Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha – 2024 World Figure Skating Ice Dance FD (CBC)

Oh, there's my mom. March 23rd, big day. Well, here are the reigning Canadian bronze medalists. They won a medal in both of their Grand Prix assignments this season, but they had to withdraw from Nationals and Four Continents after Marjorie suffered a concussion of all things. She returned to the ice just a few weeks ago when the Canadians practiced on this ice in early March. She actually had to wear sunglasses as she was still sensitive to light. But yesterday, they skated brilliantly, and that's why they are in the final flight. They are skating to music composed by a Montreal pianist named Jean-Michel Blais-Roses, interpreting a life lost, but a life also lived. I'm assuming the green top is the stem. And Marjorie is the rose. Beautiful edge quality and control. Patience around that corner. Yes, gorgeous twizzles. Marjorie and Zach with every single movement, every element. Rio sequence, the first one I've seen done in a circle. Very comfortable in the final flight, and this program is flying by. Fastest rotational lifts. That flew by. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I said last year that when they went from their Rio program to their other bird program, that they were birds graduating. But now they have a PhD. They are absolutely amazing. A brilliant performance by Marjorie and Zach. They were 11th at the last World Championships. And could that skate be enough to keep them in the top five where they were after the rhythm dance? Now, these skaters, they're 24, 25 years old, still relatively young for elite figure skaters. There's a look at the team from Great Britain. They're next. What a skate by the Canadians. That free dance should certainly move them into the lead now. There's just so many moments of this program that are so special. You mentioned the music was written by a Montreal native and it's called Roses. Was it written for them? Because it seemed to perfectly blend into their skating. No, I believe that this piece was written about a friend's mother who had passed away from cancer, the obviously the composer. But of course, Zach is very plugged in to the classical pianist in Montreal and Canada as a as a very high level pianist himself. And he takes the feeling and understanding and the storytelling in the music very, very seriously. When you talk to him, because that's a side of Zach skating I've never seen before. I felt like I'm seeing a new part of him that hadn't been revealed yet. Looking for something greater than one 18, one twenty five point seven one. So a season's best score and they have the lead. So with four teams left to skate, they could finish no lower than in fifth place. Congratulations. What a balled up the standings from 11th at their last world now to fifth or better. Welcome to the top five in the world. That has to be an amazing feeling after such setbacks this year. Injuries for Zach, concussion for Marjorie, but they still are hitting their highest they've ever hit for the competitive careers. Congratulations.