Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue compete in the free dance at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships on Feb. 17, 2017 in Gangneung, South Korea.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue scored a personal best in the free dance on Saturday to earn the bronze medal in ice dance at Skate Canada International in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Coming off a victory at last month’s U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, Hubbell and Donohue were third after the short dance, where they earned a point deduction for a time violation and scored 76.08.
Performing to “Across the Sky (instrumental)” by Rag'n'Bone Man and “Caught Out in the Rain” by Beth Hart, their free dance scored a personal best of 113.35, which was the second-highest score in that segment, and gave them a new personal best total score of 189.43. Their previous total personal best was 180.82.
The team earned their eighth career grand prix medal – their third bronze at Skate Canada in their four appearances at the event.
Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Muir, the 2010 Olympic champions and three-time world champions, won the event with a total of 199.86, which was highlighted by the highest short dance score ever awarded (82.68) and the highest total score. Their 199.86 beat out the 198.62 they earned at the 2017 world championships.
Fellow Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje took the silver medal after scoring a 112.54 in the free dance for a total of 190.01.
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, the 2014 junior world champions, finished fourth for their third fourth-place finish at a grand prix. They earned bronze at the 2014 NHK Trophy.
Gary R. Blockus is a journalist from Allentown, Pennsylvania, who has covered multiple Olympic Games. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
