Ruiter halts Schizas’s 3-peat bid in women’s program at Canadian figure skating championships

Kaiya Ruiter claimed the Canadian women’s figure skating championship in her hometown Saturday.

The 17-year-old Calgarian dethroned two-time champion Madeline Schizas by winning Saturday’s free skate. Schizas led after Friday’s short program.

Ruiter, who will compete for Canada in the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, posted a winning total score of 180.86.

“Just having that skate out there, that just felt like magic to me,” Ruiter said.

“That was one of the most special performances I’ve ever had in my life and just to get to share that with my family and friends and everyone that I love, it’s just surreal.”

WATCH | Ruiter wins women’s title in hometown:

Schizas dropped to second at 172.90 following a rocky free skate that scored third-place marks.

“I just, like, walked my way through the program making mistakes one after another after another,” Schizas said. “Very disappointing.”

Canada’s 2023 junior women’s champion Hetty Shi of Mississauga, Ont., was third with a score of 162.51.

Canadian champions in ice dance, pairs and men’s singles were to be crowned Saturday.

Live coverage of the Canadian figure skating championships continues Saturday with the free dance at 3:15 p.m. ET, pairs free skate at 6:25 p.m. ET, and men’s free skate at 8:40 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

The gala exhibition goes live on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.