 Séguin and Bilodeau at the2015–16 Grand Prix Final | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1993-08-06)August 6, 1993 (age 32) |
| Home town | Montreal, Quebec |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | Canada |
| Coach | Richard Gauthier |
| Skating club | CPA Drummondville |
| Began skating | 1996 |
| Retired | April 16th 2020 |
Medal record | |
Charlie Bilodeau (born August 6, 1993) is a retired Canadianpair skater.
With former partnerJulianne Séguin, he is the2016 Skate America champion, the2015 World Junior silver medallist, the2014 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a three-timeCanadian national medallist.
They placed 9th at the2018 Winter Olympics.
With former partnerLiubov Ilyushechkina he is the 2019Cup of China bronze medalist, the 2019CSFinlandia Trophy bronze medalist, and the 2020Canadian national bronze medalist.
Charlie Bilodeau was born on August 6, 1993, inRimouski,Quebec, Canada.[1] He is the brother of singer-songwriter Marilie Bilodeau.[2] His father died fromdiabetes in 2014.[3] He speaks French and English.[4]
Bilodeau began learning to skate in 1996.[1] He teamed up with Krystel Desjardins by 2008. The pair won gold on the novice level at the2010 Canadian Championships and silver on the junior level at the2012 Canadian Championships. They debuted on theISU Junior Grand Prix series in the2012–2013 season but ended their partnership after placing tenth inLake Placid, New York and ninth inZagreb,Croatia.
Bilodeau teamed up withJulianne Séguin in November 2012.[5]
Séguin/Bilodeau debuted internationally in autumn 2013. Competing in the2013–14 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, they placed fourth in the Czech Republic and fifth in Belarus. They won the junior silver medal at the2014 Canadian Championships and were assigned to represent Canada at the2014 World Junior Championships.[6][7] The pair withdrew due to Séguin's back injury.[8][9]
During the2014 JGP series, Séguin/Bilodeau outscored Russia'sLina Fedorova /Maxim Miroshkin for the gold medal inOstrava, Czech Republic.[3] Upon winning another gold inDresden, Germany, the pair qualified for theJGP Final. At the latter event, held in December 2014 inBarcelona, they placed first in both segments and won the gold medal by a margin of 9.79 points over Fedorova/Miroshkin.
In January 2015, Séguin/Bilodeau took the senior bronze medal at theCanadian Championships and were named in Canada's teams to the junior and senior World Championships. In February, they were awarded the silver medal atJunior Worlds inTallinn, Estonia, having placed second to China'sYu Xiaoyu /Jin Yang. In March, they ranked tenth in both segments and finished eighth overall at theWorld Championships inShanghai, China.
Séguin/Bilodeau won silver at the2016 Canadian Nationals. While practicing a throw jump in early February, she injured her ankle, resulting in torn ligaments and a bone contusion which would take two to three months to heal.[10] The pair withdrew from the2016 Four Continents.[11] They later withdrew from2016 Worlds as well, stating that the injury was not fully healed and they had missed many practices.[12]
Séguin/Bilodeau won the2016 CS Autumn Classic International and2016 Skate America. They finished fifth at the2016 Rostelecom Cup and2016–17 Grand Prix Final. Séguin sustained a concussion on December 24, 2016, and did not resume training until February 1, 2017.[13] As a result, the pair withdrew from the2017 Canadian Championships.[14] They placed 11th at the2017 World Championships inHelsinki, Finland.
Séguin sustained two further concussions – the second occurred at an ice show in April and the third while practicing a lift in July 2017.[15][16] Bilodeau underwent a knee operation in June 2017.[17]
Séguin/Bilodeau began their season with bronze at the2017 CS Autumn Classic International. Their Grand Prix results – fifth at the2017 Rostelecom Cup and fourth at the2017 NHK Trophy – were insufficient to qualify to theGrand Prix Final. At the Rostelecom Cup, Séguin experienced blurred vision, dizziness, and nausea.[16] Her concussion-related symptoms continued until December and in a later interview she said that, with the Olympics approaching, she took risks that she would not normally have taken.[16]
In January, Séguin/Bilodeau won the silver medal at the2018 Canadian Championships, having placed second in both segments, and were nominated to represent Canada at the Olympics.[17] The two placed twelfth in the short, eighth in the free, and ninth overall at the2018 Winter Olympics, which took place in February inPyeongchang, South Korea.[4] The pair had less success at the2018 World Championships inMilan, Italy. Ranked twenty-second in the short program, they would not qualify to the free skate.
Séguin/Bilodeau were invited to the2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and the2018 Internationaux de France.[18] They planned to useGroove Is in the Heart byDeee-Lite for the short program andWicked Game byTheory of a Deadman for the free skate.[19] However, in mid-July 2018, Bilodeau decided to dissolve their partnership.[20][21]
On March 4, 2019,Skate Canada announced that Bilodeau had formed a new partnership withLiubov Ilyushechkina, whose previous partner,Dylan Moscovitch, had retired at the end of the 2017–18 season. The new pair will train in Montreal with coachesRichard Gauthier andBruno Marcotte.[22]
Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau made their competitive debut at the2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. Placing third in the short program and second in the free skate, they won the bronze medal, less than a point behind silver medalistsAlisa Efimova /Alexander Korovin. Bilodeau remarked "for a first ever international competition together with only seven months training we couldn't have hoped for better."[23] For theirGrand Prix debut, the team began at2019 Skate Canada International, where they were fifth.[24] At their second Grand Prix, the2019 Cup of China, they placed second in the short program with their third consecutive short program score of around 68 points, what Ilyushechkina deemed their "lucky 68".[25] They were third in the free skate after a number of jump and throw errors, taking the bronze medal overall. Bilodeau said "it means a lot to us to have won a medal in only our second Grand Prix together. It shows that it was a good decision to come back and to skate together."[26]
Entering the2020 Canadian Championships favoured to win the silver medal, Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau placed second in the short program behind defending championsMoore-Towers/Marinaro, and slightly ahead of defending silver medalistsWalsh/Michaud. Ilyushechkina's underrotation on her triple toe loop was the only program error.[27] In the free skate, she underrotated on both side-by-side jumps and fell on both throw jump attempts, dropping them to third place overall. Ilyushechkina afterward described it as "one blended set of errors" that left her "very unsatisfied."[28] At the2020 Four Continents Championships, they had several errors in both programs, placing seventh, again behind Walsh/Michaud, who were sixth.[29][30] As a result,Skate Canada assigned Walsh/Michaud to Canada's second pairs berth at the2020 World Championships.[31]
On April 16, 2020, Bilodeau announced his retirement from the sport.[32]
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 [33] |
|
|
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 [1] |
| ||
| 2016–2017 [34][35][36][13] |
| ||
| 2015–2016 [37][38][39] |
|
|
|
| 2014–2015 [3][40] |
|
|
|
| 2013–2014 [41] |
| James Bond byJohn Barry
|
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2012–2013 [42] |
GP:Grand Prix; CS:Challenger Series; JGP:Junior Grand Prix
| International[43] | |
|---|---|
| Event | 19–20 |
| Four Continents | 7th |
| GPCup of China | 3rd |
| GPSkate Canada | 5th |
| CSFinlandia Trophy | 3rd |
| National[43] | |
| Canadian Champ. | 3rd |
| International[44] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 13–14 | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 |
| Olympics | 9th | ||||
| Worlds | 8th | WD | 11th | 22nd | |
| Four Continents | WD | ||||
| GPFinal | 4th | 5th | |||
| GPFinland | |||||
| GPFrance | 3rd | ||||
| GPNHK Trophy | 4th | ||||
| GPRostelecom Cup | 5th | 5th | |||
| GPSkate America | 3rd | 1st | |||
| CSAutumn Classic | 1st | 3rd | |||
| CSNebelhorn | 5th | ||||
| International: Junior[44] | |||||
| Junior Worlds | WD | 2nd | |||
| JGPFinal | 1st | ||||
| JGPBelarus | 4th | ||||
| JGPCzech Republic | 4th | 1st | |||
| JGPGermany | 1st | ||||
| National[45] | |||||
| Canadian Champ. | 2nd J | 3rd | 2nd | WD | 2nd |
| International[46] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 10–11 | 11–12 | 12–13 |
| JGPCroatia | 9th | ||
| JGPUnited States | 10th | ||
| National[46] | |||
| Canadian Champ. | 5th J | 2nd J | |
Media related toCharlie Bilodeau at Wikimedia Commons
