The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have only just begun, but Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas has already gone viral for a pair of moments.

Schizas had everyone smiling on Saturday, after the 22-year-old university student from Oakville, Ont. revealed that she asked her professor for an extension on a homework assignment. Her excuse was that she was competing at the Olympics.

Schizas certainly wasn’t smiling after receiving her score on Friday though.

Competing in her second Olympic Games, Schizas skated the women’s short program on Friday, as part of the mixed team event.

With her Canadian teammates surrounding her, Schizas’ feelings were written all over her face when she received a score of 64.97 from the judges.

It was lower than she expected.

“I thought I skated a pretty perfect program and the score was somewhat lower than what I got at Worlds for a program that I thought was the same,” Schizas said in an interview with the CBC’s Devin Heroux.

In conversation with 🇨🇦 Maddie Schizas, who has become an internet sensation at the Olympics.

Here’s her answer about her reaction for to her score in the short.

And tells me that she hasn’t heard back from her professor after asking for an extension. Our conversation pic.twitter.com/i3L5MFiojQ

— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) February 7, 2026

“When you’re sitting there, you have no idea what the score’s gonna be. You can’t watch them call it. So, now that I see it, I understand it a bit better, but it’s a surprise. You’re sitting there and you’re a little bit shellshocked.”

Online reaction varied.

“I think some people think it’s amusing, I think other people don’t, and I think that that’s kind of on them. I’m allowed to have a reaction to my score. It’s not meant in bad faith. I’m out there and putting everything that I have on the line, I’m allowed to have a reaction to that.”

 

Canada qualified for the final of the figure skating team event, finishing with the fourth best score. Along with the United States, Japan, Italy, and Georgia, Canada will be competing for a medal in the final on Sunday.

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