Zachary Lagha
Zachary Lagha is a Canadian ice dancer. With his skating partner Marjorie Lajoie, he is the 2020 Canadian national silver medalist.
On the junior level, he is the 2019 World Junior champion, the 2016 Youth Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2018 JGP Canada champion, the 2017 JGP Croatia champion, and a three-time Canadian national junior champion.
Personal life
Lagha was born on April 15, 1999, in Greenfield Park, Quebec. He studies in Human Sciences and also studies piano, entering musical competitions in the skating off-season. In June 2018 he won a scholarship after winning first round and getting to the final at the prestigious Canadian Music Competition. Lagha is currently a student in CEGEP.Skating career
Early years
Lagha began learning to skate in 2004. He teamed up with Marjorie Lajoie in 2011. They won the novice title at the 2015 Canadian Championships, coached by Julien Lalonde, Mylène Girard, and Valérie Allard in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.2015–2016 season: Junior debut
Following their novice title win, the two ended their partnership, later stating that at the time they had different ideas. Subsequently, Lagha transferred to train with Marie-France Dubreuil, who encouraged them to reunite in the summer of 2015. They then moved to train with Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer, and Pascal Denis in Montreal, Quebec. Making their junior international debut, they placed seventh at a Junior Grand Prix event in early October 2015 in Logroño, Spain.In January 2016, Lajoie/Lagha were awarded the junior silver medal at the Canadian Championships, after placing fourth in the short dance and second in the free. The following month, they placed fourth in the main competition at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway. Competing as members of Team Discovery, they won the bronze medal in the team event. In March, they ranked eleventh in the short dance, thirteenth in the free dance, and thirteenth overall at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
2016–2017 season: First national title
Competing in the 2016 JGP series, Lajoie/Lagha placed fourth in Yokohama, Japan, and Dresden, Germany. At Skate Canada Challenge 2017, they broke the Canadian record in Junior ice dance, held since 2005 by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. They won the junior national title at the 2017 Canadian Championships. In March, they placed fifth in the short dance, seventh in the free dance, and sixth overall at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.2017–2018 season: Second national title
Lajoie/Lagha opened the 2017 JGP series with a silver medal win at the JGP Australia event in Brisbane. They went on to win gold at JGP Croatia in Zagreb, setting new personal bests in the short dance and combined total score. These results qualified them for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. Lajoie sustained a concussion and a hip injury as a result of a fall in practice. After a month recuperating, she returned to training two weeks before the Junior Grand Prix Final, where the duo placed sixth.Lajoie/Lagha defended their junior national title at the 2018 Canadian Championships, breaking their own Canadian record. They closed out the season at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. They placed second in the short dance, earning a silver small medal, but placed fifth in the free dance, resulting in them placing narrowly off the podium in fourth place. Lajoie commented: "The free dance went super well for us. We were in the moment and managed the stress. We achieved our goal by being in the mix for a spot on the podium."
2018–2019 season: Junior World title
After some debate over their free program music for the year, Lagha proposed Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto, which was subsequently adopted. Desiring not to do a classical tango for the rhythm dance, Lajoie and Lagha picked a medley of songs by the contemporary Argentinian group Otros Aires.Lajoie/Lagha began the 2018 JGP series at the JGP Austria event in Linz, winning the silver medal. The team's choreographic character step sequence was ruled invalid, costing them points. Lajoie expressed dissatisfaction with the performance, stating "the presentation was good but there’s a lot of work to do at the technical level." They took gold at JGP Canada, scoring personal bests in both segments, breaking again the junior Canadian record, and qualified to their second Junior Grand Prix Final. At the Final the duo placed fourth, 0.03 points behind bronze medalists Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Nikita Nazarov, following a 1 point deduction for an extended lift.
At the 2019 Canadian Championships, Lajoie/Lagha won their third consecutive junior title, a national record. Their margin over silver medalists Alicia Fabbri / Paul Ayer was 21.14 points. As a "test run" for the World Junior Championships the two then competed at the 2019 Bavarian Open, an event they had won silver at two seasons prior, this time winning gold, 24.7 points ahead of silver medalists Fabbri/Ayer.
Concluding the season at the 2019 World Junior Championships, Lajoie/Lagha placed first in the rhythm dance, setting a new junior world record of 70.14. They were awarded a gold small medal for the result. They then won the free dance as well, setting new world records for that segment and for total score, taking the World Junior title. Lajoie/Lagha were only the second Canadian team to win World Junior gold in ice dance, the first being Virtue and Moir in 2006. Lagha said that rewarding after a number of disappointing results in the previous two seasons.
2019–2020 season: Senior debut
Lajoie/Lagha began their senior career with two Challenger events. They placed seventh at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy, which Lajoie described as a disappointment following twizzle errors by her in the free dance. They next came fourth at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy, missing the podium by less than two points due to an invalidated choreographic character step. Despite that, Lajoie called the result "a big step up for us." Making their senior Grand Prix debut at the 2019 Skate Canada International, they placed seventh in the rhythm dance and then moved up to sixth following the free dance. Competing at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, they placed seventh after struggles in the rhythm dance.With training mates and presumptive silver medalists Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen sitting out the 2020 Canadian Championships, Lajoie/Lagha were in competition with Soucisse/Firus for the silver medal. Both teams made errors in the rhythm dance, with Lagha bobbling on his twizzle sequence, but they nevertheless placed second in the rhythm dance. Clean in the free dance but for Lagha stumbling in a choreographic sequence, they were second in that segment as well and won the silver medal, earning assignments to both the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships in their home town of Montreal.
Competing at Four Continents in Seoul, Lajoie/Lagha placed fifth in the rhythm dance with a new personal best score of 76.43, an increase of over five points internationlly. They unexpectedly placed ahead of American national bronze medalists Hawayek/Baker, who fell out of their lift. They placed behind Hawayek/Baker in the free dance, but remained in fifth place overall, again recording significant improvements in their free dance and total scores. Lagha said afterward "there was not one time this season yet when we skated without any major mistakes. Even at nationals there were some stumbles, but now we finally did two good performances."
Though scheduled to make their World Championship debut, this was prevented by the cancellation of the Montreal World Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both reported being disappointed, but Lajoie added "our season before this was very good, so it’s not the end of the world."
Programs
| Season | Rhythm dance | Free dance |
| 2019–2020 |
by Leonard Bernstein choreo. by Romain Haguenauer, Marie-France Dubreuil, Ginette Cournoyer | by Queen choreo. by Romain Haguenauer, Marie-France Dubreuil, Ginette Cournoyer |
| 2018–2019 |
choreo. by Romain Haguenauer |
choreo. by Romain Haguenauer |
| Short dance | ||
| 2017–2018 |
|
|
| 2016–2017 |
by Wilson Pickett | by Sergei Rachmaninov |
| 2015–2016 |
| by Ludwig Minkus
|
| 2014–2015 |
| |
| 2013–2014 | by Quincy Jones |
Records and achievements
- They became the first junior team to score above 70 at 2019 Junior World Championships.
Junior world record scores
Competitive highlights
CS: Challenger Series; GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix; with Lajoie