Pereira and Michaud win Skate America silver to start ISU Grand Prix Series
Canadian figure skaters didn’t take long to hit the podium on the ISU Grand Prix Series for the 2023-24 season.
At Skate America in Allen, USA, the Canadian pair of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud skated to a silver medal in the pairs competition, finishing only behind Germany’s Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkle.
The Canadian duo finished second in Friday’s short program with 63.33 points, as the Germans overcame a fall in their side-by-side triple salchow to score 63.59 points. In Saturday’s free skate, Pereira and Michaud scored 119.37 points, bringing their total to 182.59, 1.64 points behind Hocke and Kunkle.
The lone Canadian ice dance pair in the competition, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha began their season on Saturday afternoon with the rhythm dance, posting the second-highest score of 77.80, setting themselves up to take a shot at the podium in Sunday’s free-dance portion of the event.
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates lead the ice dance after the opening rhythm dance, while France’s Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud sit behind the Canadians in third.
In the men’s competition, Toronto’s Stephen Gogolev finished seventh in Friday’s short program, scoring 74.73.