“We’re very excited about this comeback,” said Moss. “While we’re keeping his identity under wraps for now, I think you’ll all be saying ‘hallelujah’ about this one.”įellow skaters have also been left in the dark about the returning skater’s identity. The men’s field, meanwhile, which in recent seasons has seen a strong rivalry develop between Keegan Messing, Nam Nguyen, and Roman Sadovsky, will be shaken up by the return of a legendary national and world champion and Olympic medalist. “We understand that Brian and Tracy may have some students competing in Beijing, but we have faith in their ability to prioritize what matters most,” said Moss.Īnticipate a tight contest in the ladies field, as young competitors like Madeline Schizas and Alison Schumacher will face off against 1988 Olympic silver medalist Liz Manley and, making her senior singles debut, 1964 Olympic pairs silver medalist and beloved Skate Canada commentator Debbi Wilkes. In ice dance, 1988 Olympic bronze medalist Tracy Wilson has teamed up with coaching partner and 19 Olympic men’s silver medalist Brian Orser, with the up-and-coming duo prepared to mount a challenge to 2021 world bronze medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The announcement of several new high-profile comebacks, however, is intended to bolster the field. “We have a forward-looking vision and believe that with the right combination of youth and veteran leadership, we can hold onto our spot at the top of the figure skating world.”Īfter the post-2018 retirements of decorated skaters like Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dance, Patrick Chan in men’s, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in pairs, and Kaetlyn Osmond in ladies, Canadian figure skating has been in what many observers of the sport have considered a rebuilding phase. “As we prepare to move ahead to next year’s Winter Olympics, we’re working to revitalize our field,” said Skate Canada Director of Elite High Achievement and Planning Snerdly Moss. In a bid to top its achievements at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, which included gold in the team skating and ice dance events and bronze in ladies and pairs, Skate Canada has announced the comebacks of several decorated competitors as part of its bid to reinvigorate the field in preparation for the 2022 Games in Beijing. When asked about plans for the next quad leading into the 2026 Olympics in Milano and Cortina, Moss paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Dunno,” he said, before grinning. “And that open-mindedness is how we’ll top this year.”Ĭanada Prepared to Field Strongest Team Ever for 2022 Olympics The skaters were gifted with prizes for their achievement: souvenir ponchos. “Medals rust when exposed to water, and these very obviously will not,” said Moss. “For our highest finishers in each discipline, we’ve also thrown in a live goat.” Moss was also pleased that the placements for several Canadian skaters meant those athletes didn’t appear in NBC’s primetime coverage. “We really want to preserve the integrity of CBC’s broadcast,” he said.

“It really just sharpened our vision for these Games and made us see more clearly what we could achieve,” said Moss. While the COVID pandemic, accompanied in many countries, including Canada, by rink closures and event cancellations, was felt as a significant challenge by most skating federations, Skate Canada saw it as another opportunity to make lemonade.

Skate Canada Director of Elite High Achievement and Planning Snerdly Moss. “This was our goal at the outset of the quad, and shaped our decision-making processes all along–where to invest, which skaters to send to internationals, and who to feature in promotional campaigns and super cool articles and stuff,” said

Skate Canada is celebrating a historic Olympic feat in Beijing, succeeding for the first time since the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics in missing the podium in all four skating disciplines, as well as the team event, introduced in 2014.

Canadian Skating Delegation Commemorates Historic Accomplishment

Dance twizzle