Figure skater Brezden ranks among Canada’s best with fifth-place finish

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This article was published 20/01/2025 (431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the final day of competition at the Canadian figure skating championships, Manitoban Breken Brezden rose to the occasion in a hard-fought senior women’s final, confirming she is among the best in the country.

Brezden, 19, delivered the finest performance of her career in Laval, Quebec to climb from seventh after the short program to finish top-five alongside three seasoned international competitors, two of them Canadian titleholders.

“For the most part I did what I came here to do,” Brezden said after her skate on Sunday which earned her a total score of 172.66.

“I’m pretty proud of myself to rely on my training, get rid of any self-doubt I had and move forward with confidence. I think I did a pretty good job of that.”

Ontario’s Madeline Schizas won her third national title in convincing fashion (203.87), reclaiming the crown from last year’s winner Kaiya Ruiter, of Alberta, who finished off the podium in fourth (179.41) this time around.

The silver medal went to Quebec’s Sara Maude Dupuis (182.61), while Ottawa’s Katherine Medland-Spence claimed bronze (181.55).

Brezden’s coach Jen Jackson was proud of her student for keeping her composure in the pressure-packed contest in which the women ranked third through eighth in the short program were separated by fewer than three points.

“Everything was pretty smooth sailing, pretty strong, except for that one obvious mistake,” said Jackson, referring to Brezden singling a planned triple loop.

It was her only major error over two days of competition.

“She told me that after her combo jumps, it was the first time she had heard the crowd cheer for her. So, she wasn’t quite set up and focused for the loop, but she got back on track,” Jackson explained.

Brezden, who has trained with Jackson in Hamilton, Ont., the past two seasons, found humour in what transpired, noting she “felt privileged to skate in such an energetic and lively rink.”

“It was so much so that it took me out of focus for a second. I thought, ‘wow, this is such a cool experience I’m getting to have right now,’ but then I made a mistake. But, it’s okay. I can’t dwell on mistakes.”

Still, Brezden was the only skater in the 18-woman field whose long program score sheet showed no deductions for subpar quality on any of the 12 jump, spin and footwork elements. Even her single loop was judged satisfactory for what it was.

Going forward, the Skate Dauphin athlete intends to continue building her confidence for competition.

“I want to work on becoming unshakeable, working on everything to the point I can feel 100 per cent confident so I know when I step out (on the ice), it’s going to be exactly how I trained it,” she said.

Brezden was assigned to compete internationally for Team Canada for the first time earlier this season. With Sunday’s result, it’s likely there will be more global travel in her future.

On Monday, Skate Canada will announce the skaters who will comprise its teams for the upcoming championship events — junior worlds in Germany, Four Continents championship in South Korea and the worlds in Boston.

When Brezden competed in France, she earned the qualifying score to compete at Four Continents, making her one of seven women eligible for consideration for the three spots available for Seoul.