It was a solid international debut at the junior men’s level for Richmond’s Wesley Chiu.
The 14-year-old member of the Connaught Skating Club represented Canada at a ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Italy last week where he finished 13th in the world class field. Chiu sat 14th after the short program with a score of 167.29 and moved up a spot after his free skate which earned 167.29 points.
It was an encouraging result given his age and lack of experience at a level he is expected to spend at least two seasons at.The event was won by Italy’s Daniel Grassl, followed by Petr Gumennik of Russia and Ukraine’s Ivan Shmuratko.
Chiu has moved up to the junior men’s level after a specular season that saw him capture the Skate Canada Challenge and national title at Novice. He also added silver at the Canada Winter Games, skating brand new programs that were actually preparing him for the current season.
He will now focus on the upcoming B.C. Yukon Sectional Championships in Kelowna which starts the path back to Challenge and Canadian Championships.
After attending Richmond Christian, he has moved into the SPARTS program for national level athletes at Magee Secondary in Vancouver for his Grade 9 year.
