Since the earliest evidence of skating, Canadian women have been making major strides in the sport. Here’s a snapshot of women’s involvement in figure skating.

1902: Early Inclusion in the Sport
In 1902, British skater Madge Syers makes history as the first woman to compete in the World Figure Skating Championships. After Syers’ participation, the International Skating Union (ISU) creates a separate ladies’ competition called the ‘ISU Championships.’ The first competition was held in 1906 in Switzerland, where Syers took home gold.

Both men’s and women’s figure skating are added to the 1908 London Olympic Games, where Madge Syers won gold.

Pairs skating was considered indecent and even illegal in some countries until the category emerged at the 1908 ‘ISU Championships.’ Later in 1924, both the women’s and pairs events were granted World Championship status.

1924
Figure skating joins the Winter Olympic Games as the only sport to have a women’s event. At 15 years old, Cecil Smith is the first Canadian woman to compete at the winter Olympics.

1928
Cecil, her sister Maude Smith, and Constance Wilson all finished in the top ten at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games. Constance Wilson and Maude Smith are the first Canadian women to compete at the figure skating World Championships.

1932
Wilson’s 4th place finish at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics makes history for Canada as the best Olympic result to date in the women’s singles event.

1944: ‘Canada’s Sweetheart’ is Born
At age 15 Barbara Ann Scott wins the 1944 Canadian Figure Skating Championship title. In 1947 she becomes the first North American to hold both the European and World Figure Skating titles. The following year, 1948, Scott dazzles the country and the world of figure skating, winning the European, World and Olympic titles back-to-back

1948
At the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Games, Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first and only Canadian woman to win gold in Olympic women’s singles figure skating. Also at St. Moritz, Canadian pairs team Suzanne Morrow and Wally Distelmeyer win silver.

1954
Frances Dafoe wins the World title alongside partner Norris Bowden. The pair would go on to reclaim this title the following year and earn Canada a silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy.

1955
Barbara Ann Scott and Frances Dafoe are the first women skaters to be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

1960
Barbara Wagner wins gold in the pair’s competition at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympic Games. 16-year-old Wendy Griner is the youngest woman to represent Canada at the 1960 Winter Games. While she placed 12th, she is one of the few skaters to hold Canadian junior and senior national titles in consecutive years.

1965
Petra Burka is the first Canadian woman to win the World Figure Skating Championships since Barbara Ann Scott in 1947. In the same year, Burka is inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

1972
Karen Magnussen comes in second, winning Canada’s only medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.

1973
At the Figure Skating World Championships in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, Karen Magnussen’s error-free performance earns Canada the gold medal.

1979
Barbara Ann Scott is the first Canadian to be inducted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

1988
Elizabeth Manley wins silver in the women’s singles event at the Calgary Olympic Games. Making the highlight performance of her career, Manley finished with a fraction of a point behind the event’s gold medalist.

1990
Constance Wilson is the first woman to be inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.

2001
Jamie Sale and partner David Pelletier win the Northern Star Award (formerly the Lou Marsh Trophy) after winning the 2001 World Championship title.

2010
Tessa Virtue and partner Scott Moir are the first Canadian team to win gold in the ice dance event at the Olympics. Joannie Rochette also wins bronze at the Games, mere days after the loss of her mother.

2018
Meagan Duhamel is the first woman to land a quadruple throw jump at the Olympics, earning Canada a bronze medal in the pairs event, alongside partner Eric Radford.

32-year-old Duhamel officially becomes one of the oldest gold medalists in figure skating after contributing to Canada’s gold medal in the team event.

At the 2018 Winter Games, Kaetlyn Osmond brings home another medal for Canada, earning bronze.

2024
Deanna Stellato-Dudek wins gold at the 2024 World Championships alongside partner Maxime Deschamps, making her the oldest woman to win a World title in any figure skating discipline.