Madeline Schizas won the women’s singles title at the Canadian figure skating championships, all but clinching her trip to the Beijing Olympics.
Skating to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the 18-year-old from Oakville, Ont., wasn’t flawless, but her total score of 198.24 was good enough for gold on Saturday in Ottawa.
Veronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., scored 170.65 for silver, while two-time Olympic and world bronze medallist Gabrielle Daleman was third (167.50).
The title was Schizas’ to lose as she took a lead of more than 12 points from the short program into Saturday’s long program.
A beautiful skate from <a href=”https://twitter.com/MaddieSchizas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MaddieSchizas</a> ⛸ that clinches the Canadian National Figure Skating title ???????????? <a href=”https://t.co/2HwcoLc8A0″>pic.twitter.com/2HwcoLc8A0</a>
—@CBCOlympics
Because of safety concerns and provincial crowd restrictions due to the recent COVID-19 surge, the event is being held in front of no fans at TD Place Arena.
The championships determine Canada’s Beijing Olympic figure skating team, which will be announced Sunday. Canada has one berth in women’s singles, two in pairs and men’s singles, and three in ice dance.
The men’s singles, pairs and ice dance free programs were scheduled for later in the day.
Vanessa James & Eric Radford, who contracted COVID-19 around Dec. 23rd, have withdrawn from Canada’s figure skating Olympic trials. They were fourth after yesterday’s short program.
—@Ewingsports
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