In pursuit of an Olympic berth in Beijing, a Montreal duo earns their 3rd straight podium victory.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen of Montreal ice danced to a silver medal at the Austrian Cup on Sunday, seemingly unaffected by a lack of sleep.
Between the 12 hours of rhythm dance on Saturday night in Graz and the free dance, they squeezed into practice.
Sorensen told reporters after winning his third medal in as many competitions alongside his partner, “It was amazing to be able to execute under those conditions.” “Because we ended late last night and began early today, we didn’t get much sleep.”
“We were glad about what we were able to generate today, and it’s encouraging to see that the project is on the true track.”
With 208.88 points, Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy won the ISU Challenger Series event. With a season-best 194.67, the Canadians came in second, followed by Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain in third (189.88).
After the rhythm dance, Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen placed third, chasing their first career Olympic berth this season.
After coming ninth at the world championships last season, they also won bronze at Skate America earlier this month and silver at the Lombardia Trophy.
“Today seemed typical,” Fournier Beaudry said, “since our practise was closer to the tournament.” “Because we skated so late at night on Saturday, we really had to manage our time well.”
Both of Canada’s other entries improved their rankings. Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Calgary were fifth and sixth, respectively, while Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., and Molly Lanaghan of Scarborough, Ont., were 11th and 12th, respectively.
Emily Bausback of Vancouver was seventh in the women’s competition, while Allison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., moved up from 17th to 13th following the short programme.
In the men’s event, Toronto’s Corey Circelli climbed to 10th place from 14th, while Gibson, B.C.’s Beres Clements finished 16th.
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