Kaetlyn Osmond barely stopped smiling as she signed autographs, posed for pictures, and talked to reporters Saturday.
The Canadian teenager found herself in the spotlight after capturing gold at Skate Canada International in her first-ever Grand Prix appearance - and she didn't mind it at all.
"Not used to it. But definitely could get used to it," she said laughing.
The 16-year-old from Marystown, N.L., was virtually unknown before she won a surprise bronze at the Canadian championships last winter. Saturday, she fell once on her triple Lutz but skated an otherwise strong program to Carmen to win gold among a world-class field.
It was a good start to the day for the Canadian team, as Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir captured gold in ice dancing while Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won silver in the pairs.
Two-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto had to settle for silver, falling on his triple Axel en route to finishing second behind Javier Fernandez of Spain.
The 21-year-old Chan, who is known for his rocky starts to the season, has new choreographers, new programs and a new lead coach in Kathy Johnson, and said he wasn't dismayed by the result.
Chan landed his opening quad toe loop but touched a hand down on his second one in his program to La Boheme. He finished with 243.43 points overall.
Fernandez fell on his opening quad, but landed two more to finish with 253.94.
Nobunari Oda of Japan won the bronze.
Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, from Ilder-ton, scored 104.32 points for a debut of their free dance program to Carmen and scored 169.41 points overall for the win.
Osmond, looking older than her years in red dress and dark red lipstick, scored 115.89 for her Carmen rendition, and 176.45 overall.
Reigning world bronze medallist Akiko Suzuki was second with 175.16, while Japanese teammate Kanako Murakami was third with 168.04.
Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia, the leader after Friday's short program, had an error-filled long program to fall to fifth. Amelie Lacoste of Delson, Que., finished eighth.
Osmond is from Marys-town - population just over 5,000 - but her family moved to Edmonton when she was 10.
At this time last year she was barely on Skate Canada's radar. She began last season with just two triple jumps in her arsenal, but by the end had mastered almost all of them.
"I think most of it is my body maturing," Osmond said. "Everything has just been coming together a lot more. But I've also been putting a lot more effort into it."
After her bronze at the Canadian championships in Moncton, N.B., where she won the short program, Osmond opened this season with a victory at the Nebel-horn Trophy last month.
Canada hasn't had a woman win at Skate Canada since Olympic bronze medallist Joannie Rochette skated to gold in 2009. Her coach Ravi Walia knows hopes are high for a world-class Canadian female, but believes Osmond can handle the pressure.
"We've talked about that," Walia said. "She's still the same skater. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks she should be doing, it's what her and I think she should be doing."
Duhamel and Radford were just walking into the WFCU Centre when Osmond's medal ceremony was beginning.
"We felt really inspired," Duhamel said. "I think that gave us a little boost."
Skating to music from the British movie Angel, Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Toronto's Radford scored 126.00 points for their free program and 190.49 points overall.
The Canadians finished behind four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who scored 201.36 in a program that was more memorable for its costumes than the lifts and spins.
Skating to Bolero, made famous by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the Germans wore multicoloured bodysuits - they looked as if someone had tossed cans of red, yellow and black paint at them, like something from a modern art exhibit.
Italians Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek won the bronze with 172.03.
Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Brandon, Man., were fourth.
In ice dancing, Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte won the silver with 160.06.
Russians Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko won bronze.
