Ottawa, ON (Aug. 29, 2025) — The 2025/26 skating season kicks into full gear in September with Canadian figure skaters set to compete in four ISU Challenger Series events.
The month of competition will open at the 2025 John Nicks Pairs Challenge International where 2024 pair world champions and current national champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps will make their Olympic season debut. Taking place in New York, USA, from Sept. 2-3., the duo will be Canada’s sole entry in the event.
The Kinoshita Cup will be held in Osaka, JPN, from Sept. 5-7, and will see Canadian representation in three disciplines. In ice dance, national bronze medallists Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer will compete alongside Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac, who are fresh off an early season silver medal at the 2025 Lake Placid Ice Dance International Competition. Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers will round out the ice dance field in Osaka.
Canadian champion Madeline Schizas will compete in the women’s event while Aleksa Rakic will be the sole Canadian skater in the men’s event.
The Nebelhorn Trophy will take place from Sept. 25-27, in Oberstdorf, GER, and will see ten Canadian athletes looking to make their mark. Four Continents Championships bronze medallists Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud will headline for Canada in the pair event. In women’s, 2024 Warsaw Cup gold medallist Katherine Medland Spence will take to the ice alongside Kaiya Ruiter.
Fresh off a first-place finish at the 2025 Cranberry Cup, Roman Sadovsky will look to build on his early season success in Oberstdorf. He will be joined in the men’s event by Stephen Gogolev, who placed third in the same event. Closing out the Canadian delegation will be ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac and Lily Hensen and Nathan Lickers.
That same weekend, four Canadian athletes will compete at the Nepela Memorial in Bratislava, SVK. Four Continents Championships bronze medallists Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha will make their season debut in ice dance, while Aleksa Rakic and Sara-Maude Dupuis will contend in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.
The Challenger Series is designed to give skaters adequate opportunities to compete at the international senior level and to earn World Standing Points. For full competition schedules, entries and results for Challenger Series events, please click here.
Team Canada
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location
JOHN NICKS PAIRS CHALLENGE INTERNATIONAL
Pair
Deanna Stellato-Dudek | 42 | Chicago, USA & Maxime Deschamps | 33 | Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. | Josée Picard | Sainte-Julie, Que.
Team Leader – Shae Zukiwsky
Medical Team – Sylvia Ciurysek
Official – Andrea Derby
KINOSHITA CUP
Women
Madeline Schizas | 22 | Oakville, Ont. | Nancy Lemaire | Milton, Ont.
Men
Aleksa Rakic | 20 | Burnaby, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C.
Ice Dance
Alicia Fabbri | 22 | Terrebonne, Que. & Paul Ayer | 27 | Brossard, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil | Montreal, Que.
Marie-Jade Lauriault | 28 | Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que. & Romain Le Gac | 30 | Laval, Que. | Patrice Lauzon & Scott Moir | Montreal, Que.
Lily Hensen | 23 | London, Ont. & Nathan Lickers | 24 | Six Nations Territories of the Grand River, Ont. | Scott Moir | London, Ont.
Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Leigh Davis & Erika Persson
Officials – Veronique Gosselin & Leslie Keen
NEBELHORN TROPHY
Women
Katherine Medland Spence | 25 | Ottawa, Ont. | Danielle Rose | Richmond Hill, Ont.
Kaiya Ruiter | 19 | Calgary, Alta. | Brian Orser | Toronto, Ont.
Men
Stephen Gogolev | 20 | Toronto, Ont. | Lee Barkell | Toronto, Ont.
Roman Sadovsky | 26 | Vaughan, Ont. | Tracey Wainman | Richmond Hill, Ont.
Pair
Lia Pereira | 21 | Milton, Ont. & Trennt Michaud | 29 | Trenton, Ont. | Alison Purkiss | Brantford, Ont.
Ice Dance
Marie-Jade Lauriault | 28 | Ste-Anne-Des-Plaines, Que. & Romain Le Gac | 30 | Laval, Que. | Scott Moir | Montreal, Que.
Lily Hensen | 23 | London, Ont. & Nathan Lickers | 24 | Six Nations Territories of the Grand River, Ont.| Scott Moir | London, Ont.
Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk
Medical Team – Pat Stanziano
Officials – Glenn Fortin, Karen Howard & Erica Topolski
NEPELA MEMORIAL
Men
Aleksa Rakic | 20 | Burnaby, B.C. | Joanne McLeod | Burnaby, B.C.
Women
Sara-Maude Dupuis | 20 | Montreal, Que. | Stéphane Yvars | Boucherville, Que.
Ice Dance
Marjorie Lajoie | 24 | Boucherville, Que. & Zachary Lagha | 26 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil | Montreal, Que.
Team Leader – Shae Zukiwsky
Medical Team – Emma Lis
Officials – Lynne Dey & Leslie Keen