Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps struck gold in the Pairs as the ISU Four Continents Championships continued in Shanghai (CHN) on Saturday.
Defending Champions Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara of Japan settled for the silver medal while Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) pulled up from fourth after the Short Program to earn the bronze.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps opened their expressive “Dracula” program with a triple twist and went on to complete a throw triple Salchow and loop as well as difficult lifts and their trademark forward outside death spiral.
The 2023 ISU Four Continents bronze medallists also landed the side by side triple toes, but singled the double Axel and Deschamps stumbled on the side by side triple Salchow. The Canadian Champions scored 129.32 points and totaled 198.80 points to take the title.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps (CAN) secured gold with an expressive routine and are looking ahead to their home World Championships. © ISU
“We're very pleased with the result but we're not thrilled with our skate. We know we can do a whole lot better than that,” Stellato-Dudek said.
“I really hurt my arm on the twist and it was tingling and hurting really bad the whole program. So it's not a fun way to begin. But at least we fought through it and we're able to complete everything.”
Deschamps is already planning ahead for the next big challenge. “We struggled a bit this week and we are looking forward to the next month, working on the details and being ready for Worlds,” he said.
Miura/Kihara continued their comeback after missing most of the season due to Miura's back injury. Skating to “Une chance qu'on s'a” and “Amour Infini”, the reigning ISU World Champions and 2023 ISU Four Continents Champions produced a triple twist, throw triple Lutz and strong lifts but had some issues with the solo jumps and she fell on the throw triple loop.
Ranked third in the Free Skating with 125.16 points, they remained in second place overall with 190.77 points.
Miura/Kihara (JPN) continued their comeback from injury, winning silver despite only having a short time to prepare their routines. © ISU
“In December we said we want to attend the Four Continents and the final decision was made in January,” Kihara said.
“We started training the Short Program the last two weeks and last week the Free Skating. From our practice result we understand we can attend Four Continents. Our program in the Free Skating is very challenging technically.
"Our coach joked and said if you want to have a rest, you can stop after the pair spin and actually at this Four Continents this is what I wanted to do,” he added with a laugh.
Miura agreed: “We had little time to prepare for the Four Continents and we are happy to have delivered a full program and to get a good result. We have a lot of elements where the levels were not good and we will improve on that for the World Championships.”
Kam/O’Shea’s performance to “Nocturnal Animals” was highlighted by a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow and difficult lifts but Kam fell on the throw triple Salchow. The US Champions set a new personal best of 126.56 points in the Free Skating and were second in the segment. Overall, the Finlandia Trophy Champions pulled up one spot to claim their first ISU Championship medal as a team with 187.28 points.
Kam/O’Shea (USA) came second in the Free Skate with a personal best score to climb onto the third step of the podium. © ISU
“Another step in the right direction,” O’Shea commented. “We really feel that our programs at home have grown so much. We are slowly being able to show that in competition. We're very grateful to have the experience here to take another step, learn a little bit more about ourselves and keep growing,” he noted.
It had been a difficult week but the improvement, and the medal, were just rewards, Kam told the press.
“We didn't have any time between last competition and this competition to make any changes,” she said.
“So we just had to put our heads together and grind through the hard week of travel and jet lag. Even though it wasn't the best circumstances, we were able to put out a performance that was even better than last week, even though we were tired."
Miura/Kihara, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps and Kam/O'Shea show off their Pairs medals at the ISU Four Continents Championships. © ISU
Two-time World Junior silver medalists Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) moved up from seventh to fourth place in their debut at the ISU Four Continents Championships (183.83 points). ISU Grand Prix Finalists Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) ranked fifth on 182.05 points followed by Cheng Peng/Lei Wang (CHN) at 180.22 points. Chelsea Liu/Balazs Nagy (USA) dropped from third to seventh after some errors (175.85 points).
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Thursday, February 1: Women’s, Men’s & Pairs Short Programs
Friday, February 2: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, February 3: Pairs & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, February 4: Free Dance & Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #4ContsFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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