ISU

Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri danced with ease to their second ISU Grand Prix gold medal in as many weeks while Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson of Great Britain claimed their second silver on the circuit this season. Canadians Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha picked up the bronze.

Japan’s Mai Mihara struck her first ISU Grand Prix gold in Sheffield after narrowly missing the podium many times. Isabeau Levito (USA) earned the silver medal, her second on the circuit, while Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia earned the bronze in her debut at the ISU Grand Prix – taking the first ISU Grand Prix medal for a female Figure Skater from Georgia. 

Daniel Grassl of Italy raced to the gold medal and a place in the history books, claiming the first ISU Grand Prix title in the Men’s event for his country, at the John Wilson Trophy. Latvia’s Deniss Vasiljevs earned the silver, his first ISU Grand Prix medal and the first for Latvia while Shun Sato of Japan rose from fourth to take the bronze. 

The tall, powerful Courtney Sarault (CAN) sent a message to the rest of the Short Track Speed Skating world as she secured a second ISU Four Continents gold medal in style on Saturday.

After winning his second ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating gold medal in two days, Park Ji Won (KOR) declared he would like to “pack up” the Utah Olympic Oval and “take it home”.

Reigning ISU World Champions Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA) continued their winning ways and skated off with the gold at the MK John Wilson Trophy. Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii of Italy earned the silver medal while Germany’s Letizia Roscher/Luis Schuster took the bronze, the first ISU Grand Prix medal of their career. 

Miho Takagi (JPN) was undefeated at 1500m in last year’s World Cup and picked up where she left off at the start of the new season in Stavanger on Saturday.

Reigning ISU Four Continents Champion Mai Mihara of Japan set the tone in the Women’s Short Program with her winning performance.  ISU World Junior Champion Isabeau Levito (USA) is less than half a point behind. Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia completes the top three of the day.

International friendship gave Yuma Murakami (JPN) and Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) a boost heading into the new season. The Japanese sprinter went to Quebec to train with his Canadian rival for seven weeks last summer, and it paid off for both at the first World Cup event of the season in Stavanger.

Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri sizzled on the ice to dance to a narrow lead over Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson of Great Britain in the Rhythm Dance, as the ISU Grand Prix MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield (GBR) continued Friday. Canadians Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha placed third heading into the Free Dance.

They may have done it in very different ways but Canada’s Steven Dubois and Korean Park Ji Won will both wake up on Saturday in Salt Lake City knowing they are ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating champions.

At last Courtney Sarault (CAN) knows what it feels like to win a major ISU title after taking a dominant gold in a high-class women’s 1500m at the Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Roman Sadovsky of Canada literally skated with the lights out, to take the lead in the Men’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix in Sheffield on Friday.  Despite the arena lights dimming unexpectedly during his routine, the Canadian continued unfazed - and hisperformance shone. “I didn’t even notice,” he said about it later. Italy’s Daniel Grassl is not far behind in second place, while Latvian Deniss Vasiljevs currently ranks third.

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) did the home crowd proud at the start of the World Cup season in Stavanger on Friday. The Norwegian youngster surprisingly beat Irene Schouten (NED) in the 3000m, the Olympic champion having to settle for silver.

The Team USA men got off the blocks fast at the start of the new international speed skating season at the Sørmarka Arena in Stavanger (NOR) on Friday. At age 18, Jordan Stolz (USA) took his first ISU World Cup win in spectacular fashion, clocking a new track record in 1 minute and 44.89s to leave the rest of the field behind.