Path forward for Canadian figure skating

[WanderlustTO]

I'm not very enthusiastic at this moment about where Canadian figure skaters are situated in any event. Not just at the senior level but also at the junior level.

Figure skating is cyclical, of course. But I'm worried that - across the board - we're less competitive technically and that will be hard to make up. To a degree, I'm fine with that - I'm happy that training/coaching elements we see from certain other countries are not part of our culture.

But still - i'm feeling a bit doubtful.

What are your thoughts? Going forward, what strengths do you think we have that will make us competitive and what areas of weakness do you think we have that we can cured through our domestic program?

 

[coppertop1]

We have lots of promising young skaters. Maddie shows promise. We have lots of promising pairs and L/L have a lot of potential. Don't write us off because this Olympic Cycle was disappointing.

 

[million$momma]

We have lots of promising young skaters. Maddie shows promise. We have lots of promising pairs and L/L have a lot of potential. Don't write us off because this Olympic Cycle was disappointing.

There are some promising young skaters but to say we have lots of promising pairs is pushing it. We have one junior team that has shown they can land 2A and 3T, 3S but no other team even has a reliable 2A. And how many were able to land a throw? To me this is not lots of promising pairs.

 

[Xela M]

Meagan needs to start coaching to bring back the tradition of Canadian pairs skating. It's really in the dump at the moment.

 

[shutterbug]

Although I’d really, really love to be wrong, realistically I don’t anticipate a much better outing in 2026 than we had this year. There may be a couple of bright spots in Maddie, and possibly L/L if they start progressing again, but we simply don’t have enough talent or numbers, particularly in pairs. A better showing in 2030 is possible if Skate Canada gets to work NOW developing skaters in the 13 - 17 age range. there will be more sponsorship $$$ available to make that happen if Vancouver does get the 2030 games.

 

[chantilly]

The only hope I have for Canadian figure skating is in dance, and even that is top 5-10 I’d guess.

The only hope I have in pairs is Nic Nadeau and that should say something.

As for Maddison, she’s a lovely skater but technically I don’t think she’s a contender for the top of the world.

Again top ten is doable, but she has to be clean and up her technical in the short.

Men’s? We will see if Phan and Gogolev can deliver, but it’s way to soon.

Quite frankly Canada also needs psychological or mental competition support pronto.

Honestly Canada seems to have issues with this for a while across most disciplines, although less in dance.

I agree we are shooting for 2030.

Having said that the last Olympics we had an incredibly strong team, strongest ever, and I’m not sure that will happen again in the rest of my lifetime.

 

[Xela M]

But historically Canada has always had strong pairs. I don't understand what happened to their pairs school

 

[skatingguy]

But historically Canada has always had strong pairs. I don't understand what happened to their pairs school

Many of our best skaters/couples who were supposed to be the top contenders for this past Olympic cycle had injury issues, growth issues, or just stagnated. Seguin/Bilodeau should have been the top team, or one of the top teams this past 4 years.

 

[chantilly]

But historically Canada has always had strong pairs. I don't understand what happened to their pairs school

Not sure.
I’m guessing it’s about money and the lack of interest in the sport.

The SLC scandal I think may have had an effect.

It’s my understanding that in NA at least, the interest in skating has dwindled since then.

 

[puglover]

Canada has come through one of the most restrictive reactions to the problems of the last few years in the world. Basically almost no competitions. We have the top dance school in the world and still some of the top choreographers as well as the Orser/Wilson team but they also are at the Olympics with a very cosmopolitan student base. I am not saying this is wrong or only in Canada but some countries keep their expertise for their own skaters, or a higher number of them. I guess I understood that Canada was going to go through a drought after PC but it is now becoming concerning. We have the know how - is it funding? - I wish they would put some of the sport's top heads together and really talk about the problems. Who wouldn't want their kids to play hockey after this week?

 

[Seerek]

At this point, I think legitimately competing for medals in individual events this decade isn't going to happen.

This might be controversial as it relates to singles, but I wonder if SC has the appetite to "import" some coaching from Japan/U.S. or sending athletes to these countries in a part or full time arrangement (Russia would be a nonstarter).

And in fairness, this dilemma is happening in other Winter sports in Canada to some degree. Bobsleigh/Skeleton/Luge is going through a similar crisis (some of it self inflicted, some of it generational).

 

[chantilly]

Canada has come through one of the most restrictive reactions to the problems of the last few years in the world. Basically almost no competitions. We have the top dance school in the world and still some of the top choreographers as well as the Orser/Wilson team but they also are at the Olympics with a very cosmopolitan student base. I am not saying this is wrong or only in Canada but some countries keep their expertise for their own skaters, or a higher number of them. I guess I understood that Canada was going to go through a drought after PC but it is now becoming concerning. We have the know how - is it funding? - I wish they would put some of the sport's top heads together and really talk about the problems. Who wouldn't want their kids to play hockey after this week?

Interesting points.

But wouldn’t you(not you specifically)think that our incredible performance at PC would bring a lot more skaters to the Canadian skating schools? Or inspire the up and coming teams to push themselves.

Anyway other than dance we haven’t had a stacked field in Canada.

And the other really big issue is how Canada has not kept up technically in all the other disciplines, other than dance.

 

[Rafter]

There are some promising young skaters but to say we have lots of promising pairs is pushing it. We have one junior team that has shown they can land 2A and 3T, 3S but no other team even has a reliable 2A. And how many were able to land a throw? To me this is not lots of promising pairs.

I completely agree with this. McIntosh/Mimar can land the stuff but they’re about it. Even then, they need so much work on skating skills, toe point, extension that I’m not sure about a senior career. They do have a decent 3twist though.

They were missing from the junior worlds camp too which raises some eyebrows.

 

[wickedwitch]

Seguin/Bilodeau should have been the top team, or one of the top teams this past 4 years.

S/B could have easily been challenging for a medal here.

 

[Rafter]

Meagan needs to start coaching to bring back the tradition of Canadian pairs skating. It's really in the dump at the moment.

Didn’t she get fired from coaching at the rink where her husband coaches?

 

[Rafter]

Men’s? We will see if Phan and Gogolev can deliver, but it’s way to soon.

The male with the biggest potential is Wesley Chiu. Phan has stagnated under Orser. Gogolev….who knows.

My opinion is Skate Canada put all their eggs in the 2018 basket (which got them 4 Olympic medals) and they haven’t been focused on having any depth below the very top skaters.

I read some article where Mike Slipchuk talked about how he was super happy with the depth of men below Messing. That comment makes me question him/Skate Canada and their leadership. Because there isn’t any depth in men (or pairs or ladies). The fact that their second best man didn’t even make the LP at Olympics should be a huge wake-up call.

 

[Rafter]

S/B could have easily been challenging for a medal here.

Sorry but I really don’t think so.

 

[Colonel Green]

This might be controversial as it relates to singles, but I wonder if SC has the appetite to "import" some coaching from Japan/U.S. or sending athletes to these countries in a part or full time arrangement (Russia would be a nonstarter).

That's not a federation decision, that's something athletes and coaches have to decide on for themselves.

 

[kwanfan1818]

When the official position is to support McLeod above almost all others, despite the glaring technical flaws and limitations of her students, I'm not sure we can expect much better.

 

[olympic]

I think CAN was massively gutted by retirements after 2018 and other issues: Every single top skater / pair (Chan, Osmond, D/R and V/M) along with no. 2 in some cases (Reynolds, W/P), and then some careers going sideways (Daleman, S/B and Iliushechkina's partner-switching), meant CAN wasn't going to field a team at these Olympics w/ much command or experience. I think the only legit medal shot was G/P, but CAN will get there.

I look at Schizas and she has a natural smoothness and jumping ability that will serve her well. It will be interesting to see if the gaps lessens between her, the skaters from JPN and KOR, and the RUS women due to the new scrutiny on how RUS is actually achieving those technical results. It may matter less in the future. I know nothing about CAN's upcoming skaters in the other 3 disciplines

 

[Rafter]

Now Radford has posted this:

Eric Radford on Instagram: "I can’t believe it’s over! So many incredible memories. One of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Should we just keep going for one more?🤔😄 #olympics #beijing2022 #incredible #beautiful #gratitude #figureskating #

8,185 likes, 220 comments - ericradford85 on February 20, 2022: "I can’t believe it’s over! So many incredible memories. One of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Should we just keep going for one more?🤔😄 #olympics #beijing2022 #incredible #beautiful #gratitude #figureskating...

www.instagram.com

 

[Rafter]

I think CAN was massively gutted by retirements after 2018 and other issues: Every single top skater / pair (Chan, Osmond, D/R and V/M) along with no. 2 in some cases (Reynolds, W/P), and then some careers going sideways (Daleman, S/B and Iliushechkina's partner-switching), meant CAN wasn't going to field a team at these Olympics w/ much command or experience. I think the only legit medal shot was G/P, but CAN will get there.

I look at Schizas and she has a natural smoothness and jumping ability that will serve her well. It will be interesting to see if the gaps lessens between her, the skaters from JPN and KOR, and the RUS women due to the new scrutiny on how RUS is actually achieving those technical results. It may matter less in the future. I know nothing about CAN's upcoming skaters in the other 3 disciplines

 

[Colonel Green]

My opinion is Skate Canada put all their eggs in the 2018 basket (which got them 4 Olympic medals) and they haven’t been focused on having any depth below the very top skaters.

Beyond the fact that whether or not there is depth is almost entirely outside the federation's control, they did try to develop more skaters, it's just that (outside of dance) pretty much all of those skaters didn't work out. Growth being the number one problem (seriously, it's borderline comical how many promising male skaters grew to be over six feet tall) followed by injuries.

I'd also say, a lot of these discussions seem to proceed as if the norm is for Canada to have a medal contender (or even multiple medal contenders) in all four disciplines, which is very much not the case, historically. Which isn't to say that this men and pairs aren't weaker right now than the historical norm (women's I'd say is back to the norm).

 

[skategal]

I’m interested to see how Nic Nadeau does in pairs.

He and Emma were only working on the triple twist for 2 weeks and it was already better than most other teams in Canada. (It was on Instagram stories a few weeks ago.)

 

[becca]

Now Radford has posted this:

Eric Radford on Instagram: "I can’t believe it’s over! So many incredible memories. One of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Should we just keep going for one more?🤔😄 #olympics #beijing2022 #incredible #beautiful #gratitude #figureskating #

8,185 likes, 220 comments - ericradford85 on February 20, 2022: "I can’t believe it’s over! So many incredible memories. One of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Should we just keep going for one more?🤔😄 #olympics #beijing2022 #incredible #beautiful #gratitude #figureskating...

www.instagram.com

I actually think they should not sure what the point would be for just the Olympic season

 

[Sonata]

Has Schizas actually said she wants to do another cycle? She is in university and has said she wants to pursue medicine. (We know that Rochette eventually pursued this, but she is from Quebec where no undergraduate degree is required to pursue medicine.) Bausback made a choice to retire. I don’t know about Schumacher, but she’s around the same age. Pointing this out because appears all the 2020 medallists are coincidentally at an age where they might decrease their skating time rather than continue full time if they decide to pursue post-secondary education.

I’m personally not against raising the age of eligibility for Olympics, but I feel like this will make a larger contingent of people decide to retire, due to lack of funding and life choices. A lot of people decide at 17-18 whether to go to university.

 

[Colonel Green]

Has Schizas actually said she wants to do another cycle?

Yes:

Once she gets back to Canada, there’ll be “a teensy tiny bit of rest,” and then training for the ISU World Figure Skating World Championships in Montpellier, France next month.

Schizas is gunning for a top-10 finish, 200-point score, and better skates than at her individual event in Beijing.

That would give Canada two women’s spots at Worlds in 2023, and fit with Schizas’ hopeful blueprint for the next four years, including a return to the Olympics in 2026 as a top contender.

“I’d really be hoping to challenge for a medal there,” she said. “My big goal, is just to really work my way up the ladder … starting with a top-10 finish at Worlds.”

 

[manhn]

Canada did pretty well these Games, particularly in terms of overall medals. But two sports stood out in terms of the country falling behind: figure skating and curling.

Going forward, I think the Danadians going top 5 is conceivable and L&L going too ten. With teams retiring, they and L&L will get more focused training from IAM. Dance should be good.

Pairs in Canada can really come out of nowhere. After 1998, no one heard of Sale and Pelletier. After 2010, no one heard of Duhamel and Radford or MTM.

I have no clue about the men or ladies.

 

[Rafter]

I’m interested to see how Nic Nadeau does in pairs.

He and Emily were only working on the triple twist for 2 weeks and it was already better than most other teams in Canada. (It was on Instagram stories a few weeks ago.)

It’s Emma.

They have so many elements to learn.

 

[chantilly]

Does Schizas have plans to add a quad or triple axel?

No offence, but it’s going to be hard without one.