GATINEAU, Que. — One of the cool things about being in the sportswriting game (and there are many) is the opportunity to see the raw human stuff, right before your eyes. The emotions that boil over when athletes achieve a dream in perhaps an unexpected way.
So it was on Saturday night, when Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud started their post-skate chat with the media … then dissolved into a tear-filled bear hug when they realized they’d become Canadian senior pair champions for the first time since joining forces in August 2023.
(we detailed how this all started in one of the very first columns written on this Substack. You can read all of that goodness right here).
It was a surprising result, given that three-time defending champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps carried a 9.24-point lead into Saturday’s finale. But when they finished third in the free skate, Pereira and Michaud roared past them to the top of the podium.
“We were very happy with how we felt after this skate. Obviously, that (national title) throws it a little bit of even more happiness,” said the 29-year-old Michaud after the celebrations had subsided. “But we’re really proud of what we did this week and today especially, and just the work that’s gone into this season. So very excited.”
While they’d come here primarily focused on securing one of Canada’s two pair berths for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics — we’d say that’s a mere formality now — the national title is something Michaud in particular believed could happen when he teamed up with Pereira.
“I told her when we first started skating together that I think we’re going to be national champions one day,” said Michaud.
Pereira, 21, with little in the way of pairs experience when the partnership began, was up for all of that, even if she was a little disbelieving of what her partner was saying at first.
“I’ve known this guy for two weeks and he says, I can see the future (a lyric from their first short program), a bunch of gold medals,” she said. “I’m this 18-year-old, not confident little skater. And I was like, who is this guy, he thinks we can win? But you were right.”
Indeed, he was and while it took awhile — and their free skate Saturday wasn’t exactly flawless — the Canadian title is finally theirs. And that did it with a “Gladiator” program that they last used at 2024 Worlds in Montreal, and decided to dust off and revive for the second half of the season. For this night, at least, it proved to be the right call.
“It was like bringing back an old friend that we loved dearly. So we never felt like it fully got its grand (performance),” said Michaud. “So yeah, this is definitely on the way up to that, hopefully for even more.”
With a 135.03 free program score, Pereira and Michaud posted a 204.14 total, which gave them a 2.78-point edge over Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps (201.36). The bronze medal was earned by Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier (197.41), who earned the night’s second-best score (132.49) with their second straight stellar free skate.
For Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, it was an error-filled free skate that did them in on this night, and she later revealed she has been battling a stomach virus of some sort since they arrived in Gatineau on Wednesday. It took a major toll on Stellato-Dudek’s stamina and while they got through the short program Friday in rather good form, the much more taxing free skate was another story.
“I haven’t been able to keep food down for two days, so I’ve been feeling really weak. So I was like, I’m still going to try and when you go out there and you start … I didn’t feel so bad, but progressively got weaker as the program went on,” said Stellato-Dudek. “But these things happen, and we’re really happy for Lia and Trennt.
“I’ve been competing against them for a long time, but we’re still part of Team Canada. We’re still going to make the Olympic team. There’s still a lot of positives from this and hopefully, I can figure out whatever this bug is, get rid of it, and get back to training. It’s just an unfortunate circumstance that started really the day I arrived after dinner. I’m not sure if I got food poisoning or what … I felt like maybe it was a 24-hour bug, and it would go away, but it hasn’t stopped.”
Laurin and Ethier, meanwhile, came into nationals having accepted they had no real shot at the Olympic team. But by raising their total from last year’s Canadians by about 10 points, they put some heat on the teams above them. It’s exactly what they wanted.
“That was kind of what we wanted to do. We wanted to put pressure on the other teams … but in a good way,” said Ethier, 25. “It’s making us better because we have such good teams in Canada that it’s really hard to reach the top. So it’s making us better, trying to catch up.”
When the Olympic team is named on Sunday night, it’s a pretty safe bet that the names of Pereira and Michaud, along with Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, will be on the squad for Milan (and every one of them will be first-time Olympians).
Skate Canada’s team for the Four Continents Championships, to be held later this month in Beijing, will be announced Monday. Canada has two pair entries there but only four teams have the necessary technical minimums, and two are headed to the Winter Games.
That means the pair entries for Four Continents will be Laurin and Ethier along with Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, who finished fourth in Gatineau in their senior national debut.
It’s game on for the women’s title at the Canadian championships. And it might not even be a Canadian who wins the crown.
When the dust settled on Saturday, it was 16-year-old Minsol Kwon, a native of South Korea, who seized the lead in a tight competition in which a mere 1.59 points separate the top four contenders.
For those who don’t know … Kwon began competing domestically in Canada in the fall, having secured her release from the Korean Skating Union to do so. She is not cleared to compete internationally for this country and, even if she were, is not age eligible for either the Winter Olympics or the World Championships (she turns 17 next month).
She moved to Canada to both skate and continue her studies (she is a high school student in Toronto), a combination Kwon says is not possible in her homeland. She currently lives with her mother and brother, while her father and grandparents remain in Korea.
This weekend obviously marks her debut at a national championships in Canada and Kwon — skating in the second-last group — became the ultimate wild card with her brilliant short program that earned 66.51 points and held up throughout the final group of six.
“I didn’t expect I would get first place, but I’m really happy for that and I’m really thankful for everything,” she said.
There is a single Canadian Olympic berth at stake here as well — not exactly minor stuff — and while Kwon isn’t eligible for that, a trio of top contenders are in the mix and they are currently tightly bunched, with a mere 1.40 points separating them. Meaning a lot of drama awaits in Sunday’s free skate final.
And maybe one terrific story, if Gabrielle Daleman — a two-time national champion who had her previous two seasons essentially wiped out by injuries — ends up pulling this off. The 27-year-old from Toronto sits on top of the group of Olympic contenders at 66.32, with the slimmest of margins over Sara-Maude Dupuis (65.74) and three-time Canadian champion Maddie Schizas (64.92).
Dupuis, for one, isn’t surprised it’s this tight.
“I knew these girls, all of these girls would come in and skate their best, and I knew I had to skate my best, too,” said the 20-year-old Montrealer, who is seeking her first Canadian title. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I expected, to be honest.”
For Daleman, just being here with a chance to win her first national crown in eight years — which would set a record for longest gap between Canadian titles — was a victory in itself, given where she’s been. And yeah, it was pretty emotional stuff for a skater who is known for wearing her heart on her sleeve.
“I’m getting emotional now. I was definitely emotional after this skate. No one knows the struggle that it took to get back here,” she said. “I’m truly just proud of myself for being where I am, because it’s not easy, and I’m just so grateful to get to do what I do every day.”
“I’ve missed skating on home ice at Nationals, and it’s just so good to be back.”
All eyes were on Schizas heading into these nationals, with her being the prohibitive favourite to land the Olympic spot — and her favoured “Lion King” short program back in her arsenal. All seemed off to a roaring start with the soaring triple Lutz-triple toe combination that usually signals it’s going to be a good night if she nails it.
And it was — until the timing was off on a triple loop that suddenly became a double. It was the kind of mistake that meant the difference between first and fourth spot in the standings for Schizas.
“It was a silly mistake,” said the 22-year-old from Oakville, Ont. “Of all the ways to lose five or six points, I’ve got to tell you that was not my favourite way to do it.”
Only three women in this field even attempted the triple Lutz-triple toe combo in the short program, which is the gold standard among the top women’s skaters in the world. With that in her repertoire, Schizas believes it gives her a critical edge in the Olympic team chase.
“It’s worth a ton of points and in my opinion, that’s why I should be named to the Olympic team, because I can do that combo jump, and I showed it today, and I’m really happy with that,” she said. “I don’t think I will repeat that triple loop mistake. And I’m looking forward to showing a great free skate tomorrow, which I know I can do.”
Dupuis, of course, has a weapon nobody else in this event has in their arsenal — the triple Axel, which she unleash Sunday in front of an audience in Quebec that has been fervently supporting its home province skaters. She is the only Canadian woman ever to land one in competition, and Sunday would be a great time to do it again.
“The long (program) is a different game. The short is more do or die,” she said. “The long you get to show a bigger extent of your work, and I can show my triple Axel, too, which is a big trick that I’m really excited to show the audience. So it’s a different mindset. It’s more of a marathon than a race, but I’m ready for it.”
The Canadian championships wrap up on Sunday at the Slush Puppie Centre, with medals being awarded in the women’s and ice dance events. Sunday night, the Canadian Olympic team selections will be announced. Event times Sunday (start orders are here):