GATINEAU, QC (Jan. 9, 2026) – Ontario’s NEXXICE Junior took Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau by storm on the fourth day of the 2026 Canadian National Skating Championships.

Not only did they deliver a gold medal-worthy performance in their free program (126.44), earning them an overall score of 197.82 and a national title—their first in three years; but they broke a Canadian record in the process.

“We’re super proud of that, because we put a lot of hard work into every single practice and it took a lot of effort and a lot of discipline to get to where we are now,” said team leader Tiffany Wang. “We’re super proud of getting back on our feet.”

With this win, NEXXICE beat out the reigning national champions and previous record holders, Les Suprêmes (Quebec), who finished second with a score of 186.88. Nova finished third with 171.94 points.

On the senior synchro side, Les Suprêmes are national champions three years running. It was a close race, but the 2024 World champions edged out the competition, scoring 145.55 in their free program, good for 226.99 overall.

“We love our national competitions and having all our friends and family here. As a team it’s a really nice win to have in our pocket for the remainder of the season,” co-captain Olivia Di Giandomenico said.

Nova Senior (Quebec) followed not far behind in second with 221.78 overall, as NEXXICE finished third with 214.66 points.

The senior men’s competition debuted on Friday afternoon and with a coveted spot on the Olympic roster ahead of Milano Cortina 2026 on the line, things were quick to heat up.

Ultimately it was Ontario’s Stephen Gogolev who emerged at the front of the pack after the short program, scoring 99.60.

“Right after the first jump, I felt much more comfortable on the ice,” Gogolev said. “Although this probably was the most comfortable I’ve felt to begin with at a competition so I’m pretty happy with that.”

The 21-year-old skater from Toronto heads into Saturday’s free program with a decent lead as Wesley Chiu (British Columbia) sits in second with 89.14 points, and Aleksa Rakic, also of British Columbia, is currently third with a score of 83.60 points.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps stun in short program

Closing out this fourth day of competition was the first leg of the senior pairs competition.

Quebec duo Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps were in fine form, delivering a strong performance to rise to the top of the standings with 78.53 points. After a disappointing sixth-place finish at the ISU Grand Prix Final in December, the pair were pleased with how far they’ve come since.

“We’re really happy with the performance in general,” said Deschamps. “After we came back from the Grand Prix Final, we were really not happy, even overall with the first part of the season. We did change our training a little bit and today was really a good step in the right direction, we feel very comfortable.”

Perhaps even more stunning than the performance was Stellato-Dudek’s costume–a collaboration between the American-Canadian skater and Oscar de la Renta. She is set to compete wearing these custom designs, a first for the designer and for the sport.

Ontario’s Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud scored 69.11 points and are headed into Friday’s free program in second place. Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov, also of Ontario, sit in third with 65.85 points in their senior national debut.

For the complete results, click here.