Canadian pair Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps earn bronze at figure skating Grand Prix Final
Reigning champions Gilles, Poirier sit 3rd after ice dance rhythm dance
Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps earned their first major senior international medal together on Friday.
The figure skating pairs team won bronze at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, improving on their fourth-place finish one year ago.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps were the top-ranked duo heading into the event.
"We were the top team by, like, 10 points so we know this is way below expectations. But we are still scoring really competitively with mistakes on all the big elements almost. So if we can just clean it up, we're going to get higher than what we even got at Skate Canada," Stellato-Dudek said.
Another Canadian pair, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, finished sixth with 185.16 points.
WATCH | Canadians win pairs bronze medal in China:
Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin captured the gold medal with their combined score of 206.43 points — slightly over two points more than the Canadians in third at 204.30. Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii snuck in between for silver at 205.88.
"I'm just overwhelmed and surprised," said Hase. "It was super hard today and we both had to fight through this program. It's even nicer that this was rewarded with the gold medal in the end."
Skating a routine inspired by the movie Interview with a Vampire, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps posted the third-best free-program score, slipping from second after the short program.
Stellato-Dudek, the 40-year-old who lives in Brossard, Que., and Deschamps, the 32-year-old from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., won each of their stops during the Grand Prix season to qualify for the Final in China.
WATCH | Hase, Volodin capture gold:
Meanwhile, the ice-dance competition began with the rhythm dance, where Canadians and reigning champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier place third.
Dancing to the songs No More I Love You's by The Lover Speaks and Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer, Gilles and Poirier posted a score of 85.17 points to put them in strong contention for the podium, nearly 10 points clear of the fourth-place team.
WATCH | Gilles, Poirier sit 3rd:
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates topped the standings at 89.15 points, while Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri were second at 85.82.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen sat in fifth with 74.82 points, just ahead of fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha in sixth at 74.74.
WATCH | Names to know at the 2023 Grand Prix Final:
In the women's event, two-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto was nearly flawless during her short program, taking a comfortable lead over Belgium's Loena Hendrickx and Nina Pinzarrone into the free skate.
Sakamoto, trying to make it back-to-back titles for Japan after Mai Mihara's title last year, opened with an effortless double axel before landing a triple lutz and a triple flip-triple toe loop. She also received her usual high marks for artistry, and the result was a score of 77.35 points, the best short program of her season.
"I want to answer the expectations of those around me, and my own expectations as well," said Sakamoto, who failed to medal in her two previous appearances at the capstone event to the Grand Prix season. "I was able to do well in the [short program] in the previous GP Final. The real competition starts from here. I think I have to win against myself."
WATCH | Sakamoto leads women's competition:
Hendrickx, the reigning Grand Prix Final bronze medallist, turned out on her triple flip but was solid on her double axel and triple lutz-triple toe loop to score 73.25 points for second. The 17-year-old Pinzarrone was a surprising third with 66.72 points.
"It's amazing to have two Belgian women here in the final," Hendrickx said.
CBC Sports is live-streaming every skate at the Final, continuing with the ice dance free dance on Saturday at 4:50 a.m. ET. See the full schedule here.
With files from The Associated Press
