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Canadian figure skaters are in position to reach the podium in every discipline following strong short programs Friday at the 2025 Finlandia Trophy.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier sit second after posting 79.56 points in the rhythm dance to “Supermodel [You Better Work]” by RuPaul. The two-time world ice dance silver medallists trail only Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France (79.89).
Fournier Beaudry is from Montreal and previously represented Canada with Nikolaj Sorensen before his since-overturned six-year suspension for sexual maltreatment.
She teamed up with Cizeron, the 2022 Olympic champion, this season and the new partners won gold at the Grand Prix de France in October.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier sit in second place as an extremely tight rhythm dance competition unfolds at the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy event in Helsinki.
In the men’s short program, Stephen Gogolev also placed second with 89.35 points, close to his personal-best 90.19 set earlier this season, after landing two quad jumps and a triple axel in a clean skate.
The 20-year-old from Toronto, who’s enjoying a comeback season following years of injuries, finished ahead of Olympic and three-time world silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who was third with 88.16 after a couple of errors.
European champion and world bronze medallist Adam Siao Him Fa led with 92.50 points heading into Saturday’s free skate. Reigning national champion Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., was sixth (82.91).
Gogolev and Sadovsky are competing in the same event for the fourth time this season as two contenders for Canada’s lone men’s entry at February’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. The selection will be determined after January’s national championships in Gatineau, Que.
Stephen Gogolev of Canada scored 89.35 after his short skate Friday and sits in second place at the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy event in Helsinki.
Three-time Canadian champion Madeline Schizas, the favourite for Canada’s only women’s Olympic spot, was third in her short program with 65.16 points. Amber Glenn of the United States led with (75.72), followed by Mone Chiba of Japan (72.89).
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., scored 65.16 points to land in third place following the women’s short program, at the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy event in Helsinki.
In pairs, Canada’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished fourth with 70.13, but remained in reach of the podium in a very tight field.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany led with 70.40 points, ahead of American pairs Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (70.24) and Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov (70.19).
The Finlandia Trophy is the last of six events in the Grand Prix series, and the last chance to qualify for the Grand Prix Final — a midseason measuring stick for the top six in each discipline — set for Dec. 5-8 in Nagoya, Japan.
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