Olympic quota spots were secured at the World Figure Skating Championships where Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were absolutely sterling. Eliot Grondin achieved a major career milestone by becoming a world champion, while Reece Howden finished the season as the top male ski cross racer on the World Cup circuit. Plus, Cassie Sharpe put a bronze bow on her comeback season in ski halfpipe.

Read on for the details behind those headlines.

Figure Skating: Gilles & Poirier win silver at worlds

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier collected a second consecutive silver medal at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. In their 12th world championship appearance together, they scored 130.10 in the free dance for an overall total of 216.54 to finish second behind now three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States.

READ: Gilles & Poirier skate to second straight ice dance silver at World Figure Skating Championships

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished seventh overall with a total score of 200.41. Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer made a promising world championship debut, qualifying for the free dance to finish among the top 10 teams in the world. All together, those results mean Canada has qualified three ice dance teams for Milano Cortina 2026.

READ: Team Canada qualifies seven Olympic spots at World Figure Skating Championships

In pairs, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps fought hard in the free skate and finished in the top five with a total score of 199.76. Having entered the worlds as the defending champions, they bounced back from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the short program

“Wednesday was very disappointing, especially since our mistakes occurred in elements where we are excellent,” said Stellato-Dudek. “We wanted to come back strong and rebound. We had nothing to lose and had to fight until the very end. […] We were so far behind after the short program, all we could do was give it our all and that’s what we did.”

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished 11th overall, which means Canada has earned two pairs spots for the next Olympic Games. Canada’s third pair, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier, finished 16th overall.

READ: Figure skaters set out to secure Olympic quota spots for Canada at world championships 

Madeline Schizas delivered a career-best finish at the world championships, finishing 11th in the women’s event. After an impressive sixth-place standing following the short program, Schizas poured everything into her free skate, however, a few small errors prevented her from staying in the top 10. Her total score of 190.79 marked a new season’s best.

“I’m a little disappointed, but these things happen,” said Schizas. “There was a lot of pressure today and I’m still satisfied with the way I skated. It wasn’t perfect, but I feel like I was well prepared. I perhaps had a little less speed and that got reflected in my program.”

Roman Sadovsky put together two of his best programs in some time, earning a season’s best total score of 240.38 to finish 14th overall.

Snowboard Cross: Grondin adds world title to his resumé

Éliot Grondin won his first senior world championship title in men’s snowboard cross at the 2025 FIS Snowboard World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland on Friday. It is his second medal at the worlds following a bronze in 2021.

“I had a pretty good start and I was battling with the guys in the pack, and I just decided to stay patient and build speed,” Grondin said. “They had a bit of contact, so I think that helped me.”

READ: Éliot Grondin captures world championship title in snowboard cross

The 23-year-old sits comfortably atop this season’s World Cup standings with a 141-point lead over his closest competitor, Loan Bozzolo of France. The Crystal Globe will be awarded at the final World Cup event of the season, fittingly taking place on home snow for Grondin, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, April 4-6.

Ski Halfpipe: Sharpe wins world championship bronze

Cassie Sharpe earned her first world championship medal since 2019, taking bronze in women’s ski halfpipe at the 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Engadin, Switzerland.

READ : Cassie Sharpe wins halfpipe bronze at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships

The two-time Olympic medallist needed a big second run to get onto the podium. She scored 88.00 to jump over compatriot and fellow Olympic medallist Rachael Karker, whose first run score of 86.25 left her in fourth place overall. It caps a remarkable comeback season for Sharpe, who took two years away from competition, during which she became a mom.

Dillan Glennie and Amy Fraser both advanced to the final but did not start. The top Canadian in the men’s ski halfpipe final was Brendan Mackay who finished seventh.

Ski Cross: Howden gets hands on third Crystal Globe

Reece Howden won both of the final men’s ski cross events of the season in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, earning him the Crystal Globe. Those were his sixth and seventh World Cup victories of the season, bringing him to 18 for his career. It is the third time in five years that Howden has topped the World Cup standings.

READ : Reece Howden wins Crystal Globe in ski cross

Courtney Hoffos also ended the season on a high, earning two hard-fought second place finishes in the immediate aftermath of her silver medal at the world championships. She had five podium performances on the World Cup circuit this season, all of which came since the start of February.

Despite being unable to race in Idre Fjäll after suffering a small fracture to her sternum at the world championships, India Sherret finished the season third overall in the World Cup standings.

Aerials: Pair of near podium performances at world championships

Alexandre Duchaine just missed out on the podium at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, finishing fourth in men’s aerials. His score of 105.21 in the second final round was just 1.91 points back of the bronze medal. It is a career-best world championship performance for the 20-year-old.

Marion Thénault finished fifth in women’s aerials with a score of 90.15 points in the second final round. She had posted the top score in the first final round, earning 104.31 for her triple twisting triple flip, but was unable to land it as cleanly in the second final round.

Ski Big Air: Two Canadian women in top 5 at worlds

Olivia Asselin and Megan Oldham both finished in the top five of women’s big air at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. Asselin had a total score of 167.00 for her best two of three runs in the final, putting her in fourth place. She missed the bronze medal by just 0.75. Oldham, who had won slopestyle bronze a week earlier at the worlds, finished fifth overall with a score of 162.00.

Snowboard Halfpipe: Hosking in top seven at worlds

Elizabeth Hosking finished seventh in women’s halfpipe at the FIS Snowboard World Championships. The silver medallist from the 2023 Worlds was in fifth place after scoring 79.50 in the first run. But she was unable to improve her position when she fell during her second run and eventually dropped two spots in the standings. Brooke D’Hondt also made it to the final where she finished ninth overall based on a first run score of 74.75.

Rugby: Canada takes bronze at Hong Kong SVNS

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team won bronze at the Hong Kong SVNS after defeating France in the third-place playoff game on Sunday. The season-best result for Canada moved the team into fourth place in the overall SVNS Series standings, confirming their spot among the eight women’s teams that will compete in the SVNS World Championship in May in Los Angeles.

Canada started the final day of competition with a semifinal matchup against the eventual champions, New Zealand, who got a 41-0 win. The Canadians rebounded quickly, delivering a thrilling 21-17 victory over France. Sabrina Poulin’s try in the 11th minute, which was converted by Taylor Perry, put Canada ahead for good.

The team now heads to Singapore for their next SVNS Series stop taking place April 5-6.

That total includes three ice dance teams, two pairs, and one entry each in women’s singles and men’s singles. 

Earning three spots in ice dance, Canada qualified the maximum number of entries possible in a discipline. Two criteria had to be met for that to be achieved at the end of the world championships. Firstly, the second-place finish by Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier and the seventh-place finish by Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha added up to less than 13 points. Secondly, Canada’s third entry, Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer, qualified for the free dance, placing them in the top 20 in their world championship debut.

READ: Gilles and Poirier skate to second straight ice dance silver at world championships

“We’re so proud of ourselves!” said Gilles after winning their second straight silver and fourth career world championship medal. “We wanted to be at the top of the podium, so it’s a bit of a disappointment, but we can’t be that disappointed because we skated two wonderful programs. We skated with joy and with our hearts. The Olympic Games are approaching and our eyes will still be on the top step of the podium.”

“We’ve been working on these routines for a year, and everything fell into place and developed just as we wanted it to,” added Poirier. “It’s incredible! We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and can’t wait to build on this momentum going into the Olympic Games.”

Two Canadian pairs will compete at Milano Cortina 2026, thanks to the final placements of Canada’s top two teams at the worlds. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps finished fifth while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished 11th, adding up to 16 points. Though they collectively came short of the goal of retaining three pairs spots for the Olympic Games, a points total between 14 and 28 got Canada two spots. The third Canadian team in Boston, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier, finished 16th but their result did not factor into Olympic qualification. 

READ: How Team Canada can qualify for Milano Cortina 2026 

In the women’s event, Madeline Schizas earned a career-best 11th-place finish at the worlds. That was one spot shy of getting Canada the opportunity to qualify a second Olympic spot in the event. In her fifth world championship appearance, Schizas gave one of the best short program performances of her career, putting her in sixth place and the final flight for the free skate. Though she was unable to hold onto a spot in the top 10, she came very close to her personal best score. 

“I’m a little disappointed, but these things happen,” said the three-time Canadian champion. “There was a lot of pressure today and I’m still satisfied with the way I skated.”

“I am generally happy with what I have shown and I am proud to have been able to skate in the last group today,” she added.

In the final event of the world championships, Roman Sadovsky finished 14th in the men’s event. He moved up five spots from his placement last year with a season’s best score in the free skate. 

No Canadian athletes have yet been nominated to those Olympic spots. That won’t happen until after the Canadian National Skating Championships in January 2026. 

Qualification for the Olympic team event will continue through the ISU Grand Prix Series and Final this coming fall. The 10 qualified countries will be announced in December 2025. 

Skating their free dance to Annie Lennox’s version of “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” the Canadians scored a second-best 130.10 points for a total of 216.45. This is their 12th world championship appearance together. The veteran ice dance team had entered Saturday’s competition in second place and held steady to finish there.

“There was a lot of energy!” said Poirier after their rhythm program. “We enjoyed our program, we had refined it a lot in training and we knew exactly what to do on the ice. […] Last year, we took a big step forward and it was a nice surprise for us. This year our expectations are very high and it’s very exciting!”

Gilles and Poirier finished behind the American team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who claimed their third consecutive title on Saturday with 222.06 points. Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson took bronze with 207.11.

Meanwhile, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished seventh overall with a total of 200.41, highlighted by the fifth-best rhythm dance score of 81.77. The third Canadian team in the competition, Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer, made a promising debut, finishing in the top 20 with a score of 170.88.

The combined placement from Canada’s top two teams helped the country retain three provisional ice dance spots for Milan Cortina 2026.

Gilles and Poirier had also finished second behind Chock and Bates at last year’s world championships in Montréal, despite winning the free dance. The four-time Canadian champions, who earned worlds bronze in 2021 and 2023, bested the Americans at last month’s Four Continents Championships in Seoul, setting the stage for their much-anticipated rematch at the worlds this weekend.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps head to Boston as the reigning world pairs champions. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are three-time world medallists in ice dance who took silver last year. 

READ: Figure skaters set out to secure Olympic quota spots for Canada at world championships

While neither duo has experienced smooth sailing in the year since those career highs, both feel confident in their abilities to perform at the most pressure-packed competition of the season. 

Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps happy to finally be healthy

“Every year is like climbing a different mountain and this year has had a lot of treacherous obstacles in our way that we were not expecting,” Stellato-Dudek told media during a pre-worlds conference call. 

Indeed, how their season has played out so far is completely different from what they experienced en route to the world title on home ice in Montreal a year ago. They did win both of their Grand Prix events in the fall, but struggled to put together clean short and long programs at the same competition. 

They had to withdraw from the Grand Prix Final in December after Deschamps came down with a fever that lasted four days. He was unable to train properly for several weeks, which impacted their preparation for the national championships in January. They won their third straight title, but on the strength of their short program after placing second in the free skate.

“Last year we had no illnesses. We had no injuries. This year it’s been like sickness after injury after sickness after injury,” said Stellato-Dudek. 

They had hoped to be fully healthy at the ISU Four Continents Championships in late February, but it was not to be. Stellato-Dudek suffered a hematoma and bone bruise when she fell right onto her glutes in a practice session, preventing her from doing jumps and throws in the week before they flew to Seoul. 

“So that was its own challenge, gearing up to go there and keeping the courage and the confidence that I could still do it,” she explained, mentioning she was “terrified” to try a triple toe because she didn’t know how much it would hurt. After the first attempt, she decided she could deal with the pain. 

But her jumps weren’t the only things affected. She struggled to hit the right position in the back outside death spiral, a required element in this year’s short program. They got a lower level of difficulty on it, and thus a lower score, than they had all season. 

That “very, very messy” short program at Four Continents put them in fourth place. But that “worst case scenario” also made it easier for them to approach the free skate with a more relaxed mindset, which resulted in their best long program of the season, the silver medal, and an important lesson learned. 

“We’ve been trying to utilize that type of freeness and having that freedom in practice as well in the runthroughs. Because as we’ve been saying, practice all year has been going really well. It’s been the competitions that have been a little bit harder for us. So, at some point, it has to translate and maybe we just needed to relax a little bit, like we were in the free program at Four Continents in order for that to occur,” she continued. 

“Just let it go, just let the skating happen,” added Deschamps. 

They’re also mindful of just letting the results happen, recognizing that they can’t control how their competitors perform. 

“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 then that will end up putting us where we need to be. We want to do the best, and if it’s not, if we’re happy with what we’ve done, then we’ll be happy. And then if we want to do better next year, in case we’re not winning or whatever, then we’ll sit, see what we need to do to get better, get more points,” said Deschamps. 

“If we’ve done two really good programs, that’s going to feel like we won anyway,” added Stellato-Dudek. “Whatever the placement ends up being, we’ll work for next year to improve what we can, but really it’s about getting off the ice and being content with yourself, which we have not been able to do in both programs yet all season.”

Gilles & Poirier rested and ready to continue their roll 

Heading into their 12th world championships together, Gilles and Poirier have experienced just about everything. But this season presented them with challenges they hadn’t encountered in recent years. 

Things started off well with a win at Skate Canada International. But a fall in the free dance at Finlandia Trophy kept them off the top step of the podium at a Grand Prix event for the first time since 2021. There was more tough luck at the Grand Prix Final when a fall in the rhythm dance took them out of medal contention. 

After their unexpected fifth-place finish, they finally found the time to really look at how they were going about things. 

“I think the way that our season was set up, we were kind of running around and didn’t have time to develop the programs the way that we wanted to. So we really had time after the Grand Prix to take a proper break and also just take some time to make some adjustments to the programs and expand them where they needed to be expanded,” said Poirier, noting that they had a much earlier start to this season compared to the two prior when they didn’t begin working on programs until the middle of the summer. That change made them “quite tired” by mid-December. 

“I think more than anything, it’s been nice to have a little bit more space between the events to rest and take care of ourselves,” Poirier added. 

READ: Gilles & Poirier aim to tango to the top before dancing onwards to 2026 Winter Olympics

They won their fourth national title in January in dominant fashion and then had four weeks to prepare for the Four Continents where they faced the two-time reigning world champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, and came away with the gold medal. 

That result had the figure skating fandom buzzing as it indicated that the ice dance event at the world championships would perhaps not be as predictable as many believed it would.  

READ: Gilles & Poirier defend Four Continents title

“We’ve learned a lot coming out of nationals, going into Four Continents,” said Gilles, noting that they had a similar four-week window to prepare for the worlds and tried to do the same number of runthroughs. “We have really just mimicked what we did there because we felt confident and strong and we felt like by the time we got to Four Continents we were rested and ready to push. So we’ve had a few tough weeks, a few kind of easier weeks, and a few extra days off to just make sure that our body [is] where it should be at worlds.” 

But they’re also relying on everything a decade-plus skating together has brought them. 

“We’ve learned over the years that being trained is important, but not over training is even more important. Many years we’ve gone into worlds and we’re overtrained and haven’t skated our best because we felt dead by the time we got there. So I think we’re really confident in the preparation that we have for this event this time,” said Gilles. 

They’re also looking forward to competing in Boston again. When the city last hosted the world championships in 2016, Gilles and Poirier experienced a breakthrough moment in their careers, finishing fifth in what was then called the short dance. 

“It’s kind of fun to be able to kind of envision a special moment like that and hope to create another memorable moment there,” said Gilles.

Competition at the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships begins Wednesday, March 26 and runs through Saturday, March 29. 

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. 

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.

Four medals were won at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, led by Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier defeating the defending world champions. Sprint speed skating star Laurent Dubreuil hit a major career milestone with two World Cup silver medals, while Elizabeth Hosking gave the home fans in Calgary a thrill with her return to the snowboard halfpipe podium.

Here’s a quick look back at those and more great moments from the weekend.

Figure Skating: Two double podiums at Four Continents Championships

Canadians stood on two steps of both the pairs and ice dance podiums at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

On Friday, reigning pairs world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps responded to a disappointing fourth-place performance in the short program with a season best free skate to move up and claim the silver medal. Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud had their two best performances of the season to win bronze for their first ever medal at an ISU Championship.

READ: Canadian double podium in pairs at Four Continents Championships

On Saturday, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won their second consecutive ice dance gold medal at the Four Continents Championships, this time defeating two-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates. A season best rhythm dance put Gilles and Poirier into the lead. They held onto first place by 0.53 after the free dance, in which they also earned a season best score, but still have room to grow with regards to the levels on some of their technical elements as they look towards the world championships in March.

READ: Gilles and Poirier defend Four Continents title, Lajoie and Lagha claim bronze

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha won their second career ice dance bronze medal at the Four Continents Championships, adding to the one they earned in 2023.

Roman Sadovsky made his case to be Canada’s lone representative in the men’s event at the world championships. The reigning national champion finished 10th for the second straight year. Sarah-Maude Dupuis was the top Canadian in the women’s event with her own 10th place finish. National champion Madeline Schizas finished 12th.

Long Track Speed Skating: Two 500m silvers for Dubreuil

Laurent Dubreuil placed second in both men’s 500m events at the ISU World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. That means he has finished on the podium in four straight events at that distance.

On Friday, he clocked in at 34.73 seconds, finishing 0.24 back of 20-year-old American phenom Jordan Stolz, who has won seven of nine 500m World Cup races this season. Dubreuil reached a major milestone with his 40th career individual World Cup podium.

On Sunday, Dubreuil had to deal with a false start, but still got off the line quickly and stopped the clock in 34.70 seconds. He was 0.18 shy of the winner, Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Koshkin. Dubreuil sits second in the 500m World Cup standings with two more races to go at next weekend’s World Cup finale in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Also on Sunday, Ivanie Blondin took bronze in the women’s mass start for her first World Cup medal in that event since the season opener in November. She then teamed with Carolina Hiller and Béatrice Lamarche to win silver in the women’s team sprint.

Snowboard: Hosking lands on halfpipe podium in Calgary

Elizabeth Hosking claimed her first podium of the year, finishing third in snowboard halfpipe on home snow at the FIS World Cup in Calgary.

Hosking was the lone Canadian to reach a halfpipe final at the Snow Rodeo. Her score of 79.25 on her third run of the final put her onto the podium behind Japan’s Sena Tomita (90.75) and American Maddie Mastro (85.25). This is Hosking’s third career World Cup podium, with her last also coming in Calgary in February 2023. This has been a comeback season for her after she missed all of 2023-24 due to injury.

READ: “That fire hasn’t left”: Snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking wants to reach new heights in the halfpipe

In slopestyle, Laurie Blouin was the lone Canadian in the women’s final and finished 11th. Three Canadians qualified for the men’s final. Truth Smith finished 13th, ahead of Liam Brearley in 14th and Cameron Spalding in 16th.

Moguls: Mikaël Kingsbury and Julien Viel ski to podiums

Mikaël Kingsbury finished second in moguls at the FIS World Cup in Beidahu, China on Friday. It’s his ninth podium of the season and 138th of his career. Kingsbury’s score of 85.91 in the super final left him just 0.66 back of one of his top rivals, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who earned his third straight World Cup victory.

“I tried to push in the super final and it was close. I don’t have the words right now, but I’m happy with what I did. It’s another podium, even though I would have preferred to win”, Kingsbury said.

Two other Canadians reached the final, with Julien Viel placing sixth and Sam Cordell finishing eighth.

Viel got onto the podium in the dual moguls on Saturday, finishing third after defeating American Nick Page in the small final. It’s his second podium of the season after finishing second in moguls at home in Val St-Come at the end of January.

“It definitely feels good, because yesterday I got 5th place and I was expecting a little more. Today, I got my revenge and I’m really happy,” Viel said.

Ski Jumping: Abigail Strate flies to podium in Austria

Abigail Strate took third place in the second women’s normal hill event at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Hinzenbach, Austria. The day after her 24th birthday, she scored 226.6 points on Sunday for her fifth career individual World Cup podium. It’s her first individual podium since she earned three straight in January 2024. Strate had finished eighth in Saturday’s first normal hill event of the weekend.

“It feels really good. I wasn’t trying to expect anything but being in third after the first round, I haven’t been in that position this year, so it was a bit stressful,” said Strate. “Today, I decided I was going to go for it. It either works or it doesn’t. In a top sport like this the margin is so small you can’t be half in.

“I have been playing it safe this year, but I reached the point where I said ‘we are doing it. I know I can do it.’ I proved that to myself in training and qualis this weekend.”

Alpine Skiing: Crawford top-six in World Cup downhill

Jack Crawford finished sixth in his first FIS World Cup downhill race since his historic win in Kitzbuehel last month.

Racing in Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps, Crawford finished with a time of 1:56.91, just 0.03 seconds back of fourth place, but 0.42 from a podium spot. Franjo Von Allmen took the win to lead an all-Swiss podium.

Crawford currently sits in fifth place in the Crystal Globe downhill standings. Saturday’s result is his sixth top-10 finish of the season and was his fifth in a row.

The Canadian women were in Sestriere, Italy. Britt Richardson finished 11th in the giant slalom for her second best result of the World Cup season. Ali Nullmeyer was 11th in the slalom for her best World Cup result since March 2024.

Aerials: Fontaine close to first individual podium of season

Miha Fontaine earned his best individual FIS World Cup result of the season, finishing fourth in men’s aerials in Beidahu, China. Fontaine’s score of 112.67 in the super final put him just 3.26 back of a podium position. Alexandre Duchaine just missed advancing to the six-man super final, placing eighth in the first round of the final.

On Monday, Duchaine joined with Marion Thénault and Lewis Irving to finish fourth in the mixed team event.

Ski Slopestyle: Two top-six finishes in Stoneham

Canada’s top slopestyle skiers were competing on home snow in Stoneham, Quebec over the weekend. Olivia Asselin led the way with her fifth-place finish in the women’s final. Three Canadians made the men’s final, led by Evan McEachran‘s sixth-place performance. Charlie Beatty and Max Moffatt finished 15th and 16th, respectively.

It has indeed been 15 years since Joannie Rochette was at the centre of one of the most compelling stories in Olympic history at Vancouver 2010. Her composure as she experienced an incredibly devastating life event at the same time that she was pursuing the perfect climax to her athletic career was nothing short of remarkable. 

“Vancouver was definitely a tough one for me. There were many great moments with the Canadian team, but losing my mom just two days before my competition really put a damper on everything. That said, I was so lucky to be in Canada, surrounded by people who cared for me. Despite that, I still have good memories,” Rochette recalled in January just after her induction to Skate Canada’s Hall of Fame. 

“We celebrated the 10-year anniversary with all the athletes [in 2020], and that helped soothe my heart, being able to share that moment, in a more peaceful state of mind.”

By the time the women’s figure skating competition was set to begin during the second week of Vancouver 2010, Team Canada as a whole was enjoying unprecedented success and the home fans were not shy about showing their Canadian pride.

Rochette had arrived at her second Olympic Games as another strong medal hopeful for the host nation. After all, she was the reigning world silver medallist. She had also established herself as a skater capable of combining difficult technical elements with an artistry appreciated by fans and judges alike. 

But whatever Rochette had envisioned was forever changed when early in the morning of February 21, 2010, her father, Normand, had to deliver the heartbreaking news that her mother, Thérèse, had passed away suddenly after suffering a heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver. She was only 55 years old. 

It was just two days before Rochette was to compete on Olympic ice in the women’s short program. 

Well supported by her longtime coach, Manon Perron, Rochette showed up to an official practice session that afternoon, intent on doing the job she went to Vancouver to do, but under circumstances that one could never prepare for. 

Just 48 hours later, Rochette stepped out in front of a full house at Pacific Coliseum. The more than 15,000 fans in attendance didn’t even wait for her name to be announced to let her know with their cheers and applause that they were behind her. 

After her usual hand taps with Perron, Rochette took her place at centre ice. In the few seconds before her music began, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone shared the same anticipation: how would she perform in front of a world watching her grieve? 

The answer: impeccably. 

For many of us, the images and sounds from that short program are ingrained in our memories. The roar from the crowd when Rochette landed her opening triple-triple combo. Everyone clapping along as her tango music picked up pace. The confident way in which she executed all her elements. The smile she struck in her final pose quickly crumbling as her emotions broke through. Tears falling from her eyes throughout her bow and then her sobs as she skated into a full embrace from Perron in the kiss and cry. 

Her score would make no difference as to how her courage and performance would be remembered. But the judges recognized what she had done by awarding her a personal best, putting her in third place heading into the free skate two days later.

In what would end up being her final competitive performance, Rochette most certainly made her mother proud. She blew a kiss to the heavens as she skated off the ice to find out she was going to be an Olympic bronze medallist. 

Fifteen years later, Rochette reflected on how time can be a strange thing. 

“When I saw the little video today for the induction, it brought back so many great memories with Manon. It’s like every time I come back into the world of figure skating, I see the same faces. Nothing’s changed, we hug, and it’s like time stands still.” 

But many things have changed for Rochette, who earned her degree in medicine from McGill University in 2020 and is now enrolled in the anesthesiology residency program at the Université de Montréal. 

“I’m now in another career, living a different life, but it’s always so nice to come back, reflect on everything we’ve accomplished, and celebrate.”

As someone who has experienced all the highs and lows that can come with the Olympic Games, Rochette offers up this advice to athletes who are hoping to compete at Milano Cortina 2026 one year from now. 

“I remember my first Games; it felt like being a kid in a candy store. It was just so exciting. I hope they’re able to enjoy the experience and simply be happy to be there. Because yes, there’s always pressure for results and performance, but beyond that, they need to remember why they started skating, what they love about the sport.

“They must not lose that spark, that passion that got them into this journey in the first place. It’s easy to get lost in the pressure of an Olympic year, but the key is to stay in the present moment and fully experience this adventure. That’s what I wish for them from the bottom of my heart.”

It’s the second double podium for Team Canada in figure skating after Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps took silver in the short program on Friday, while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished with the bronze medal.

Gilles and Poirier skated to a season-best result, finishing with a total of 218.46 points – just 0.53 points ahead Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Gilles and Poirier were positioned in first after scoring 87.22 points in the rhythm dance. Despite being bested in the free dance by Chock and Bates, the margin was too narrow and Canada held onto the gold medal position. Lajoie and Lagha placed third in both segments.

Gilles and Poirier were also the champions in the 2024 event. They finished with 214.26 points and were also joined on the podium by a Canadian pair – Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen finished with the silver medal.

For Lajoie and Lagha, it is the second time on the podium at the Four Continents after winning bronze in 2023.

In the men’s skate, Roman Sadovsky skated to his second straight 10th place finish. He was also 10th in the Four Continents Championship in 2024.

Reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps climbed from a disappointing fourth place after the short program to take the silver medal, while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud earned their first ever medal at an ISU Championship, taking bronze. Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who were world champions in 2023, won the gold medal.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps put out their best free skate of the season, scoring 141.26 points for an overall total of 210.92, also a season best score. It was a great comeback after they had made mistakes on two key elements in their short program—their side-by-side triple toe loops and their throw triple loop. Their technical elements were much more solid in the free skate, with the only slight negative grade of execution coming on their side-by-side triple salchows.

“Our short program didn’t go so well, which actually was the best thing that could have happened to us, because it allowed us to skate more freely and just enjoy ourselves. That’s something we hadn’t really done yet this season,” said Deschamps.

Their free skate score was just 1.33 back of the Japanese, who totalled a season best 217.32 for both programs. For Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, it was a welcome return to form after some difficult performances at the national championships in January. Deschamps had gone into that competition still recovering from an illness that had forced them to withdraw from the ISU Grand Prix Final in December.

Pereira and Michaud were very consistent throughout both of their Four Continents programs. A clean short program earned them a personal best score of 69.79 and had them ranked third heading into the free skate. They also made just one mistake on Friday, as Pereira stepped out of the landing on her triple toe, preventing them from completing a planned side-by-side jump sequence. She had reportedly been under the weather after arriving in Seoul and didn’t skate at all on Wednesday, the day before the short program. But her stamina did not appear to be an issue throughout the rest of the four-minute free skate. They ended up with a personal best total of 198.40 points.

Standing on the podium at one of the biggest competitions in the figure skating season is a big breakthrough for a team that is still only in their third season together. The Four Continents Championships are open to all non-European countries and are a precursor to the ISU World Championships in March.

“We’re really happy! We ran into a few challenges on the way here, including an illness and some lost luggage, but our short program yesterday felt good. That being said, you still never know how your long program will go! We’re really proud to have executed our elements well today,” said Pereira.

Canada’s third pair, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier placed ninth. They will again join the two medal-winning pairs on Canada’s world championship team next month.

On Saturday, two more Canadian duos will skate for the podium. Following the rhythm dance on Thursday, three-time world medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are in first place with 87.22, a point ahead of two-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States. In third place are Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who hold a 3.56 point advantage over fourth place Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, also from the U.S.

Saturday will also feature the men’s free skate, which may impact who is chosen to be Canada’s lone representative in men’s singles at the world championships. Matthew Newnham, a late substitute for this event, is currently in seventh place, but less than a point ahead of reigning national champion Roman Sadovsky in ninth place. Aleksa Rakic sits 12th.

The competition will close on Sunday with the women’s free skate. Sara-Maude Dupuis is the current top-ranked Canadian in ninth place after the short program, with national champion Madeline Schizas in 11th and Katherine Medland Spence sitting 14th in her ISU Championship debut.

The Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 Olympic Winter Games marked the first time that Italy had ever played the role of Olympic host, four years before the summer Games of Rome 1960 and half a century before Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen was the star of the show with her five medals at Turin 2006.

As we look forward to watching Team Canada athletes fulfill their Olympic dreams at Milano Cortina 2026, let’s take a quick look back to 70 years ago and how much has changed on the Winter Olympic scene.

Bigger and More Balanced

In 1956, the small resort town of Cortina (home to around 6000 people) could host the Olympic Winter Games all on its own. Not so in 2026. The Games have grown so much that events will be spread across several clusters in northern Italy, including Milan, which is about a 400-kilometre drive west of Cortina.

A quick look at these numbers gives a glimpse at how big the Winter Olympics have gotten.

Milano Cortina 2026 will be the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games to date, with 54 men’s events and 50 women’s events as well as 12 mixed events. It is expected that 47 per cent of participating athletes will be women. Comparatively, women comprised just 16.3 per cent of competitors at Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956.

The eight sports on the 1956 program were alpine skiing, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and long track speed skating. In 2026, the program will also include biathlon, curling, freestyle skiing, luge, short track speed skating, skeleton, snowboard, and ski mountaineering, with the latter making its Olympic debut.  

READ: Ski Mountaineering 101: What you need to know about the new winter Olympic sport

In 1956, only alpine skiing, figure skating, and cross-country skiing included women’s events. In 2026, the only sport in which women will not compete is Nordic combined.

Team Canada’s Increased Impact

With the growth of the Olympic program, Canada has grown into a powerhouse country at the Winter Games—both in the number of athletes who can call themselves Olympians and the number of medals that go on Team Canada’s tally.  

At each of the last four Olympic Winter Games, Team Canada has included more than 200 athletes—more than five times the number who wore the maple leaf at Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956.

Since Turin 2006, Team Canada has won at least 24 medals at each Olympic Winter Games. It was a much different story in 1956 when Canadian athletes won just three winter Olympic medals, but all were notable for their own reasons.

Figure skaters Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden led the way with their silver in the pairs event. They were pioneers of elements we now expect pairs to perform, such as twist lifts, overhead lasso lifts, and throw jumps. While European critics claimed that overhead lifts were not mentioned in the rulebook and were therefore illegal, Dafoe and Bowden received first place marks from four of the nine judges. Their skills led to the rules for the sport being revised in 1959. Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 marked the last time that an Olympic figure skating competition was held outdoors.

Lucile Wheeler became Canada’s first ever Olympic medallist in alpine skiing when she won bronze in the women’s downhill. That also made her the first North American to win an Olympic downhill medal.

Both of those events featured Canadians who would go on to win Olympic gold four years later. Just 17 in her Olympic debut, Anne Heggtveit built on her experience to win the women’s slalom at Squaw Valley 1960. Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul followed up their sixth-place finish in Cortina with four straight world pairs titles as well as the next Olympic title.

Canada, represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchman, won bronze in hockey. A recognizable last name from that roster is Brodeur. Goaltender Denis Brodeur went on to father goaltending great Martin Brodeur, who won gold at Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010.

Fun Facts and International Intrigue

Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 made history as the first Olympic Winter Games to be televised live, with broadcasts reaching multiple European countries.

They were just the second Olympic Winter Games to be preceded by a torch relay. The flame was lit at the Capitoline, one of Rome’s seven hills, and sent on a five-day journey to Cortina via Venice. The torch relay for Milano Cortina 2026 will last 63 days after the flame is lit at Olympia in Greece in November 2025.

The star athlete of Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 was Austrian Toni Sailer, who won all three men’s alpine skiing events by large margins. Austria won nine of the 18 medals awarded in alpine skiing, accounting for all but two of the country’s podium finishes.

There was a major innovation in ski jumping as Finnish athletes introduced a new aerodynamic style. They placed their arms against their sides during their flight, rather than reaching forward in front of their heads. It helped two of them—Antti Hyvärinen and Aulis Kallakorpi—win gold and silver.

READ: Everything you need to know about Milano Cortina 2026

Venues Re-Visited

There are only three venues in Cortina that will be used during the 2026 Winter Olympics, but two of those will be hosting Olympic events for the second time.

What will be the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium was known in 1956 as the Cortina Ice Stadium. It was the site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as the figure skating and hockey competitions. 

The Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, which will host women’s alpine events in 2026, was the primary alpine skiing venue for both women and men in 1956.

In 2026, the sliding sports of bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge are also planned to take place in Cortina. The Cortina Sliding Centre is currently under construction at the location that previously housed the Pista olimpica Eugenio Monti. Considered by many to be the greatest bobsleigh pilot ever, Monti won two silver medals during Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956, racing on the track that would be named for him after he won four more Olympic medals, including a pair of gold in 1968.