Figure skaters set out to secure Olympic quota spots for Canada at world championships
Every world championship is important and a focal point for athletes. But in pre-Olympic years, they take on special significance.
That is especially true for figure skating.
The number of entries each country will have at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is directly related to the results at the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, taking place March 25-30 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Team Canada is headlined by two world championship medal-winning duos: reigning world pairs champions, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, and last year’s world silver medallists in ice dance, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. They’ll be joined by 10 athletes determined to make their country proud and take a big step towards achieving their Olympic dreams.
Who is representing Team Canada at the World Figure Skating Championships?
Team Canada is made up of three pairs, three ice dance teams, and one entry each in women’s and men’s singles.
| Pairs | Ice Dance | Women’s Singles | Men’s Singles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud Kelly Ann Laurin & Loucas Éthier | Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha Alicia Fabbri & Paul Ayer | Madeline Schizas | Roman Sadovsky |
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps are coming off a silver medal at the ISU Four Continents Championships where they had their best free skate of the season, rebounding from a very messy short program. Unlike last season, when everything seemed to come easy, they encountered a lot of “treacherous obstacles” on the long road to the world championships. They were forced to withdraw from the ISU Grand Prix Final in December when Deschamps became ill and was unable to train properly for several weeks. Then, a week before the Four Continents, Stellato-Dudek fell and badly bruised her glutes, preventing her from jumping until they arrived in Seoul.
“For us, the positioning will end up, as always, just a bonus. In reality, what we really want for us is just to go out there and be proud of what we’re doing and that will end up putting us where we need to be,” says Deschamps. “If we’re happy with what we’ve done, then we’ll be happy.”
Pereira and Michaud joined their compatriots on the podium at Four Continents, winning bronze for their first ISU Championship medal. They’ve finished in the top-eight in their world championship appearances the last two years. Laurin and Éthier are competing in their second straight world championships.
Gilles and Poirier won their second straight Four Continents title in February, defeating the two-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States. It was a welcome return to form for the Canadians, who had uncharacteristic falls in back-to-back events at the Finlandia Trophy and the Grand Prix Final. This will mark their 12th appearance at the world championships. They’ve been on the podium three of the last four years.
“We’ve been training so confidently since the end of the Grand Prix season, really things have gone to plan the way that we want to and we knew exactly how we wanted to develop the programs through the second half of the season. So, I definitely think we’re going into this event very confident and believing in our abilities, but I think that comes more to our preparations than anything else,” says Poirier.
Lajoie and Lagha, who finished fifth at last year’s worlds, took the bronze medal at Four Continents. They’re looking to challenge the usual podium contenders and continue to make their mark as one of the world’s top teams. Fabbri and Ayer, who train alongside Lajoie and Lagha, will be making their senior world championship debut.
Madeline Schizas is making her fifth straight world championship appearance. She previously dealt with the pressure of qualifying Olympic quota spots in her debut in 2021.
Roman Sadovsky will compete at the worlds for the third time in the last four years. He won the national title in January for the first time since 2020 and posted a top-10 finish at Four Continents.
How does Olympic qualification work in figure skating?
Countries can qualify a maximum of three entries in each figure skating event.
For countries with three entries in an event, only the top two results will count towards Olympic qualification. Countries that have two entries in an event must count both results. If the two placements add up to 13 or less (ex: 6th and 7th, 2nd and 11th), the country provisionally earns three spots in that event. If both placements total 14-28, the country qualifies two spots. A total greater than 28 qualifies only one spot, until the maximum quota being allocated via the world championships is reached.
For countries with only one entry in an event, a top-10 finish will provisionally qualify two spots. Any placement lower than that qualifies one spot, until the maximum quota being allocated via the world championships is reached.
A maximum of 19 pairs spots, 16 ice dance spots, and 24 spots in each of women’s and men’s singles will be allocated at the world championships. Quota spots will first be allocated to countries earning multiple entries in an event, followed by countries in line for one spot.
A country cannot directly qualify more Olympic spots in an event than the number of competitors it had in the respective free skate at the world championships. For example, if a country’s lone entry places in the top 10, which provisionally qualifies two spots, the second spot will not be awarded until it is earned at the ISU Figure Skating Qualifying Competition taking place in Beijing, China in September 2025.
READ: How Team Canada can qualify for Milano Cortina 2026
It is important to note that Canadian athletes cannot qualify themselves for Milano Cortina 2026 at the world championships. The athletes who will join Team Canada at the next Olympic Games will only become known following the Canadian National Skating Championships in January 2026.
“We’re a pretty strong unit of six, all three pairs,” Stellato-Dudek said during a pre-worlds conference call. “We all want to have all those three spots so that we can experience everyone as an Olympic teammate next year. So, that’s definitely in the back of our minds, but to me that doesn’t feel as much of a pressure, that feels more of a privilege to be able to help somebody else to achieve their Olympic dreams.”
What is the schedule for the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships?
Official practices will take place on Tuesday, March 25 before competition gets underway on Wednesday, March 26 and continues through Saturday, March 29. The event will conclude with the always exciting exhibition gala on Sunday, March 30.
Wednesday March 26: Noon ET – Women’s Short Program / 6:45 p.m. ET – Pairs’ Short Program
Thursday March 27: 11:00 a.m. ET – Men’s Short Program / 6:15 p.m. ET – Pairs’ Free Skate
Friday March 28: 11:15 a.m. ET – Rhythm Dance / 6:00 p.m. ET – Women’s Free Skate
Saturday March 29: 1:30 p.m. ET – Free Dance / 6:00 p.m. ET – Men’s Free Skate
Sunday March 30: 2:00 p.m. ET – Exhibition Gala
You can catch all the action from the comfort of your living room. CBCSports.ca will livestream the entire competition and provide some broadcast coverage on CBC Television.