Canadian double podium in pairs at Four Continents Championships

Two Canadian pairs skated to the podium at the 2025 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

Reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps climbed from a disappointing fourth place after the short program to take the silver medal, while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud earned their first ever medal at an ISU Championship, taking bronze. Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who were world champions in 2023, won the gold medal.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps put out their best free skate of the season, scoring 141.26 points for an overall total of 210.92, also a season best score. It was a great comeback after they had made mistakes on two key elements in their short program—their side-by-side triple toe loops and their throw triple loop. Their technical elements were much more solid in the free skate, with the only slight negative grade of execution coming on their side-by-side triple salchows.

“Our short program didn’t go so well, which actually was the best thing that could have happened to us, because it allowed us to skate more freely and just enjoy ourselves. That’s something we hadn’t really done yet this season,” said Deschamps.

Their free skate score was just 1.33 back of the Japanese, who totalled a season best 217.32 for both programs. For Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, it was a welcome return to form after some difficult performances at the national championships in January. Deschamps had gone into that competition still recovering from an illness that had forced them to withdraw from the ISU Grand Prix Final in December.

Pereira and Michaud were very consistent throughout both of their Four Continents programs. A clean short program earned them a personal best score of 69.79 and had them ranked third heading into the free skate. They also made just one mistake on Friday, as Pereira stepped out of the landing on her triple toe, preventing them from completing a planned side-by-side jump sequence. She had reportedly been under the weather after arriving in Seoul and didn’t skate at all on Wednesday, the day before the short program. But her stamina did not appear to be an issue throughout the rest of the four-minute free skate. They ended up with a personal best total of 198.40 points.

Standing on the podium at one of the biggest competitions in the figure skating season is a big breakthrough for a team that is still only in their third season together. The Four Continents Championships are open to all non-European countries and are a precursor to the ISU World Championships in March.

“We’re really happy! We ran into a few challenges on the way here, including an illness and some lost luggage, but our short program yesterday felt good. That being said, you still never know how your long program will go! We’re really proud to have executed our elements well today,” said Pereira.

Canada’s third pair, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier placed ninth. They will again join the two medal-winning pairs on Canada’s world championship team next month.

On Saturday, two more Canadian duos will skate for the podium. Following the rhythm dance on Thursday, three-time world medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are in first place with 87.22, a point ahead of two-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States. In third place are Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who hold a 3.56 point advantage over fourth place Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, also from the U.S.

Saturday will also feature the men’s free skate, which may impact who is chosen to be Canada’s lone representative in men’s singles at the world championships. Matthew Newnham, a late substitute for this event, is currently in seventh place, but less than a point ahead of reigning national champion Roman Sadovsky in ninth place. Aleksa Rakic sits 12th.

The competition will close on Sunday with the women’s free skate. Sara-Maude Dupuis is the current top-ranked Canadian in ninth place after the short program, with national champion Madeline Schizas in 11th and Katherine Medland Spence sitting 14th in her ISU Championship debut.