Recap: National Championships Round Up
By Matteo Morelli
With the current season fully into its second half, most National Championships are now completed and teams going to the European, Four Continents and World Championships are being confirmed. The only major national title still pending is that of the USA, with the event due to take place at the end of January and to coincide with the European Championships.
Europe’s Nationals
Great Britain’s Nationals were completed a week before the Grand Prix Final, with Lila Fear and Lewis Gibson confirming their lead for a fifth time, followed by Elenor Hirst and Anthony Currie in second place, and Charlotte Man and Toby Palmer in bronze medal position.
With the Olympic Champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron on a break from competitive skating, France’s national title was secured by Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, which added a gold to their silver and bronze medals from previous French Nationals. In second place, Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier collected a second national medal after a bronze last year, followed by Lou Terreaux and Noé Perron in third place.
The Hungarian National Skating Federation hosted the 2023 Four National Figure Skating Championships, which allows the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary to compete together and, depending on the ranking for each country, establish their national titles. Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler claimed another Czech national title and won the event with a margin of more than twenty points from Mariia Ignateva and Danijil Szemko in second place, which earned the Hungarian national title. Anastasia Polibina and Pavel Golovishnikov ended in third place and won the national title for Poland, whilst Anna Simova and Kirill Aksenov ended in fifth place and won the national title for Slovakia.
Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri competed at their thirteenth Italian Nationals, winning a fifth consecutive title. With them on the podium were also Victoria Manni and Carlo Röthlisberger in second place, and Carolina Portesi Peroni and Michael Chrastecky in third place.
Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis competed at their fifth Nationals and won their third consecutive title. Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen earned a silver medal.
Early in the new year, Germany’s Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan won their second consecutive national title, followed by Charise Matthaei and Max Liebers in second place.
Japan’s Nationals
Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi managed to secure their first Japanese national title, leading by eleven points over Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto in second place. Nicole Takahashi and Shilih Judd ended in third place.
Muramoto & Takahashi have been confirmed as the team to take the spot for Japan at the World Championships that will take place in Saitama; they will also represent Japan at the Four Continents event, alongside Komatsubara & Koleto.
Canada’s Nationals
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier withdrew from Canadian Nationals, due to Gilles undergoing an appendectomy after the Grand Prix Final. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen won their first national title, just by less than a point lead over Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha in second place. The bronze medal position was taken by Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, at their first Nationals representing Canada after competing for France in the past.
Gilles & Poirier and Fournier Beaudry & Sørensen have been nominated as the two teams that will represent Canada at the World Championships in March; they will also participate at the Four Continents event in February, with Lajoie & Zagha taking the third available spot for their country.