A trio of Burnaby figure skaters are gearing up for the international stage after recently winning medals at nationals.
Aleksa Rakic picked up a silver medal at the 2024 Canadian Skating Championships, which took place at WinSport Arena in Calgary, Alta. from Jan. 7 to 14.
The 19-year-old recorded a competition total score of 225.39, good enough for second overall in the senior men's division.
Broken down, Rakic, a member of the Champs International Skating Centre of BC, placed second in the short program and first in the free program.
He finished seven points back of gold medallist and Richmond athlete Wesley Chiu (232.15).
Rakic will now prepare for the 2024 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei.
While representing Canada, he finished fourth at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Switzerland, and landed two top 10 finishes in the 2022 ISU Junior Grand Prix and 13th at the 2023 worlds in Calgary.
Rakic's résumé also include titles from the Pre-Novice BC Provincials, Novice Canadian Challenge and a gold medal at the Canadian junior championships in 2019.
Meanwhile, Rakic will be joined by the junior dance duo of Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang, who placed second in their category at the Canadian national championships.
Nguyen and Giang tallied a two-round score of 154.25, roughly six points behind champions Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys of Ontario.
That included a first-place finish in the rhythm dance and third in the free dance event.
The two are looking to land on the podium this year in building on their international momentum following a silver medal at the 2023 Junior Grand Prix Cup of Austria.
The 2024 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships take place Feb. 26 to March 4.
- with a file from Jess Balzer, Burnaby NOW
