Trennt Michaud

Trennt Michaud
300px Trennt Michaud (right) with partner Lia Pereira at the Four Continents Championships
Personal information
Country represented	Canada
Born	(1996-08-22) August 22, 1996 Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Height
Partner	Lia Pereira Evelyn Walsh (2016–2022)
Former partner	Evelyn Walsh, Hope McLean, Judith Murtha-Anderson
Coach	Alison Purkiss, Nancy Lemaire, Derek Schmidt
Former coach	Scott Rachuk
Choreographer	Alison Purkiss, Asher Hill, Adrián Díaz, Madison Hubbell
Former choreographer	Eric Radford
Skating club	Trenton Figure Skating Club
Former skating club	Prince Edward Skating Club
Training locations	Brantford, Ontario Milton, Ontario
Began skating	2004
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	193.00 2023 Worlds
Short program	65.31 2023 Worlds
Free skate	127.69 2023 Worlds
Medal record Pair skating with Walsh Representing Canada Four Continents Championships 2022 Tallinn Pairs

Trennt Michaud (born August 22, 1996) is a Canadian pair skater. With his skating partner, Lia Pereira, he is the 2023 Grand Prix de France gold medalist, the 2023 Skate America silver medalist, the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, and a two-time Canadian national medalist.

With his former skating partner, Evelyn Walsh, he is the 2022 Four Continents bronze medalist and a three-time Canadian national silver medalist. Walsh/Michaud also won the 2017 Canadian national junior title and competed at two World Junior Championships, achieving their highest placement, fifth, in 2017.

Personal life

Michaud was born on August 22, 1996, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada.

Career

Early career

Michaud started learning to skate in 2004. He competed on the novice level at the 2013 Canadian Championships, placing eighth in men's singles and second in pairs with Judith Murtha-Anderson where they were coached by Lisa Conley and represented the Prince Edward County Skating Club.

His partnership with Hope McLean began in 2014. They won the junior pairs' title at the 2016 Canadian Championships and were sent to the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. They withdrew from Junior Worlds after placing thirteenth in the short program. They were coached by Alison Purkiss and Scott Rachuk in London and Komoka, Ontario.

Partnership with Walsh

2016–17 season

In 2016, Michaud teamed up with Evelyn Walsh, coached by Alison Purkiss and Margaret Purdy in London, Ontario. Making their international debut, they placed eleventh at a Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition held in late September in Tallinn, Estonia, and fifth the following month at a JGP event in Dresden, Germany. In January 2017, they won the junior pairs' title at the Canadian Championships and were named in Canada's team to the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei. Competing in Taiwan, they placed sixth in the short program, fifth in the free skate, and fifth overall.

2017–18 season

In the 2017–2018 season, Walsh and Michaud participated in two events on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning the bronze medal at JGP Riga Cup and placing fourth at JGP Croatia Cup.

Competing as a senior pair at the 2018 Canadian Championships, they placed fifth overall. At the 2018 World Junior Championships, the pair placed fifth in the short program, sixth in the free skate, and sixth overall.

2018–19 season

File:2018 Skate Canada - Evelyn Walsh & Trennt Michaud - 18.jpg

Walsh/Michaud at the 2018 Skate Canada International

Competing as seniors internationally in the 2018-19 season, Walsh/Michaud made their debut on the Challenger series at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where they placed seventh. For the Grand Prix series, Walsh and Michaud were initially assigned to 2018 Skate Canada International and subsequently added to the 2018 Skate America event following the withdrawal of the Chinese team of Li/Xie. They placed eighth at Skate America, following rough programs where Walsh fell five times, but fared better at Skate Canada International, finishing in fifth place.

At the 2019 Canadian Championships, Walsh/Michaud placed second in both programs, winning the silver medal behind Moore-Towers/Marinaro. Walsh, commenting on their struggles at their first two competitions that season, said, "we do truly believe everything happens for a reason." Michaud remarked that their expectations had changed considerably from the previous season when they were happy to finish fifth. They were assigned, alongside Moore-Towers/Marinaro, to compete at the Four Continents and World Championships.

Competing at Four Continents, they were in sixth place after the short program but fell to seventh overall after finishing eighth in the free skate with a performance that included an aborted lift. At the World Championships, they placed twelfth. Walsh and Michaud also worked on the Netflix series Spinning Out, serving as skating doubles for leads Kaya Scodelario and Evan Roderick.

2019–20 season

For their free program, Walsh/Michaud worked with retired Canadian pairs champion Eric Radford as choreographer. Walsh/Michaud made their debut at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, where they placed sixth. At the 2019 Skate Canada International, their first Grand Prix assignment, they were eighth. At the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, they were fifth in the short program with a new personal best. Seventh in the free skate, they were sixth overall.

Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix series, Walsh and Michaud consulted with 2014 Olympic pairs champion Maxim Trankov to improve pair elements, in particular their triple twist lift. Skating at the 2020 Canadian Championships, they placed third in the short program, less than a point behind second-place Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau. Second in the free skate despite some under rotations on their jumps, they won their second consecutive national silver medal. Walsh called it"the peak, I think, of our season so far, and this is exactly where we wanted to be at this point."

Walsh/Michaud placed sixth at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, again ahead of Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau. Consequently, they were afterwards assigned to Canada's second pairs berth at the 2020 World Championships in Montreal. However, the championships were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

2020–21 season

After the initial lockdowns, Walsh and Michaud were among the elite athletes who were cleared to train through future lockdowns. Walsh/Michaud were assigned to the 2020 Skate Canada International, but this event was also cancelled as a result of the pandemic. The team was scheduled to participate in the virtual Skate Canada Challenge in December, but Walsh sprained her ankle and was off the ice for two weeks, causing them to miss the filming period.

Despite this, on February 25th, Walsh and Michaud were announced as part of the Canadian team to the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm. They placed twelfth at the World Championships.

2021–22 season

Walsh/Michaud's outlook heading into the Olympic season was complicated by the decision of their erstwhile choreographer, former World champion Eric Radford, to return to competition alongside new partner Vanessa James. With only two Canadian pairs berths available for the 2022 Winter Olympics, there was projected to be a fight amongst the top three Canadian teams. Walsh said, "anyone can come back into a sport. It's nothing against them. At the same time, we feel we're in a position to earn that Olympic spot, and that's what we’re chasing this year."

The team was scheduled to debut competitively at the 2021 CS Autumn Classic International but withdrew after Walsh came down with a chest infection that required two courses of antibiotics as treatment. At their first Grand Prix, 2021 Skate America, they placed eighth of eight teams. They were sixth of seven teams at the 2021 NHK Trophy, their second assignment.

At the 2022 Canadian Championships, Walsh/Michaud greatly improved on their performances earlier in the season and took the silver medal with second-place finishes in both segments. With Moore-Towers/Marinaro taking the gold medal, it was perceived that the choice for the second berth on the Canadian Olympic team would come down to Walsh/Michaud or James/Radford. The latter had withdrawn from the championships after placing fourth in the short program, having had limited training in the preceding weeks due to both skaters having COVID-19. The following day, the Canadian federation named James/Radford to the second spot. This choice was controversial, with many arguing that Walsh/Michaud had earned the assignment.

Walsh/Michaud were assigned to compete at the 2022 Four Continents Championships in Tallinn, where they placed second in the short program, taking a silver small medal. They dropped to third place in the free skate after jump and lift errors, winning the bronze medal overall. Michaud said afterwards that they had "been skating so well and training so well, and we're just disappointed that we couldn't fully show all of that today."

While the team's season was originally meant to be over, longtime training partners Moore-Towers/Marinaro withdrew from the 2022 World Championships due to Moore-Towers' mental health, and first alternates Walsh/Michaud were activated. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the World Championships. As well, the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier. As those countries' athletes comprised the entirety of the top five pairs at the Olympics, this greatly impacted the field. Walsh/Michaud placed eighth in the short program, sixth in the free skate, and sixth overall. Their placement, combined with the bronze medal for James/Radford, earned Canada three spots at the next year's championships.

End of partnership

Walsh and Michaud had been assigned to compete on the Grand Prix for the 2022–23 season, but on August 5, it was announced that she had decided to retire and focus on her university studies, while Michaud would seek to carry on with a new partner.

Partnership with Pereira

2022–23 season

Following a search, Michaud formed a new partnership with singles skater Lia Pereira. They made their competitive debut at the Skate Ontario sectional qualifier in November, winning the gold medal. Pereira/Michaud went on to win the final national qualifying event, Skate Canada Challenge. Pereira said afterwards that they were "just growing together, and each competition is a new learning experience." Shortly after that, they were assigned to make their international debut at the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. Fourth after the short program, they rose to third place in the free skate, winning the bronze medal and securing the international minimum scores to compete at future ISU championships.

Pereira/Michaud attended their first Canadian Championships, an event that was noteworthy as Pereira opted to continue competing in the women's event as well. They placed fourth in the short program, 1.01 points back of third-place Laurin/Éthier. They rose to third place after the free skate, winning the bronze medal, despite Michaud making errors on both of his jumping passes. He said he was "a little upset with myself" for those mistakes, but added there were still "lots of positive outcomes." They were named to the Canadian teams for both the 2023 Four Continents and World championships.

At the Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, Pereira/Michaud placed fourth in the short program with a clean skate. They were fourth in the free skate as well, the only error being Michaud doubling their planned triple Salchow. They both indicated that they were pleased with how the competition had gone, as they continued to gain experience. Concluding their season at the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Pereira/Michaud ranked sixth overall, the same ordinal that Michaud had achieved with Walsh the previous year. This included a notable fourth-place finish in the free skate segment of the competition. Michaud said that their "short season has been amazing."

2023–24 season

At their first competition, the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Pereira/Michaud came fourth, 0.07 points behind German bronze medalists Hocke/Kunkel. She commented after that the "whole experience was really enjoyable and we’re happy with both of our programs and the outcome."

Pereira and Michaud were invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2023 Skate America. She remarked on the occasion that "this time last year I was watching the Skate America pairs event to learn the pair rules, so to be here is pretty cool." They skated a clean short program, placing second in the segment. They were second in the free skate as well, despite Pereira botching her jump combination and putting a foot down on a throw jump, winning the silver medal. At their second assignment, the 2023 Grand Prix de France, Pereira/Michaud skated a clean short program with a new personal best score of 65.97, coming 0.66 ahead of the pre-event favourites, reigning European champions Conti/Macii of Italy. In the free skate, Michaud fell on the end of his jump combination and stepped out of his triple Salchow, but the team still set another personal best to win that segment as well, taking their first Grand Prix gold medal. Michaud said that "to know that what we've been putting into it is paying off is a super rewarding feeling."

The team's results qualified them to the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final in Beijing. Pereira/Michaud finished sixth in the short program after Pereira fell on their throw jump, which she called an "untypical" error. They were sixth in the free skate as well after a lift error, which Michaud said he was "annoyed" by, but "overall, we are pretty pleased." Pereira viewed it as a new experience for the team to be coming back after a disappointing short program.

Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix series, Pereira and Michaud opted to revise their "River" short program to a softer version with different choreography, based on feedback from judges and other coaches. They finished narrowly second in the short program at the 2024 Canadian Championships, narrowly behind reigning national champions Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps. Jump and throw issues in the free skate saw them more distantly second in that segment, winning the silver medal.

Programs

With Pereira

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2023–2024	River by Bishop Briggs choreo. by Alison Purkiss, Asher Hill	Slaves to Rome Honor Him Now We Are Free (from Gladiator) by Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard choreo. by Adrián Díaz, Madison Hubbell	Stick Season by Noah Kahan Lift Me Up (from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) by Rihanna
2022–2023	Where We Come Alive by Ruelle choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Singapore Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho (from Pirates of the Caribbean) by Hans Zimmer choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga

With Walsh

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2021–2022	Lost Without You by Freya Ridings choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Dreaming with a Broken Heart by John Mayer choreo. by Carol Lane, Juris Razgulajevs
2020–2021	Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Vai Vedrai (from Cirque du Soleil) choreo. by Eric Radford
2019–2020	Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi choreo. by Alison Purkiss Benny and the Jets by Elton John choreo. by Alison Purkiss	One by U2 performed by Cinematic Pop choreo. by Eric Radford
2018—2019	Come Together by The Beatles choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Romeo & Juliet by Abel Korzeniowski choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Show Me How You Burlesque (from Burlesque by Christina Aguilera
2017–2018	Take It All by Maury Yeston choreo. by Alison Purkiss The Light That Never Fails by Andra Day choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Can't Help Falling In Love by Hugo Pereth choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Instead
2016–2017	El Tango de Roxanne by Mariano Mores choreo. by Alison Purkiss	Rise Up by Andra Day choreo. by Alison Purkiss

With McLean

Season	Short program	Free skating
2015–2016	Writing's on the Wall by Sam Smith	Come What May (from Moulin Rouge!)
2014–2015	Ghost of Stephen Foster by Squirrel Nut Zippers	West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Pairs with Pereira

International
Event	22–23	23–24
Worlds	6th
Four Continents	4th	TBD
GP Final		6th
GP France		1st
GP Skate America		2nd
CS Golden Spin	3rd
CS Nebelhorn Trophy		4th
National
Canadian Champ.	3rd	2nd
SC Challenge	1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Pairs with Walsh

International
Event	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23
Worlds			12th	C	12th	6th
Four Continents			7th	6th		3rd
GP NHK Trophy						6th
GP Rostelecom				6th
GP Skate America			8th			8th
GP Skate Canada			5th	8th	C		WD
CS Finlandia				6th
CS Golden Spin						9th
CS Nebelhorn			7th
International: Junior
Junior Worlds	5th	6th
JGP Croatia		4th
JGP Estonia	11th
JGP Germany	5th
JGP Latvia		3rd
Bavarian Open	1st
National
Canadian Champ.	1st J	5th	2nd	2nd	C	2nd
SC Challenge	1st J.	2nd	1st	1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled Levels: J = Junior

Pairs with McLean

International
Event	2014–15	2015–16
World Junior Champ.		WD
JGP Germany	5th
JGP Poland		6th
National
Canadian Champ.	4th J	1st J
J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

Pairs with Murtha-Anderson

National
Event	2012–13
Canadian Championships	2nd N
N = Novice level

Men's singles

National
Event	2012–13
Canadian Championships	8th N
N = Novice level

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE system 

Segment	Type	Score	Event
Total	TSS	194.67	2023 Grand Prix de France
Short program	TSS	65.97	2023 Grand Prix de France
	TES	37.59	2023 World Championships
	PCS	29.93	2023-24 Grand Prix Final
Free skating	TSS	128.70	2023 Grand Prix de France
	TES	67.54	2023 Grand Prix de France
	PCS	62.16	2023 Grand Prix de France

With Pereira

2023–2024 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 8–14, 2024	2024 Canadian Championships	2 66.04	2 127.10	2 193.14
December 7–10, 2023	2023–24 Grand Prix Final	6 61.78	6 123.38	6 185.16
November 3–5, 2023	2023 Grand Prix de France	1 65.97	1 128.70	1 194.67
October 20–22, 2023	2023 Skate America	2 63.22	2 119.37	2 182.59
September 20–23, 2023	2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	4 62.38	2 126.56	4 188.94
2022–2023 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 20–26, 2023	2023 World Championships	6 65.31	4 127.69	4 193.00
February 7–12, 2023	2023 Four Continents Championships	4 65.16	4 121.17	4 186.33
January 9–15, 2023	2023 Canadian Championships	4 64.60	3 111.93	3 176.53
December 7–10, 2022	2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	4 61.13	3 115.75	3 176.88
Nov. 30 – Dec. 3, 2022	2022–23 Skate Canada Challenge	2 61.49	1 120.73	1 182.22

Senior results

2021–22 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 21–27, 2022	2022 World Championships	8 60.28	6 115.74	6 176.02
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	2 65.42	3 114.28	3 179.70
January 6–12, 2022	2022 Canadian Championships	2 66.88	2 119.64	2 186.52
December 7–11, 2021	2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	8 59.31	10 109.56	9 168.87
November 12–14, 2021	2021 NHK Trophy	6 56.97	6 111.01	6 167.98
October 22–24, 2021	2021 Skate America	8 54.03	8 93.58	8 147.61
2020–21 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 22–28, 2021	2021 World Championships	12 59.41	12 116.83	12 176.24
2019–20 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
February 4–9, 2020	2020 Four Continents Championships	6 62.97	6 114.61	6 177.58
January 13–19, 2020	2020 Canadian Championships	3 70.34	2 125.95	2 196.29
Nov. 27 – Dec. 1, 2019	2020 Skate Canada Challenge	2 63.04	2 116.34	2 179.38
November 15–17, 2019	2019 Rostelecom Cup	5 62.76	7 106.20	6 168.96
October 25–27, 2019	2019 Skate Canada International	8 56.09	7 108.57	8 164.66
October 11–13, 2019	2019 CS Finlandia Trophy	8 48.03	6 103.69	6 151.72
2018–19 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 18–24, 2019	2019 World Championships	12 59.84	12 114.56	12 174.40
February 7–10, 2019	2019 Four Continents Championships	6 61.91	8 97.14	7 159.05
January 13–20, 2019	2019 Canadian Championships	2 65.20	2 124.67	2 187.87
Nov. 28 – Dec. 2, 2018	2019 Skate Canada Challenge	2 56.24	1 104.42	1 160.66
October 26–28, 2018	2018 Skate Canada International	6 59.59	6 112.94	5 172.53
October 19–21, 2018	2018 Skate America	8 44.71	8 84.35	8 129.06
September 26–29, 2018	2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy	5 51.85	7 101.86	7 153.71

Junior results

2017–18 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
February 14–25, 2018	2018 World Junior Championships	Junior	5 55.31	6 103.65	6 158.96
January 8–14, 2018	2018 Canadian Championships	Senior	5 62.61	5 120.26	5 182.87
Nov. 29 – Dec. 3, 2017	2018 Skate Canada Challenge	Senior	2 62.30	2 114.60	2 176.90
September 27–30, 2017	2017 JGP Croatia	Junior	7 49.12	4 101.20	4 150.32
September 6–9, 2017	2017 JGP Latvia	Junior	5 50.15	1 103.58	3 153.73
2016–17 season
Date	Event	Level	SP	FS	Total
March 15–19, 2017	2017 World Junior Championships	Junior	6 51.93	5 98.81	5 150.74
January 16–22, 2017	2017 Canadian Junior Championships	Junior	1 56.22	1 99.51	1 155.73
Nov. 30 – Dec. 4, 2017	2017 Skate Canada Challenge	Junior	1 56.04	1 95.86	1 151.90
October 5–8, 2016	2016 JGP Germany	Junior	8 49.02	5 94.90	5 143.92
Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, 2016	2016 JGP Estonia	Junior	9 46.46	11 76.37	11 122.83

External links

• Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud at the International Skating Union
• Evelyn Walsh / Trennt Michaud at the International Skating Union
• Hope McLean / Trennt Michaud at the International Skating Union