Stephen Gogolev almost walked away from skating. Years of recurring back injuries kept him off the ice, and when he did step on it, he felt like a shadow of the skater he once was.
But after a resurgent season, he’s on the brink of the Olympic Games.
Gogolev captured his first national title Saturday at the Canadian figure skating championships, adding another chapter to a remarkable comeback.
“It would mean … I want to say everything, because the past couple of years have been quite a struggle,” Gogolev said of going to the Winter Olympics. “Coming back this season is very special.”
Skating to “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Sergei Rachmaninov, the 21-year-old from Toronto landed two quad jumps — and seven triples — to score 175.90 points in his free program, pushing his total to 275.50 after a stellar short program Friday.
Stephen Gogolev 1st in free program, wins men’s singles national championship
Gogolev said the victory felt “unreal” and hadn’t “fully sunk in” after the years of wondering if he could ever get back to this point.
When he was just 13 years old, a nimble five-foot skater at the time, Gogolev was dubbed the next great Canadian men’s hope, until a massive growth spurt — and the back problems that followed — threw his trajectory off course.
“There were definitely a lot of doubts in my mind in the past few years,” he said. “There were even times where I thought maybe it’s not worth continuing doing because it was year after year where I wasn’t able to perform and compete the way I wanted to, or even compete at all.”
This season has looked entirely different. Finally healthy, Gogolev has competed in all five of his events — all in head-to-head matchups with fellow Canadian Roman Sadovsky.
Gogolev and Sadovsky arrived as co-favourites in Gatineau, the matchup marking their final showdown with Canada’s one men’s singles spot in February’s Milan Cortina Winter Games on the line.
“I definitely felt quite a bit more pressure, and I think it’s because this is probably the final moment and the deciding point of who’s going to Milano,” said the soft-spoken Gogolev. “That was probably the most nervous I’ve been for a competition.”
The full Olympic figure skating team will be announced Sunday evening. Skate Canada’s selection is not based solely on results at nationals, but on a body of work over the past couple seasons.
But Gogolev all but confirmed his place after entering the event with the highest total international score among Canadian men this season.
Sadovsky, the 2025 men’s champion, claimed the silver medal with 255.10 points, climbing to second from fourth after the short program, while Aleksa Rakic of New Westminster, B.C., took bronze (246.02).
The 26-year-old Sadovsky from Vaughan, Ont., struck his final pose, then broke down in tears — carrying them all the way off the ice after a moving skate. He said it was “definitely a possibility” that it was his last Canadian championships, or at least “one of the last.”
“I was surprised how emotional I got at the end, but it was just such a roller-coaster this whole year,” he said. “My biggest fear was coming out of this nationals with regrets of what I could have done differently. I did not want to let yesterday become the rest of these nationals.”
Sadovsky said he had a restless night after Friday’s short program put him nearly 18 points behind Gogolev.
“Even this morning in practice, I was struggling a little bit with confidence,” he said. “I just went back today, took a good long nap, woke up and just told myself there’s not really much time to be overthinking it and just enjoying the moment.”
A tight battle is shaping up in the women’s event.
Minsol Kwon — a South Korean skater who currently represents Canada — led with 66.51 points after the short program, followed by Gabrielle Daleman (66.32) and Sara-Maude Dupuis (65.74).
“I didn’t expect to get a first place, but I’m really happy for that,” Kwon said.
Reigning national champion Madeline Schizas fell to fourth, but only 1.59 points off the lead, after doubling a triple-toe loop.
“It was a silly mistake,” said Schizas, the favourite to land Canada’s only women’s singles spot. “Of all the ways to lose five or six points, I got to tell you, that was not my favourite way to do it.
“Should I be at the Olympic Games? I don’t see myself doing that twice.”
Minsol Kwon leads after women’s short program at figure skating nationals
Earlier Saturday, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier led after the rhythm dance.
The four-time national champions scored 93.11 points — setting a personal best at nationals — to RuPaul’s “Supermodel (You Better Work)” at Centre Slush Puppie, where they received a standing ovation.
“We just skated like we were at home,” Gilles said. “We just treated this run-through basically as a home run-through, and I think all the details and all the connection points that we’ve been working on over the last few weeks really felt like it was coming to life.
“Then hearing the crowd kind of interact with us a little bit, hype us up a bit, it was so special.”
Gilles and Poirier, who were silver medallists in the last two world championships, will compete in their third Olympics.
Canadian skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier 1st after rhythm dance at nationals
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, last year’s silver medallists at the Canadian championships, sat second with 86.93.
Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac were third with 78.64, only 0.59 ahead of Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer in a battle for Canada’s last Olympic spot.
Canada holds three ice dance entries for Milan. The full Olympic figure skating team will be announced Sunday after the free dance.
“By this time of the season, everybody is at the peak of performance, so you expect people to be that close,” Le Gac said. “We were expecting a good competition.”
Ayer and Fabbri led Lauriault and Le Gac by just 0.44 points after the rhythm dance at last year’s nationals before finishing third to make Canada’s world championship team.
“We knew it would come down to the free dance,” Ayer said. “Either way it went.”
“It makes it fun, too,” added Fabbri. “Sometimes you can be like, `Oh, we’re in front, or we’re too much back.’ But it’s almost like a fresh start tomorrow. We’ll just do our best and see what happens.”
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier embrace ‘mom & dad’ role on national team
The women’s short program was scheduled for later Saturday, followed by the pairs free skate.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who won world championship gold in 2024, ranked first in pairs after Friday’s short program.
