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Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy lead in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance in Sheffield © ISU

Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri sizzled on the ice to dance to a narrow lead over Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson of Great Britain in the Rhythm Dance, as the ISU Grand Prix MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield (GBR) continued Friday. Canadians Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha placed third heading into the Free Dance.

The temperature turned up on the ice in Sheffield when the Ice Dance couples stepped out, with the Latin theme Rhythm Dance adding to the sultry atmosphere, as the skaters turned in one exciting performance after the other. 

Guignard/Fabbri, two-time ISU European Ice Dance bronze medalists, looked sharp in their Samba and Rhumba dance to “This Is” by Grace Jones, “I’m Crying” and “Pantera en Libertad”. They picked up a level four for the twizzles, the pattern dance type step sequence and the curve lift, while the midline steps was rated a level three. The two-time ISU European bronze medalists scored 86.30 points.

“Compared to the Rhythm Dance last week, it was much better,” Fabbri said. “Even last week, we felt quite good on the ice, but there were some small mistakes. Today we felt good, the crowd was warm, it was pretty easy to skate. We didn’t have time to change anything from the last Grand Prix. We just tried to have a different attitude when we stepped on the ice. 

“Last week it was our second competition, but it was the first important competition of the season and Lombardia Trophy was in September, so it was a long time ago. So we were a little bit more stressed last week, even though the performance was not bad.” 

The Italians were not even thrown off step by some travel issues.

“The flight (from Milan to Manchester) had two hours delay, which was not so bad. We had to take a taxi, the driver put in the address and there were two results. When we arrived, we were close to Birmingham, which was about two hours away!”

Luckily, the team made it to Sheffield, eventually.

Fear/Gibson took on the roles of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony in their entertaining dance set to “Vivir Mi Vida” and “No Me Ames”, earning a level four for three elements, while the midline footwork garnered a level three and two. The British Champions scored 85.37 points.

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Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain, as J Lo and Marc Antony, in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance in Sheffield © ISU

“The crowd was amazing; I think all of the skaters had so much fun out there. It was electric energy. I just feel like we are building with each competition and it is really exciting,” Fear said. 

 “We worked a lot on our step sequences (after Skate Canada) and turns, trying to clean all that up,” added Gibson. “Generally we just worked to make everything sharper and stronger.”

Canadians Lajoie/Lagha impressed with a dynamic dance to Cha Cha and Samba, that included level-four twizzles and a level-four rotational lift. The 2019 ISU World Junior Champions earned 81.09 points. 

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Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada in the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance in Sheffield © ISU

“We were able to be present in the moment, even though we were very stressed. I think the crowd helped,” Lajoie said. 

“When you have such a short period of time between every competition, and you want to improve, you have to very strategic which part of the program you want to improve,” Lagha said. “After Skate Canada we had a problem with the twizzle, because it was level three, so we needed to add another twizzle - the rest was just about performing.”

Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) are currently ranked fourth at 75.00 points followed by Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler (CZE) in fifth (74.09 points) and the 2020 ISU World Junior silver medalists Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya (GEO) in sixth (70.71 points).

 

Schedule of the event

The schedule is as follows:
Friday, November 11:            Pairs & Men’s Short Program
Saturday, November 12:       Women’s Short Program, Rhythm Dance, Pairs & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, November 13:          Women’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Exhibition Gala

 The MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield (GBR) November 10-13, 2022, is the fourth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Great Britain hosts an ISU Grand Prix (senior level) event for the first time.

More than 150 Skaters/Couples representing 29 ISU Members have been invited to the Series. The maximum number of entries for each event is 12 Ladies, 12 Men, 8 Pairs and 10 Ice Dance couples.

The General Announcement of the 2022/23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here. The individual announcements are published under the respective events. Full entry lists and further information are available on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.

Selection Criteria

In order for a Skater/Couple to be eligible to compete at an ISU Grand Prix event, a minimum total score must have been achieved in the 2021/22 or current 2022/23 season in an ISU event (Grand Prix, Junior Grand Prix, Championships) or a Challenger Series event. Exceptions apply to host country Skaters, previously ranked Skaters or split ranked Couples who return with new partners. The minimum total score is 3/5 of highest score per discipline at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022 and are as follows: Women: 141.65, Men: 187.49, Pairs: 132.65, Ice Dance: 137.89.

Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).

Grand Prix Standings

Men                  Women             Ice Dance         Pair Skating

Where to Watch

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed on the official ISU YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.

Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #GPFigure.

 

ISU Grand Prix Schedule

The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:

21 - 23 Oct, 2022          Skate America, Norwood (USA)

28 – 30 Oct, 2022         Skate Canada International, Mississauga (CAN)

04 - 06 Nov, 2022         Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)

11 - 13 Nov, 2022         MK John Wilson Trophy, Sheffield (GBR)

18 - 20 Nov, 2022         NHK Trophy, Sapporo (JPN)

25 - 27 Nov, 2022         Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)

08 - 11 Dec, 2022         Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Torino (ITA)

 

About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known a s the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their Grand Prix events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.