Figure skating: Good results at the French Grand Prix

The Canadians distinguished themselves in the figure skating Grand Prix de France on Friday.

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In the short program couples, Maxime Deschamps and Deanna Stellato-Dudek took first place with 64.33 points. They beat Frenchmen Pavel Kovalev and Camille Kovalev (63.98 points) and Georgian pair Karina Safina and Luka Berulava (61.55 points).

“We had a tough short program, but it can’t always be perfect. We’re starting from scratch tomorrow, it’s going to be a new day,” Stellato-Dudek told the International Skating Union website.

“We have improved certain elements that we had targeted,” said Deschamps.

For their part, Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen finished their short program in second place in the Rhythm Dance category with 82.38 points. They finished more than nine points ahead of a French pair, but were narrowly beaten by Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (83.52 points).

The French Grand Prix will continue in Angers until November 6th.