Paris 2024: Skate Canada Winter Athletes Share Their Summer Sport Dreams

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are now in full swing and everyone at Skate Canada wishes all the athletes, coaches, officials, and support staff the best of luck as they perform on the world’s biggest stage! 

 As winter athletes, our team is busy in training mode, getting ready for the upcoming season, but we asked several of them what sport they would most want to compete in at the summer Games if they could – check out their answers! 

TENNIS 

We could field our own doubles teams with Sara-Maude Dupuis, Stephen Gogolev, Wesley Chiu, and Romain Le Gac all citing tennis as their favourite sport. Sara-Maude, Stephen, and Wesley all actually competed in tennis when they were younger!  

“I played for my entire childhood and my dad is very involved in Canadian tennis. It was always my second sport growing up,” said Dupuis. 

FUN FACT: The Olympic tennis tournament is taking place at Roland Garros, site of the French Open tournament. 

GYMNASTICS 

It probably comes as no surprise that many of our skaters cited gymnastics as their sport with both sports relying heavily on performance and athleticism as Kaiya Ruiter stated. Lia Pereira, Kelly Ann Laurin, and Deanna Stellato-Dudek all participated in the sport as kids, and Stellato-Dudek competed in it for 10 years – maybe that explains her ability to still be competing so successfully in her 40s? 

FUN FACT: Ellie Black, who is competing in her fourth Olympic Games, and is Canada’s most decorated female artistic gymnast, competed in figure skating as a kid, but switched to gymnastics because she didn’t like the cold! We wonder what could have been…. 

AQUATIC SPORTS 

Maybe it’s because they compete on water in its frozen state, but many of our athletes cited the aquatic sports as their favourites. Paul Poirier stated: “I still like that I would be able to choreograph programs and compete to music,” when he chose artistic swimming. Alicia Fabbri stated her affection for diving because: “It’s so fascinating and it looks cool but so hard.” 

FUN FACT: Artistic swimming, diving, and water polo will be held in the brand-new Olympic Aquatics Centre which is the only permanent facility to be constructed for Paris 2024. 

OTHERS 

Maddie Schizas & Marie-Jade Lauriault – Soccer: “I like the team element and being outdoors,” said Marie-Jade. Schizas played soccer as a child. 

Paul Ayer – Mountain biking: “I love spending time outside in nature and I love the racing aspect of it.” 

Trennt Michaud – Athletics: “I did track and field in high school as a sprinter and hurdler. It’s also my favourite to watch during the games.” 

Zachary Lagha – Boxing, wrestling, or judo: “I love the idea of a duel which will push you to become a better athlete.” 

Marjorie Lajoie – Equestrian: “I used to horseback ride and skate. One day I made the decision to focus solely on skating. Despite this my love for horseback riding remains strong.”