Daleman finds silver lining at Four Continents
Canadian Gabrielle Daleman won silver at the Four Continents figure skating event Saturday with a career-best international result while two Canadian duos reached the podium in the pairs competition.
Daleman, from Newmarket, Ont., was first after the short program but stumbled on the landing of a double Axel in the free skate and finished with 196.91 points.
Japan’s Mai Mihara took the gold with 200.85.
“I’d never been at a big championship leading after the short, so it was a whole new experience,” Daleman said. “It’s wasn’t my best skate at all, but I’m happy to be leaving here with an international medal.”
The 17-year-old Mihara, fourth after the short program, landed her jumps cleanly to earn 134.34 points in the free skate.
“I was able to achieve my goals in my first Four Continents,” Mihara said. “I was a little nervous at first.”
American Mirai Nagasu, who had a personal best of 132.04 in the free skate, was third with 194.95 at Gangneung Ice Arena. Kaetlyn Osmond of Marystown, N.L., was second after the short program but finished fourth overall after placing sixth in the free program.
Osmond struggled after opening with a triple flip-triple toe and double Axel-triple toe combos.
“The beginning went super well,” she said. “I’ve been getting a lot better and being able to refocus after I miss an element and today that just didn’t happen.”
Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., finished 11th.
In pairs, Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were second with 212.23 points, followed by Toronto’s Liubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch with 205.31. Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China won gold after placing first in the free skate for a combined total of 225.03 points.
Duhamel and Radford started their free skate with an impressive triple twist, but their side-by-side throw quad Salchow and throw triple Lutz were not as smooth.
“It was one of those fighting skates for us which has been a theme for us this season,” Radford said. “But considering how we were feeling coming into this long program, we are both very proud of ourselves and did some pretty good things.
“It’s always an up and down through the season and we’ll take this as a step up towards the world championships in March.”
Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch started off strong in their free skate. They landed a triple twist, side-by-side triple toe-double toe, sideby-side triple Salchow and throw triple flip. However, Ilyushechkina fell on a throw triple loop near the end of the program.
“It got rough near the end and some spots were sticky but we got through it,” said Moscovitch. “Each event this season we have been improving and we’ve worked very hard to keep moving in the right direction.”
Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were seventh.
The competition, which ends Sunday, is a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympics.