TRURO - It was a bittersweet day Sunday at the 2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships for John Mattatall.
The 27-year-old Wallace native and his pairs partner Mylene Brodeur failed to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver by finishing fourth overall, in spite of turning in their best-ever performance together at the event over the weekend in London, Ont.
"Our goal wasn't to come here and finish fourth," Mattatall said Sunday. "Our goal was to finish third or better and to not get there is a bit of a blow."
The pair scored 60.33 in the senior pairs short program and 106.68 in the senior pairs free skate for a 167.01 overall The scores, their highest ever together, were good enough for fourth in each event.
Jessica DubÉ and Bryce Davison won the event, while Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay finished second to take the two Olympic spots. Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin came home third.
"We knew we were going to have some big obstacles to overcome," Mattatall said. "The other three are big teams to try to step over."
Nonetheless Mattatall said he was happy with their performance, which qualifies them for the Four Continents Championships in Jeonju, South Korea.
Following that event Mattatall said he plans to take some time away from skating and sit down with Brodeur to discuss their future.
"If she is interested in doing another year we'll see where we can go," Mattatall said. "If not then I'm fine with that and I may look at going back to school."
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