Winnipeg, MB (December 1, 2024) – Lia Cho continued her impressive march up the age ranks of Canadian figure skating by setting yet another Canadian record enroute to winning gold in the junior women’s competition at the 2024-2025 Skate Canada Challenge competition that wrapped up on Sunday at the Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg, Man.
Cho, of Calgary, Alta., set a novice Canadian record last season at the Skate Canada Challenge – Pre-Novice/Novice competition and then broke it again at Novice Canadian Championships with a total score of 166.56. On Saturday, she obliterated the previous junior record set by Kaiya Ruiter in 2021 (179.92) with her total score of 186.50, as she dominated both the short and free skate programs in her first year as a junior.
“The competition went really well. I’m really happy with my skate, but some things I think I could work on are my spin levels, and I really want to get a level four in my step sequence,” said Cho who trains out of the Glencoe Club in Calgary. “I really loved performing in front of everyone and showing everyone how I practice every day – and jumping in front of everyone.”
Taking silver behind Cho was Reese Rose of Gananoque, Ont., who brought home a silver medal from the Trophy Metropole earlier this season, while Mégane Vallières of Sainte-Thérèse, Que., captured bronze.
The senior women’s competition saw B.C. athletes dominate the podium with Amy Shao Ning Yang of Vancouver claiming her first Canadian title after finishing third in the short program, and first in the free skate for a total score of 170.02. Uliana Shiryaeva of Coquitlam took silver (167.89), while Kara Yun of Burnaby captured bronze (164.72) after a fantastic comeback from sitting seventh following the short program.
“I’m really happy because the competition really went to plan. It’s always difficult to manage things when it doesn’t go how you think it will,” said Yang following the competition. “The last two spins in my long program were definitely a highlight for me because I had a couple of trips in the choreo sequence and the step sequence so I was really glad I could stick with them.”
The senior men’s competition saw Aleksa Rakic of Burnaby, B.C., move up from his second-place finish last year to win gold with a total score of 223.89, while Anthony Paradis of Boisbriand, Que., also moved up his fourth-place finish last year to take silver with a total score of 218.97. Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., was leading after the short program but had some difficulties with his free program and finished the day in third with a total score of 217.88.
“The competition went really well, I’m really pleased with it,” said Rakic who was named to the senior national team for the first time this season. “The highlight was really my free program. For a couple of competitions, trying to get all the combos in has been a bit of a struggle, but today I was able to do all three and switch things around so I’m really happy about it.”
It was an all-David’s podium in the junior men’s competition with David Bondar of Richmond Hill, Ont., winning gold with a total score of 209.47. David Howes of Winnipeg, Man., thrilled the hometown crowd to move up from capturing bronze last year to take silver (198.73), and David Shteyngart of Ottawa, Ont., last year’s gold medallist, rounded out the podium, taking bronze (197.41).
“I feel like the short program didn’t go my way at all. I made a fluke mistake on a jump that I usually do really well, but I’m really happy that I was able to put whatever happened on Friday behind me and come back and skate a really strong free today,” said Bondar who recovered from a sixth-place finish after the short program on Friday to win gold.
The senior ice dance competition saw Lily Hensen of London, Ont., and Nathan Lickers of Six Nations Territories of the Grand River, Ont., capture their first Canadian national title, as they won gold with a total score of 170.26. Alyssa Robinson of Ridgetown, Ont., and Jacob Portz of Calgary, Alta., took silver (161.91), while Jamie Fournier of Montreal, Que., and Everest Zhu of Waterloo, Ont., took bronze (161.21).
“We’re really happy with both of our skates,” said Hensen, who together with Lickers had a top 10 finish at the Challenger Series Tallinn Trophy earlier this season. “Our rhythm dance we were extremely happy with – we went out and gave it our all. Our free dance, there’s still room for improvement but we were happy with it.”
Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, B.C., repeated as junior ice dance champions after posting first-place scores for both their rhythm dance and free dance to win gold with a total score of 165.61. Sandrine Gauthier of Saint-Constant, Que., and Quentin Thieren of Montreal took silver (161.25), and Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys of London, Ont., last year’s silver medallists, took bronze (150.24).
“We felt pretty ready heading into this competition, we’ve been working really hard. We felt a little shaky heading into yesterday and today, but we’ve trained a lot, so it helped us keep it together,” said Nguyen who together with Giang brought home a bronze medal from the ISU Junior Grand Prix in China earlier this season.
Rounding out the competition was the junior pair competition which saw hometown Winnipeg skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, junior silver medallists at last year’s ISU Grand Prix Final, win gold after dominating both the short program and free program for a total score of 141.26. Noémie Rolland of Ste-Marthe-sur-le lac, Que., and Étienne Lacasse of Quebec City, Que, captured silver (131.25), while Siyul (Bella) Black and Gavin Mahoney of Innisfil, Ont., rounded out the podium, taking bronze (107.38).
Christina Lyons and Marty Haubrich of Ontario were the only entrants in the senior pair division.
Next up for most of these skaters will be the 2025 Canadian National Skating Championships taking place at Place Bell in Laval, Que., from January 14-19, 2025.
For full results please click here