Canada’s best skaters headed to Vancouver for the 2018 Canadian Tire Nationals Skating Championships

VANCOUVER, BC: The nation’s best figure skaters are headed to Vancouver, B.C., for the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The week-long championships held at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre from January 8-14, 2018 will feature approximately 250 skaters in the men, women, pairs, and ice dance disciplines, competing in three levels: senior, junior, and novice. The 2018 event will serve as a qualification event for the team that will compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Skate Canada is proud to be sending the biggest figure skating team in the world to the Games in February.

“The Canadian Tire National Skating Championships is the pinnacle event on the Canadian skating calendar and this year at our 104^th anniversary of the championships it will prove to be a momentous edition as our senior skaters look to qualify for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games,” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “We hope that all Canadians from coast to coast to coast feel the moment created by moving performances and are inspired to embrace the joy of skating.”

The pre-eminent all-Canadian competition will begin with the novice ice dance on Monday, January 8 and the senior events will begin on Friday, January 12. Athletes will vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 2018 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and 2018 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The senior events will be the highlight of the week as Canada’s top skaters look to solidify their place in the history books. Patrick Chan will vie for his 10th Canadian title; if achieved, he will hold the all-time record. He is currently tied with Montgomery Wilson with nine titles each. Two-time World Pair Champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford will look to capture their seventh consecutive Canadian title. They hold the record for senior Canadian pair titles. In women’s, world silver medallist Kaetlyn Osmond will defend her 2017 Canadian crown in search of her fourth title. She will be chased by world bronze medalist Gabrielle Daleman. Three-time Ice Dance World Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir look to capture their eighth national title.

TSN, CTV and RDS will host live primetime coverage of the event, starting on Friday, January 12, 2018. Brian Williams once again hosts CTV and TSN’s coverage of the championships, bringing his extensive experience covering the Olympic Winter Games and Canadian and World Figure Skating Championships. Williams is joined by Rod Black, the voice of figure skating in Canada, in the broadcast booth alongside analyst Tracy Wilson, a seven-time Canadian ice dance champion and reporter Sara Orlesky will take fans rinkside and backstage. For a complete broadcast schedule, please click here.

The junior and novice categories earlier in the week will showcase emerging talent as they look to make their mark on the national stage. All novice and junior competition, and select senior events, will be live streamed on the Skate Canada Dailymotion page. For full entries and the event start orders please click here.

The morning of Sunday, January 14, 2018 the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Skate Canada will name the 17 athletes selected to represent Team Canada in figure skating at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Off the ice, ten-time Canadian Ice Dance Champion and three-time Olympian Shae-Lynn Bourne will return to the event but this time as the Athlete Ambassador. During the week of the championships, Bourne will handle speaking engagements, media interviews, make appearances on behalf of the competing athletes, and of course, make time for her fans.

Skating fans on Sunday, January 14 will witness history as Sarah Kawahara and Ron Vincent officially enter the Skate Canada Hall of Fame. Kawahara, known for her innovative and artistic choreographic touch, enters in the professional category. Vincent, who spent a lifetime making a tremendous impact in figure skating as an athlete, performer, coach, administrator and artistic director, enters in the builder category. The ceremonies will take place in conjunction with the Gala.

Single event ticket prices for the senior short programs are priced $30-$65. Prices for the senior free programs and gala are priced from $40-$75. Novice and junior tickets are $20 per day. All tickets are subject to applicable venue and Ticketmaster surcharges. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca and by phone at 1-855-985-5000.

This will be Vancouver’s sixth time hosting the national championships. Most recently they hosted the event a decade ago in 2008. They also hosted in 1997, 1973, 1968 and 1951. The city has also hosted several international figure skating events: the 2009 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, 2001 & 1960 ISU World Figure Skating Championships and the 1978 Skate Canada International.

Media who have not already applied for accreditation are asked to contact Emma Bowie, Communications Manager. She will be the onsite media contact at the event and can be reached at 613-914-2607 or at [email protected].

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