Canadian skating stars in Ottawa for national championships this week
Young skaters from Ottawa area expected to make their national debut
Some of the biggest names in Canadian figure skating and ice dancing will be in Ottawa this week for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.
The competition begins Monday at the TD Place Arena at Lansdowne Park.
David Birinberg and Evan Hopkins, both 15-year-olds from Ottawa, will skate into the national spotlight Monday when they compete in the novice men's short program.
Birinberg said he could hardly believe he's about to appear in the same competition as some of his skating heroes, including Chan, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, who will compete later this week.
"Really exciting. I kind of look up to them so it's like, really, really big," said Birinberg, who grew up skating at the Nepean Skating Club.
Hopkins said he was excited, but also a bit nervous about the "really big" audience that's expected at TD Place Arena.
"It's really a big thing for me, especially because I didn't really expect to ... make it," said Hopkins. "It's really just a big experience for me."
Athletes competing for spots on national team
For most novice skaters, the week will be about learning to compete at a higher level.
However, the junior skaters are vying to represent Canada at the 2017 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, and the senior skaters are competing to be named to Canada's national team.
They're also vying for spots on the Canadian teams at the 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships and the 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
Along with Chan, Moir and Virtue, other big names expected to compete this week include Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, and Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., who will defend her 2016 Canadian title.
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, won't be far from the minds of both athletes and audience members, according to Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada's high performance director.
"For some of them, this might be one of the last chances to see them in competition, because after Korea, we're not sure which athletes will be still staying in the program," Slipchuk said.
The National Skating Championships run until Sunday.