Canadian ice dancers win silver medal at Cup of Austria

A lack of sleep didn’t seem to affect Montreal ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen, who wrapped up the Cup of Austria with a silver-medal performance on Sunday.

They squeezed in practice between the 12 hours of Saturday night’s rhythm dance in Graz and the free dance.

”It was great to be able to perform under those conditions,” Sorensen told reporters after earning his third medal in as many competitions with his partner. ”We finished late last night and started early today so we didn’t get much sleep.

“We were really happy with what were able to produce today and happy to see the program is heading in the right direction.”

Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri won the ISU Challenger Series event with 208.88 points. The Canadians followed with a season-best 194.67 and Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz of Spain were third (189.88).

Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen, chasing a first career Olympic berth this season, were third after the rhythm dance.

They also won bronze at Skate America earlier this month and silver at the Lombardia Trophy after finishing last season eighth at the world championships.

WATCH l Fournier Beaudry, Sorensen claim bronze at Skate America:

“Today actually felt normal because our practice was closer to the competition,” said Fournier Beaudry. “It was [Saturday] that we really had to properly manage our time because we skated so late at night.”

Canada’s other two entries also gained a spot in the standings. Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Calgary’s Paul Ayer were fifth while Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., and Molly Lanaghan of Scarborough, Ont., took 11th.

In the women’s competition, Vancouver’s Emily Bausback was seventh and Allison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., moved to 13th from 17th after the short program.

Toronto’s Corey Circelli moved to 10th from 14th in the men’s event while Beres Clements of Gibson, B.C., was 16th.