There's a little extra on the line at the figure skating nationals

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The Canadian figure skating championships began today in Laval, Que., with the opening rounds of the junior competitions. The main senior-level events start Friday evening and continue through Sunday.

The senior nationals will help decide who gets picked to represent Canada at the Four Continents championships in Seoul next month and the world championships in Boston at the end of March. The worlds are extra-important this year because the results there will determine how many Olympic entries each country receives for the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Canada will award its spots to specific athletes following next year's national championships.

This week's nationals will also give us a look at Canada's Olympic medal contenders. Our two best hopes are pretty clear: the pairs team of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps and the ice dance duo of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps have the best chance of winning Olympic gold. Last March in Montreal, they captured Canada's first figure skating world title in any discipline since 2018. They've looked great this season too, winning both of their regular Grand Prix events in the fall before an illness forced them out of the prestigious Grand Prix Final in France, where no Canadians reached the podium.

Now they're back in good health to go for their third straight national title and Stellato-Dudek's first as a Canadian citizen. The Chicago native, who has lived and trained around Montreal since teaming up with Deschamps in 2019, took the oath in December. That makes her eligible to compete for Canada