Roman Sadovsky says he鈥檚 been greeted with 鈥測ou made it鈥� and 鈥測ou have skates鈥� at the Canadian figure skating championships in Calgary.

Nationals is his first competition this season because of an injury and travel headaches.

An ankle injury sustained attempting a triple axel while training last summer forced his withdrawal from October鈥檚 Skate Canada in Vancouver.

When the 24-year-old from Toronto arrived in Poland for the Warsaw Cup in November, his skates didn鈥檛. They didn鈥檛 make his connecting flight at Munich鈥檚 airport and never arrived in Warsaw.

Storms forced the plane he was on to turn around en route to the Croatia Cup in Zagreb later that month. More bad weather grounded a second attempt to get there. He missed that event too.

鈥淎ll season long, something was in the way,鈥� Sadovsky said in Calgary. 鈥淚鈥檓 super-excited to perform because I haven鈥檛. I鈥檓 here, I鈥檓 present and have skates. Body is in one piece.鈥�

There鈥檚 a Canadian men鈥檚 figure skating title to be claimed, or reclaimed, with the retirement of two-time champ Keegan Messing (2022, 2023).

Sadovsky, who won it in 2020, last year鈥檚 runner-up Conrad Orzel, two-time bronze medallist Wesley Chiu and 2019 silver medallist Stephen Gogolev are among 2024鈥檚 contenders.

Canadian champions in men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 singles, pairs and ice dance will be crowned after Saturday鈥檚 free skates at WinSport Arena.

Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are two-time world bronze medallists. Madeline Schizas seeks a third straight women鈥檚 title. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps are defending pairs champions.

The men鈥檚 competition is the most wide open of the four disciplines.

鈥淭his is the only event where it鈥檚 difficult to figure out who is going to win,鈥� Orzel said. 鈥淓ach other event, you can kind of tell who is going to win, but the men鈥檚 event is really special because you don鈥檛 even know who is going to be in the top five.鈥�

Results at nationals factor into Skate Canada鈥檚 selections for the upcoming Four Continents championship in Shanghai from Jan. 30 to Feb. 4, as well as the world championship March 18-24 in Montreal.

Sadovsky would have competed in Montreal鈥檚 2020 world championship as the reigning Canadian champion, but it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淚鈥檝e heard from several skaters who鈥檝e been to Olympics that (say) a world championships at home is really special, so I鈥檇 love to know what that鈥檚 like,鈥� Sadovsky said.

Canada will send a full contingent of three entries per discipline to Shanghai. Three ice dance and three pairs teams, two men and one woman will wear the Maple Leaf at Montreal鈥檚 Bell Centre.

Toronto鈥檚 Orzel accompanied Messing to last year鈥檚 world championship in Saitama, Japan, where Orzel skated the men鈥檚 short program, but didn鈥檛 qualify for the free skate. The 23-year-old expects a multi-skater battle for men鈥檚 gold in Calgary.

鈥淭he competition is so strong here. I don鈥檛 feel like I am the favourite. I鈥檓 still the underdog,鈥� Orzel said.

Performing on wider Olympic-sized ice is a first for Sadovsky in a decade of national championships. That鈥檚 where Vancouver鈥檚 Chiu could have an advantage in Calgary.

The 18-year-old not only competed in the 2023 world junior championship in the same venue, but he trains on ice of Olympic dimensions at the Richmond Oval.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely less of an adjustment for me for sure, 鈥� Chiu said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely easier to maintain my patterns, keep up the speed, not have to adjust too many things.鈥�

Toronto鈥檚 Gogolev, 19, withdrew from 2022 nationals due to a bout of COVID-19. After a rocky short program, he won the free skate in 2023 to vault to fourth.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of amazing skaters here and a lot of talent, so it鈥檚 definitely going to be a fun competition,鈥� Orzel said.

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