To the delight of the home crowd, reigning ISU World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps of Canada claimed the gold in a Pair Skating Final that was full of suspense until the last Pair had gone on the rink. 

Newcomers Ekaterina Geynish/Dmitrii Chigirev of Uzbekistan surged from fourth to take the silver in their ISU Grand Prix debut and won the first medal in Pair Skating for their country. Australia’s Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore earned the bronze, the first ISU Grand Prix (senior level) medal for their country in any discipline. 

Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps told the story of a love of the sea in their program to “Siren’s Song” and “The Blue Planet”. The 2024 ISU Four Continents Champions impressed with their triple twist, difficult lifts and their trademark forward outside death spiral. However, Deschamps fell on the triple toeloop, while Stellato-Dudek two-footed the landing of the two throw jumps. As a result, the team from Montreal ranked second in the Free Skating with 124.10 points, but overall remained in first place at 197.33 points. 

Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps (CAN) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

“I’m not really sure what happened out there today, that’s not indicative of how our training has been going, but hopefully we can learn from it and move forward,” a visibly disappointed Stellato-Dudek said. “We’re training at home and you’re used to being on your feet on everything and when I saw Max fall at the beginning of the program it shocked me a little bit. Then maybe it takes you out of your normal routine that you have when you’re practicing.”

“You just have to forget about it (a poor performance), move forward, be positive, but learn from it,” Deschamps said. “If you learn from it, it wasn’t a waste or anything. So, move forward with it, and just learn how to be better next time.”

Performing to “Teatro”, Geynish/Chigirev delivered a passionate Flamenco program that was highlighted by a triple twist, triple toe-double Axel and a rare side by side triple loop. The couple won the Free Skating segment with a new personal best of 126.12 points and pulled up to second place at 189.65 points. 

Geynish/Chigirev (UZB) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

“The performance was quite good,” Chigirev said. “If you’re looking at our stage of our preparation, it was the maximum at this point that we could have done, but obviously we want to improve, we want to do better, so we will work for that and work for the next Grand Prix. It’s very nice that for the first time in a long time, we seeing the Uzbek flag on the podium.”

Geynish added: “This (the medal) was very unexpected for me. First of all, our job is to skate clean and then the medal is a nice bonus.”

Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore’s romantic program to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” included a side by side triple toe-double Axel, a throw triple Salchow as well as two level-four lifts, but Golubeva fell on the throw triple loop. The two-time ISU World Junior silver medalists scored 121.33 points and totaled 186.14 points. 

“For me, it (the first medal) is a big deal,” Giotopoulos Moore said. “I feel it really shows that Australia can produce good figure skaters and figure skaters who can compete at the top of our disciplines. I’m very, very proud and grateful that we can say we won the first medal of Grand Prix medal for Australia.”

Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

The 2023 ISU Grand Prix Skate America Champions Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (GER) struggled with the solo jumps and slipped from second to fourth at 184.30 points. Two-time ISU Four Continents silver medalists Emily Chan/Spencer Akira Howe (USA) remained in fifth place at 178.31 points. 

Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps collected the maximum of 15 points for the ISU Grand Prix standings and will try to secure their spot in the Final in their next event in Finland. Geynish/Chigirev (13 points) will take the ice again next week in France and have a good chance to make the Final. Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore (11 points) are scheduled for the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN), like Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps.

For full entries, schedules & results, see the ISU Grand Prix Event Page & ISU GP Skate Canada Event Page & Official Skate Canada Event Website. 

Check out the ISU Grand Prix Standings to find out who is on their way to qualify for the Final:

Men       Women            Pair Skating      Ice Dance

What & When

The schedule of Skate Canada International is as follows

Friday, Oct 25: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs

Saturday, Oct 26: Rhythm Dance, Men’s Short Program, Pairs & Women’s Free Skating

Sunday, Oct 27: Men’s Free Skating & Free Dance

Follow the ISU Grand Prix events:

The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:

1. 25 - 27 Oct 2024                       Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN)
2. 01 - 03 Nov 2024                      Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
3. 08 - 10 Nov 2024                      NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN)
4. 15- 17 Nov 2024                       Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN)  
5. 22 - 24 Nov 2024                      Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final: 

1. 05 - 08 Dec 2024                        Grenoble (FRA)