Skate Canada International concluded in Mississauga, Ontario Sunday with the Free Dance and the Exhibition Gala. Skate Canada International was the second of six events of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) claim gold
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada danced off with the gold medal. Teammates Kaitlyn Weaver/ Andrew Poje captured the silver and Italy's Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte earned the bronze.
Virtue/Moir put out an entertaining performance to Funny Face that was highlighted by smooth footwork and effortless lifts. The Olympic Champions earned a level four for all elements but the the footwork that got a level three. Virtue/Moir scored 106.73 points for the Free Dance and racked up 178.34 points overall. Everybody could tell at the end that I was pretty excited about the way we skated. We felt we executed everything the way we wanted to. We felt we had a moment with each other, and that's what skating is all about. It is a great building spot for the year, Moir said.
Weaver/Poje danced to Je suis malade and produced beautiful lifts, but Poje wobbled on a twizzle. They received 92.68 points for the Free Dance and totaled 155.99 points. It felt great to come out today and to skate the way we did. Our goal was to really feel the passion and music and tell the story that we've worked to hard on. We could have performed the program bettter, and will execute the elements more completely in the future, but we are starting the season in a very positive way, Weaver told the press.
Cappellini/Lanotte chose La Strada and picked up a level four for the twizzles, the spin and three lifts. The Italians were ranked second in the Free Dance with 92.95 points and accumulated 154.87 points. We enjoyed it, because we love this Free Dance so much, Cappellini commented. This summer we really tried to work on our skating skills and we felt we were able to show it in competition and we are proud of it, she added.
Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) moved up from sixth to fourth at 135.10 points and Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko (RUS) slipped to fifth with 132.36 points.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues next week with the Cup of China in Shanghai. For full results please see www.isu.org