KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and Russian teenager Alexandra Trusova won Skate Canada while Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earned their first career victory on the Grand Prix circuit.
Hanyu, who landed four quadruple jumps in his free skate, scored a total of 322.59 points, less than a point from the world record, for gold in the men's program on Saturday. Hanyu, who had the highest score in the world this season, finished runner-up in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Nam Nguyen of Canada took silver with a personal-best 262.77 and Keiji Tanaka of Japan was third at 250.02.
Trusova, 15, landed three quadruple jumps in her senior Grand Prix debut and scored a total of 241.02 points. Despite falling on her first of four quads, she beat Rika Kihira, 17, of Japan, by 10.68, with 15-year-old South Korean You Young taking bronze in her senior Grand Prix debut. Bradie Tennell, the 2018 U.S. champion, and Russian Yevgenia Medvedeva, the Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, finished fourth and fifth.
Gilles and Poirier set personal bests in ice dance, finishing with 209.01 points. The Toronto duo edged the defending Grand Prix Final champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. in second at 206.31, while Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Britain were third at 195.35.
"This is such a special moment," Poirier said. "Our mentality every single day is to push ourselves in order to win. We felt really united this week and that gives us the confidence we need to skate our best."
In pairs, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia took the gold with 216.71, followed by Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro in second at 208.49. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia were third at 202.29.
