The conclusion or ending of the 2018 Canadian Tire Gala Exhibition was simply something to behold as the Canadian Championships wrapped up and held at the Doug Mitchell Sports Centre in front of a packed house.
It began at 3:05 pm with the Induction ceremonies that welcomed a pair of new Canadian Figure Skaters, Sarah Kawahara and Rod Vincent officially announced as new members into the Builders Category.
Skating fans of all ages were on hand as the competition showcased many current and upcoming future skating stars that were able to have fun both on and off the ice all is search of the ticket to the 2018 Olympics.
The order of the program began with BC’s Kevin Reynolds followed by Evelyn Walsh and Trent Michaud whose talent speaks for itself.
Next up was a dazzling performance next up was Aurora Cotop followed by Sarah Arnold and Thomas Williams.
Alaine Chartrand hit the ice next, closely followed by Lubov Ilyusheckina and Dylan Moscovitch in the pairs competition.
This followed by three more performances, then an intermission and rounding out the first half of the show was Elladj Balde and pairs Carolanne Soucisse and Shane Firus.
The event Athlete Ambassador Shae-Lynn Bourne performed just prior to the intermission to the delight of the packed house of over 5,500 on hand.
The second half of the program began with a video by Skate Canada which offered a “Thank You Vancouver” for the week long support for the 2018 Canadian Tire Championship.
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- National Skating Championships Jan., 12, 2018 PHOTO: Greg Kolz
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- Photo – The Star
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- Photo – Skate Canada
The overall performances continued with Larkyn Austman followed closely by Kirsten-Moore Towers and Michael Marinaro.
Nam Ngyeun skated to the delight of the crowd as well as Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje.
Kaetlyn Osmond and a pairs performance by Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau.
The final acts hitting the ice were (in order) Keegan Messing, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Gabrielle Daleman, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford followed by fan favourite Patrick Chan and the skating sweethearts of the skating world Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
The conclusion of the event saw all skaters appear on the ice in one large group, thanking Vancouver for the tremendous support.
Messages were in both English and French and the announcer concluded this years Gala thanking the fans.
Also in attendance was the BC Provincial NDP Sports Minister Ravi Kahlon who took in the festivities to his enjoyment.
