Gogolev claims men’s crown; Pereira, Michaud win surprise pairs title at nationals

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.

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.”

PAIRS SHOCKER

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud made up a more than nine-point deficit to dethrone three-time reigning champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps in a stunning pairs result later Saturday.

Pereira and Michaud finished with 204.14 to claim gold, beating the 2024 world champions by close to three points.

“We’re really proud of what we did this week and today especially, and it’s just the work that’s gone into the season,” said Michaud, who broke out in tears after seeing Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps’s scores in the mixed zone.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps ranked first after Friday’s short program but dropped to second after posting an error-riddled free skate that placed behind Pereira and Michaud and bronze medallists Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier.

The pair lost grade-of-execution points on four of their 11 elements, including two falls. Deschamps stumbled during a side-by-side jump sequence, before Stellato-Dudek hit the ice on a throw triple loop.

Stellato-Dudek revealed after the skate that she has felt sick this week.

“I haven’t been able to keep food down for two days,” she said. “I’ve been feeling really weak.”

Canada will bring two pairs teams to Milan.

CLOSE FIGHT

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.”

GILLES, POIRIER ON TOP

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.

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 final Olympic spot. The country holds three ice dance entries for Milan.

The free dance and women’s free program are on deck Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Gogolev claims men’s crown; Pereira, Michaud win surprise pairs title at nationals

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