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Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas failed to qualify for women’s singles free program finals after finishing 25th after the short programs on Tuesday.
Schizas scored 55.38 in the short program at the Milano Skating Arena. She was Canada’s sole entry in the women’s individual event, and the first out of finals qualification.
Japan’s Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto currently sit in the gold and silver medal position, while Alysa Liu of the United States sits in bronze heading into Thursday’s free programs.
Skating to a Lion King medley, Schizas came into trouble part way through her program, failing to perform a triple loop, receiving a invalid element mark and earning a zero score on the jump.
“I’m really disappointed and obviously not happy, but I’m just going to have to learn from this,” Schizas told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux, adding “that’s a part of sport.”
The two-time Olympian and four-time Canadian champion finished fifth in the team event for Canada on Feb. 8, and was 18th in women’s singles in Beijing 2022.
Schizas, who is currently a student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., went viral earlier in the Games for sharing an email to her professor about requesting an assignment extension.
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., finished 25th in the women’s short program, and will not advance to the free program at Milano Cortina 2026.
Schizas, who trains in Milton, Ont., said she wanted to “live the experience” at Milano Cortina 2026 and enjoy as much as she could. Schizas celebrated her 23rd birthday on Saturday.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here and I like to think I represented Canada proudly and well,” she said.
“If there’s anything people can take away from watching is, you know, it’s not always going to be perfect.
“I’m living a huge failure in front of hundreds, like thousands of people, but you know I’m going to come back stronger.”
‘Time to say goodbye’
Skating in her final Olympic Games to a fitting Time To Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli, Sakamoto scored 77.23 to put her into the silver medal position – about one point behind her Japanese teammate, Nakai.
Sakamoto is a three-time world champion and came into Milano Cortina as one of the favourites for the gold medal, ranked number one in the world according to the International Skating Union world rankings for this season.
Sakamoto won silver in the team event on Feb. 8 with Japan and was the bronze medalist in the women’s event at Beijing 2022.
Currently in the gold medal position is Sakamoto’s 17-year-old teammate Nakai, who scored a personal best of 78.71 in her short program.
Skating to La Strada by Nino Rota, Nakai came out strong, landing her triple axel and performing all of her elements cleanly with a smile.
This is Nakai’s first season as a senior competitor.
Although she came into Milano-Cortina 2026 ranked 13th in the world this season, according to the ISU world rankings, Nakai did place second at the Grand Prix Finals in December, making her a contender for an Olympic medal at these Games.
In her debut senior season, Japan’s Ami Nakai scored 78.71 points to lead the field, heading into Thursday’s Olympic figure skating women’s free program at Milano Cortina 2026.
A triumphant return
Liu skated a beautiful short program to Promise by Laufey, scoring a personal best of 76.59, putting her into the bronze medal position.
The 20-year-old two time Olympian also won gold in the team event with the U.S. on Feb. 8.
Making her Olympic debut when she was only 16-years-old, Liu placed sixth in Beijing in 2022. The American won her first US title when she was only 13-years-old. Liu retired after Beijing and then returned to competition in 2024.
Liu is the 2025 world champion and ISU Grand Prix Finals champion. She was the first female skater to perform a triple axel and quadruple lutz in the same program, which she accomplished in 2019.
More problems on the triple loop
Skating to Madonnas’ Like A Prayer, The United States’ Amber Glenn also failed to execute a triple loop, resulting in an invalid mark for the jump.
Glenn scored 67.39 points in the short program, moving the medal favourite to 12th place.
She will have an opportunity to skate in the free program finals on Thursday but is most likely out of medal contention.
Glenn was visibly upset following the end of the program, leaving the ice in tears. Glenn came into her first Olympic Games ranked third in the world, according to the ISU world rankings.
She won gold in the team event with the United States.
Glenn, who has been very open about having ADHD, is also a mental health advocate and has her own initiative, “Believe and Breathe.”
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