Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek made history at the Grand Prix de France on Saturday, becoming the oldest athlete to win a Grand Prix figure skating event.
The 39-year-old Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps won the pairs event, two weeks after they captured silver at Skate America.
The Montreal duo scored 185.84 total points to beat French team Camille and Pavel Kovalev (179.85). Germany’s Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel finished third (179.73).
The Canadian duo skated their way to the top of the podium at the ISU Grand Prix de France.
Canada’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen captured silver in ice dance with 201.93 points, behind Italy’s Charlene Guinard and Marco Fabbri (207.95). Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France were third (187.15).
Fellow Canadians Molly Langhan and Dmitre Razgulajevs finished 10th (153.72).
The Canadians finished second to the Italians at the ISU Grand Prix de France.
Canada’s Wesley Chiu finished 10th in the men’s competition with 209.95 points, while France’s Adam Siao Him Fa climbed from third place to top the podium on home ice with 268.98.
Japan’s Sōta Yamamoto won silver (257.90), followed by compatriot Kazuki Tomono in third place (248.77).
The Frenchman skated a near-flawless free program to capture the men’s highest prize in his home country.
Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx scored 216.34 points to win the women’s title in France, finishing first in both the short program and free skate.
South Korea’s Kim Ye-Lim (194.76) and Japan’s Rion Sumiyoshi (194.34) took home silver and bronze, respectively.
The Belgian skater dominated the competition on her way to top spot in the free skating program.
The Grand Prix de France is the third ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event of the season, following Skate Canada International and Skate America.
The fourth stop on the circuit is the MK John Wilson Trophy, Nov. 11-13, in Sheffield, England.
Skaters are assigned to two Grand Prix competitions, and the top six in each discipline compete in the Grand Prix Final, Dec. 8-11 in Turin, Italy. ♦
Courtesy: CBC
