Madeline Schizas admitted to feeling some pressure this week as the defending Canadian champion.
The 19-year-old from Oakville, Ont., who was the last woman to skate Saturday at the Tribute Communities Centre, held off the hard-charging Kaiya Ruiter to win her second national figure skating title.
鈥淚 knew that the skaters ahead of me had put pressure on me to put out a skate that maybe didn鈥檛 need to be perfect but did need to be a fight from start to finish. And that was difficult,鈥� Schizas said. 鈥淚 was standing backstage and I was like, 鈥極h gosh, this is not going to be a walk in the park.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 just happy that it was a fight from start to finish. The end of that program wasn鈥檛 easy but I pushed right to the end and I鈥檓 happy with that.鈥�
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen captured their first Canadian dance title despite a mishap on their final move when Fournier Beaudry鈥檚 long skirt caught under her blade.
And Deanna Stellato-Dudek battled through a nagging virus to win the pairs event with Maxime Deschamps.
Dressed in coral colours and skating to music from 鈥淲est Side Story,鈥� Schizas landed six triple jumps to score 128.15 points in her free program, for 196.47 overall.
Ruiter, a 16-year-old from Calgary, vaulted from sixth after the short program to the silver medal with the highest free-skate score of 129.82, and a total of 189.36.
鈥淥h my gosh, it feels absolutely incredible,鈥� Ruiter said. 鈥淚t was so unexpected and just to skate my best skate and win a medal on top of that 鈥� oh my gosh, I still can鈥檛 believe it.鈥�
Fiona Bombardier, the 17-year-old daughter of two-time Olympian Josee Chouinard, claimed bronze with 180.54 points.
Schizas won a legion of fans with her impressive Olympic debut last year in Beijing, where her short program in the team event propelled Canada into the final and eventually to a fourth-place finish.
She called her second consecutive Canadian title 鈥渟urreal.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think if you told me as a kid or if you told me in 2020 I was going to be a two-time Canadian champion, I would鈥檝e have bought into it 鈥� now here I am,鈥� Schizas said.
Ruiter was the 2020 Canadian junior champion at just 13, trouncing a field of skaters who were in most cases at least a couple of years older.
She would have been just old enough to compete in the Beijing Olympics, but a gruesome injury sidelined her for the season.
鈥淚 landed on my skate blade, and it went through and cut two of my calf muscles,鈥� Ruiter said. 鈥淚t was really rough, and then coming back from that 鈥� I had some scar tissue issues and nerve damage all throughout the summer.
鈥淪o, I only really started training again in September.鈥�
The national event determines Canada鈥檚 team for the world championships March 20-26 in Saitama, Japan.
Canada has just one berth in women鈥檚 singles.
While Schizas will earn that spot when the team is named Sunday, Ruiter looked forward to the world junior championship on home ice at Calgary鈥檚 WinSport Event Centre.
Montreal鈥檚 Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen, a Danish-Canadian, competed for Denmark before switching allegiances in 2018.
They scored 212.40 points despite their blunder, which they said cost them five points, to edge Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha by 0.6.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who won the Grand Prix Final last month, withdrew from the national championships after Gilles鈥� appendectomy.
Fournier Beaudry and Soerensen had the crowd gasping just three seconds before the end of their music when Fournier Beaudry鈥檚 blade got caught up in her four-pound skirt.
鈥淪o listen, we had a really good time. When it happened, I just started laughing because like this is ridiculous,鈥� Soerensen said. 鈥淵ou know, when you skate like that 鈥� the last words she told me right before: 鈥楴ik, just remember to enjoy every moment,鈥� because it goes by so fast when you鈥檙e out there.
鈥淲e train so hard for seven minutes of performance in front of a crowd, seven times a year 鈥� and with whatever mistake you do, we鈥檙e just really able to still enjoy and have a good time, because we鈥檙e humans, and it happens to everybody.鈥�
Stellato-Dudek, a 39-year-old who came out of retirement after more than a dozen years away from the sport, has been ill for nine weeks with a virus that causes her throat to swell. She and Deschamps scored 199.18 for gold, while Brooke McIntosh, sister of swim star Summer McIntosh, claimed the silver (187.26).
鈥淭hat was hard,鈥� Stellato-Dudek said through a raspy voice. 鈥淎lso, usually before a competition I鈥檓 really hyped up and I鈥檓 at 110 per cent and I鈥檓 just not right now 鈥� I鈥檝e never felt not 100 per cent at an event. I feel like I鈥檓 a Diet Coke, not a Coke, you know what I mean? So, I鈥檓 not giving us much caffeine or sugar or energy.鈥�
She said she was intent on competing to get her partner on the podium. Deschamps was competing in his 10th national championships 鈥� eight of them were with previous partners.
鈥淓veryone always focuses on my story, because it鈥檚 so abnormal. But Max has an amazing story also. And I really wanted to be the partner that brought him a gold medal,鈥� Stellato-Dudek said.
鈥淎fter all those years that I keep fighting, persevere and everything that finally I arrived there and to be able to win, it鈥檚 just fantastic,鈥� said the 31-year-old Deschamps. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the word right now perfectly to describe what it鈥檚 feeling right now.鈥�
The men鈥檚 singles free program was the final event Saturday.
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press
