NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Skating Moms Series:  Galit Chait-Moracci

PHOTOGRAPHS

• Finlandia Trophy

RESULTS

• Finlandia Trophy
• Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
• British Championships Qualifier 3

​

EVENTS THIS WEEK

October 14-17
Ice Star

October 17-20
Halloween Cup

October 18-20
Skate America

PREVIEW TITLE

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Skating Moms Series:  Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka

PHOTOGRAPHS

• Nebelhorn Trophy
• Nepela Memorial

RESULTS

• JGP Enga/Neumarkt
• Shanghai Trophy
• Mezzaluna Cup
• Midwestern Sectional Ice Dance Challenge
• Eastern Sectional Ice Dance + Pairs Challenge

EVENTS THIS WEEK

October 10-13, 2019
Denis Ten Memorial Challenge

October 11-13, 2019
Finlandia Trophy

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  FINLANDIA TROPHY

by TJ Carey

As we all await the start of this season’s Grand Prix series, this week’s Finlandia Trophy looks to be an exciting build up to all that is to come starting next week. This competition has been held since 1995 and has held an ice dancing event for the majority of its installments. This event is distinctive from the other Challenger Series events because along with the traditional singles, pairs, and dance format, they competition has held a short program only event for synchronized skating, and will do so this year for an eighth consecutive year.

The competition will take place in Espoo, about ten miles away from Helsinki. The dance event, being made up of 11 teams from 9 countries, should act as a preview of the talent we’ll see later this fall in the Grand Prix series.

The medal hunt:

• Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA) are likely to be on top this week. They were the champions at this year’s US International Classic and they are the only couple this season to receive a level 4 on the Finnstep element at an international event, receiving no more than +3s and +2s.
• Betina Popova & Sergey Mozgov (RUS) are looking to improve from their showing at this season’s Ondrej Nepala Trophy, where an equipment malfunction from Mozgov in the free dance kept them from performing to their potential and pushing for a podium finish.
• Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu (CHN) have an entertaining pair of programs that do a great job of displaying their strengths. They finished sixth at this year’s Nebelhorn Trophy.
• Allison Reed & Saulius Ambruvelvicus (LTU) are starting this season strong with sixth and seventh place finishes at Lombardia Trophy and Nebelhorn Trophy.
• Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov (RUS) are capable of memorable and unique performances, but making a name for themselves in the world of Russian ice dancing continues to prove to be quite the challenge. They had a solid fourth place finish at this year’s Lombardia Trophy.

Other items of note:

• Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen (FIN) are on an upward trend in the start of their first season together. They followed up an eleventh place finish at Lombardia Trophy with a fifth place finish at Ondrej Nepala Trophy one week later.
• The match up between Leia Dozzi & Michael Valdez and Emily Monaghan & Ilias Fourati (both HUN) should be an interesting one, as this will be their first time competing against each other.
• The presence of couples from the Ice Academy of Montreal is rather low this week. Only three couples from the training group are competing this week, including 2019 World Junior champions Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance will begin on Saturday, October 12 at 12:00pm local time (5:00am Eastern Time). The free dance will be Sunday, October 13 at 1:00pm local time (6:00am EDT).

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Douglas Webster:  Artist. Choreographer. Director
• Skating Moms Series:  Sylwia Nowak-Trębacka

PHOTOGRAPHS

• Nebelhorn Trophy
• U.S. International Classic
• Nepela Memorial

RESULTS

• Masters de Patinage
• JGP Croatia Cup
• Nebelhorn Trophy

EVENTS THIS WEEK

October 2-5, 2019
JGP Egna-Neumarkt

October 2-5, 2019
U.S. Eastern Sectional Dance Challenge

October 2-6, 2019
U.S. Midwestern Sectional Dance Challenge

October 3-5, 2019
Shanghai Trophy

October 5-6, 2019
Mezzaluna Cup

A LOOK BACK:  NEBELHORN TROPHY

by Anne Calder 

Canada’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen won their first ever Challenger Series gold medal after finishing first in both the rhythm and free dances. The Americans were second and third. Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker vaulted from fourth to second to claim silver, while Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko slipped from second to fourth in the free dance, but held on to take home the bronze.

The British team of Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson moved from sixth place in the rhythm dance to third in the free and secured a fourth place finish, while Olivia Smart & Adrian Diaz went from third down to a fifth place free dance and ended fifth over all. Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu from China sixth after a fifth place rhythm dance.

• Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen received the highest rhythm dance score of the five Challenger Series events competed to date – 81.16.
• Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen’s Nebelhorn score was12 points higher than at their season debut at the Lombardia Trophy in Italy.
• Six teams made their 2019-2020-season debut.
• Five teams had season-best scores for their rhythm dance + free dance + total.
• Five of the six top teams train at the Gadbois Centre in Montreal, Canada.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  JGP EGNA-NEUMARKT

by TJ Carey

The final week of the Junior Grand Prix Series is here! This week, we close out the series with JGP Egna-Neumarkt. With five out of the six spots for the final already taken (by Nguyen & Kolesnik, Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy, Kazakova & Reviya, Demougeot & Le Mercier, and Davis & Smolkin), the field is almost completely determined. Although there are not many teams with a realistic shot at qualifying for December’s final, there should be plenty of room for many of this week’s up-and-coming teams to fight for the podium.

This week marks the sixth time the JGP has come to Italy and only the second time it has been hosted in Egna. Champions of this event from previous years include Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (RUS) and Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein (USA).

The medal hunt:

• Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva & Andrei Filatov (RUS) at JGP Riga Cup. A medal of any color will qualify them for the final.
• Natalie D’Alessandro & Bruce Waddell were fourth in Riga. Their only hope for the final would be if they win and Khudaiberdieva and Filatov place off the podium.
• Utana Yoshida & Shingo Nishiyama placed sixth at JGP Lake Placid.
• Oona Brown & Gage Brown (USA) placed seventh at JGP Chelyabinsk.
• Francesca Righi & Aleksei Dubrovin (ITA) were seventh at JGP Baltic Cup.

Other items of note:

• Katarina DelCamp & Ian Somerville will also represent Team USA.
• Four of these couples are competing in their first JGP of the season.

Only Khudaiberdieva & Filatov and D’Alessandro & Waddell are the only couples here with any hope of making the JGP Final. If Khudaiberdieva & Filatov finish fourth and D’Alessandro & Waddell win, qualification will come down to a tiebreaker. Any place lower than fifth from the Russians will give the final spot to the Canadians, given that they win. If they do not win, the spot goes to Sofya Tyutyunina & Alexander Shustitskiy (RUS).

Schedule:

The rhythm dance on Thursday, October 3, begins at 15:15 local time (9:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The Free Dance will be Friday, October 4, at 19:20 local time (1:20 p.m. EDT).

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• U.S. Classic Recap

PHOTOGRAPHS

• U.S. International Classic
• Nepela Memorial
• U.S. Novice & Junior Challenge Skate
• Autumn Classic International
• Junior Grand Prix Chelyabinsk

RESULTS

• U.S. International Classic
• Nepela Memorial
• U.S. Novice & Junior Challenge Skate
• Junior Grand Prix Baltic Cup
• Souvenir Georges-Éthier

A LOOK BACK:  NEPELA MEMORIAL

by Anne Calder 

Russians Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov defended their 2018 Nepela Trophy title and won the gold medal. Training mates Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khaliavin, representing Spain, took home silver, while the Americans Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter finished third. The Russians and Spaniards made their 2019-2020 debuts. The Americans previously competed in July at the Lake Placid Ice Dance international where they were also third.

• There were no Level 4 Finnsteps. Russians Sinitsina & Katsalapov and Betina Popova & Sergey Mozgov plus Koreans Yura Min & Daniel Eaton hit three keypoints and earned level 3.
• Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud vaulted from eighth place in the rhythm dance to sixth overall after a fourth place free dance.
• Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter were the 2018 Nepela Memorial silver medalists.
• Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen (FIN), Yura Min & Daniel Eaton (KOR), Natacha LaGouge & Arnaud Caffa (FRA), and Aurelija Ipolito & J.T. Michel (LAT) are new 2019-20 season teams.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: NEBELHORN TROPHY

by Melanie Heaney

Always one of the premiere events of the Challenger Series, Nebelhorn Trophy will take place this weekend in Oberstdorf, Germany. The Bavarian alpine village first held an international dance event in 1963; the current format of Nebelhorn Trophy as a senior international figure skating event was established in 1969. This is the 51st annual Nebelhorn Trophy.

Nebelhorn is the fifth event in this year’s Challenger Series, in which scores from a team’s best two events are added to create the final standings. This year, 15 teams from 11 countries will compete in Oberstdorf. No previous Nebelhorn champion is on the roster this time around.

The medal hunt:

• Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker (USA) are aiming for the top of the podium, but they are making their season début here. Their ISU personal best score, set last year at the Four Continents Championships, is 189.87.
• Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) débuted last week at the U.S. International Classic, where they finished second and set a new ISU personal best score of 188.47.
• Laurence Fournier-Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) put up a similar score (189.36) at Lombardia Trophy two weeks ago, also a new personal best, despite underperforming in the free dance.
• Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (GBR) won the silver medal at Autumn Classic two weeks ago, scoring 184.09. It was a new personal best.
• Olivia Smart & Adria Diaz (ESP) won the Lake Placid Ice Dance International to start their season, and set a new personal best score (181.51) when they finished fourth at Autumn Classic two weeks ago.
• This will be the international season début for Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu (CHN), but they looked ready at a Chinese national competition. They have not yet scored over 180 points internationally, though.

Other items of note:

• This is an important head-to-head competition between Hawayek & Baker and Carreira & Ponomarenko. Hawayek & Baker have always come out on top thus far, but this is their season début, and Carreira & Ponomarenko just put up a big score last week.
• Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen will also be looking to make a move here. They finished just behind Hawayek & Baker at both the 2019 Four Continents Championships and the 2019 World Championships.
• Jennifer Urban & Benjamin Steffan (GER) will be competing at their home rink.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance is scheduled for Friday, September 27, at 11:30 a.m. local time (5:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The free dance will conclude the competition on Saturday, September 28, at 2:15 p.m. local time (8:15 a.m. EDT).

COMING ATTRACTIONS: JUNIOR GRAND PRIX CROATIA CUP

by TJ Carey

The Junior Grand Prix Series moves on to Zagreb, Croatia for another exciting week of skating. The spots for December’s JGP Final are starting to get filled up, but the competition for the remaining events is still plenty fierce. Several teams have an outside shot of qualifying for the Final, and since this is such an evenly matched field, whether or not a couple qualifies could depend on the slimmest of margins.

Zagreb is no stranger to international skating events. In fact, this venue, the Dom Sportova, has hosted numerous competitions over the years, such as the European Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Championships for synchronized skating at both the junior and senior levels. This event will be the tenth edition of the Croatian event, with past champions including Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (USA) as well as Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (CAN).

The medal hunt:

• Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya (GEO) placed second at JGP Riga Cup with the winning free dance.
• Sofiya Tyutyunina and Alexander Shustitskiy (RUS) got the bronze in Riga.
• Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler (CZE) were the bronze medalists at JGP Lake Placid.
• Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont (CAN) are coming off of a third-place finish at JGP Chelyabinsk.
• Emmy Bronsard and Aissa Bouaraguia (CAN) placed fourth at JGP Grand Prix de Courchevel.

Other items of note:

• The US will be represented by Katarina Delcamp and Ian Somerville as well as Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov.
• There are five couples here who also competed at Junior Worlds in Zagreb this past March.
• Alexander Vakhnov medaled on the Junior Grand Prix with both of his last two partners, Sofia Polishchuk and Ksenia Konkina. He’s making his international debut with Svetlana Lizunova (RUS).

Schedule:

The rhythm dance begins Friday, September 27, at 11:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The free dance will be Saturday, September 28 at 12:15 p.m. local time (6:15 a.m. EDT).

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Green & Parsons: A New Journey Begins
• Skating Moms: Melissa Gregory

PHOTOS

• 2019 Autumn Classic International

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

• 2019 Junior Grand Prix Chelyabinsk
• 2019 Autumn Classic International
• 2019 Lombardia Trophy
• 2019 Challenge Cup

​

A LOOK BACK:  JGP CHELYABINSK

by Anne Calder 

Chelyabinsk is located in west-central Russia near the Ural Mountains on the Europe and Asia border. The city became famous in 2013 when a super bolide meteor brighter than the sun and visible up to 62 miles away, entered the earth’s atmosphere. The indirect effects of its explosion caused injury to residents and shock waves were felt miles away.

Russia has hosted one other JGP event – in Saransk (2016). The 2012 JGP Final was held in Sochi.

Rhythm Dance

Russian teams Elizaveta Shanaeva & Devid Naryzhnvy and Diana Davis & Gleb Smolkin were the top two followed by the Canadians Nadia Bashynska & Peter Beaumont and Irina Galiyanova & Grayson Lockhead.

• The teams continued their struggle with the Tea-Time Foxtrot.
• Only Davis & Smolkin (RUS) earned a Level 4 for Section 1 of the element by hitting all four key points.
• For the fourth JGP, no one earned Level 4 for Section 2. Bashynska & Beaumont (CAN) and Brown & Brown (USA) earned Level 3.
• Russians Shanaeva & Naryzhnvy and Belarusians Karina Sidarenka & Maxim Yalenich earned Level 4 Twizzles for both the Lady and Man.

Free Dance

The rhythm dance top three teams held their position. Russians Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy (171.07) and Davis & Smolkin (158.24) won gold and silver. Canadians Bashynska & Beaumont took home the bronze. The Americans Katarina Wolfkostin & Jeffrey Chen vaulted from sixth to fourth missing the podium by .24.

• After finishing just off the podium for the first three JGPs, the Canadians made it across the finish line and on to the podium with the bronze medal.
• Wolfkostin & Chen skated 11th and scored 93.90 in the FD. The team held the lead (in the free dance phase) until the 18th (final) skaters – Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy scored 103.37 and won the segment.
• Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy’s 171.07 was the highest total score this JGP season.
• Seven teams earned L4 Twizzles for both the Lady and Man: Canada (2), Russia (2) Armenia, Czech Republic, and Kazakhstan.

Tid-bits:

• Diana Davis & Gleb Smolkin (RUS) now train in Novi, MI with Igor Shpilband.
• For the third week in a row, two sets of siblings competed (ITA) and (USA).
• Sidarenka & Yalenich (BLR) vaulted three positions and improved their score by nine points from their first 2019 JGP in France.
• Five teams skated in their first JGP event.
• Eva Bernard (FRA) and Ivan Kuznetsov (EST) were the youngest skaters.
• In the four 2019 JGP events, there have been 23 deductions for extended lifts. Barbara Fusar-Poli needs to share her stopwatch!

Highighted Performances:  This week, we highlight the rhythm dance performance by Nadia Bashynska & Peter Beaumont and the free dance performance of Estonia’s Tatjana Bunina & Ivan Kuznetsov.

A LOOK BACK:  AUTUMN CLASSIC INTERNATIONAL

by Anne Calder 

Canada’s Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier finished first in both the rhythm and free dance to win their first Autumn Classic International.  Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (pictured) vaulted from fifth to second to claim silver, their second medal on the ISU Challenger Series.  Marie-Jade Lauriault & Romain Le Gac of France won the bronze.

• Five of the teams struggled with the Finnstep required pattern hitting only one or none of the four key points. Marie-Jade Lauriault & Romain Le Gac received credit for two.
• Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson’s disappointing RD placement was the result of the lower base values assigned to their he level 1 Rotational lift and Midline Step Sequence.
• Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus’s unfortunate fall in the third twizzle and lower levels knocked off points while their competitors were adding to their scores. Their second place RD score just wasn’t enough to keep them in the hunt for a medal.
• Whether Lauriault & Le Gac or Smart & Diaz stood on the podium was a matter of inches. The Spanish team’s negative GOEs on the FD twizzles was a difference maker.

A LOOK BACK:  LOMBARDIA TROPHY

by Anne Calder 

Italy’s Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri and Canada’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen were virtually tied after the rhythm dance. The Italians widened the gap considerably during the free dance and earned their fourth Lombardia Trophy gold medal. The Canadians claimed silver and Ukrainians Alexandra Nazarova & Maxim Nikitin moved up from fourth and took home the bronze.

• The Finnstep proved to be a challenge to several teams. Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) and Adelina Galyavieva & Louis Thauron (FRA) were the only teams to score three of the four key points. Six teams hit two, while four teams hit none. No team scored four.
• In the free dance, four teams received extended lift deductions.
• Fournier Beaudry & Sorensen won their first international medal representing Canada.
• Caroline Green & Michael Parsons (USA) who began their partnership five months ago were third in the free dance and fifth over all. Parsons won the 2018 Lombardia Trophy silver medal with his previous partner Rachel Parsons.
• Nazarova & Nitkin were also the 2017 bronze medalists.
• India Nette & Eron Westwood (AUS), Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha (CAN), Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen (FIN), Ekaterina Mironova & Evgenii Ustenko (RUS), and Caroline Green & Michael Parsons (USA) made their international debut as a senior team.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  JUNIOR GRAND PRIX BALTIC CUP

by TJ Carey

The Junior Grand Prix series heads to the northern Polish city of Gdańsk for another exciting week of skating. This week could be the most exciting yet, as several of the teams competing here have already medaled earlier this year on the JGP series. A single mistake from one of the top couples could be enough to determine whether they will qualify for the Final in December or not. Along with a field of an astounding twenty couples, this week’s race for the podium will make this event one not to miss.

This will be the tenth time Poland has hosted a junior Grand Prix event, and Gdańsk has hosted all but two of those events (2009 and 2015 in Toruń). The city has even hosted the Junior Grand Prix Final twice, in 1999 and 2007. Several very accomplished couples have won this event in the past, such as Alexandra Zaretsky and Roman Zaretsky (ISR), Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (RUS), and Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (USA).

The medal hunt:

• Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik (USA) are the JGP Lake Placid Champions.
• Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Andrey Filatov (RUS) won JGP Riga in their international debut together (withdrew due to medical reasons).
• Loicia Demougeot and Theo Le Mercier (FRA) are coming off their first JGP medal, a silver, in Courchevel.
• Ekaterina Kataskinskaia and Alexandr Vaskovich (RUS) were the bronze medalists in Courchevel.
• Miku Makita and Tyler Gunara (CAN) were fourth in Lake Placid.

Other items of note:

The US will also be represented by Ella Ales and Daniel Tsarik.

Oliwia Borowska and Filip Bojanowski (POL) will be competing in their hometown this week. The host nation will also be represented by Olivia Oliver and Joshua Andari.

This is the largest field of couples in a single JGP event all season.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance begins Friday, September 20 at 10:00 am local time (4:00 Eastern Daylight Time). The free dance will be the final event of the week, beginning Saturday, September 21 at 15:35 local time (9:35 EDT).

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  U.S. INTERNATIONAL FIGURE SKATING CLASSIC

The 2019 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic takes place this week in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Since 2012, the event has been held annually and was included as part of the International Skating Union’s Challenger Series since 2014.  Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier of Canada won the inaugural event and are the lone non-American winners.  Former champions include Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton and Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue.  Hubbell & Donohue have won the event for the past four years, but are not on the roster for this year’s competition.  Nine teams from seven countries will compete for medals, Challenger Series points and ISU Championship minimum scores.

In the medal hunt:

• Madison Chock & Evan Bates of the United States are poised to make their season’s debut in Salt Lake City.
• Americans Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko finished second at this event in 2018.  The team won the silver medal in late July at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International.
• Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus of Canada have competed multiple times this season, including a fourth place finish at Lake Placid Ice Dance International.  They finished fifth at last week’s Autumn Classic.

Schedule:

There is no concrete schedule released, other than the one included in the original announcement, which lists the rhythm dance taking place on Friday, September 20 and the free dance on Sunday, September 21, but does not included the exact time.  (This will be updated as soon as a schedule is available.)

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  NEPELA MEMORIAL

The Nepela Memorial is an annual competition that has taken place since 1993, which makes this the 27th time the event has been contested.  It is named after Ondrej Nepela, the 1972 Olympic champion, who was born in Bratislava and died in 1989.  Ice dance has been included as part of the competition since the beginning, but was not part of the event in 2003 and 2006.  The entire podium from 2018, including last year’s champions Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov of Russia, are on the 2019 roster.

In the medal hunt:

• Sinitsina & Katsalapov won this event in 2018 and are the reigning World silver medalists.
• Americans Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter won the silver medal last year and claimed the bronze medal at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International in July.
• Last year’s bronze medalists, Betina Popova & Sergey Mozgov of Russia, as well as Spain’s Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khaliavin, who won a medal on the Grand Prix series last season, should also figure in the podium mix.

Other items of note:

• Natacha Lagouge & Arnaud Caffa of France and Latvia’s Aurelija Ipolito & J.T. Michel are making their international, as well as Challenger Series, debuts.
• Korea’s Yura Min & Daniel Eaton competed at their first international, the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, in July where they finished seventh.  Nepela Memorial is their first Challenger Series event.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance takes place on Friday, September 20, at 5 PM local time (11 AM EDT).  The free dance is on Friday, September 21, at 2:30 PM (8:30 AM EDT).

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Cesanek & Yehorov To Make JGP Debut In Riga

EVENT COVERAGE  & MORE

• JGP Lake Placid Recap
• JGP Riga Cup Results

EVENTS THIS WEEK

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  JGP CHELYABINSK

by TJ Carey

The midpoint of the Junior Grand Prix Series, crazy as it seems, is about to start. This week’s event will mark the start of when the first few contenders for December’s Final will make their second appearance of the fall. This week’s rather large group of 18 couples from 13 countries is sure to make this another intriguing competition. This competition will also be the first time Junior Grand Prix has been held in Chelyabinsk and only the second time an event has been hosted in Russia. As the host nation, it is no surprise that the Russian Federation will be represented by already internationally accomplished couples.

The medal hunt:

• Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy (RUS) were the champions of this year’s JGP Courchevel.
• Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (RUS) competed at JGP Lake Placid and earned the silver medal.
• After winning the Lake Placid International over the summer, Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont (CAN) will compete in their second JGP series.

Other items of note:

• Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen (USA) placed fifth at JGP Courchevel.  The U.S. will also be represented by Oona Brown and Gage Brown.
• Bashynska and Beaumont will be joined by their training mates, Irina Galiyanova and Grayson Lochhead.
• Daniil Karpov (RUS) has medaled on the JGP twice with former partner Polina Ivanenko. He will be making his international debut in his new partnership with Tamara Zhukova.
• This event will include couples from several countries that we don’t traditionally see in ice dancing, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. 

Schedule:

This week’s Rhythm Dance, unlike other weeks, will actually commence on Thursday, instead of Friday. The event starts on September 12 at 13:15 local time (4:15 Eastern Daylight Time). The Free Dance will start on Saturday, September 14, at 10:45 local time (1:45 Eastern Daylight Time).

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  AUTUMN CLASSIC INTERNATIONAL

Autumn Classic International (ACI) returns to Oakville for the next event of the ISU Challenger Series.  ACI has been held annually since 2014 and has been part of the Challenger Series for five of the past six years.  Former ACI champions include Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron (2014) and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (2016 & 2017).  There are six teams from five countries on the roster.  Misato Komatsubara & Tim Koleto were listed to compete, but have withdrawn.  Komatsubara posted on social media last week that she is recovering from a concussion.

The medal hunt: 

• Canada’s Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier could collect another Challenger Series gold.  ACI is their first competition of the season, but they revealed during High Performance Camp that their free dance will be to Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”
• Olivia Smart & Adrian Diaz of Spain started their season six weeks ago with a gold medal at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International.
• Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson debuted their programs in July at the British National qualifier in Sheffield.  Last season, the duo built momentum with a successful disco free dance, and will skate this year to music from the Blues Brothers (RD) and Madonna’s Vogue (FD).

Other items of note:

• Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus of Canada finished fourth at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International.  Their rhythm dance is to music from Jersey Boys and their free dance is to “It’s Not Unusual”, “Sex Bomb” and “Without Love” by Tom Jones.
• Marie-Jade Lauriault & Roman Le Gac of France finished third at the Quebec Summer Championships, behind Soucisse & Firus and Smart & Diaz.
• Australia’s Matilda Friend & William Badaoui have aged out of juniors, so this is the first season the team will compete strictly on the senior level. They will skate to music from The Adventures Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (RD) and selections from Game of Thrones for their free dance.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance takes place on Friday, September 13 at 12:35 PM, with the free dance on Saturday, September 14 at 11 AM.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  LOMBARDIA TROPHY

2019 marks the fifth time Lombardia Trophy has been included as a ISU Challenger Series event.  Although the event was created in 2013, ice dance has only been included since 2015.  Italy’s Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte won the event in 2015 and Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri continued the Italian dominance of this home-rink event by winning the past three years.  15 teams representing 10 countries will compete for medals and Challenger Series points.

The medal hunt:

• Italy’s Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri will go for their fourth consecutive Lombardia Trophy title.
• Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada, who finished 10th at the 2019 World Championships, will start their season in Bergamo.

Other items of note:

• Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha, the 2019 World Junior Champions, will skate for the first time internationally as a senior team.
• Caroline Green & Michael Parsons of the United States are making their Challenger Series debut.  Parsons won the silver medal with his sister, Rachel, at this event in 2018.
• Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen of Finland are making their international debut as a new team.  Last season, Orihara competed at the junior level with Lee Royer for Canada.  Pirinen last competed during the 2017-18 season with Monica Lindfors.
• Russia’s Ekaterina Mironova & Evgenni Ustenko are making their senior international debut.  The team finished 12th at last year’s Russian National Championships.

Schedule:

The rhythm dance takes place on Saturday, September 14, at 2 PM local time (7 AM EDT) with the free dance on Sunday at 4 PM local time (9 AM EDT).

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Cesanek & Yehorov To Make JGP Debut In Riga
• Getting to Know: Emily Bratti & Mathieu Couyras
• Hugo Chouinard: The man behind the music

EVENT COVERAGE  & MORE

• JGP Lake Placid Photographs
• JGP Lake Placid Recaps
• JGP Lake Placid Results

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EVENTS THIS WEEK

​SEPTEMBER 4-7, 2019
Junior Grand Prix Riga Cup
Riga, Latvia

• Schedule
• Roster
• ISU Youtube Channel

DUBREUIL, LAUZON & HAGUENAUER ANNOUNCE ICE ACADEMY OF MONTREAL (IAM)

Earlier today, and via a Facebook Live press conference, Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer announced that they are moving forward under the new name – Ice Academy of Montreal.  

“The Ice Academy of Montreal offers a different way of teaching that goes with true team coaching,” Lauzon said (reading from a prepared statement).  “We offer coaching that is both mental and physical and psychology that is what we try to bring to our skaters to help them evolve in every aspect of their own life.  We can help every student be better athletes and have a better life after sports and be all around amazing people.”

The full press conference is available for viewing on the Ice Academy of Montreal Facebook page.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: JUNIOR GRAND PRIX RIGA CUP

by TJ Carey

With the third Junior Grand Prix event of the season almost upon us in Riga, Latvia, we’re starting to see how the junior couples stack up against each other for qualification for the Final in December. This week’s event will be attended by 19 couples from 17 countries and the competition should be quite open for up-and-coming teams to take advantage of.

The city of Riga is a common host for recent seasons of the JGP. It has been hosted an event every other year since 2011, and past champions include Russia’s Sofia Shevchenko and Igor Eremenko.

The medal hunt:

• Georgia’s first couple to ever qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya, are coming off of a sixth place finish at last year’s World Junior Championships.
• Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva, who is the world junior silver medalist with Nikita Nazarov, will be making her international debut with her new partner, Andrey Filatov.
• Canada’s Natalie D’Alessandro & Bruce Waddell finished fourth and sixth at their Junior Grand Prix events last season.
• Maria Golubstova and Kirill Belobrov from Ukraine are competing in their sixth Junior Grand Prix season. They’ve finished as high as fifth place three times in the series out of nine events.

Other items of note:

• Making their international debut at this event, Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov will be the only American couple competing in Riga.
• For three couples in this event, it will be their second JGP of the season. Angelina Kudryavtseva and Ilia Karankevich of Cyprus competed at the first JGP event in Courchevel, France. Mariia Nosovitskaya and Mikhail Nosovitskiy from Israel as well as Katica Kedves and Fedor Sharonov will take on the challenging task of competing directly after last week’s event in Lake Placid, New York.
• Excluding Khudaiberdieva in her former partnership with Nazarov, Only one of these teams (Kazakova and Reviya) has medaled in the JGP series before. That should make this event extra exciting for fans hoping to see who will rise to the occasion and finish on the podium!

Schedule:

The Rhythm Dance will begin on Friday, September 6, at 13:30 local time (GMT) and 6:30 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Free Dance will be the final event of the whole competition, starting Saturday, September 7, at 16:30 local time and 9:30 EDT.

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Hugo Chouinard: The man behind the music
• Skating Moms Series: Alexandra Zaretsky
• Getting to Know:  Hilary Asher & Kyle Pearson

PHOTOS

• Sun Valley on Ice Show (July 18, 2019)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

• 2019 Junior Grand Prix de Courchevel

EVENTS THIS WEEK

AUGUST 28-31, 2019
Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid
Courchevel, France

• Schedule
• Roster
• ISU Youtube Channel

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Rhythm Dance – August 23, 2019

• Lara Luft & Stephano Valentino Schuster (GER) were the first ever to dance the Tea-Time Foxtrot at an ISU Junior Grand Prix competition (August 23, 2019)
• Russian teammates, Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy and Katashinskaia & Vaskovich were the only ones to earn Level 4 in Section 1 of the Tea-Time Foxtrot.
• No team earned higher than Level 2 for Section 2 of the Tea-Time Foxtrot. There were no Level 3’s or Level 4’s.
• Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy (RUS) had the highest technical score (35.56).
• The music appeared to have the hiccups as it paused briefly during several programs. For Wolfkostin & Chen (USA) it actually stopped in the middle of their RD. After speaking to the referee and music operators the team resumed where they had left off.
• The technical panel was very generous with the Twizzle levels, considering the number of wobbles and missed grabbed blades – (L4 =18), (L3=12), (L2=5) (L1=1).

Free Dance – August 24, 2019

• Fifteen teams changed standings after their rhythm dance ranking. Only Terreau & Perron (6), Luft & Schuster (11) and Sidarenka & Yalenich (17) kept their same position.
• Canadians Bronsard & Bouaraguia missed the podium by only .29 points. The 151.65 score did beat their 135.45 at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International last month.
• Terreau & Perron was the only team to have both dancers earn L4 for their twizzles.
• Both Russian teams had the highest Base Values. (39.07).

Tid-bits:

• Elizabeth Tkachenko (USA) was the youngest dancer. She was born in Rockville, MD USA on February 21, 2006.
• Michael Chrastecky (ITA) was the oldest dancer. He was born in the Czech Republic on July 19, 1999.
• Nine teams made their JGP debut; eight teams returned for the second year; Sidarenka & Yalenich (BLR) competed for their third season.

Again this year, Ice-dance.com will be highlighting programs for each event. This week’s selection is the free dance of Canada’s Emmy Bronsard & Aissa Bouaraguia.

All JGP events are livestreamed via the ISU’s JGP Channel.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  JUNIOR GRAND PRIX USA

by TJ Carey

After a strong season-debut event in Courchevel, France last week, the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series moves to Lake Placid, New York in the United States for this week’s exciting competition. This will be the seventh time the U.S. has hosted a JGP event, as well as the fourth time the event has been hosted in the former host city of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games. The other previous hosts of this event are Scottdale, Long Beach, and Colorado Springs.

With a field of 14 couples from 11 different countries, we can expect to see several teams attempt to establish themselves as leading junior couples and aim for a podium finish.

The medal hunt:

• Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik placed fourth at last year’s World Junior Championships and fifth at the most recent Junior Grand Prix Final.
• Diana Davis & Gleb Smolkin placed third at last year’s JGP Czech Skate and Volvo Open Cup, as well as second in the 2018 Tallinn Trophy.
• Natalie Tashlerova & Filip Taschler finished fourteenth at the World Junior Championships in March.  

Other items of note:  

• Canada will be represented by Irina Galiyanova & Grayson Lochhead as well as Miku Makita and Tyler Gunara.
• Also representing Team USA are Ella Ales & Daniel Tsarik and Anya Lavrova & Maxwell Gart.
• Harshita Rawtani & Vansh Bhatia will make their international debut representing India.
• Five of the couples competing in this event also competed at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships earlier this month, with three of them in the international event and two in the combined domestic event.

Schedule:

Good news to North American fans! This event will be held in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Rhythm Dance begins Friday, August 30, at 11:00 AM local time. The ice dance event will end with the free dance on Saturday, August 31, at 10:00 AM local time. The event will be streamed live by the ISU Youtube Channel.​

NEW ON IDC

FEATURES

• Skating Moms Series: Naomi Lang Strong

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

• North York Summer Skate

EVENT CENTER

AUGUST 21-24, 2019
Junior Grand Prix Courchevel
Courchevel, France

• Schedule
• Roster
• ISU Youtube Channel

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  JUNIOR GRAND PRIX COURCHEVEL

This week, ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP) kicks off in Courchevel!  France has hosted a JGP event 11 times with Courchevel serving as host on eight occasions.  Former champions include Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron of France (2012) and Russia’s Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (2010).

With off-season partnership shake-ups as well as several top teams moving up to senior, results could be unpredictable which is exciting for fans and stressful for teams who are hoping to break through.

The medal hunt:

• Elizaeta Shanaeva & Devid Naryzhnyy of Russia finished second and fourth at their JGP last season. 
• At the World Junior Championships, Loicia Demougeot & Theo Le Mercier of France moved from 15th (in 2018) to eighth. 
• Canada’s Emmy Bronsard & Aissa Bouaraguia finished second at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International earlier this month.  

Other items of note:  

• Team USA is sending 2019 U.S. novice champions Elizabeth Tkachenko & Alexei Kiliakov as well as the new team of Katarina Wolfkostin & Jeffrey Chen.  Wolfkostin & Chen have finished either first or second at each of their summer competitions.
• Cyprus has a dance team!  Angelina Kudryavtseva & Ilia Karankevich, who are coached by Julia Zlobina & Alexei Sitnikov, debuted with a fifth place finish at the NRW Summer Trophy.
• Poland’s Olivia Oliver & Joshua Andari are one of several teams making debuts in Courchevel.

Schedule:

There is a six hour time difference between Courchevel and Eastern Standard Time.  The Rhythm Dance takes place on Friday, August 23, at 2:15 PM local time (8:15 AM EST), followed by the free dance on Saturday, August 24 at 3:15 PM local time (9:15 AM EST).  The event will be streamed live by the ISU Youtube Channel.

NEW ON IDC

ARTICLES

• Manta & Johnson skating this season for themselves
• Parent Guide: Parents working together
• Grand Prix Series Preview

RESULTS

• JGP Armenian Cup

EVENTS THIS WEEK

October 16-18
Russia Cup Event #3
Krasnoyarsk, Russia

October 18-21
Minsk Arena Ice Star
Minsk, Belarus

October 19-21
Skate America
Everett, WA

October 19-21
Halloween Cup
Budapest, Hungary

A LOOK BACK AT ARMENIA CUP

by Anne Calder 

The Republic of Armenia hosted its first ISU international event from October 10-13. The seventh and last 2018 Junior Grand Prix was held in the capital city of Yerevan, which celebrates its 2800th jubilee this month. Fifteen ice dance teams from 12 countries competed. Two teams qualified for the JGP Final.

Rhythm Dance

The four couples with the highest scores at the end of the rhythm dance all represented different countries: Russia, Georgia, Canada, and Ukraine. The top three also had personal best RD scores.

Russians Arina Ushakova & Maxim Nekrasov (#1) were the only ones in the event to hit all eight key points and level 4 for both Argentine Tango patterns. Their spectacular closing rotational lift scored five +4 and three +3 GOEs. The Russians had the highest rhythm dance score for the 2018 season – 69.18 points.

Georgians Maria Kazakova & Georgy Reviya (#2) improved their Czech Skate rhythm dance score by six points, but still trailed the Russians. Their GOEs were mostly +3 and +2. They missed only one key point – Timing. In Ostrava, they missed four of the eight. The segment earned 65.42 points.

Canadians Ellie Fisher & Simon-Pierre Malette-Paquette (#3) danced for the second straight week after withdrawing from earlier national and international competitions due to injury. They upped their TES by three points, by both earning level 4 twizzles and hitting two more key points than at Ljubljana. The footwork also increased from level 2 to level 3. The score was 60.34.

Collision

Thirty seconds into the Group 2 warm up, Julia Kim & Shokhrukh Sultanov suffered a hard collision. The medical staff escorted the Uzbekistan team off the ice. Considering their apparent injuries, it was a surprise when they skated to center ice to perform their rhythm dance. ISU commentator Ted Barton called it a true “Spirit of the Sport” moment. At the end, Kim pumped her fist in the air, and the team helped each other off the ice. They later withdrew from the free dance.

Free Dance

Ushakova & Nekrasov won gold and scored a personal best 103.63 to the Black Cat, White Cat film soundtrack, which is actually about the unruly antics of a gypsy settlement and has nothing to do with felines. The Russians began with a pantomime-filled 3.59 Choreographic Step Sequence that set the table for their elements skated with quirky, slapstick movements and facial expressions. The dance earned mostly +3 and +4 GOE scores. The total 172.81 is now the Junior Ice Dance score to beat.

Kazakova & Reviya earned their second JGP silver medal and became the first Georgian ice dance team to qualify for the Final. The team used the powerful music, Carmina Burana and “Vocalise” to score a personal best 99.23 – and just missed 100. Their TES was close to the Russians, but they slipped behind in the component score. The level 4 twizzles and level 3 footwork earned their highest scores. The 164.65 total score was a personal best, but eight points behind the Russians.

Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy squeezed out a third place in the free dance to Sampson and Delilah by .21 points, but finished fourth over all. The team began the event looking for a miracle to qualify for the Final. Unfortunately in the rhythm dance, they hit only 2 of eight key points, earned a level 1 for the footwork and had a stumble entering the twizzle. They redeemed themselves in the free dance with a personal best 92.33 score, but it wasn’t enough to buy a ticket to Vancouver. The total was 148.14.

Fisher & Malette-Paquette danced a dramatic performance to “Look Down” and “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables that scored 92.12. They beat their free dance score from last week by over 7.5 points with higher base levels for the twizzles and one-foot step sequence. The free dance was fourth, but they held on to third overall with a 152.46 total. The Canadians won their first JGP medal (bronze) in their two-year partnership and fourth JGP event.

Ice-dance.com has been highlighting programs for each JGP event. This week’s selections have a special significance. The rhythm dance is by the Uzbekistan team that showed great courage for skating their program after encountering a hard crash during the warm-up. The free dance belongs to the Armenian team whose country hosted its first ISU competition.

The six competitors with the highest points will participate in the JGP Final.

* Competed in the 2017 JGP Final:

Shevchenko & Eremenko (4th)

Ushakova & Nekrasov (5th)

Lajoie & Lagha (6th)

ICE CHATTER

• Due to the introduction of the +5/-5 GOE, all statistics start from zero for the season 2018/19. All previous records are now historical. Therefore, all three scores earned by Arina Ushakova & Maxim Nekrasov of Russia established new junior ice dance standards.
• Seven teams earned personal best scores for their rhythm dance, free dance, and total, three for their free dance, and one for their rhythm dance.
• Georgy Reviya (GEO) has skated with three partners. They all have last names that begin with the letter “K” – Maria Kazakova, Eva Khatchaturian, and Ksenia Konkina.
• Yerevan is called Armenia’s Pink City because all the buildings are made of a naturally colored volcanic rock found in the surrounding landscape. The color is brightest at sunrise and sunset and changes throughout the day, depending on where the sun hits it.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:  MINSK ARENA ICE STAR