. [ad_2]

[hutz224]

World Masters Cross Country Championships preview part 4

With statistical assistance from Scott Lawrence 

With just one sleep to go until the 2k relay and two sleeps to the individual Sunday races, let's have a brief look at the 70+, 75+ and 80+ age categories. These groups compete over a shorter distance - 4k as opposed to 6k - and the fields are predictably smaller, but the rivalry will be just as strong.

The M70 field features two athletes with vastly different backgrounds, but impeccable distance running credentials. John Bermingham (NT) won two world championshipship gold medals in Finland last year (1500m and 10k road) and will start as favourite. Yassine Belaabed has set a string of Victorian M70 distance records over the last year and will keep John honest. Hard to prdict who will follow these two runners home - perhaps former Olympian Chris Wardlaw (Vic) or Ron Schwebel (NSW). 

(L to R) Bermingham, Belaabed, Schwebel

There are only two W70 entrants, so both are guaranteed to win a medal! Canadian Thelma Wright may have the edge over Heather Powrie (NSW).You will understand why I make this suggestion if you look up Thelma’s Wikipedia entry. She is one of the all-time greats of Canadian distance running. In 1970, she won a bronze medal in the open age World Cross Country Championships in France. It is wonderful to see her in Australia for this event 43 years later.

There are five entries in the M75 event, all Aussies. Frank Scorzelli (NSW) has recently run 22:01 for parkrun so he will start as clear favourite. Phillip Urquhart (Vic) is extremely well known in Masters ranks as a former President of AMA. The form of the other three runners is unknown. There are no W75 entries.

(L to R) Scorzelli, Urquhart

There are six 80+ entries, three men and three women, which is well organised by them because, as long as they finish, they will all get to stand on the podium. One name among them is famous, very famous. New Zealander Roger Robinson has so many great achievements in the sport that it would fill several pages to list them all. We can be sure that he will come to the event very well prepared and I’m nominating him as the likely M80 winner. Caroline Campbell (ACT) is a 1500m bronze medallist from the World Masters T & F Champs in 2018 and she will battle it out with Myrtle Rough, who was recently named the New Zealand masters middle distance athlete of the year. Roger and Myrtle should easily win the 80+ 2k relay.

(L to R) Robinson, Myrtle

Finally, and what a way to end this series of race previews, we have the oldest man in the field and the only 85+ entrant, Lachlan Lewis. He will win.

[gaywoso]

Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced the Westfield Matildas will play three matches against reigning Olympic bronze medallists Canada. 

The Matildas will travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the first game, to be played on Tuesday, 14 April, 2020 (Wednesday, 15 April AEST), at BC Place.

The Canada women’s national team will then head to Australia next year for two matches to be hosted before the end of November, 2021.

FFA Chief Executive James Johnson said he’s thrilled that agreement with Canada Soccer has been reached, “FFA is delighted to have secured these three matches against such a strong and formidable opponent.

“Canada is currently ranked eighth in the world, and with the Westfield Matildas seventh, we can look forward to three great games.

“The last time we played Canada here in Australia was back in 2008 at Sydney Football Stadium, so I’m sure Australian football fans are looking forward to their return.

He added “Canada hosted a very successful FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, and I know many of our Matildas will relish the thought of heading back to Canada, and to playing in a superb stadium that hosted a classic final between USA and Japan.”

Westfield Matildas Head Coach Ante Milicic said he sees great value in playing Canada in Vancouver, “The game in April will be an important test for the team, and form a crucial part of our preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games, should we get through the forthcoming qualification process.

“Canada is a real powerhouse in the women’s game. After defeating Australia in our opening match of the 2016 Rio Olympics, they went on to claim their second straight bronze medal.

He added “The quality of the Canadian team should not be under-estimated, it will be a fiercely-fought series of matches and fans can look forward to two good match-ups here in Australia next year.”

Venues, dates and broadcast details for next year’s games in Australia to be confirmed in due course.

2020 Women’s International Friendly

Canada v Westfield Matildas Date: Tuesday, 14 April 2020 (Wednesday, 15 April AEST), Venue: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Kick-off: 7:30pm (local); 12:30pm (AEST, Wednesday)

[canadachronicles]

My first ever World Cup race I got last place, so then to come in Bronze right now is just insane.

Christine de Bruin, after winning a beautiful Bronze Medal at the Olympic debut of monobob  yesterday

[evgeniamedvedeva4u]

Exclusive: Evgenia Medvedeva Reflects on Difficult Transition Season, Newfound Love for Canada

TORONTO, Canada — It’s been quite a year for Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva.

Around this time last year, the two-time World champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist sent shockwaves around the skating world when news broke that she was leaving her longtime Russian coach, Eteri Tutberidze, to train under Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson at the Toronto Cricket and Skating Club.

In a difficult transition season that saw her uproot everything in order to move across the world with her mother, Zhanna, the Russian teenager certainly hasn’t had it easy. Speaking in a narrow hallway at the Scotiabank Arenaahead of this year’s Stars on Ice show in Toronto, a relaxed Medvedeva reflected on her first season with her new coaching team, her newfound love for Canada — which she considers solely her new “work” home — and her first time touring in North America.

As anyone in figure skating will tell you, a lot can change in a few years. After winning back-to-back World titles in 2016 and 2017, Medvedeva was easily considered the most dominant force in ladies’ figure skating and seemed primed for Olympic glory. However, the unpredictability of injuries and the unexpected emergence of a compatriot three years her junior (Alina Zagitova) quickly saw that title slip from her grasp.

Determined to prolong her competitive career for as long as she could, Medvedeva made the decision to switch to Orser a couple of months after the Olympics, and she struggled in large part to recapture the same magic of her first two senior seasons. Through all her struggles, the 19-year-old admits that she was able to discover a lot of things about herself, thanks in part to her strong support system.

“I can say that I’m a really, really strong person,” she said with a big smile. “Last season, last year, I’ve just been through a lot of things — not always good things — through some bad things, but yeah… Now I’m here and things are going as it’s going and everything is fine.”

For a period of time, that did not seem to always be the case in a roller-coaster first season with Orser and Wilson. After winning a silver medal at the Autumn Classic International, the Russian managed to produce an incredible free skate to recover from a disastrous short program to place third at her first Grand Prix event, the Skate Canada International. With a shot at qualifying for the Grand Prix Final at her next event in Grenoble, France, Medvedeva barely missed the podium and, with it, her chance to qualify for the prestigious six-skater event.

A month later, Medvedeva returned to Russia to skate in her first competition on home ice since switching training bases at the incredibly competitive Russian Figure Skating Championships. With Orser by her side, the Russian didn’t know what to expect. When she made the unexpected switch last spring, she had inadvertently ended an unspoken trend that had become second nature for most of her compatriots: successful Russian skaters always stay in Russia. By becoming the sport’s first prominent Russian to leave the country to train with a non-Russian coach, Medvedeva did not know what sort of reception would await her in her unofficial homecoming. The result was better than anything she (or Orser) could have ever imagined.

Despite another disappointing short program that saw her sitting in 14th place going into the free skate, Medvedeva still received a hero’s welcome after both programs, which helped to finally put her at ease over a decision that she had mulled over for more than six months. With a 7th-place finish at this year’s Nationals, the 19-year-old left her homeland with a greater sense of purpose.

“That was really unexpected for me and so unexpected for all our team, ’cause Brian was, like, shocked a little bit and he would say that he never saw something like this in his life — that support, that energy that the crowd gave us at Nationals,” she said, beaming. “It’s really amazing and [at] Nationals, I started to feel confident in myself and started to understand that the real crowd really loves me.”

Due to her placement at Nationals, Medvedeva was not immediately selected by the Russian Figure Skating Federation to compete in the World Championships, but after winning the Cup of Russia, she became one of the three Russian women sent to compete this past March in Saitama, Japan. Despite sustaining an injury to her thigh, the two-time former champion managed to win the bronze, earning new personal bests in both the short and free programs in the process.

A couple of months later, Medvedeva says she feels much better now and just needs some time and practice to recover all of her triple jumps. While she struggled to find the words to describe the kind of technical strides that she has been making in the last 12 months with Orser and Wilson, the former World champion admits that she does feel like a completely different skater now than when she dominated the sport. “My body’s changed and the whole feeling of figure skating has changed for me in a good side,” she remarked.

“And I continue to improve my feeling of competitions ’cause the old ways that I went to competitions before, it doesn’t work at all anymore, so I have to find new ways to prepare myself mentally and physically ’cause I’ve got a totally different body, a different mind and sometimes I’m trying to go back to my old ways but it doesn’t work!” she said, laughing.

“So, yeah, I will continue to find it and I know Brian and Tracy will work [with] me and help me with it.”

For someone who has already tasted success at such an early age, it goes without saying that this was the most difficult season of Medvedeva’s career. Once considered the heavy favourite at every event that she entered, the Russian now finds herself returning to the same competitions as a sort of dark horse, which she says is something that she is slowly learning to take in stride, along with the little things that she continues to learn about herself every day.

“I’m proud of that I’m not gave up and I’ve been in situations where I’ve really thought to give up, but I’m lucky that now I’ve got a lot of people around of me who always support me and will support me in all decisions that I will do,” she said, when asked about what she is most proud of looking back on her difficult season. “There’s all my friends, all my coaches — Brian, Tracy especially — [and] my mom, who is living with me here and put everything into my figure skating. That’s amazing to have a lot of many people like this because not everyone has that person [or support system].”

With the help of this crucial support system, as well as an incredibly diverse group of training mates at the Toronto Cricket and Skating Club, Medvedeva admits that she has gradually become more comfortable with the idea of living in Canada. As an avid coffee drinker, she raved about the simplicity of Tim Hortons. While travelling from Ottawa to Laval for this year’s tour, she even ate her first Beavertail, a classic Canadian fried dough pastry that is shaped like a beaver’s tail. (“[The] guys just bought a box of Beavertails and they said, ’Ah, she’s Russian! She never tried it!’”)

While she has learned to appreciate some aspects of the Western world, Medvedeva has stated repeatedly in past interviews that she has no intention of representing any country other than her motherland and in many ways, she still considers herself to be completely Russian.

“I can feel a difference [between Canada and Russia] but in this difference, I’m trying to stay myself, I’m trying to stay Russian and yeah, I feel like work home here. I don’t feel like home home and yeah, I miss my country, I miss my language sometimes. I changed the language, even my main language that I’m talking every day.”

In a year of firsts for the 19-year-old, Medvedeva’s competitive career is not the only thing that has seen a refreshing change of pace. For the first time in between seasons, the Russian has decided to join the famous Stars on Ice tour in Canada, a 12-city tour that will finish in Vancouver on May 16. Asked about what the experience has been like before her fourth show in Toronto, a very exuberant Medvedeva exclaimed, “This is a lot of fun!”

“I was a little bit worried in the first few days ’cause I had to learn a lot — a lot of steps, a lot of material — and I just can’t see how [other] guys are learning so fast. I was really worried ’cause I’ve always been so slow in remembering something, but in the last day, everything’s fine and I just relaxed a little bit. We’re just having fun, especially the ’90s number — that’s so much fun and we can feel like the crowd loves it.”

While skating show programs has been a nice change of pace for the two-time World champion, one would be remiss to think that she has not been conscientiously using the extra ice time between shows to perfect her jumps, particularly her triple salchow, which appears multiple times throughout the show.

Going forward, as someone who has become more known for her world-class artistry, Medvedeva is well aware of the current state of figure skating across all four disciplines, whose new scoring system has been designed to benefit those who attempt more difficult elements. It is a system that the Russian unfortunately knows all too well — after all, she was only 1.31 points away from capturing the gold last year in PyeongChang.

With her sights already set on going one better at the next Olympics in Beijing, Medvedeva has set a very ambitious goal for herself — one that she knows could take years to properly develop, let alone put to use in competition. “Quad salchow is my main goal for me for the coming season and I would like to land it clean — maybe step-out, maybe three turns, but somehow land it with no under-rotations,” she revealed.

“Now you can see how ladies start to do everything like this (jumping quads) and keep ladies’ figure skating [at a high level] and it’s really amazing. Not everyone [can do it], of course, but you’ll see sometimes a quad sal even looking like a trick. But there’s a lot of girls who still look like [young] girls and doing quads, and it’s really amazing and it’s our future of figure skating and this is life. Life is always improving in whole things and figure skating is improving too.”

“I’m ready to improve myself and I’m ready [and know] that learning quads can take a few years — same as triples. I didn’t learn all the triples or even one triple, like a triple flip, in one year — I didn’t. It was three years.”

As she attempts to develop one of the most difficult jumps in all of ladies’ figure skating, Medvedeva will also be looking to add new combinations to her repertoire next season, explaining that the process actually fascinates her and continuously pushes her creatively as a skater. “I can do a few combinations with the loop too, like not only salchow loop, but it’s much harder for me so I have to work on it to make it easy,” she said, referring to the new 3S-3Lo combination that she added midway through this season.

With the most difficult part of her transition now behind her, the 19-year-old has already announced on Instagram that she will skate her new short program to Matt Bellamy’s “Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3” and her free program to music from Memoirs of a Geisha, a decision that she made entirely herself long before this year’s World Championships.

In terms of goals for the upcoming season, the 19-year-old kept things short and sweet but in a way that perfectly encapsulated the maturity that she has shown in the last 12 months: “I just want to find the way how to prepare myself and to learn as much as I can.”

With a strong support system in tow and the lessons of a roller-coaster transition season now under her belt, Medvedeva will be in for a real battle next season with the emergence of a very talented group of young skaters, but like a phoenix rising from her own ashes, there is now no question that she will emerge stronger than ever, poised to reclaim her throne atop the world of ladies’ figure skating.

Author: Max Gao

Source: https://medium.com/@MaxJGao/exclusive-evgenia-medvedeva-reflects-on-difficult-transition-season-newfound-love-for-canada-100f385316a4?_referrer=twitter

[virtchandmoir]

Skate Canada announces Opening Ceremony acts for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020

March 9, 2020

Skate Canada is pleased to announce that members of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games gold medal team and other legendary Canadian skaters will be a part of the Opening Ceremony at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020. The Opening Ceremony will take place on the first day of competition on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 15:45 ET at Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec.

Canadian Olympic medallists Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Meagan Duhamel, Eric Radford, Kaetlyn Osmond, Patrick Chan, Joannie Rochette and Elvis Stojko, and four-time World Champion Kurt Browning will perform a thrilling program choreographed by Jeff Buttle, with music composed by Eric Radford and Igor Vrabac, featuring Meira Alaraj to kick-off the Opening Ceremony.

In addition, fans will watch performances from Les Suprêmes senior, the 2020 Canadian synchronized skating champions and bronze medallists Nova senior, choreographed by Dr. Shae Zukiwsky. This spring, Les Suprêmes will represent Canada at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Lake Placid, USA.

Other notable acts will include Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Cirque Éloize and Petits Chanteurs de Mont-Royal.

In a few short weeks, Skate Canada will welcome the world to Montreal, Quebec to create history. Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

–Montreal 2020

[gogogogolev]

Stephen at 2020 Bavarian Open.

1. Podium finishers Stephen, Joseph Phan, and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda (JPN).

2. With choreographer Nadia Kanaeva after the SP.

3. Stephen and Joseph with 2020 Bavarian Open junior pairs gold medallists Kelly-Ann Laurin & Loucas Éthier and silver medallists Gabrielle Levesque & Pier-Alexandre Hudon.

Canadian skaters have won 5 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals at Bavarian Open thus far. It has been a fantastic week for Team Canada. 

Skate Ontario shared 1 & 2 along with a congratulatory message.

Credit: Skate Ontario/Facebook; Loucas Éthier/Instagram

[icedanceupstarts]

Skate America 2019 Preview

After what seems both an eternity and no time at all, the season is getting started in earnest now with start of the Grand Prix series. Two of the top teams from last season will be debuting their programs here, and there should be a thrilling battle both for the podium places and among the non medal contenders. In case you haven’t been following the ice dance goings on quite as obsessively as we have, we’ve compiled some basic profiles for all the teams here as a quick refresher before we try to find the answer to the most mysterious question of all: What is score?

Laurence Fournier-Beaudry/ Nikolaj Sorensen CAN

Age: 27/30

Started Skating Together: 2012

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenaeur

Season's Best: 201.00

Rhythm Dance: Bonnie and Clyde

Free Dance: Cry Me a River feat. Buble

Our newest Canadians have been having a great early season and will be looking to continue riding this upward momentum here. We might not know what a score is, but they're one of three teams in this event to have already broken 200, and the only one of those three to have competed already this season, which at least in theory, should give them the advantage. Their rhythm dance is already a fan favorite, drawing a lot of acclaim for their style and power, in addition to their incredibly thematic twizzles. Their free dance is dynamic and energetic, highlighting the strength of their skating and their power across the ice. They're such mature, detailed performers, with a strong connection that adds a sensuality to this dramatic program. They seemed primed for a podium position here, although which medal is a little unclear at the moment. Having had the chance to get feedback and competitive experience with these programs is a bonus for them, but it's hard to know how their potential rivals are looking right now. If Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen can focus on themselves and deliver to the best of their ability, the judges might not care what the others have to offer.

Hong Chen/ Zhuoming Sun CHN

Age: 25/24

Started Skating Together: 2018

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenaeur

Personal Best: 156.89

Rhythm Dance: Swing

Free Dance: It's All Coming Back to Me Now

A fairly new team that has a great opportunity this season, having not one but two grand prix assignments. China has been developing their dance program in recent years, and these two have shown a lot of growth, recently catching a lot of eyes at 4CC last season. For these two, the important thing isn't results or scores, it's just steadily growing and getting the experience they need to develop as a team, while showing off the lightness of their skating.

Marie-Jade Lauriault/ Romain Le Gac FRA

Age: 22/24

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenaeur

Season's Best:182.91

Rhythm Dance: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

Free Dance: Harmonium Medley

Les Marrieds are always a solid, reliable team, and they've taken this season to explore new directions. While most of the teams have taken this season's RD theme as a chance to ham it up and play to the audience(this is not a complaint), Lauriault/ Le Gac have gone for a more sweeping, grand, romantic feel. While our bias generally runs towards the showier, more fun programs, there is something very fresh about their rhythm dance which is put together quite well. We may have some questions about the tone shift in their free dance, but they skate and perform both sections very well, even if the transition is jarring. Their height difference has always lent itself to some great lifts, and this season is no exception. As a team they’ve stayed very steady but haven’t managed much of breakthrough in the increasingly crowded ice dance mid-tier, but with some new French teams on the rise they could face some real national competition for that number two position soon which could be great motivation for them.

Sofia Shevchenko/ Igor Eremenko RUS

Age: 17/22

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin

Personal Best: 170.66

Rhythm Dance: Burlesque

Free Dance: Give Us A Little Love

The reigning junior grand prix final champs and junior world bronze medallists are making their senior debut here alongside their much more experienced training mates Stepanova/Bukin. For those unfamiliar with this young team, you're in for a real treat. While the choice of music in the rhythm dance does not spark joy for us, their infectious enthusiasm and performance quality makes us forget our mild distaste for Burlesque Finnstep. They have some really amazing and unique lifts, partially from how flexible she is, and their twizzles are consistently some of the toughest, even when they were still juniors. They're developing a really unique, modern style, as exemplified in this free dance that we struggle to describe accurately. It's something that you really need to see for yourself, and it deserves to be seen by a wider audience. Historically Shevchenko/Eremenko have struggled with levels, but last season they won multiple events on the strength of their TES, and hopefully they will be continuing these new, less stressful habits into their senior career.

Alexandra Stepanova/ Ivan Bukin RUS

Age: 24/26

Started Skating Together: 2006

Coach: Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin

Personal Best: 208.52

Rhythm Dance: Sparkling Diamonds

Free Dance: Cry Me A River feat. Timberlake

The reigning European silver medalists haven't had a chance to show their programs yet, much less compete, so we're going to have stick to generalities, such as the fact that somehow two(2) completely different teams picked two(2) completely different songs called Cry Me A River about getting cheated on. The skating hivemind is truly wild sometimes. These two just missed the world podium last season and will be out for vengeance, starting here. Their free dance music choice has sparked plenty of opinions, but historically they're fabulous performers with a lot of chemistry and interesting elements, so we should have that to look forward to. The path to making GPF is going to be harder for everyone this year, and without seeing their programs it's hard to say if they're going to make it or not. But it’s a long season and Stepanova/Bukin with their unique flair will absolutely be contenders.

Tiffany Zagorski/ Jonathan Guerreiro RUS

Age: 25/28

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Svetlana Alexeeva, Elena Kustarova, Olga Riabinina

Personal Best: 184.37 

Rhythm Dance: The Greatest Showman

Free Dance: Survivor

Zagorski/Guerreiro have had something of a rocky career thus far. Last season they earned two GP medals and a berth to GPF, where they placed #notlast, and seemed to be set up for their breakthrough season before disaster struck at Nationals. They've had a lot of time to recover from the unfortunate bootlace incident and lingering injuries, and were able to show their new programs at test skates, although they did not have the opportunity to compete prior to this to set some sort of baseline for their scores if that is even a thing at this point. Their strong basics and long lines are always a treat, and they hit some really interesting positions. Their programs are quite interesting this year, complex and modern and unlike other programs in the field. We do kind of hope that they've gone another round with the music editor since the test skates, but even with the somewhat chaotic edits there's a lot to like about both programs. We were especially intrigued by their free dance, a dark, moody, atmospheric piece that's completely different from last season and yet feels like a natural continuation. They have some really nice lifts, including a nice straightline lift where she jumps over his shoulder to balance on his back. While their chances of making another trip to GPF this season don't seem high, they've got every chance to begin making their case for the world team starting here, and wiping everyone's memory of how last season ended for them.

Olivia Smart/ Adrian Diaz ESP

Age: 22/29

Started Skating Together: 2016

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenaeur

Season's Best: 187.55

Rhythm Dance: Grease

Free Dance: Sad Clowns

It wasn't long ago that the idea of there being a Spanish ice dance battle, much less a thrilling one, was fairly implausible, but that's what we have for what is now the fourth season in a row. Smart/Diaz are no doubt on a quest to win back their National Title and get the lone worlds spot, and having a strong showing at their grand prix assignments is the first step. They're making great use of their strong performance quality this season, especially in their incredibly fun Grease rhythm dance that is just a three minute display of what showmanship means. Their free dance isn't quite hitting the mark for us yet, but again they show their great skills in playing characters, as well as some truly stunning technical upgrades like their lifts, or the cartwheel transition between their first and second set of twizzles. What is score but theirs have been steadily climbing so far this season and this will be their chance to set the Grand Prix bar before Hurtado/Khaliavin compete at Skate Canada. It's going to be a struggle to make the podium but even a top 5 finish is a great result in this field.

Christina Carreira/ Anthony Ponomarenko USA

Age: 19/18

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Carmerlengo

Season's Best: 190.35

Rhythm Dance: Too Darn Hot

Free Dance: Flamenco Medley

These highly talented ice dance teens have already gotten this season off to a strong start and will be looking to continue that here. They're a fast, powerful, dynamic team with a lot of charisma, and their programs both utilize these qualities in different ways. We especially like their rhythm dance-- we only went one season without a fun, upbeat SD/RD/whatever from Carreira/Ponomarenko but it felt like an eternity. Their performance style and skating is just so big, there are few teams that can match their amplitude. Their free dance isn't quite as naturally attuned to their talents as their rhythm dance, but is coming along very nicely, showcasing their power and intensity, one of the hardest twizzle sequences we've seen this season, and a neat cartwheel in the choreographic steps. Having had a couple weeks to rest from their gruelling challenger series schedule and continue to refine their programs, we hope to see even further improvement from them. Between their charm, difficulty, and sheer basic quality, they have every opportunity to place well here, even if the podium might be out of reach.

Caroline Green/ Michael Parsons USA 

Age: 16/24

Started Skating Together: 2019

Coach: Elena Novak and Alexei Kiliakov

Season's Best: 170.53

Rhythm Dance: Cry Baby

Free Dance: Woodkid Medley

Team Birthday Buddies with their first GP as a team, and her first senior Grand prix event at all. While their eight year age gap raised eyebrows and concerns(including, admittedly, ours), from their first outing it became immediately clear just why these two teamed up. Having trained with the same coaches all their lives, their technique, timing, and way of moving were so similar off the bat that they look like they've already been partnered for years. They have great skating skills and the partnering is very natural and smooth. Even Michael taking a dive at the end of their step sequence in the rhythm dance can't detract from that, and their enthusiasm carries this program, particularly hers. Despite her young age, Caroline is a budding diva and Michael matches her energy perfectly, whether it be the goofy high energy of their rhythm dance, or the intensity and drama of their free. With how fast these two are coming together, I'd keep an eye on their results here-- who knows, they might develop fast enough to make the battle at Nationals very exciting.

Madison Hubbell/ Zachary Donohue USA

Age: 28/28

Started Skating Together: 2011

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenaeur

Personal Best: 210.40

Rhythm Dance: My Heart Belongs to Daddy/Let's Be Bad

Free Dance: A Star is Born

Yes, you read that music info correctly, and yes, the song IS as bad as it sounds. Two time and reigning National Champions and world medalists are coming off a somewhat up and down season, winning all their events in the first half of the season only to infamously crash off the podium at 4CC and then rally for the bronze at worlds, majorly editing their programs multiple times along the way. This season they've opted for a later start, aiming to get their programs right from the outset rather than having to constantly make changes throughout the season. The mods remain somewhat uncertain if deciding to skate to the borderline nauseating "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is the best way to achieve this, but perhaps we will better understand the hidden ingenuity of this choice when we actually see the program. A Star is Born should be a good vehicle for them, sweeping and romantic with big, powerful vocals to match their big, powerful skating. Without their actual programs, we can't say much more, but they're an experienced, high level team that brings their innate qualities to the material, even if it's somewhat lackluster as it has been at times in the past. Starting off their season with a win here will go a long way to assuaging doubts about their continued success, as well as more concretely line them up for another trip to GPF to try to defend their title.

[triplelutzmoreliketriplecry]

the Canadian pairs (I think) bronze medallist team (will add names later sorry!!!) are Big Guns partners and my bi ass is Here For It