Madeline Schizas defends Canadian title in Gatineau
2026 Canadian National Skating Championships: Women
Madeline Schizas (ON) defended her title at the Canadian National Champions on Sunday in Gatineau, QC. Gabrielle Daleman (ON) settled for silver, while Minsol Kwon (ON) earned the bronze in her debut at this event.
Skate Canada announced that Madeline Schizas was selected to represent Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics next month. While the Korean Skating Union released Kwon for domestic competition in Canada, she is not yet eligible to represent Canada internationally.
Madeline Schizas
Schizas had a strong start in her short program to music from The Lion King. She produced a triple Lutz-triple toe and double Axel but then doubled a loop which received no value. While she earned a level four on all spins and footwork, the mistake was costly, and she placed fourth with 64.92.
“It was a silly mistake,” the 22-year-old said of the mistake on the loop. “Like, all the ways to lose five or six points. I got to tell you that that was not my favorite way to do it. Not an error that I’ve done, and also not an error I can see myself repeating.”
But the three-time Challenger Series medalist was happy with the triple Lutz-triple toe.
“Let me tell you, that is such a hard skill,” Schizas said of the jump. “Like, I can do a triple toe-triple toe in my sleep, but a triple Lutz-triple toe is hard! I’m really happy I did it. It’s worth a ton of points.”
The three-time and current national champ gave one of her best free skates on Sunday, landing a total of seven clean triple jumps. The only noticeable error was a popped double Axel. Her elegant routine to Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto also featured level-four footwork and layback spin. She placed first in this segment and soared to first place overall (135.94 / 200.86).
“You know, I have a thing for doing single axels at nationals,” said Schizas. “For, like, this would be, like, five years in a row of a couple of single Axels to cap off my national’s performance. So. Consistency. Like, I haven’t lived down the ones from 2020 yet.”
“I’m so excited to be going to a second Olympics,” she added. “The first one was obviously COVID. I’m really excited I’ll have my family there. My aunts and uncle are coming. My parents are coming. So, I’m really, really excited that they’re all going to be there.”
Gabrielle Daleman
Daleman placed second in the short program with 66.32 points. Her routine to “Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge! featured a triple toe-triple toe and double Axel, but she stepped out of a triple Lutz. All spins and footwork were deemed a level four, however, and she earned high GOEs for her combination jump.
The skater admitted to being very emotional after her three-year hiatus due to injury.
“No one knows the struggle that it took to get back here,” said the 27-year-old. “It was…I’m truly just proud of myself for being where it is, because it’s not easy, and I’m just so grateful to get to do what I do every day. The crowd was phenomenal. I’ve missed skating on home ice at Nationals, and it’s just so good to be back.”
The two-time national champion made a number of mistakes in her free skate to music from Samson and Delilah. She doubled the front end of a triple Lutz-triple toe and stepped out of a triple loop and double Axel. However, she fought through and managed four clean triple jumps and two level-four spins and footwork. She placed second in this segment with 129.03 and maintained second overall with a total score of 195.35.
“At the end of the day, it took a lot of guts and a lot of courage for me to come back,” said the 2017 World bronze medalist. “Was that the skate I wanted? No. Was it a bad skate? Also no. I fought through the entire program. I’m not going to lie. There was a hell of a lot of pressure.”
“It was great competition,” added Daleman. “She (Schizas) killed it. She knocked it out the park, well deserved. And I’m honored to compete against Maddie again and be back at Nationals. At the end of the day, I’m very proud of myself. I wanted the spot. Didn’t get it. But the tears at the end were not just heartbreak. I was extremely proud. I was not able to get out of bed a year ago. I wasn’t walking a year ago. And now, I’m now again on the National podium.”
Minsol Kwon
Kwon delivered a beautiful short program to “On My Own” which featured a triple flip-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz. The only glitch was an edge call on the triple Lutz. She otherwise picked up many positive grades of execution (GOE) on all other elements while earning a level four on two spins. She placed first in this segment with 66.51 points.
The 16-year-old produced a delightful free skate to “Invierno Porteño” and “Yo Soy María” that was highlighted by quality spins and footwork. Both triple Lutz jumps received an edge call while the front end of a triple Salchow-double toe was underrotated. She also slightly underrotated the back end of her opening triple flip-triple toe, but landed a clean triple loop and triple flip. She finished third in this segment and overall (126.67 / 193.18).
“It was really good!” said Kwon. “I was really happy. This season, I prepared really hard. I’m really honored to get a medal in Canadian Nationals this season. I’m really thankful for the audience. They gave me more power and energy during the program.”
“I think the most important thing is I need to work on my large edges,” she added. “Because it’s my large edges, but sometimes it’s the wrong edges.”
Megan Woodley (ON) placed fourth overall (178.46), followed by Lulu Lin (ON) (174.94), Reese Rose (ON) (174.43), and Sara-Maude Dupuis (QC) (169.95).
Katherine Medland Spence (ON) placed 10th in the short program but subsequently withdrew.
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