Pereira and Michaud claim Canadian Pairs title in upset
2026 Canadian National Skating Championships: Pairs
In a surprising upset, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (ON) nabbed the Canadian National Pairs’ title on Saturday evening in Gatineau, QC. Three-time and defending champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (QC) faltered in the free skate to place second, while Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier (QC) rose to capture the bronze.
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud
The two-time national silver medalists placed second in the short program despite a fall by Pereira on the side-by-side triple toes. The team opened with a solid level-three triple twist, but Pereira also stepped out of a throw triple loop. However, the Group 4 reverse lift, spin, steps, and death spiral were all graded a level four with many positive grades of execution (GOEs). Their intimate routine to “Say You Love Me” received 69.11 points, putting them in second place going into the free skate.
“It was a little disappointing on the mistake,” said Pereira of the fall. “I was just saying earlier that things happen sometimes that are super rare and it’s just unfortunate when that 1% chance of rarity happens in an event. It’s a little hard to digest, but different mistakes are always welcome, and we learn from them and there will definitely be more passion for me to do it well tomorrow.”
Michaud agreed, adding that it’s sport and things can happen when you “go up in the air.”
“We did a really good job of taking care of stuff that stayed on the ice,” he pointed out. “Unfortunately, that was a weird mistake, but at the same time, that’s just another reminder for us moving past nationals that every little part of the program takes mental effort.”
The 2025 Four Continents bronze medalists gave a redemptive free skate to music from The Mission, placing first with 135.03 points. They produced a level-three triple twist, side-by-side triple Salchows, and a throw triple Lutz. The only errors came when Michaud put a hand down on the front end of a triple toe-double Axel sequence and when Pereira stepped out of a throw triple loop. Two lifts, the spin and death spiral were awarded a level four, and the team edged out the champions a total score of 204.14.
“I’m very happy with how we felt after the skate,” said Michaud. “Obviously, that throws it a little bit even more happiness. But, you know, we’re really proud of what we did this week and today, especially. And it’s just the work that’s gone into this season. So, very excited.”
“I think it just also shows, like, our grit, our determination, and our passion to the sport,” said Pereira of their journey to this point. “We’ve had this same drive and passion. We came into our second nationals wanting to be champions. Like, we’ve just had that championship mindset. We’ve had great skates, and we’ve had ones that we aren’t so proud of. So, I think it just shows that everything happens for a reason, and timing is always important on those things. We’ve really put in the work over our whole three and a half years together, and this is going to be a good moment to sit back for a little while.”
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps delivered a dramatic and intense routine to Carmina Burana. The only noticeable error came when Stellato-Dudek put her hand and foot down on a throw triple loop. The side-by-side triple toes were solid, and the triple twist, spin, reverse lift, step sequence, and death spiral were all graded a level four. The 2024 World Champions picked up 78.35 points for the lead going into the free skate.
The 2024 Four Continents champions felt they did well except for the throw jump, adding that they had “reworked” the triple toes.
“We were really happy with the performance in general, even though it wasn’t our best quality,” said Deschamps. “We were not really happy with the Grand Prix Final, or even the first part of the season.”
In the free skate, the duo was off to a good start, opening with a level-four triple twist. Then Deschamps went down on the side-by-side triple toe-double Axel sequence. Afterwards, he stepped out of the triple Salchows, while Stellato-Dudek doubled hers. She also took a fall on the throw triple loop before putting a hand and foot down on the throw triple Salchow landing. The mistakes were costly, even with nearly a 10-point lead coming into this segment. They finished third in the free skate (123.01) and slipped to second overall (201.36).
Stellato-Dudek later said she had not been able to keep food down for two days and was feeling weak. She didn’t mention it prior to the short program as she was hoping that it was a 24-hour bug that would go away.
“But again, like, you never know what can happen at the Olympics,” she said. “So it’s like you’d have to pry my dead body off that ice; I’m going to skate no matter what. So I was like, ‘I’m still going to try’ and, like, when you go out there and you start, you don’t like…I didn’t feel so bad. But just, like, progressively got weaker as the program went on. But, I mean, these things happen. And, like, we’re really happy for Lia and Trennt. I’ve been competing against them for a long time. Like, we’re still part of Team Canada. We’re still going to make the Olympic team.”
Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier
Laurin and Ethier placed fourth in the short program with 64.92 points. Their routine to “Asturias” by Suprhot featured a solid throw triple loop, but Laurin fell on the side-by-side triple Salchows while Ethier stepped out of his. The triple twist was graded a level one, but they received a level four on the reverse lift, spin, and footwork.
The 2025 national bronze medalists received a standing ovation after delivering an endearing free skate to “Say Something.” The team opened with a level-two triple twist, followed by side-by-side triple Salchows and a double Axel-Axel-double Axel sequence. They went on to produce three level-four lifts, a throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow and earned many positive GOEs throughout. The two-time Grand Prix bronze medalists scored 132.49 for second place in this segment and third overall (132.49/197.41).
“I think that long clean, in practice, we did a lot before coming here,” said Laurin of their confidence in the free skate. “So it’s sure that it’s a little easier to go on the ice and know how we are able to compete. And we’ve already done it in practice, so it’s doing the same thing again. Once I did my trick, all the stress was like, ‘OK, I’m really in the ice and I’m fine.’ So I think that from there, I was able to really take advantage of the performance. So it was really nice today.”
“Today, I think we let it go more,” said Ethier, who felt they were more cautious in the short program. “We followed the music; we followed the energy of the crowd. We were more free, and I think it showed in our performance. All the elements, one by one, were done. It’s as if we were building on a momentum. And I would say that from the middle of the program, I think we didn’t even think. It was done on its own. We were in a more natural state, so it was done on its own. It’s rare that we can say that for a program like this.”
Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov
Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov (ON) put out a clean short program to music from the Succession soundtrack, opening with solid side-by-side triple Salchows. They followed up with a throw triple Lutz and earned a level four on the lift, spin and footwork. The two-time junior national champions scored 65.85 points for third place heading into the free skate.
“The whole program was just awesome,” said Elizarov.
“This is a great start in our senior debut, but obviously we have a job to do tomorrow,” added Kemp. “But this gives a bit of confidence.”
Elizarov said that they did not feel a lot of pressure coming into this event.
“It’s our first senior nationals, and we’re just excited to compete alongside these really good senior pair teams,” he said, adding that training has been going well.
The two-time Junior Grand Prix Final medalists had a good showing in their free skate to Clair De Lune. The only mistakes came when Kemp put her hand down on the side-by-side triple Salchow sequence and fell on the triple toes. Elizarov turned out his triple Salchow in the latter jump combo, but the rest of the program was clean. They delivered a throw triple Lutz, throw triple loop and two level four lifts. They finished fourth in this segment and overall in their debut at this event (120.34 / 186.19).
Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher (ON) placed fifth (166.71) followed by Miyu Yunoki and Tristan Taylor (SK) (164.59).
Related Info:
The post Pereira and Michaud claim Canadian Pairs title in upset appeared first on Golden Skate.