Canadians blossom at skating worlds
Kaetlyn Osmond was just three when she first skated in front of a crowd, performing as a Teletubby in her skating club’s annual ice show in Marystown, N.L.
“There was one year I was a flower. I looked pretty cute as a flower. I had a really big pink helmet,” Osmond said.
Skating at such a small club in a town of about 5,500, she said, virtually everyone was invited to skate in the annual show.
“As long as I could skate on my own, I was in the show,” Osmond said.
On Friday, the 21-year-old unleashed the performance of her life to capture a silver medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., won bronze.
Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, Canada’s ice dance darlings, followed up by capturing their third world figure skating title Saturday, remaining unbeaten in what’s been a remarkable comeback after a two-year hiatus. The two were virtually flawless, scoring 198.62 points overall.
Toronto’s Patrick Chan missed the medal podium in the men’s competition. The three-time world champion finished fifth with 295.16 points.
Japan’s Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu landed four quads for a world-record free skate score of 223.30 points and a total of 321.59 points to take gold. Canada secured the maximum three spots in every discipline except men’s singles for next year’s Olympics.
The national team returns from Finland with three medals, but there’s little doubt that it was Canada’s two young women who stole the spotlight.
Daleman, who started skating at four, set her sights on the Olympics after watching Joannie Rochette finish fifth in 2006 in Turin. The 19-year-old was eight at the time.
“I told my parents, ‘That’s what I want to do: I want to represent Canada. I want to go to the worlds. I want to go to the Olympics. I want to win medals,’ ” Daleman said.
Osmond and Daleman are the product of a new approach in Canadian skating, which long held the belief that teaching triple jumps at a young age could jeopardize their health as they were growing.
Osmond reeled off six triples on Friday, while Daleman did seven.
“Kaetlyn, Gabby, Alaine (Chartrand), they’re kind of that wave that came in behind where that thinking changed,” said Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s high performance director.