The partisan crowd at the Bell Center intoxicated the Canadian skaters, who responded to this wave of love by delivering performances that also charmed the judges.
Canada’s representatives Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps flew over the competition during the presentation of the pairs short programs on Wednesday at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Skating to an extract fromOxygen, from Cirque du Soleil, Stellato-Dudek, from Chicago, and Deschamps, from Vaudreuil-Dorion, obtained a score of 77.48. They therefore occupied provisional first place after the first day of competition.
The event is back in Montreal for the first time since 1932. It was supposed to take place in 2020, but was canceled due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also the first time since 2013 in London, Ontario, that the World Figure Skating Championships have taken place in Canada.
“I think it was our best short program of the season,” said Stellato-Dudek, who has been training in Quebec with Deschamps since 2019. “We chose our program as a tribute to Montreal. I’m happy that we gave a great performance to the crowd. »
Stellato-Dudek, who returned to figure skating in 2016 after a 16-year hiatus and is now 40, and Deschamps, 32, are two-time reigning Canadian champions. They won the Four Continents Championships last month in Shanghai, China. They finished in fourth place at last year’s Worlds in Saitama, Japan.
On Wednesday, in front of a noisy crowd, they shattered their best score of the season which had so far been 72.25.
“It’s the culmination of a year of work,” noted Deschamps. Today we managed to do everything together. »
Reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan scored 73.53 and were second. Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii followed in third place with a score of 72.88.
For their part, Lia Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Brantford, Ont., took ninth place with a score of 64.83. Kelly Ann Laurin, from Saint-Jérôme, and Loucas Éthier, from St-Alphonse, received a score of 60.18 and find themselves at 14e step.
“We were aiming for 60 points during the short program,” said Éthier. Yes, we still have things to perfect. We would have liked to have had a cleaner program in certain places, but we cannot be disappointed with our performance. We are very satisfied. »
Laurin and Éthier also received a warm welcome from the crowd. The highest section of the Bell Center was not open, but the rest appeared to be about three-quarters full.
“We are used to competing in big arenas on the other side of the world. “It’s special because we’re at home,” admitted Éthier, 23 years old. Yes, my family and friends watch our performances on the Internet. But today they took the day off, bought a ticket and came to the Bell Centre. »
“I have friends and family members who saw me for the first time,” he continued. It put pressure on us to do well for ourselves, but also for them. But ultimately, I think we could have missed all our elements and they would have been proud of us. On the other hand, it would have gone against our competitive spirit. We wanted to put in a solid performance. »
Laurin and Éthier obtained their best score of the season for their short program on All right now by Superhuman.
“The fact that everyone was cheering us on, it was a crazy moment,” said Laurin, 18 years old. I was trying to stay focused, but I was telling myself “have fun and enjoy the moment”. Worlds like that at home are likely to happen only once. »
“It was moving to have all these people here to encourage us,” she added before shedding tears as she spoke of her sick grandmother who came to see her in action.
The presentation of the women’s short programs was scheduled for Wednesday evening. Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., is Canada’s lone representative on the women’s side.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto will begin her journey towards what she hopes will be a third consecutive world title. She would then become the first woman to triumph three times in a row at the World Championships since the American Peggy Fleming, between 1966 and 1968.
On Thursday, the men will present their short program during the day, then the first champions will be crowned in the evening, after the presentation of the pairs free programs.