Canadian figure skaters hoping to hit the ice at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, must first qualify for Team Canada in January's 2018 National Skating Championships. The competition will feature approximately 250 athletes who will compete in the men, women, pair and ice dance disciplines at three levels: senior, junior and novice.
Canada won three figure skating medals, all of them silver, at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Here are a few things you need to know about the upcoming 2018 National Skating Championships:
Where are the 2018 National Skating Championships?
The 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will take place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, BC. This is Vancouver's sixth time hosting the national skating championships, last doing so in 2008.
When are the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships?
The 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will run from Jan. 8-14, 2018.
Where can I watch the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships?
The National Skating Championships will be broadcast Friday Jan. 12 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on TSN and continue through the night session on TSN 2, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET. On Saturday Jan 13, TSN will have coverage of the Women's free program starting at 2 p.m. ET and coverage of the Men's free program will continue at 7:30 p.m ET on TSN2. Other events, including junior and novice events, can be live streamed online on the Skate Canada website.
How many Canadian figure skaters can qualify for 2018 Winter Olympics?
The 2018 Olympics is set to feature figure skating events across four disciplines. Here are all the disciplines that will award medals in 2018 and how many Canadians will compete in those events:
— Men's Singles (two entries)
— Women's Singles (three entries)
— Mixed Pairs (three entries, six athletes)
— Ice Dance (three entries, six athletes)
— Team (one entry, athletes TBD)
What is the 2018 Winter Olympic event schedule for figure skating?
Figure skating at the Winter Olympics will take place on Feb. 9, 11-12, 14-17, 19-21, 23 and 25 at the Gangneung Ice Arena.
Where can I watch the 2018 Winter Olympics?
The 2018 Winter Olympics will be broadcast on CBC as well as on the CBC app. CBC will provide live coverage from every venue as well as coverage of every “medal-winning moment,” according to its website.
CBC will also broadcast Olympic Games Primetime every night from 7 p.m.- 2 a.m. ET, Olympic Games Morning from 6 a.m.-12 p.m. ET and Olympic Games Overnight from 2-6 a.m. ET.
Studio hosts Scott Russell, Andi Petrillo, Alexandre Despatie, Kelly VanderBeek and Craig McMorris will lead CBC’s Olympic coverage, according to its website.