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Champions of future
The juniors and novices showcased some outstanding talent at this year's Canadian Figure Skating Championships, and demonstrated they are ready to push the limits to compete with the rest of the world's up-and-comers.
In fact, Canadian juniors did well on the international scene this past season. Ottawa's Fedor Andreev, 16, -- who won the men's junior gold with strong programs -- finished eighth in the 1999 World Junior Championships.
Jacinthe Lariviere, 17, and partner Lenny Faustino, 19, also turned in an impressive perfomance at the world juniors, placing seventh in the pairs event. They finished sixth at the Canadians.
David Dore, director-general of the Canadian Figure Skating Association, was especially encouraged by the number of triple jumps juniors and novices completed at the Canadians.
"We're really, really pleased with the novices and juniors," said Dore. "That was really the big proving ground for us. We had to show that things were getting better because we've talked the talk for several years about all we've been putting into it."
He singled out high-calibre performances by Andreev, Christopher Mabee, the fourth-place finisher in the junior men, and Leah Hepner, this year's junior ladies champion.
He also hinted the CFSA may propose a new format for the national championships, placing seniors and juniors in the same championships, with a separate competition for the novices, pre-novices and juveniles.