Skate Canada’s Slipchuk to step down after 20th season as high-performance director

OTTAWA - Skate Canada announced on Wednesday that Mike Slipchuk will be stepping down from his position as high-performance director after 20 years of service, with the 2026-27 season marking his final year in the role. Slipchuk first joined Skate Canada in 2006 and has been instrumental in the development of Canadian figure skaters, who have won a total of 10 Olympic and 24 world championship medals under his guidance.

The team's success reached new heights during the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir claimed gold medals, making them the most decorated Olympic figure skaters in Canadian history. However, Canada's Olympic performances have since declined, with no medals at the 2022 Beijing Games and a single bronze earlier this year in Milan Cortina.

Despite this, Skate Canada acknowledges Slipchuk's invaluable contributions and his ongoing commitment to the organization in an advisory capacity. "Twenty years ago, Skate Canada gave me the opportunity to lead their high-performance programming, and it's been the job of a lifetime to work alongside such an amazing group of athletes and coaches," Slipchuk expressed in a statement.