Weaver, Poje hang on for ice dance bronze at Russia Grand Prix
Canadian duo was 3rd after short program
Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje earned a bronze medal in ice dance on Saturday morning at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, the third stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.
Weaver, of Toronto, and Poje, of Waterloo, Ont., sat in third place after the short dance program and posted a score of 108.76, the second best result in the free skate.
- WATCH | The Rostelecom Cup on Road to the Olympic Games (Saturday, CBC TV, CBCSports.ca, 3 p.m. ET)
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia turned in a score of 111.76 in the free dance and took the gold medal with an overall score of 186.68.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. – who captured silver at Skate Canada International last week – scored 107.09 in the free program and their total of 182.13 was good for silver.
Weaver and Poje finished with an overall all score of 178.57.
'We are really pleased with how the performance went,'' said Poje. ''We really wanted to come out there and show the work we've put into creating our story and our emotion. We felt really connected to the audience. It's early in the season but we wanted a strong technical score and to feel like we are on the right track.''
Fernandez vaults to the top
Javier Fernandez of Spain finished with a total of 292.98 points to win the men's competition. Fernandez trailed Japan's Shoma Uno by 7.04 points after the short program.
Uno ended up in second place with a total of 285.07.
Israel's Alexei Bychenko was the third-place finisher at 255.52, while Mikhail Kolyada of Russia dropped to fourth place with 245.30 points.
Canada's Elladj Balde's total of 225.45 landed him in sixth place, although his performance was relatively clean.
''There were some small errors but overall it was a satisfying competition for me,'' said Baldje. ''Fitness-wise I felt super strong and that will be a real plus for me in the future. I'm going to continue working on the quad and make it better.''
During the men's competition, fans gave a good cheer for Sweden's Alexander Majorov, who skated through his routine while dealing with a nosebleed.
Seguin, Bilodeau 5th in pairs
Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau, who were 5th after the short program, remained in that spot despite posting the fourth-best score in the free program. The Canadian pair achieved an overall score of 183.37.
'It was a tough fight today,'' said Séguin. ''But we continued to believe in ourselves and gave a good performance. It was a learning experience.''
Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany won the event with a total of 207.89.
Russians Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert finished in second, but well back from the leaders at 197.77, while Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov, also from Russia, rounded out the podium with a score of 188.74.
Camille Ruest of Boucherville, Que., and Andrew Wolfe of Montreal finished sixth.
Pogorilaya wins big
Russia's Anna Pogorilaya dominated the women's event with a score of 215.21, with the next closest competitor being Elena Radionova, also from Russia, at 195.60.
Julia Lipnitskaia interrupted her free skate because of injury.
The Olympic champion from Russia, who withdrew from Skate America two weeks ago because of injury, was in third place after the short program. After a strong start, she singled a jump and then stopped to consult with trainer Alexei Urmanov and the judges; after several minutes she resumed skating, but fell hard on a triple axel. Details of her injury were not immediately known.
Third on the podium was American Courtney Hicks with a total of 182.98.
There were no Canadians in the women's skate.
With files from Louis Daignault and The Associated Press