Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada went home with a silver medal from last weekend’s Humana Skate America in Allen, Texas. The duo were happy with their results in Allen, Texas, especially since they spent the summer coping with shoulder and back injuries for Lagha, and also had a subpar start to their season at Ondrej Nepela Trophy in September. Now that they’ve won silver at their first Grand Prix, the team have a chance to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final if they place well at their next Grand Prix event, Cup of China. Lajoie and Lagha spoke with reporters in the mixed zone at Skate America to discuss their performances, preparation for Skate America, and more.

– After practice at Skate America –

Q: How do you feel about your progress since your first competition at Ondrej Nepela, where you placed 5th?

Lagha: We’ve progressed a lot over the past two weeks. Now we’re just going to do our best and see what happens. You go to early competitions to get feedback and see if your performance [level] is enough. Obviously, it wasn’t.

Q: Zak, you had a couple injuries this summer. How did that affect you? 

Lagha: There was a short period of time when I wasn’t able to train, like two weeks. Then when I came [back], we couldn’t do a lot of stuff we [normally] can do. I couldn’t lift her at all. It was not cool. Because we were so ready to train mentally, but physically, we couldn’t. But we stayed strong mentally, and now we’re ready.

Q: Marjorie, what training did you do while Zak was recovering?

Lajoie: I did a lot of solo training. The programs were finished [by then], so I did a bit of the programs alone. But it’s never the same.

Q:  Did Romain Hagenauer choreograph your programs this season?

Lagha: Yes, both programs. We worked with a lot of people [on rhythm dance], but Romain did the big picture.

Q:  Zak, you went on a trip to Cuba during the off-season, how was that?

Lagha:  It was amazing. I stayed at a resort, and I went to the beach. I also went to visit Havana and learn a bit about the history of this country. I love Cuba.

Q: Marjorie, I saw on your IG that you got a new dog.

Lajoie: Yes! I got a new cat and a new dog. The off-season for me was new pets. [Laughs] 

Q: How many pets total do you have now?

Lajoie: My boyfriend and I have four pets. And at my parents’ place, they also have four pets. 

– After rhythm dance –

Lajoie: We really needed this one. We died [while performing the rhythm dance]. But it was worth it.

Q: Do you feel more pressure now being in the top group of ice dancers?

Lagha: No. We just want to show our skill and what we can do.

Q: Your rhythm dance is set entirely to “Thriller.” It’s a bit unusual to have the whole dance set to one song. Why did you choose that approach?

Lagha: We didn’t want to do a medley. That would be like: ‘Look, we’re doing a Michael Jackson program.’ In our mind, we’re doing “Thriller” [as the whole theme].

Q: Is “Thriller” one of your favorite Michael Jackson songs?

Lagha: Yes. I think it’s the best music he did of all time.

– After free dance –

Q:  How do you feel after your free dance?

Lagha:  We’re very, very happy. I think we were both very, very nervous before [the program]. But, when there’s so much stress, we understand that we need to just connect with each other. That there’s nothing else going on in the world, besides us two. And I felt like we are very connected. It’s a funny feeling–when you do all your elements, the more you go toward the end, the more you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, it’s almost finished, and we’re doing good.’ Then the last few seconds–the last push–do your best. I was very happy. 

Lajoie:  Yes. It was really, really fun, because we could really connect, like Zak said. Because we were really stressed [beforehand]. And we just saw the technical [TES scores], and it was pretty good, too. So it was a pretty good feeling today.

Lagha:  A very good feeling.

Q:  What are some of the emotions you wanted to focus on, or show, in the free dance?

Lagha:  I feel like we wanted to … well, I wouldn’t say enjoy the moment. To be honest, I’ll tell you a secret … I don’t think anybody enjoys skating on the ice during the competition, because you’re so nervous. And it’s like a mental fight, you know? You need to stay strong [during] this time. So I think it was just to do [skate] like the practices. Sometimes I think, ‘Just skate like you did when you were junior.’ Which is, you don’t think at all, and you just go. 

Lajoie:  On automatic pilot. That’s what I said in the last interview [after Ondrej Nepela]. I was like, I can’t wait to go back to training and make sure it doesn’t happen again [i.e., disappointing performance]. And I feel like that’s what we did.

Lagha:  We did.

Lajoie:  To be able to deliver the same thing that we trained in the short [rhythm dance] and in the free [dance], it’s a good feeling.

Q:  What do you want to work on to prepare for Cup of China?
Lagha:  I feel like the short [rhythm dance]. The technique [TES], of course, in the short [rhythm dance], we need to work on stuff. Maybe we need to change a few things. And the lines in the short program, I think is what we really need to focus on. The free is already okay; it’s not bad. We just need to keep working on it, as usual, so everything gets bigger and bigger and bigger. But I think mainly it’s going to be the short.

Note: Featured photo at top by Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating