Chan, others wait on ISU’s decision on Grand Prix Final qualifying

TORONTO – Patrick Chan is among numerous figure skaters left in limbo by last weekend’s cancellation of the Trophee Eric Bompard.

The horrific terrorist attacks that killed 129 people in Paris forced the cancellation of the Grand Prix event after the first day. And the International Skating Union was meeting Monday to determine how qualifying will now work for next month’s Grand Prix Final in Barcelona.

Skaters are assigned to two of the six Grand Prix events, and earn points based on their results in their two events. The top six skaters then compete in the Grand Prix Final.

Chan won Skate Canada International, but the 24-year-old from Toronto was fifth after the short program in Bordeaux before the event was cancelled.

“There’s no perfect solution that’s going to satisfy everyone, and there’s a lot of athletes who might be on the outside looking in when all is said and done. But it can’t be helped,” said Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s head coach. “When we left (France), most of our team that was there would be on the bubble, it’s one of those situations, and we’re not dwelling on it.

“Every country is affected by it, so it’s not like we’re the only ones who feel like we might have athletes on the outside. It’s going to be a situation that will evolve, and whatever the decision is, we accept it and just move on.”

The remaining Grand Prix events are the Rostelecom Cup this weekend in Moscow and the NHK Trophy Nov. 27-29 in Nagano, Japan.

One of the proposals would see the results from the short program from Bordeaux count toward making the Final. Chan struggled in his short there, missing his quad jump.

Toronto’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were second after the short dance last weekend, while Julianne Seguin of Longueuil, Que., and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., were third after the pairs short program.

Slipchuk said the skaters first learned of the attacks through text messages from concerned loved ones back home. They went to the rink as planned Saturday morning, and the women’s, dance and men’s practices were held before the Bordeaux government cancelled the rest of the event.

The Canadian skaters held a team dinner Saturday night before flying home Sunday.

“Everyone understood the gravity of the situation. Life supercedes sport,” Slipchuk said. “From a sport point of view, we took the strengths and weaknesses out of the last couple of days, and now we move on, and that’s all you can really do at this point.”

The Grand Prix is just one part of the figure skating season, he added.

“And the focus for everyone is still Canadians (in Halifax in January) and moving on to the world championships (Boston in March), and that won’t change. And we’ll just kind of go step by step once we know.”