Meagan Duhamel

Personal life

Meagan Duhamel was born on December 8, 1985 in Sudbury, Ontario and raised in Lively, Ontario. She is of Finnish descent on her mother's side. She is studying holistic health. She became a vegan in December 2008. In July 2014, it was announced that she was engaged to Bruno Marcotte. The couple married on June 5, 2015 in Bermuda.

Early career

Duhamel began skating when she was three years old. At age 14, she moved to Barrie, Ontario to train at the Mariposa School of Skating.

Duhamel competed in both singles and pairs for several years. She teamed up with Ryan Arnold in the spring of 2004. They were the first skaters to perform a side-by-side triple Lutz jump in competition, which they did at the 2005 Canadian Championships. They ended their partnership in March 2006. Duhamel had a stress fracture and was off the ice for four months. She withdrew from both her Grand Prix events due to injury. She competed at the 2007 Canadian Championships and placed sixth; it was the last time she competed as a single skater. She was coached by Lee Barkell.

Partnership with Buntin

In June 2007, Duhamel moved to Montreal and teamed up with Craig Buntin. In January 2008, the pair won the bronze medal at the Canadian Nationals but during the exhibition Buntin injured his shoulder, with which he had previous problems, as a result of a timing issue. They missed the Four Continents but competed at the 2008 World Championships in Sweden on March 19, 2008, despite the shoulder still being a problem, and finished 6th. However, their participation aggravated Buntin's injury, tearing the rotator cuff, the labrum and three tendons; he had surgery in April and the recovery took seven to eight months. They could not practice lifts until two weeks before 2008 Skate America so they worked on adding variations to their elements, such as a spread eagle entrance into a lift and a death spiral with the opposite hand. In November 2008, during the long program at the Trophée Eric Bompard, Duhamel accidentally sliced Buntin's hand a minute into the program on their side-by-side salchow jumps and blood dripped on the ice; the pair stopped to get his hand bandaged and resumed the program to win the bronze medal.

In July 2010, Buntin announced his retirement from competitive figure skating. Having been through two stress fractures, a bulging disc in her back, and a nerve dysfunction in her leg, Duhamel also considered retiring but soon decided to continue competing.

2010–11 season

At a coach's suggestion, Duhamel had a tryout with Eric Radford and they decided to compete together. They won a silver medal at the 2011 Canadian Championships and were assigned to the 2011 Four Continents Championships and the 2011 World Championships. At Four Continents, the pair won a silver medal. During the short program at the 2011 World Championships, Radford's nose was broken when Duhamel's elbow hit him on the descent from a triple twist, their first element – she opened up too early. Seeing the blood, Duhamel suggested they stop but he decided to continue and they finished the program without a pause. Duhamel had not done a triple twist since 2005, and the new pair only began performing it before the Canadian Championships.

2011–12 season

In the 2011–12 season, Duhamel/Radford won bronze medals at their Grand Prix events, the 2011 Skate Canada and 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard. They won their first national title and finished 5th at the 2012 World Championships.

2012–13 season

The next season, Duhamel/Radford won silver at their Grand Prix events, the 2012 Skate Canada International and 2012 Trophée Eric Bompard. They then won their second national title and their first Four Continents title. Duhamel/Radford stepped onto the World podium for the first time at the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario where they won the bronze medal.

2013–14 season

In the 2013-14 season, Duhamel/Radford skated their short program to music composed by Radford. After finishing seventh at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, they returned to the podium at the 2014 World Championships, where they scored personal bests in both the short program and the free skate on their way to a second bronze medal.

2014–15 season

Duhamel/Radford practiced a quad throw Salchow during the summer of 2014. At the inaugural 2014 Autumn Classic International held in Barrie, Ontario, they successfully executed the quad throw Salchow and won the event. They were chosen to compete at the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 NHK Trophy in the 2014–15 Grand Prix season. They won both events and eventually won their first Grand Prix Final title. At the Grand Prix Final, they improved their personal best scores in the free skating and combined total. They continued their first place streak by winning their fourth Canadian title and their second Four Continents title.

2015–16 season

Duhamel/Radford began the 2015–16 season by winning the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic. Turning to the Grand Prix series, they won gold medals at the 2015 Skate Canada International and 2015 NHK Trophy. In December, they took silver behind Stolbova/Klimov at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona.

In January 2016, Duhamel/Radford won their fifth consecutive national title at the Canadian Championships. They withdrew from the 2016 Four Continents Championships in Taipei due to Duhamel's illness. In April, they competed at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, placing second in the short and first in the free. They were awarded the gold medal ahead of Sui/Han and Savchenko/Massot, who took silver and bronze respectively.

2016–17 season

Duhamel/Radford received the bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final in December 2016 before winning their sixth consecutive national title, in January 2017. In February, they took the silver medal behind Sui/Han at the 2017 Four Continents Championships. At the 2017 World Championships, held in March in Helsinki, Finland, Radford had trouble training due to a muscle spasm in his hip. The pair finished 7th at the competition.

Competitive highlights

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

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

(with Radford)