Canadian Figure Skating Championships 2024: Madeline Schizas, Gilles/Poirier halfway to respective third national titles
The 20-year-old Schizas is ahead of second-place Kaya Ruiter by some five points as she goes for a third national title in a row in Calgary. Pairs favourite Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps lead by a sliver.
Figure Skating
Two-time and reigning national champion Madeline Schizas leads after the women's short program at the 2024 Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, Alberta, on Friday (12 January).
Schizas, the Toronto-based 2022 Olympian, hit a triple Lutz-double toe-loop combination, triple loop and double Axel in her "Farrucas"/"Solea Grana" short, scoring a 63.63 to go into first.
Kaya Ruiter, 17, is second at 58.25. Ruiter won the silver medal at Canadians in 2023. Sara-Maude Dupuis rounds out the top three with a 57.87.
In the men's event, 18-year-old Wesley Chiu took the lead in an open field, leading Aleksa Rakic by 13 points off of a stirring short program, 88.98 to 75.49. Pre-event favourites Roman Sadovsky and Conrad Orzel are seventh and 10th, respectively.
In pairs, pre-event favourites Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps have less than a one point lead over Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, 66.86 to 66.04.
In the ice dance rhythm dance, two-time world medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are also halfway to their third national title,, skating to a 86.78 to lead the second-place duo of Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac at 78.00.
Schizas told Olympics.com earlier this season about her work with three-time Olympic champion Scott Moir, who helped to choreograph her short program.
Gilles and Poirier also spoke to Olympics exclusively, saying they feel as though they're in a "free" era in their competitive and creative processes after Gilles faced stage one ovarian cancer over the lst year.