OTTAWA, ON: Canada will send entries to the final stop on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow, Russia. The 2011 Rostelecom Cup will take place from November 25-27, 2011 at the Ice Palace Megasport. Canada will have a total of six athletes with one entry in each discipline.
Amélie Lacoste, 22, Delson, Que., will compete at her second ISU Grand Prix event of the season. She previously competed at Skate Canada International placing sixth. This will be her second time competing at the Rostelecom Cup, having placed seventh in 2009. Lacoste is coached by Nathalie Martin, Sylvie Fullum, and Denis Beaudoin at CPA Saint-Léonard.
The pair team of Brittany Jones, 15, Toronto, Ont., and Kurtis Gaskell, 21, Guelph, Ont., will be competing at their first event on the ISU Senior Grand Prix circuit after competing on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit for the past two seasons. They ended last season by placing sixth at the 2011 ISU World Junior Championships. Jones and Gaskell train in Barrie, Ont., and are coached by Lee Barkell.
In the ice dance category Kaitlyn Weaver, 22, Waterloo, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 24, Waterloo, Ont., will be representing Canada at their third ISU Grand Prix event of the season. The duo opted to compete at three events this season, as per ISU regulations for seeded skaters. Weaver and Poje have already won two silver medals this season, at Skate Canada International and NHK Trophy. They are coached by Pasquale Camerlengo, Angelika Krylova and Shae-Lynn Bourne in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Petra Burka of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian team leader and Dr. Cole Beavis of Saskatoon, Sask., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Karen Butcher of Nepean, Ont., and Andrea Derby of Rochester, Mich., will be the Canadian officials at the event.
