Promising young duo Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore have made history by winning Australia’s first grand prix medal at Skate Canada, securing a bronze medal in Halifax.
The pair, aged 18 and 22 respectively, finished behind the reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.
Originally from Russia, Golubeva and Giotopoulos Moore train in Montreal alongside the top-ranked Canadian team. This prestigious event is the second of six ISU grand prix competitions, where athletes aim to qualify for the elite final in Grenoble, France, in December. The Australians missed the American leg due to injury.
In their second year competing as seniors and fourth overall, they previously placed 10th at this year’s world championships and earned two silver medals at junior worlds.
After the short programme, they were in third place and held on to finish with an overall score of 186.14, despite Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Geynish and Dmitrii Chigirev moving up to challenge with a score of 189.65.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps dominated the event, achieving a score of 197.33, despite Deschamps falling on a triple toe loop early in the free skate.
Leading up to the competition, Golubeva expressed her excitement about training with the seasoned Canadian skaters after relocating to Montreal earlier this year.
“Skating with Deanna and Maxime is so good for us,” she said in an interview with adivinesport.com. “I really enjoy training with them. We are friends.”
Giotopoulos Moore, whose family resides in Seattle, noted that training alongside experienced athletes is inspiring as they prepare for the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in early 2026.
“We really enjoy it here—it’s a much better quality (training environment) for us than in Sydney,” he said. “There are really no other elite-level pairs in Australia.”
Source: The Examiner.
