2025 Canadian Skating National Championships: Men

Roman Sadovsky (ON) dominated the Men’s field at the Place Bell, Laval, QC, winning his second national title. Anthony Paradis (QC), who was third last year, claimed the silver, while David Li (BC/YK) took the bronze in his senior debut at this event.

Absent from the event was last year’s champion Wesley Chiu (BC/YK) and Stephen Gogolev (ON) due to injury.

Roman Sadovsky

Sadovsky steadied himself through his short program set to soulful “Unconscious” by Charlie Winston and executed a quad Salchow (slightly underrotated) and triple Lutz-triple toe combination to earn a score of 81.44. His only noticeable error was a tumble on the triple Axel, but he earned a level four on all three spins. He was jubilant with the first-place finish.

“Yeah, definitely a strong short,” said the 25-year-old. “I was feeling definitely a little nervous. It’s Canadian Nationals, so feeling the jitters throughout, but I’m really happy with the opening. Maybe a little bit of hesitation on the Axel. I did feel that the take-off was a little bit flat, but I thought I thought I could squeeze it out, but it was not quite enough. Overall, strong skate, good levels, everything seems to be going in the right direction.”

Sadovsky addressed the mind games that the open podium can create given the withdrawals and illnesses in the senior men’s field.

“I mean, definitely these things come and go in your mind,” he noted. “And the reality is, it’s like you tell someone, ‘Don’t think about elephants,’ and then what are you thinking about? You’re thinking about elephants. So, it’s definitely a challenge to stay focused. I am trying to just let those thoughts come in and come out. And I don’t want to stay too focused on one thing. I don’t want to obsess over the outcome too much and just really focus on the step-by-step process of getting there. And obviously, I know the challenge this year: it seems for all of us, is staying healthy.”

The 2022 Olympian reclaimed his national title in Laval, Quebec with a nail-biting free skate set to Interstellar by Hans Zimmer. He opened with a quad Salchow, triple Lutz-double toe and triple Axel (underrotated), but later fell on a quad Salchow combo attempt. Nevertheless, 158.91 points was enough to carry him to first place and finish the event with a total score of 240.35.

“How did I do it? Got my head in the game,” he said. “Really trusted the training. Did the training. Had training. The biggest part is staying healthy and getting that training mileage. I knew Anthony had a great skate. The crowd energy was wild. It was so loud to the point where I couldn’t even hear the scores, for better or for worse, I don’t know. I really just tried to stay in the game, stay focused. Remembering to breathe is the biggest one and not letting any mistakes get in my way.”

The title represents a certain satisfaction for the veteran whose mercurial results have won him both fan adoration and acute criticism.

“It is very validating for me,” said Sadovsky. “I wish I can say public opinion doesn’t matter to me but at the same time, it does a little bit, no matter what. You can see something, and you can have a tough skin if you want, but no matter what, when someone openly says your deepest insecurities, you’re like, ‘Dude, I really didn’t need that confirmation,’ you know? But I am really happy I could pull it off today and it really is a steppingstone for the rest of the season.”

His long-time coach Tracey Wainman was brimming with pride in her athlete.

“I think he’s very well trained,” she said. “He was really ready coming into this competition and took one step at a time. He kept his focus with what he had to do here and got it done. So, I am very proud of that.”

Anthony Paradis

Paradis skated spectacularly in his short program set to “The Citrine Cross” and “The Demand of Man” to score 77.27 points. The hometown Laval audience roared as he completed each element. His combination was an impressive triple Lutz-triple toe with his arms over his head.

“I was really nervous going into it, especially in the warmup,” said the 17-year-old. “Seeing everybody in the stands and seeing how the crowd was really excited for everyone in the group, which I think is awesome. So yeah, so I was really nervous. I was trying to stay in the present. But yeah, overall, I’m super happy and super proud of myself!”

The 2024 national bronze medalist was most proud of his combination.

“In the warmup, it was a bit of a struggle but in the program, it was so good, so I’m super happy, and I’m proud of myself for trusting my training,” he said.

Dressed in a sleeveless white lace top and arm bands, all with red gemstone and pearl accents, Paradis showcased his distinct flexibility and dramatic flair in his free skate. He managed five clean triple jumps, including his opening triple Lutz-triple toe combination, to earn 148.29 points in the free skate. He finished the event with 225.56 points and won the silver medal, a step up from last year’s bronze.

“I feel so great. It feels amazing!” he said. “I’m so happy and proud of myself for achieving this. It was really something nerve-racking for me to come back after a strong short. I can’t even put words into it but yeah, I’m just so proud and happy with myself. I just had to focus a couple times, but it felt amazing overall. It was just such a joy to have everyone around me cheer for me.”

The skater felt that a second national medal acknowledges his unique interpretive style.

“It feels so nice,” said Paradis. “It feels, well, first, like a reward but just, self-affirming that what I am is beautiful and what I am is special and the fact that everyone can see it and can appreciate it. I feel so grateful and so proud of what I’ve achieved and what I’ve become as an athlete and as a person. So yeah, it feels amazing!”

David Li

Last year’s junior silver medalist sat in fourth after the short program but moved up onto the podium with a third-place free skate to The Red Violin’s suspenseful soundtrack. Li managed five clean triple jumps, including the triple Lutz-triple toe, triple flip-triple Salchow sequence and triple loop with expressive choreography woven in between. He earned 132.95 points in the free skate to finish with a score of 197.99.

“This year, I made some changes to my training location in and around August,” shared the 17-year-old. “So, I’m really happy that I was able to deliver a personal best even with some changes. I am training with Raf (Rafael Arutyunyan) in California, and Ravi (Walia) is just helping me, putting me on the ice. So, it’s a big personal best for me. I’m really happy for that. Getting my combinations done was a big relief!”

Grayson Long (ON) rose from ninth to fourth place overall (188.76), followed closely by John Kim (ON) (186.45) and Matthew Newnham (AB/NT/NU) (186.33).

Related Info:

• Full Results
• Competition Threads

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