Canada's Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps win pairs title at Four Continents
Teammates Lia Pereira, Trennt Michaud finish 5th
Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps captured the pairs title on Saturday at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai, China.
The duo posted the best short program result on Thursday and clinched their first win at the Four Continents with the best free program on Saturday.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps put together a total score of 198.90 to claim the gold medal, ahead of Japanese silver medallists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (190.77), and third-place Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea (187.28).
"We're very happy with the result. We had some of our reliable elements cross us a bit — I really hurt my arm on the twist and it was hurting throughout the whole program, so we were happy with the fight that we were able to give despite that," said Stellato-Dudek.
"There is definitely still a lot of growth in the performance, we know we can do a lot better than that, and we're looking forward to doing that at Worlds."
WATCH | Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps win Four Continents title:
The 2023 Four Continents bronze medallists opened with a triple twist and went on to complete a throw triple salchow and loop.
Deschamps stumbled on the side-by-side triple salchow but the Canadians scored 129.32 points for a total of 198.80, comfortably ahead of world champions Rika Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan who were second with 190.77.
Fellow Canadians Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (182.05) finished fifth, while teammates Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier (174.47) ended up in eighth.
Kagiyama dazzles in free skate
In men's action on Saturday in Shanghai, Beijing Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama put the finishing touches on a dominating performance. The Japanese skater won the men's gold medal with a total score of 307.58.
First after the short program, Kagiyama landed two quadruple jumps and four triple jumps on his way to scoring 200.76 points in the free skate for a total of 307.58.
Kagiyama's only mistake was when he fell on his second jump, a quad flip.
"I wanted to try the quad flip but unfortunately I stepped out of it," Kagiyama said. "But I didn't let it bother me and was glad that I performed well for the rest of my routine."
WATCH | Kagiyama dominant in Four Continents victory:
Kagiyama is making a comeback after missing the past season due to injury. His next major competition will be the world championships in Montreal in March.
"This will help me figure out what I need to work on for worlds," said Kagiyama, a two-time silver medalist at the world championships.
The 2023 Four Continents bronze medallist Mone Chiba of Japan won the women's gold medal on Friday to capture her first ISU championship title.
Skating to "Legend of 1900," the 18-year-old Chiba landed a triple flip-triple toe combination and added five more triple jumps for a personal-best free skate score of 143.88 points and a total of 214.98.
The Four Continents ice dance free dance begins at 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, followed by the exhibition gala on Sunday at 4:30 a.m. ET.
CBC Sports is live streaming all the action from Shanghai, with coverage available on CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca, and the CBC Sports app. Click here for the full broadcast schedule.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
