Canadian pair Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps earn bronze at figure skating Grand Prix Final

Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps earned their first major senior international medal together on Friday.

The figure skating pairs team won bronze at the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, improving on their fourth-place finish one year ago.

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin captured the gold medal with their combined score of 206.43 points — slightly over two points more than the Canadians in third at 204.30. Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii snuck in between for silver at 205.88.

"I'm just overwhelmed and surprised," said Hase. "It was super hard today and we both had to fight through this program. It's even nicer that this was rewarded with the gold medal in the end."

WATCH | Canadians win pairs bronze medal in China:

Skating a routine inspired by the movie Interview with a Vampire, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps posted the third-best free-program score, slipping from second after the short program.

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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.

WATCH | Hase, Volodin capture gold:

Meanwhile, the ice-dance competition began with the rhythm dance, where Canadians and reigning champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier place third.

Dancing to the songs No More I Love You's by The Lover Speaks and Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer, Gilles and Poirier posted a score of 85.17 points to put them in strong contention for the podium, nearly 10 points clear of the fourth-place team.

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates topped the standings at 89.15 points, while