Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps began competition at the figure skating Grand Prix Final with a strong performance on Thursday in Beijing.
The duo sits second after the pairs short program with 71.22 points, trailing only Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin at 72.56. WATCH | Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps 2nd after short program: Stellato-Dudek, the 40-year-old who lives in Brossard, Que., and Deschamps, the 32-year-old from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., won each of their stops during the Grand Prix season to qualify for the Final in China.
The Canadians are skating their short program this season to the song Oxygène by France's Jean-Michel Jarre. Canada's Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (61.78) are sixth of six pairs entries.
Help shape the future of CBC article pages by taking a quick survey. WATCH | Names to know at the 2023 Grand Prix Final: With no Canadians competing in the men's competition, American Ilia Malinin, known as "the Quad God," is in the lead with 106.9 points after Thursday's short program competition.