Stephen Gogolev ready for what’s next after dream season creates new confidence
“It does feel almost like a dream looking back at it.”
Steven Gogolev could hardly have imagined being as successful as he was last season.
After all, it came “pretty much out of nothing”, he reflected during Skate Canada’s High Performance Camp at the end of August.
For those who have forgotten the details of the Gogolevaissance (as it was dubbed by fans), a quick recap.
After making a name for himself on the world stage as a junior, Gogolev was stymied by multiple injury-plagued seasons which severely limited his ability to train and compete. But in 2025-26, everything came together at just the right time.
READ: Stephen Gogolev’s challenging decade-long journey from figure skating wunderkind to Olympian
With his recurring back issues finally behind him, he began to compete consistently—meaning both on a regular basis and at a strong, steady technical level.
Event by event, there was another new first. His first ISU Challenger Series victory. His first senior ISU Grand Prix medal. His first senior national title.
It led up to him making his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026 where he finished fifth overall, a mere 1.12 points off the podium, after earning the second-best score in the free skate. Proving that was no fluke, he placed fourth at the ISU World Championships a month later—his first time competing at a senior worlds—where he posted personal best scores in both programs.
READ: Gogolev caps Olympic debut with immaculate free skate
“I definitely have a different type of confidence going into the season because of what I was able to do last season,” Gogolev responded when asked how he was feeling with those results now permanently on his resumé. “Last season I was going in with basically no results but now I’m going into it with a better ranking and everything else.”
Gogolev’s performance at the world championships makes him a seeded skater for the ISU Grand Prix this fall. That means he won’t have to face any reigning Olympic or world medallists in his two events. He’ll start his season at Skate Canada International in Kelowna, B.C. at the end of October. He then has a few weeks before heading to Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki in late November.
But just because he’ll be a headliner at both competitions doesn’t mean he’s felt the need to change his training or approach to the season.
“Currently I don’t feel any kind of expectations. I know there are, considering how I did last season,” he acknowledged.
In the aftermath of his eye-opening Olympic debut, some videos began to circulate of Gogolev trying—and landing—some more difficult quads than the toe loop and salchow already in his repertoire. When asked whether he plans to incorporate those new jumps into his programs at some point this season, he wouldn’t reveal much beyond “potentially, we’ll see”. Having first landed a quad lutz in competition back in 2018 when he was just 13 years old, it’s not surprising that it is a little more consistent than the quad loop.
His jumping ability has been Gogolev’s calling card throughout his career, ever since the first videos of him landing a quad at 10 years old landed on the internet. What had always been critiqued for further development was the artistic side of his skating.
The Olympic season saw him take some great steps forward with the composition of his programs. He became more comfortable with acting a role on the ice and commanding the attention of the audience. He expects to show even more progression on that front this season.
Key to his growth has been acclaimed choreographer Benoît Richaud, who became famous for his multiple jacket swaps in the kiss-and-cry during Milano Cortina 2026 after having worked with 16 competitors from 13 different countries.
“You could say he’s a coach, partially a mentor,” Gogolev said of Richaud. “He’s helped me a lot with all aspects of my skating and support as well.”
Together they decided to keep his short program a little more “fun”. Gogolev is skating to “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat. He’s gone “more serious” for his free skate, performing to selections from Moulin Rouge.
Gogolev spent much of the summer training in Europe with Richaud, including four weeks in Italy and then another few weeks in France. Surrounding him all that time were other top level skaters such as Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, 2024 World bronze medallist Adam Siao Him Fa of France, and European champion Nika Ekadze of Georgia. Getting the chance to train in that atmosphere “was amazing”.
In general, Gogolev would like to show “more freedom and more expression” in his programs this season. He says he and Richaud have “done some good improvements” over the last few months, expanding his capabilities as a performer.
“It is natural once you’re fully immersed in the program, once you’re really committed to it. It does take a bit of work with Benoît and just the choreography itself and feeling the music, but it does, sort of, in a way come naturally,” Gogolev said.
As usual, the season will be capped by the world championships in March. But while Gogolev was Canada’s lone entry in the men’s event this past spring, his result qualified a second spot for the country for 2027. Two of the top contenders for that berth are 2024 Canadian champion Wesley Chiu and two-time national medallist Aleksa Rakic.
Meanwhile in the women’s event, Canada will again have just one spot for the 2027 World Championships.
Four-time national champion Madeline Schizas would have to be considered a front-runner. But there is an Olympic and world medallist hoping to have a rewarding moment towards the end of her career.
Gabrielle Daleman was a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning team at PyeongChang 2018, a year after she had won an individual bronze at the world championships. But it’s been tough times ever since for the now-28-year-old.
In just the last few years, she missed two-and-a-half seasons with back and ankle injuries, undergoing multiple surgeries. Having learned how to walk again, skate again, jump again, and get in competition shape, she made a triumphant return to the Canadian championships in 2026, winning silver in her first appearance at the nationals since 2022. When she competes at Grand Prix de France in late October, it will be her first time competing in an ISU Grand Prix event in four years.
“Honestly, this season is just going to be about enjoying it. Could be my last, could not be my last. We’re just taking it year by year,” said Daleman, adding that this season is about “just really living in the moment.”
It’s also about living the lessons that all her adversity has taught her.
“I learned that I’m a lot stronger and that I’m capable of so much more than I ever thought. I never thought I would get my jumps back the way I did,” she said, noting that she would also be giving herself more grace moving forward.
“In times when I was younger, I would be very hard [on myself] and I learned it’s such a privilege to do what we do because it can be gone in a second. I unfortunately had to learn that the hard way quite a few times.”
Daleman was “glad” to receive an invite back to the Grand Prix series.
“There were a lot of times when I was ready to hang up the skates or to just not do it because I was in too much pain or it just wasn’t going my way. But I’m glad I trusted my gut and I do what I love and I’m happy to be back. It’s gonna be fun.”
While Daleman was battling to get back on the ice, Schizas settled into the role of being Canada’s top-ranked woman, competing at the last six world championships. She achieved a big life moment in May when she graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Environment and Society. But even after becoming a two-time Olympian, she still wasn’t ready to move on from the sport that she says she is now truly embracing her love for.
“Last year was stressful, there’s a lot of stuff going on and I didn’t feel like I had the best run at my season. The ball ran a little faster than I was ready for and it led to an up and down sort of year,” she said. “I just wanted to come back on my own terms with a little bit less pressure and intensity surrounding me to see what I could make of my season if it was a little more self-directed.”
Now 23 years old, she has also gained some wisdom she would like to be able to go back and tell her teenage self who burst onto the international scene in 2021.
“Be willing to take some risks. I think I spent a lot of my career not wanting to take risks because it felt like I was very quickly thrown into being a senior and being Canada’s top senior and it all came very fast,” she contemplated.
There were several years when no other Canadian women had met the minimum technical standards to be eligible to compete at the world championships. The responsibility of representing the country fell to Schizas. Though it was definitely a privilege, it came with its own challenges.
“It stopped me from maybe exploring different things, like exploring different programs and exploring new technical elements because you were just constantly trying to keep up and [qualify] that second spot at worlds. There were always these imminent goals that no one else was going to be able to do.”
Speaking of things no one else can do, Sara-Maude Dupuis is looking to build on becoming the first Canadian woman to land a triple axel in competition. Having gotten that history-making moment out of the way last season, the jump can now just be part of her program without all the anticipation and buildup and “butterflies in [the] stomach”.
READ: 2026-27 a season of change in Canadian ice dance and pairs figure skating
You can catch Canadian figure skaters competing at each stop of the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix:
Grand Prix de France: October 23-25
Skate Canada International: October 30-November 1
Cup of China: November 6-8
Skate America: November 13-15
Finlandia Trophy: November 20-21
NHK Trophy: November 27-29
Grand Prix Final: December 10-13
