After three flights over a stressful 33 hours with numerous delays, Keegan Messing finally in arrived in Ottawa for Canada鈥檚 figure skating Olympic trials on Wednesday.
He was nearly a day late. His skates were still to arrive, in his luggage somewhere at Toronto鈥檚 Pearson Airport.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e staying mentally strong,鈥� Messing said on Wednesday, less than two hours after landing in Ottawa 鈥� too late to make the day鈥檚 practice at TD Place.
Messing, a dual citizen who lives in Girdwood, Ak., travelled from Anchorage to Seattle to Toronto to Ottawa, with his wife Lane Hodson and their six-month-old son Wyatt.
鈥淲e had about three or four cancelled flights (Tuesday), constantly getting rebooked and redirected. My wife and I actually got split up at one point,鈥� said Messing, who believes a combination of weather, plus the countless flights cancelled due to the recent crush of COVID-19, factored into his marathon trip.
Messing is one of Canada鈥檚 top figure skaters who鈥檒l begin their quest for a spot on the Beijing Olympic team on Friday.
The national championships are being held in front of no fans, and media is covering the event virtually due to the crush of COVID-19 cases in Ontario.
While the skaters lament the absence of fans, they鈥檝e at least become well-versed in curve balls. The world championships in Montreal in March of 2020 were one of the first international sports events cancelled due to the coronavirus, and it鈥檚 been much of the same since.
鈥淵eah, definitely unforeseen here,鈥� pairs skater Kirsten Moore-Towers said on the recent COVID-19 threat. 鈥淲e are super bummed that the crowd was removed from nationals. But obviously, we understand 鈥� we are grateful for the chance to perform at all.
鈥淐OVID has made us all so adaptable, this would have absolutely crushed us a couple years ago,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e really have learned to roll with the punches and appreciate what we do have. And though there is an element of bitter-sweetness to it, I think we just take these things as they come and we鈥檙e still really looking forward to the weekend.鈥�
Adding to the stress of vying for an Olympic berth is the spectre of COVID-19. A positive test at nationals could keep an athlete from competing in China, due to the timeline of pre-travel testing protocols.
Pairs skaters Vanessa James and Eric Radford, who contracted COVID over the Christmas holidays, decided Thursday they would compete in Ottawa despite having just four days of practice after being in isolation.
鈥淪o after 4 days of practice we are gonna just go for it. We will head to Ottawa for the Canadian Championships and give our best!鈥� Radford tweeted. 鈥淏oth Vanessa and I had negative antigen tests this morning and are feeling happy and healthy.鈥�
Radford talked earlier this week about how stressful the Olympic homestretch is at the best of times.
鈥淏ut now there鈥檚 this invisible minefield laid out in front of you over the next few weeks as you try to dodge COVID-19 and not become positive, while training for one of the biggest moments of your life. I think there are already stories rolling in of COVID-19 dashing Olympic dreams.鈥�
The U.S. championships this week in Nashville have already seen defending pairs champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier withdraw after he tested positive for the virus, amid reports of crowds of maskless people at the official athlete hotel.
French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, runners-up to Canada鈥檚 Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the 2018 Olympics, won鈥檛 compete at European championships in Estonia next week to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
Canada鈥檚 world ice dance bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier said they鈥檙e trying to keep thoughts of the virus on the back-burner this week.
鈥淲e know how big of a deal this is, and our Olympic dream could be taken away within days if something like this happens,鈥� Gilles said. 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 really look at it, because if you do that we鈥檙e going to drive ourselves absolutely crazy, and it鈥檚 not good mentally.鈥�
Canada has three spots in ice dance in Beijing, two spots each in pairs and men鈥檚 singles, and one in women鈥檚 singles.
It could be a tight battle for the two men鈥檚 spots between Messing, who was 10th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, Nam Nguyen and Roman Sadovsky.
Much of Messing鈥檚 preparation ahead of Ottawa was about minimizing contacts, to avoid the virus. He does his off-ice weight training at home, and his cardio on a backyard rink he built.
鈥� (COVID-19) definitely broadsided us, but you have to try and stay positive the whole time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the only thing you really can do, just hoping that the actions and at home and here help keep everyone safe.鈥�
Gilles and Poirier and Moore-Towers and her partner Michael Marinaro all said they鈥檝e greatly limited the people they鈥檝e been in contact with the past few weeks, travelling only between the rink, the grocery store and home. They all drove to Ottawa from Toronto rather than risk crowded flights.
鈥淏oth of us had very, very quiet Christmases,鈥� Gilles said.
Messing鈥檚 wife and son aren鈥檛 permitted to be at the rink during competition, but Messing said their presence in Ottawa this week is comforting.
鈥淲e bought the tickets a while ago, when it was much safer,鈥� said Messing, who turns 30 on Jan. 23. 鈥淲e talked about it a lot. Ultimately, it came down to my wife really wanted to come and support me. My little buddy gets his first trip to Canada. He did awesome and she was supermom, as always. She hit it out of the park. It was super cool and (Wyatt) handled such a rough journey so well.鈥�
The short programs in all four figure skating disciplines are Friday, while the free programs are Saturday. The Olympic team will be announced Sunday.
鈥擫ori Ewing, The Canadian Press
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