Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro CAN
2018 World Championships free skate
For most of the past four years, Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro have been the fourth pairs team in Canada. They formed out of two previous successful partnerships - Moore-Towers was even fifth at the Olympics four years ago. Their differences in style and technique took time to gel. But they were always looking forward.
And after missing the cut for the World Championships last year, they came into the Olympic season with question marks. Would they be competitive for an Olympic spot? And lo and behold, Moore-Towers/Marinaro proved themselves to be the steadiest pair of the bunch - a strong Grand Prix season set them up for a good Canadian Nationals, where they qualified for the Olympics. But it was the World Championships where they really shined.
After a solid finish in PyeongChang, Moore-Towers dealt with an injury going into Worlds that kept them from full practices. And with Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford not at Worlds and Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau having an uncharacteristic short that kept them from the free skate at Worlds, Moore-Towers/Marinaro had to assume the role as top Canadian pair in Milano. They took it with pride and earned a sixth-place finish in a super competitive field.
From fourth in Canada at the start of the season to the top Canadian pair six months later - that’s how they roll.