VANCOUVER 鈥� It was just a snapshot in time but the results from this weekend's Skate 乌鸦传媒 International figure skating competition provided an early picture of what Canadian skaters are doing well and where they need to improve, says Michael Slipchuk, Skate 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 high performance director.
鈥淭here was a lot of good takeaways,鈥� said Slipchuk, a former Canadian champion. 聽鈥淢y motto with our team is, 'We鈥檙e building to where we want to be at the end of the season.'
鈥淎s we get into January, February, that鈥檚 when you want to be hitting your peak. These events are our chance to kind of gauge where you鈥檙e at.鈥�
World bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won gold in the ice dance. Their performance had the home-town crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia up and cheering.
Keegan Messing was in medal contention in the men鈥檚 competition but suffered a couple of falls in the long skate and slipped to fifth. Vanessa James and Eric Radford just missed the podium in the pairs event, finishing fourth in their first ISU Grand Prix event.
Madeline Schizas, an 18-year-old from Oakville, Ont., competing in her first season on the international circuit, was the top Canadian in the women鈥檚 event, finishing eighth.
While happy with their medal-winning performance, Gilles and Poirier said it wasn鈥檛 their best skate.
鈥淲e're really striving to be at the peak of our performance in February for the Olympics,鈥� said Gilles, who was born in the U.S. but has a Canadian mother and grandmother. 鈥淚 think we're really starting to trust our training and our ability so when we do feel kind of shaky, it may not be our best but it may still be at the moment the best.
鈥淚 think we are really just coming into our own and trusting our ability on that day.鈥�
Slipchuk called the victory a great start for the season.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always things you can improve on, things you can be better at,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to need to do that as you move forward.
"That鈥檚 the mindset you need to be one of the best in the world.鈥�
In the pairs, James and Radford were fifth in the short program. They moved up to fourth during the free skate despite James falling once and having a stumble.
鈥淭hey are still 聽too many small mistakes happening,鈥� said Radford. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we need to figure out, why.
"(In) practice we feel ready to go. When we get into competition, these little things happen, which could be first-season team newness.鈥�
Radford is a two-time world champion and three-time Olympic medallist from Balmertown, Ont. He announced in April he was coming out of retirement to partner with James, who was born in Toronto but previously competed for France.
The attention and scrutiny created by the new partnership will only increase as the seasons progresses.
鈥淲ith our names and our success, I think it comes with the territory,鈥� said James. 鈥淭here is a lot of pressure from the outside so we just stay in our bubble.鈥�
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, who have won the last two Canadian pairs championships, finished sixth and talked openly about wanting to beat James and Radford.
鈥淲e are pretty used to other teams around us having a lot of press and a lot of buzz around them,鈥� said Moore-Towers. 鈥淎 successful season for us will depend on us staying in our own bubble and not focusing too much on the exterior factors.
鈥淲e have respect for them. We believe we can be better.鈥�
Messing was third after the short program but had a disastrous free skate, hitting his face on the ice in one fall.
鈥淭hose are things you really don鈥檛 expect to happen but they can,鈥� said Slipchuk. 鈥淵ou have to just kind of learn from them and keep preparing for the events ahead.
鈥淥ur guys are really good at understanding things can go wrong and you just have to continue to train and work hard and eliminate those moving forward.鈥�
After losing a year of competition because of COVID-19, skaters around the world are scrambling to return to form, said Slipchuk.
鈥淥ur athletes and coaches do see that everyone is in the same boat,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll the athletes are kind of at the same level of preparedness.
鈥淓very week we鈥檙e seeing that everyone is getting stronger as our athletes are.鈥�
The Vancouver competition was the second stop on the Grand Prix circuit. Four events remain before the final, which is scheduled for December in Osaka, Japan. The Canadian championships are scheduled for Jan. 6-13 in Ottawa and the Winter Olympics open Feb. 4 in Beijing.
鈥淲e have to continue moving forward,鈥� said Slipchuk. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of competitions ahead for our team to continue to get that comfort level, confidence and skill they need to be among the best in the world.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 聽2021
Jim Morris, The Canadian Press
