ZAGREB, Croatia — Canada's Vanessa James and Eric Radford moved up five spots to finish fourth in pairs competition at figure skating's Golden Spin of Zagreb on Friday.
After a shaky short program that left the new team in ninth, James and Radford roared back with the best score in Friday's free skate, with 187.57 points overall.
"’We skated with a little bit more to prove in the free skate,’" said Radford, from Balmertown, Ont. "’It wasn't as free and relaxed as at the Grand Prix in France (last month), but this was our cleanest program with the highest score so that’s all we can ask for is taking those steps in the right direction.’"
Americans Audrey Lu and Misha Misha Mitrofanov won the gold with 195.32, followed by Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman of Georgia (189.60) and Russians Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev (189.29).
Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., who were sixth after the short program, dropped to eighth overall. Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Trenton, Ont., finished ninth.
The competition was the fifth competition for James and Radford, a two-time world champion with former partner Meagan Duhamel. James and Radford were fourth at their two Grand Prix assignments.
‘"We are definitely proud of this performance after the disappointment of the short program,’" said James, a Toronto native. "It's going to give us a lot of confidence."
Canada's Keegan Messing is first after Thursday's short program in men’s competition. The free skate is Saturday.
There are no Canadian entries in women's competition or ice dancing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2021.
The Canadian Press
