Loucas Éthier

Loucas Éthier (born June 3, 2000) is a Canadian pair skater. With his skating partner, Kelly Ann Laurin, he is the 2022 Skate America bronze medallist and the 2024 Canadian national bronze medallist.

Personal life
Loucas Éthier was born on June 3, 2000. His mother, Sonia Gougeon, is an ice skating coach. He has also worked as a skating coach and completed a firefighting course.

Early years
Éthier began learning to skate in 2003. He placed eleventh in the junior men's event at the 2019 Canadian Championships.

He started skating pairs in partnership with Camille Audelin-Dubé. Laurin began learning to skate in 2011. In 2018, he teamed up with Kelly Ann Laurin. The two won gold in the novice pairs' event at the 2019 Canadian Championships.

2019–20 season
Laurin/Éthier appeared at one ISU Junior Grand Prix event, placing sixth in Poland. They became junior national bronze medallists at the 2020 Canadian Championships and were assigned to the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they finished fourteenth.

2020–21 season
Laurin/Éthier placed second in junior pairs at the Skate Canada Challenge, a qualifier for the 2021 Canadian Championships. The latter event was cancelled, along with many internationals, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021–22 season
The pair moved up to the senior ranks for the 2021–22 season. They placed sixth at the 2022 Canadian Championships.

2022–23 season
Making their senior international debut, Laurin/Éthier placed fifth at the 2022 CS U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. They were then invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Skate America. In a pairs field marked by the absence of Russian competitors as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Laurin/Éthier won the bronze medal, which he called "a big deal for us." They were seventh at Skate Canada International the following weekend.

Following the Grand Prix, Laurin/Éthier won the bronze medal at the 2022–23 Skate Canada Challenge to qualify to the 2023 Canadian Championships. They finished third in the short program at the national championships, but in the free skate they were overtaken by Pereira/Michaud for the bronze medal. Despite finishing fourth overall, they were named to compete at the 2023 Four Continents Championships. Laurin/Éthier finished seventh at the event, setting new personal bests in the process.

2023–24 season


Laurin/Éthier finished sixth at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to start their season. Appearing on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate Canada International, they came seventh of eight teams in the short program, but rose to fifth place overall following the free skate. Weeks later at the 2023 NHK Trophy, they placed seventh of eight teams in the short program with a difficult skate that Éthier called "one of the worst programs of our competitive career." They performed much more strongly in the free skate, coming sixth in the segment, though staying seventh overall. He said after that "we skated for ourselves and for redemption and just to prove to ourselves what we could really do after our short performance," adding that the event was "an unreal experience."

At the 2024 Canadian Championships, Laurin/Éthier came third in both segments and took the bronze medal, their first appearance on the senior national podium. They went on to place eighth at the 2024 Four Continents Championships.

The 2024 World Championships were held on home ice in Montreal. Laurin/Éthier, as Quebecois skaters, received a particularly notable reception from the crowds at the Bell Centre. Of this, he said: "Even if we described it, no one could understand. It was a very, very special feeling." The team came fourteenth in the short program, qualifying to the free skate. Fifteenth in the free skate, they finished fifteenth overall in their World Championship debut.

Programs

 * with Laurin

Pair skating with Kelly Ann Laurin

 * GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * JGP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
 * CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
 * C – Event was cancelled