By: Debbi Wilkes

The World Figure Skating Championships are a big deal … and athletes from Ontario are playing starring roles!

At any Worlds, a country’s team size is based on their placements from last year’s event. This year in Prague, Canada will field a team of 12 competitors (out of a maximum of 18) with six athletes from Ontario, those six all veterans of the recent Olympic Games in Italy. Stephen Gogolev in Men, Madeline Schizas in Women, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud in Pairs … and in Dance, Olympic medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

As you may have heard, some Olympic skaters have opted out of Prague for a number of reasons: protecting an Olympic medal; coming to the end of their competitive career; or feeling sheer exhaustion from the long season.

If you’re a skating fan, don’t be disappointed.

While you may not see all the current crop of Olympic medalists, you are going to witness inspired performances from those athletes vying to take their places. It’s the next quadrennial of future champions making their mark and demanding the spotlight.

For those skaters, getting to the World Championships is no easy feat, regardless of where you call home.

For Ontario athletes, the long journey likely started as a young child when their parents enrolled them in their community’s learn-to-skate program or in their local figure skating club’s CanSkate program. Whether for hockey, figure skating, or speed skating, learning some of those essential skills is part of growing up. For most families, learning to skate is very “Canadian”.

Few beginners start out with dreams of becoming the world’s best … although the sparkle of that dream is magically discovered somewhere along their skating adventure. Maybe it’s the fun of learning new ‘tricks’ or the inspiration of the music or the challenge of competition … whatever the motivation, skating grabs hold.

And it happens at one of Ontario’s 331 skating clubs with over 82,000 members supported by nearly 2300 coaches. In the ’24-’25 season, skaters competed in 47 events, each one a potential step up the competitive ladder.

What begins as an extracurricular activity eventually becomes a passion.

Photo credit: Danielle Earl Photography/Skate Canada

For our skaters competing in Prague, it’s the culmination of the year’s work … the hundreds of hours on the ice training for perfection and honouring their talent.

They’ve made hard decisions about music and theme, and painstakingly investigated choreography and its creativity, costuming, fitness … always testing boundaries and exploring new ideas, whether it’s learning new elements or keeping the old ones sound and consistent.

If you’re a skater with dreams of making it to the top, it’s critical that you understand what it takes. Our team may make it look easy but every one of them … and their families and support teams … have made enormous sacrifices to help them get there.

Despite all those sacrifices … the dedicated hours, the triumphs and disappointments, the injuries, the pressure, and the financial cost … the opportunity to represent your country is something few will ever experience.

I can guarantee … for Stephen, Maddie, Lia, Trennt, Piper and Paul … this week will be another SPECTACULAR JOURNEY!!

In case you missed it, Pj Kwong is in Prague for the week bringing the whole event to life on Skate Ontario’s socials, be sure to tune in!

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