2-time defending champ Schizas leads after short program at Canadian figure skating championships
.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
Two-time defending women’s champion Madeline Schizas led after Friday’s short program at the Canadian figure skating championships in Calgary, scoring 63.63 ahead of Kaiya Ruiter’s 58.25 and Sara-Maude Dupuis in third at 57.87.
“I thought the performance was good,” Schizas said. “I felt like I really gave my all in the performance side. The tech elements were not all there.”
Schizas would be the first woman to claim three consecutive wins since Joannie Rochette capped a run of six in 2010. Watching Rochette skate her short program at the 2010 Olympic Games en route to a bronze medal inspired a seven-year-old Schizas.
WATCH l Schizas tops women’s short program:
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., sits in first place after scoring 63.63 in the women’s short program at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships.
Two-time world ice dance bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier posted a top score of 86.78 in the rhythm dance.
The duo returned to the Canadian championship after withdrawing from the 2023 edition as Gilles underwent cancer surgery to remove an ovary.
Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac ranked second with 78 points just ahead of Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer with 77.75.
WATCH l Gilles, Poirier sit 1st after rhythm dance:
.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
Toronto’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier score 86.78 in the rhythm dance at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships.
Defending pairs champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps led by less than a point after a rough short program in which Stellato-Dudek face planted while landing their throw.
“We’ve done probably close to like 100 throws in the past three weeks working on them a lot,” Stellato-Dudek said.
Lia Perieira and Trennt Michaud skated a clean routine to trail by .82 heading into Saturday’s free skate.
Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier ranked third just over four points off the lead.
“We’re really proud of ourselves,” Perieira said. “We changed our music after (Grand Prix) final and we have new outfits, so it felt like kind of a new season debut for us midway through the season.
“We were really excited to put that out in front of a crowd today.”
WATCH l Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps lead pairs competition:
.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps lead the pairs competition at the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships with a score of 66.86.
The men’s competition was the most wide open of the four disciplines heading into Friday evening’s short program.
There’s a Canadian men’s figure skating title to be claimed, or reclaimed, with the retirement of two-time champ Keegan Messing (2022, 2023).
Roman Sadovsky, who won it in 2020, last year’s runner-up Conrad Orzel, two-time bronze medallist Wesley Chiu and 2019 silver medallist Stephen Gogolev are among 2024’s contenders.
Canadian champions in men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance will be crowned after Saturday’s free skates at WinSport Arena.
Watch live coverage of the Canadian figure skating championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
