Canada's Keegan Messing, Madeline Schizas claim 1st national figure skating titles

It took 19 tries for Keegan Messing to yet assertion a nationalist title.

In a cruel twist owed to COVID-19, it's the archetypal nationalist title his ma Sally — who was calved successful Edmonton, frankincense is the crushed Messing skates for Canada — had ever missed.

"A small bittersweet there," Messing said.

Skating successful a virtually bare TD Place Arena owed to the pandemic, the 29-year-old from Girdwood, Ak., won the men's rubric astatine the Canadian fig skating championships connected Saturday, each but clinching his berth connected the Olympic squad for Beijing.

"It's an Olympic year, I deliberation I mightiness person got much points if you counted the butterflies successful my stomach," Messing said with a laugh. "I forgot what it's similar to spell retired connected Olympic qualifying ice, and whoa, man, it's different ballgame retired there."

WATCH l Keegan Messing wins 1st vocation Canadian men's fig skating title: 

Eighteen-year-old Madeline Schizas won the women's title, portion satellite bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier captured the crystal creation rubric and Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro claimed pairs gold.

Dressed successful a plaid flannel garment and jeans, Messing took the crystal aft an fantabulous show by Roman Sadovsky. Skating to "Home" by Phillip Phillips, a tribute to his babe lad Wyatt, Messing landed a brace of quads en way to scoring 258.03.

Sadovsky, a 22-year-old from Toronto, moved up from 4th aft the abbreviated programme to instrumentality metallic — and apt Canada's different men's berth connected the Beijing squad — with 247.60.

"I benignant of carried a small spot of that disappointment from past nighttime and utilized that arsenic vigor going into today," Sadovsky said. "Basically from the extremity of past nighttime I was connected a ngo to a overmuch amended skate and to beryllium that I'm a amended skater than what I performed yesterday... I'm arrogant of myself."

Messing's triumph capped a roller-coaster week that included 33 hours of question and the impermanent nonaccomplishment of his skates. But his week was arsenic unsmooth arsenic his bully person Nam Nguyen's. The 2019 nationalist champion struggled to sixth, revealing aft that he'd had COVID-19 past week, and was inactive feeling the effects.

"Flu-like symptoms, times 10," Nguyen said.

COVID-19 has formed a pall implicit sports, with the surge of the caller Omicron variant. Stephen Gogolev, who won metallic astatine the 2019 nationals, withdrew connected Friday aft helium tested affirmative successful a PCR trial upon landing successful Ottawa.

Schizas captures gold

Moments aft clinching her archetypal Canadian title, Schizas was asked astir her goals for Beijing.

"My biggest extremity is to debar catching COVID," Schizas said. "That's my biggest goal, for the adjacent 3 weeks I'm going to bash everything successful my powerfulness to enactment healthy."

Skating to Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," and dressed successful dusty bluish - with a sequined COVID-19 disguise that she wore successful the warm-up to lucifer - the skater from Oakville, Ont., wasn't flawless successful Saturday's escaped skate. But with a 12-point cushion from Friday's abbreviated program, her full people of 198.24 was bully capable for golden and to each but clinch her spot connected Canada's Olympic team.

WATCH | Schizas wins 1st Canadian title: 

Gilles, Poirier triumph crystal creation rubric to secure Olympic spot

In crystal dance, Gilles, from Toronto, and Poirier, from Unionville, Ont., secured their 2nd travel to the Olympics with a stirring and virtually flawless show to "The Long and Winding Road," scoring 219.24 overall.

"We were a small tense competing astatine nationals," Gilles said. "We've made truthful galore changes since the Grand Prix series. Just benignant of investigating retired the waters a small bit. Kind of like: retrieve to bash this, retrieve to bash this. Nothing's connected auto-pilot yet."

Gilles and Poirier had qualified for the Grand Prix Final past month, but it was cancelled arsenic COVID-19 cases started to emergence astir the satellite amid the Omicron variant — a metallic lining of sorts, arsenic it gave them clip to rework their programme up of Beijing.

"It's each a movable feast," Poirier said. "Every time successful grooming we're making tiny adjustments, we're refining. There's ne'er an extremity point, a benignant of wholly finished product, it's ever an evolution."

WATCH | Ice dancers Gilles, Poirier unafraid Canadian title: 

Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen won crystal creation metallic (206.65), portion Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha took the bronze (192.67).

Moore-Towers, Marinaro win pairs event

Moore-Towers, from St. Catharines, Ont., and Marinaro, from Sarnia, Ont., scored 212.54 to triumph their 3rd pairs title. It was a triumphant comeback aft a rocky archetypal fractional of the season, and Moore-Towers fought backmost tears erstwhile they struck their last pose.

"We're ecstatic," she said. "It wasn't cleanable but it's leaps and bounds up of what we've done this season. Our extremity was to spell into Beijing arsenic Canadian champions. This is ngo accomplished for us."

"I deliberation we officially parked [the struggles] in the past with 2 performances that we're blessed with," Marinaro added. "We person worldly to enactment connected successful the abbreviated and the escaped that we'll beryllium dialing successful implicit the adjacent 3 weeks but immoderate rebound performances we're decidedly extremely, highly blessed with.

"Now we've got 3 weeks to build, and enactment COVID-free."

WATCH l Moore-Towers and Marinaro seizure Canadian pairs title: 

Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud were 2nd with 186.52, portion Deanna Stellato and Maxime Deschamps took the bronze (178.60). Vanessa James and Eric Radford, who some contracted COVID-19 a mates of weeks ago, withdrew from Saturday's escaped skate.

"We would person loved to person the accidental to vie against the full event," Moore-Towers said of the lack of James and Radford. "I deliberation that would person truly been the cherry connected the . . . what bash you say, the cherry connected the cake? The crystal cream? But yeah, this 1 is peculiar for sure."

James and Radford, who were 4th aft the abbreviated program, are inactive eligible to beryllium selected for 1 of the 2 pairs berths connected the Olympic squad based connected erstwhile results this season, but the coagulated skate by Walsh and Michaud surely volition marque for a hard decision.

"I americium a precise logical person," she said. "Realistically 1 idiosyncratic is going to Olympics and the chances it was going to beryllium maine were precise slim. Obviously present that I've won a Canadian rubric the Olympics are connected my radar but I ne'er similar to get excessively acold up of myself. I deliberation 1 infinitesimal astatine a clip and I deliberation that makes it adjacent amended qualifying.

"In a mode I don't deliberation radical expected it to beryllium me," she added. "I'm from a smaller nine [Milton Skating Club], a smaller community. I don't person coaches who person needfully done this before. We person a truly large narration and I conscionable won my archetypal nationalist title."

Veronik Mallet of Sept-Iles, Que., scored 170.65 for silver, portion two-time Olympic and satellite bronze medallist Gabrielle Daleman was 3rd (167.50).

Because of information concerns and provincial assemblage restrictions owed to the caller COVID-19 surge, the lawsuit was held successful beforehand of nary fans astatine TD Place Arena.

The Beijing Olympic fig skating squad volition beryllium announced Sunday. Canada has 1 berth successful women's singles, 2 successful pairs and men's singles, and 3 successful crystal dance.

Nguyen struggles a week aft contracting COVID-19

Nguyen said helium isolated for 5 days aft his affirmative PCR test, and past was backmost connected the crystal connected Tuesday aft a antagonistic test.

Nguyen had said a fewer weeks agone that helium planned to discontinue pursuing this season, but is rethinking that decision, saying helium doesn't privation to permission the athletics connected specified a debased note.