Eric Radford and Vanessa James, Canada’s newest pairs combo, continued to impress at the Autumn Classic International on Friday, finishing second in the free skate to finish second overall.
The couple scored a 115.72 free-skate score, bringing their total to 184.01, trailing Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara’s total of 204.06. The Japanese pair won both the short programme and the free skate, with a score of 131.74 in the latter.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada finished third with a score of 112.08, barely 0.07 ahead of American team Katie McBeath and Nathan Bartholomay.
Radford, a three-time Olympic medalist, and two-time world champion revealed in April that he and James would be returning to the competition. James formerly participated for France, where he won the European and Grand Prix Final championships as well as a bronze medal in the World Championships.
Vanessa James and Eric Radford of Canada finished second in their international debut.
Vanessa James of Toronto, who won a bronze medal at the World Championships while skating for France, and world champion Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., finished second in their international debut at the ISU 2021 Autumn Classic International in Pierrefonds, Que.
The announcement comes ahead of the season running up to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing when Canada is expected to send two pairs of teams.
Miura and Kihara of Japan win the Autumn Classic International doubles title.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won the pairs event at the ISU 2021 Autumn Classic International in Pierrefonds, Quebec.
The Canadian team of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier easily took the lead in the rhythm dance event with a score of 83.35.
Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain finished second with a score of 75.20, while Caroline Green and Michael of the United States finished third with a score of 73.93.
Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished fourth with a score of 71.27.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier win the ice dance competition at the Autumn Classic International.
Piper Gilles of Toronto and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., lead the rhythm dance at the ISU 2021 Autumn Classic International in Pierrefonds, Que., at 6:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, Conrad Orzel of Canada won the men’s short programme with a score of 80.82.
The only skater who did not have any points deducted was the Toronto native.
Bennet Toman came in second with a score of 63.30, while Beres Clements came in third with a score of 55.48 from the judges.
Nam Nguyen and Samuel Angers both dropped out of the competition.
Conrad Orzel takes the lead in the Autumn Classic International after a brief performance.
Conrad Orzel of Toronto led the ISU Autumn Classic International figure skating tournament at Pierrefonds, Quebec, after scoring 80.82 in his short programme. 6:23
