Pereira/Michaud really made a statement here. Love them, and think they have so much potential. Lia is a star.
I was happy to see Trennt & Lia win in France. They were close to winning SA. I had predicted them winning SA, and coming second in France. But the opposite occurred.
I believe the judges saw how good Lia & Trennt were at SA, and thus did not shortchange them in France, especially with C/M not competing at their best. As far as making a statement, L&T made statements in their short programs at both GPs. Not so much in their fps. However, the mistakes made were seemingly due to nerves, not inability to skate clean.
Trennt, was obviously feeling a bit tight with the prospect of victory. He has not been used to being in this position at major senior international competitions. Similar nervous errors happened to Trennt at 2023 Canadian Nationals. These mistakes are completely out of the ordinary for Trennt. He's an excellent pairs guy. And he now has a lovely, hugely talented, cool-headed young partner who matches his abilities. They can go far together. I'm sure it's a heady feeling for Trennt. He needs to grab on, throw off the butterflies and enjoy the ride in fine fettle!
Speaking of making statements. No bigger statement has yet been made by a pair team this season, than that made by Deanna & Max at Skate Canada!
I had expected Conti/ Maci to be more confident after their success last season. But C/M seemingly were feeling the pressure. Plus, they brought back the same fp. Sara, at least, has a new dress, and she's lightened her hair with blonde highlights. She looks good, and they make a nice team together. But if you bring back the same program and make mistakes, that's not going to go down well with the judges.
More importantly, C/M are exceedingly slow. They are aware of this flaw too, as they were making excuses for their slowness in an ISU interview shown during the junior GP (i.e., suggesting they are trying to be precise and clean). So when you are slow and still make mistakes with an old program, that's not a good look. Ìt would have benefited C/M to come up with a new fp, and work on improving their speed and skating skills. It looks like Sara has been working on improving her lift positions, which has been another criticism I've heard. In any case, taking the silver is not bad for C/M. They still have a chance to make the GPF.
Italy has a bronze and a silver; Hungary has a silver; France has a bronze; Canada has two gold and a silver (with the prospect of taking another gold in China); Germany has a gold, with Hocke/ Kunkel very likely to get a silver or bronze in China, and the promising Hase/Volodin of Germany, are yet to make their GP debut. While the U.S. has a bronze (Liu/Nagy at SA), the U.S. lost out on another possible bronze in France for Kam/ O'Shea. It's very disappointing to see K/O falter, because they are a quality team. Hopefully, they are healed and ready to compete at the Espoo GP!
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too much looking at scores and it gets blurry. I just double checked.. 
