Winnipeggers climb into podium position

Winnipeggers Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov didn’t look like senior competition rookies as they confidently skated into podium position in the pairs opening round at the 2026 Canadian figure skating championships in Gatineau, Quebec, on Friday night.

As the first skaters in the final group of four pairs, their goal was to set the tone with a strong short program performance and that’s exactly what they did.

With a score of 65.85, the Winnipeg athletes edged out Quebec’s Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier by one point to settle into third on the leaderboard.

As expected, 2024 world titleholders and 2026 Olympic medal hopefuls Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps topped the standings, taking their first step towards a fourth national pairs crown.

Much to the delight of the 4,000 fans at Centre Slush Puppie, the Montreal-based duo posted 78.35 points for their dramatic Carmina Burana program,securing a comfortable lead over Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (69.11).

Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 22, opened with a triple twist lift followed by perfectly matched individual triple salchows in their program set to the soundtrack from the HBO drama Succession.

After Kemp nailed the landing of the throw triple lutz, their final high-risk element, it was smooth sailing to the end of their three-minute routine.

For the past two seasons, the Winnipeg pair was always considered a podium contender, if not the gold medal favourite, in every event they entered. That was not the case coming into these championships given their inexperience in senior level competition.

“It’s a different vibe for us. We don’t have a lot of pressure on us. We’re enjoying it no matter what happens,” Kemp said.

Elizarov admitted to “feeling pretty chill” after their two practices on Thursday.

“Our last two nationals, we were kind of the favourites to win (the junior title). We had goals of winning but, here, it’s for the experience. No expectations.

“We’re trained. We’re prepared, so we know we’re not going to be nervous. It’s a pretty chill competition for us. We’re feeling confident.”

The pairs final free skate goes Saturday evening.

Earlier on Friday in the hotly contested men’s event, Stephen Gogolev, 21, topped the 18-man field with a dream short program skate that will bolster his case to earn Canada’s sole Olympic men’s berth.

Clad in a vintage, three-piece suit, Gogolev scored a whopping 99.60 points for his entertaining gangster-themed performance that he opened with an impressive quadruple toe-triple toe jump combination. A quad salchow and triple Axel later in the program helped seal the deal.

Gogolev proved to be a tough act to follow for fellow Olympic team hopeful and reigning national champion Roman Sadovsky, 25, who was last to take the ice.

As has happened in the past, Sadovsky committed minor and major errors on all three of his jumping passes and finds himself in fourth place (81.79) heading into Saturday’s final.

“Right after the first jump I felt comfortable on the ice, although this was probably the most comfortable I have felt at a competition, so I’m pretty happy with that,” said Gogolev, whose obvious talent had been thwarted by recurring back injuries the past few seasons.

“The hard work I’ve been putting this whole season, I think that showed in today’s short program.”

Despite being clear of the field by 10 points, Gogolev was not ready to claim victory.

“Nothing’s finished until the free program is done,” he said.

Former Canadian champion Wesley Chiu delivered his own stellar performance to slide into second (89.14) ahead of Aleksa Rakic (83.60). It was a satisfying return to the championships for Chiu who was sidelined last season after undergoing ankle surgery.

Winnipegger David Howes, last season’s bronze medallist in the junior category, skated to 16th place with 60.47 points in his first foray into senior competition.

Rebuilding most of this season after sustaining a right ankle-heel injury last May, Howes, 19, was a tad short of rotation on his two triple jumps. That cost him about three points on the technical side of the ledger.

Still, the UBC student was content with what he did on this day.

“It was pretty good. I had a lot of fun. It was a really great crowd. The atmosphere’s just amazing and I’m happy to start my senior national career here,” Howes said.

“I just wanted to put out performances I am happy with. It’s an Olympic year, too, so just watching all of that is really exciting, but I’m here to skate for myself.”

Following the men’s final on Saturday, Dauphin native Breken Brezden gets her start in the senior women’s contest alongside top seeds and Olympic team contenders Madeline Schizas and Sara-Maude Dupuis.

“It’s her third time in senior. Last year, she got her first taste of that big crowd, so I think she has that kind of experience,” said Brezden’s coach Jen Jackson.

“Despite it being an Olympic year, there’s not much difference in the way they compete. I don’t think she’ll be involved in any of the hoopla. She’s just going to buckle down and do her thing.”

Brezden, 20, finished fifth at the 2025 Canadian championships.

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