MILAN – Stephen Gogolev was a prodigy, with talents that seemed destined for the Olympic stage — that is, until a growth spurt and demoralizing back injuries derailed everything.
But a dream of representing Canada at the Milan Cortina Games has propelled him to Italy and given him a chance to fulfil his early promise.
In a spectacular Olympic debut, Gogolev led Canada into the figure skating team event final — and into medal contention — under the bright lights Saturday night.
“There were definitely hard times in the past few seasons where I would get constantly injured, and doubted myself, and (doubted) if I was going to keep going with competitive skating,” the 21-year-old from Toronto said. “These Olympics were the main goal, and that’s what kept me going.”
Canada sat fourth in the team event standings and trailed host Italy by two points for a spot on the podium with the pairs, women’s and men’s free programs on deck to decide the medals Sunday.
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Portraying a gangster in a new suit and tie, Gogolev scored a personal-best 92.99 points, finishing third in the men’s short program after landing two quad jumps and a triple axel to “Mugzy’s Move” medley. The rest of his teammates cheered and leapt out of their seats with every spin in Canada’s box at the end of the rink.
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Only three-time world silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan — whose sensational skate earned a whopping 108.67 — and two-time reigning world champion Ilia Malinin of the United States (98.00) scored higher.
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It was the kind of performance Gogolev envisioned when he was the next big thing in Canadian figure skating, a phenom who landed triple axels at 10 years old and became the youngest skater to pull off a whole list of quad jumps.
It’s also another impressive performance in a resurgent season full of them after years of setbacks made it hard for him to even compete.
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Gogolev said he’s been pinching himself almost every hour since he arrived in Italy.
“You’re in this environment where you see all the best skaters in the world, all the best athletes, really the world’s biggest stage of competition,” he said. “It still feels a bit unreal.”
As Gogolev stepped out to the colourful, 12,000-capacity Milano Ice Skating Arena and saw the Olympic rings at centre ice, teammates Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha — set to skate next for Canada — were stuck in a traffic jam.
“The bus was late,” said Lajoie.
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But Lagha insisted they knew how his performance would play out anyway.
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“We knew he was going to skate clean,” he said.
After Gogolev put Canada through, Lajoie, of Boucherville, Que., and Lagha, of St-Hubert, Que., helped Canada retain fourth place by placing third in the free dance to open the final.
The two-time Olympians scored 120.90 points in their stirring routine to “Nureyev” from the film “The White Crow.”
“We were really stressed before, I think we realized, ‘Oh my God, it’s the Olympics,’” Lajoie said. “But the feeling when the music started was pretty amazing.”
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Lajoie and Lagha substituted in after four-time world medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skated in the rhythm dance, a move they found out would happen three weeks ago.
“We were very happy because we love this free dance and we love to share it and we like to create this atmosphere,” Lagha said. “We’re just happy to have the chance to perform one more time in the Games.”
Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States (133.23) led the free dance, while Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri finished second (124.22).
Canada has accumulated 35 points in the team event standings. The United States (44), Japan (39) and Italy (37) filled out the top three, while Georgia (32) ranked fifth.
Only the top-five countries in the 10-team competition advanced to the final. Canada — competing without injured former world pairs champion Deanna Stellato-Dudek and partner Maxime Deschamps — was fifth after the rhythm dance, women’s short program and pairs short program Friday.
A Canadian team spearheaded by ice dance greats Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the team event gold medal at the 2018 Games and claimed 2014 silver in the inaugural competition.
The country finished fourth at the 2022 Beijing Games behind the United States, Japan and Russia, which fell from first to third after teenage skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press