By Matteo Morelli

We are officially half-way through the Grand Prix Series! Skate Canada International was the third Grand Prix of this season.  The competition at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, saw an ice dance event with some movements from rhythm dance to free dance.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the event in their season debut on home soil. They were followed by Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius of Lithuania, who won their first Grand Prix silver medal, and the other Canadian team of Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who claimed the final spot on the podium.

Event Recap

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the event in their first competition of the new saeson, becoming six-time consecutive winners of Skate Canada International and earning a total of eight Grand Prix gold medals. Their rhythm dance to “Supermodel” by RuPaul and “I’m too sexy” by Right Said Fred saw them taking the lead with an almost five-point margin over second place, showcasing great energy and original costumes.

Their free dance, a “reimagined” version of their 2018/19 Vincent programme, saw the team stepping on the ice with beautiful costumes, with Gilles in a dress clearly referencing the painter’s famous Starry night masterpiece, and Poirier evoking shades of blue on his costume. Despite strong intensity and interpretation, the programme suffered from a couple of elements that they had to pay the price for, including a problem with the curve lift. Although they placed second in the free dance, their total score was enough to secure the gold medal, their eighth Grand Prix title of their careers.

Poirier admitted that they didn’t have their best performance, but noted that it was their first competition of the season and that they have a lot of room for growth.

Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius earned their first Grand Prix silver medal, showcasing the strength of their programs after all the work they put in to secure their Olympic spot at the Skate to Milano event earlier in September. They were second after the rhythm dance but won the free dance, finishing second overall.

Ambrulevičius described this as a “big, big, big win” for them, explaining that they had a strong start to the season and no choice but to prepare early. With their bronze from France and this silver medal, they are currently the first team to achieve two podium finishes in this season’s Grand Prix events, earning a total of 24 points toward qualification for the Grand Prix Final.

The other Canadian team of Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished on the last step of the podium. They started fourth after the rhythm dance but delivered the third-best free dance to move up one spot and claim the bronze medal.

Their free dance brings back their “Nureyev” programme, which they skated to during their Olympic debut in 2022. They performed it with elegance and grace, earning just enough of a margin to reach the podium.

USA’s Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko had to give up the third place they held after the rhythm dance. Their free on “Notre dame de Paris” was executed with great passion, however it didn’t allow them to earn the points to maintain their top three position, leaving them both visibly disappointed on the Kiss & Cry.

The Czech Republic’s Kateřina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek ended the rhythm dance with a convincing performance that gave them in fifth place. Their engaging free on “Malagueña” resulted in the eighth free dance of the day but still allowed them to retain their overall fifth place.

Coming straight from Cup of China Grand Prix, Hannah Lim and Ye Quan of Korea finished in sixth place overall and with the fifth free dance score. They were followed by their training mates Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of Canada in seventh place, and Germany’s Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan in eight.

Two American teams rounded out the standings: Emily Bratti and Ian Sommerville finished in ninth place, and Leah Neset and Artem Markelov in tenth.

Qualification standings

Halfway through the Grand Prix series of this season, the top qualification standings in the run for the Grand Prix Final are, in order:

24 points: Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius (Lithuania)
15 points: Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (France), Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada)
13 points: Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (Great Britain), Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (USA)
12 points: Hannah Lim and Ye Quan (Korea)
11 points: Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (France), Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (Canada)

Next Grand Prix

NHK Trophy will be the fourth Grand Prix of the season. We will see the return of Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who earned a silver medal at Grand Prix de France. Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri will also be there, hoping to make up for their disappointing fourth-place finish in France. The event will mark the season debut for USA’s Olympic medallists Maia and Alex Shibutani, coming back after a seven year hiatus. They will be joined by Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, and Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski. From their training base in Helsinki, first Grand Prix of the season for the Czech Republic’s Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler, and Finland’s Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen. Germany’s Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan will skate in back-to-back Grand Prix events, while Canada’s Alicia Fabbri, and Paul Ayer and Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita, will both make their only Grand Prix appearance of the season.

NHK Trophy takes place from November 7th to 9th.