2025 Grand Prix de France Pairs’ Podium (From L to R): Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (CAN), Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN), and Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN).
Grand Prix de France: Pairs
Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara took the gold in the Pairs’ event at the 2025 Grand Prix de France in Angers on Saturday night. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada pocketed the silver while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary secured the bronze.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara
Miura and Kihara delivered an intense short program to last season’s “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones. The triple twist was graded a level tree but with high grades of execution (GOE), but the lift, spin, footwork, and death spiral were graded a level four. The only minor mistake came when Miura slightly underrotated the side-by-side triple toes, however, the throw triple flip was spot on. The two-time and current World champions placed first in this segment with 79.44 points.
“This program is full of transitions, and after last season we actually thought we couldn’t make it any better,” said Miura. “But we had a camp this summer and worked even more on the details, and now we know the program can still grow and keep getting better.”
“Last year was our first time working with Shea-Lynn Bourne,” added Kihara. “Over the course of last season, we grew more confident with this short program, and we think it’s still improving this season.”
The two-time Four Continents champions opened their “Gladiator” free skate with a strong level-three triple twist, but Miura slightly underrotated the first jump in the triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, and both Axels were graded a single. The rest of the powerful program was solid and featured triple Salchows, a throw triple flip, and throw triple loop. All three lifts, the spin, and death spiral were graded a level four, and they scored 139.71 points. With a total score of 219.15, they easily maintained their overnight lead for the gold.
“We came out of today’s performance without being injured, and that’s why I give our performance today 120%,” said Kihara. “Every time we go out, I pray not to injure Riku and also not to injure myself. Of course, there are things to improve on, but these are my first thoughts, and I want to focus on the positive.”
“In our last competition, we had two mistakes in the second half of the program, and today we were able to land those two elements cleanly,” Miura pointed out. “We do need to work on our jump combination, though, and the last lift got a negative GOE, so we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
They will compete again next month at Skate America.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps gave a powerful routine to Carmina Burana which featured a level-four triple twist, side-by-side triple toes, and a throw triple loop. The audience was also treated to an assisted back flip by Stellato-Dudek midway through the climatic short program.
“I tried to convince Max for a year to do that element,” Stellato-Dudek later said. “We were actually on vacation, and I convinced him to go to the gym and start working on it. I told him if I couldn’t land it within a day, we wouldn’t do it. But of course, I landed it in a day. I have a long background in gymnastics, so I knew I’d be able to land it.”
The 2024 World champions went on to produce a strong level-four spin, footwork, lift, and death spiral, earning a season’s best of 74.26 for second place.
“I feel really great!” said Stellato-Dudek afterwards. “This was a step up from John Nicks—obviously much better as we landed things here. Hopefully, this is just one more step up and we’ll keep building up each competition.”
Carmina Burana was actually their second choice for music this season.
“I had it on my playlist, but originally we wanted to skate to a cover song sung by my brother,” said Stellato-Dudek. “Unfortunately, we found out we would have to pay a huge amount to get the copyright for that song. Now I’m a bit confused because another team is skating to that exact song—but in the end, we’re happy with Carmina Burana. The fire in that piece really fits us.”
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps struggled a bit in their free skate to “Poeta en el Mar” and “Amor Dulce Muerte.” They missed the triple twist, which was a single, then both skaters fought through the triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence. The side-by-side triple Salchows were graded a double, however, they landed the throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow while earning a level four on all lifts, the spin, and death spiral.
There was a tense moment while the 2024 Four Continents champions waited for their scores, but in the in the end, they placed second in the free skate and managed to hold on to second place overall (123.40 / 197.66).
“We were actually feeling good going into the program, but with the very first element, something very unexpected happened,” said Deschamps. “It’s always difficult when something like that occurs. I would say it really threw us off for the rest of the performance.”
“The lift was my mistake,” admitted Stellato-Dudek. “I lost count on the rotations. The twist, this never happened before in practice. I hit his foot, so I couldn’t do the split because his foot was in my way, and it wasn’t possible to complete the rotation. It’s always hard when something major like that happens on the very first element and you still have ten more to go.”
The team said they chose the music for the free skate as it’s “very romantic” and shows their “passion for the sport.”
“Usually, this music gives us a very relaxed feeling, and it did today, at least until the first mistake happened,” said Stellato-Dudek. “What’s actually funny is that two seasons ago, we did the “vampire” program, and the Italian team Ghilardi and Ambrosini did ‘Dracula’—a similar theme. Now, they also chose ‘Poeta’ as one of the songs for their free skate.”
Deschamps claimed that “medals don’t really mean much” to him when asked about winning a medal despite the mistakes.
“You can have an amazing performance and not end up on the podium, and sometimes things happen and you still win,” he said. “So for me, that doesn’t really mean anything.”
“For me, winning the medal means that we fought through, and despite the mistakes, we didn’t give up,” added Stellato-Dudek. “That’s also in mine and Max’s nature.”
They will compete next on home ice at Skate Canada in two weeks.
Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko
Pavlova and Sviatchenko delivered a stirring short program to “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson, opening with a very good level-four triple twist. The three-time Grand Prix medalists followed up with a throw triple Lutz and side-by-side triple toes. The team also earned a level four on the lift and footwork and finished third with a new personal best of 70.15 points.
“Oh my god, I dreamed of days like this, when I saw the 70 points coming up!” said an excited Pavlova.
Pavlova revealed that the summer season had went well and that they enjoyed working with Benoît Richaud on their two new programs.
“It was an amazing experience!” she said. “We were so excited to go to the Kinoshita Cup in Japan, but unfortunately, Alexei injured his shoulder. He went to Budapest to get treatment, and now he can do everything he has to do. We were very excited to start the season.”
The two-time Hungarian champs delivered a soul-stirring routine to “Without You” to place third in the free skate and overall (122.61 / 192.76). Their program featured a level-four triple twist, throw triple Lutz, and triple Salchows. They also picked up a level four on two lifts and the pair spin. The only mistake came when Sviatchenko stepped out of the side-by-side triple toes.
“We were just really happy to be here, to start the season, and to compete again so we weren’t really thinking about medaling,” said Pavlova. “We did make one big mistake today. It’s actually a mistake that never happens in practice, so I was really puzzled when I saw my partner stepping out of the toe and added a single Axel. I just wasn’t used to this situation.”
The team likes their free skate, a new style for them, for this season.
“I think I’ve never enjoyed a free skate as much as this one,” said Pavlova. “We worked for the first time with Benoît Richaud, and to be honest, I was a little bit scared before going there because he always seems so serious, but actually, he’s very fun. Of course, he pushes you to add so many things, it was a really great experience. This piece of music was the first one he sent to us, and we liked it right away.”
They will compete next at NHK Trophy and are very excited for their second Grand Prix event.
“Japan is such a cool and unique country, very different from any other place I’ve been to, and I like it so much,” Pavlova shared. “I’m also really happy to go there together with our good friends, the Dutch couple Daria and Michel. We’re so excited to explore some cafés and drink a lot of Matcha. It’s going to be a great time!”
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman
USA’s Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman placed fourth (63.31) in the short program with a nearly solid routine to “Vale.” The highlights included a level-four triple twist, side-by-side triple toes, and a throw triple flip.
McBeath was ecstatic with their performance and went on to describe their partnership which was announced in July 2023.
“I’m just so proud of all the work that Daniil and I have done and put in since Nebelhorn Trophy,” she said. “I just really enjoy skating with Daniil. Ever since I teamed up with him, I’ve been so excited to skate with him because he’s such a wonderful human. He treats me very well on and off the ice, and our elements together work so well. I mean—when he throws me, he throws me so high up in the air. That’s just amazing.”
“Katie is the hardest worker I’ve ever known,” said Parkman. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s get that off the ice.’ I really admire her work ethic and spirit. I really enjoy her as a partner and as a person to be with. And she has a real special talent for handling Daniil Parkman.”
The 2025 U.S. silver medalists struggled a bit in their free skate to “Caruso.” McBeath stepped out of the final jump on the side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, while Parkman singled his first Axel. McBeath also popped the triple Salchows, but managed to hang on to the landings of both the throw triple loop and throw triple flip. They placed fourth in the free skate and overall (114.77 / 178.08).
“Well, today unfortunately wasn’t our best performance, and the mistake on the Salchow is on me,” said McBeath. “I’m very motivated, though, to turn it around already next week at the Cup of China. In this way, maybe it’s good that we have back-to-back events. We’ve never skated back-to-back on such a high level before. Maybe I did it in the very past on a local level, but not like this. We will see how it goes. We’re going straight from here to Chongqing, and yes we’re hungry for redemption for the free skate.”
USA’s Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy placed fifth overall (173.30) followed by Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev of France (160.62). They will compete again at Skate America and NHK Trophy, respectively.
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