Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen finished second in their first figure skating Grand Prix of the season on Saturday in France. The Montrealers collected 205.15 points in ice dancing to finish behind the Italians Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (214.54) at this third stop of the season which was contested in Angers.
Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, for their part, finished in fifth place (182.61).
Bronze was awarded to Frenchmen Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (190.82). Note that the podium for this year’s Grand Prix is identical to that of the 2022 edition.
Ontarians Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud won gold in the pairs event.
Second after the rhythmic dance event, Fournier-Beaudry and Sorensen performed their free dance to the music of Notre-Dame-de-Paris.
We had a lot of fun this week in Angers. This was the first step towards getting to the Grand Prix Final, which is a small box we wanted to check off.
Laurence Fournier-Beaudry
“We took advantage of the moment in both our programs and we are super happy with our performances. We really felt that the public was with us on the ice supporting us. We will build our momentum throughout the year and this competition was important. There are still steps left before we are at the Montreal Worlds,” added his partner Sorensen.
Lauriault and Le Gac were on familiar ground, having been associated with the Angers club when they represented France on the international scene until 2020. The duo faced an unforeseen event from the start of the program when They heard a disturbing noise.
“I said to myself: ‘It’s my skirt that’s tearing!’ “, said Lauriault with a laugh. I had a little moment of panic. The skirt held, but I lost my concentration a little. I thought, “What happens will happen.” These are technical problems that may arise. »
The duo still managed to string together the different elements in a fluid manner to the terrifying music of the animated film The Corpse Bride, which fit well in this Halloween week.
“We put a lot of energy, passion and will into these programs, so we couldn’t wait to share them with the public,” continued the skater.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (couple) as well as Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (ice dancing) will skate at the Cup of China Grand Prix next week in Chongqing.