By Canadian Press

Canadian ice dance duos in second and third at Four Continents figure skating

Feb 10, 2023 | 7:18 PM

Canadian national champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen are second after the rhythm dance at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Friday.

The pairing scored 86.28 points. Performing to music from Gloria Estefan, Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen also scored an international season’s best, topping their rhythm dance from the NHK Trophy that set them up for the Grand Prix win that weekend.

Fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha had 79.04 points to be in third, while American duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates stand as the leaders at 87.67.

“We’ve really been focusing on changing our approach by having a little bit more fun and trying to combat some of the stress that’s inevitable in competition,” Soerensen said. “Inspire the people who watch skating and make them enjoy it.”

Seeking their third title in the marquee international event and fresh off their fourth national championship, Chock and Bates performed their program set to “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie.

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Canada’s Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain le Gac (62.03) placed eighth.

The pairs competition also began Friday at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where world silver medallists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan led with 71.19 points after their short program. Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (68.39) were second and Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (66.96) of the U.S. were third.

Fellow Canadian pairs Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (65.16), as well as Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier (59.12), placed fourth and sixth, respectively.

The competition continued Friday night with the first medals awarded in the women’s competition.

Chock and Bates set a goal this season of finally winning an elusive world championship, and Four Continents — which brings together the top skaters from non-European countries — is an ideal final tune-up for next month in Japan.

The pair showed their usual poise and precision on Friday night for their best international score this season.

“We did a lot of the prep work for this competition before we left for nationals. We were prepared and we let our training carry us into this week,” said Chock, who along with Bates won Four Continents in 2019 and 2020. “Our season’s best is an amazing feeling going into world championships. It feels so good to be skating the way we are training.”

Miura and Kihara, unbeaten in international competition this season, established their lead in the pairs event despite her fall on their side-by-side triple toe loop, thanks in part to a nice throw triple lutz to finish the program.

“I was nervous and therefore I made the mistake,” Miura said. “We were able to score higher than 70 points. That shows what we’ve been accumulating in the past and I think it’s proof of how we’ve grown.”

Nobody was perfect in pairs: Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps had a mistake on their throw triple loop, and Chan and Howe were shaky on their throw before he fell on their side-by-side triple toe loop.

“Every time we come out to these competitions, we don’t have a lot of expectations for medals. When we are awarded with those, it’s a bonus for us,” Howe said. “Really we’re out here to just better ourselves.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Dave Skretta, The Associated Press