'It was time to learn something new'
Much as it made her roar during the past season, Maddie Schizas has been forced to move on from 'The Lion King' for the Olympic campaign
For one glorious season, it was a program that gave her skating a special kind of roar. Or rather, a joy that was so palpable pretty much every second she performed to its beat. It was just that uplifting for her.
And now it’s gone. Buried in the evolving world of music rights clearing (which this article does a terrific job of explaining) that has added a new kind of stress to the Olympic season for figure skaters across Canada.
So it is that Maddie Schizas must say goodbye to “The Lion King,” the short program that served her so well in the 2024-25 season — most of all at the World Championships in Boston, where it allowed her to soar to a sixth-place finish in the segment with perhaps the best-skated short program of her life (which led to some other developments that we’ll get into in a bit).
While Schizas absolutely could have gained clearance to use the music again this season, there would have been a cost involved. And not a small one. As her coach, Nancy Lemaire, said about the issue back at the Canadian national championships back in January in Laval, Que., “it’s Disney (we’re dealing with).” As in, the mighty Walt Disney Corporation, which created and owns the hugely popular “The Lion King” franchise.
There were three pieces of music contained within the program: “Spirit,” by Beyonce, Timothy Lee McKenzie and Ilya Salmanzadeh; “Grasslands Chant,” by Lebo M, and “Remember,” by Hans Zimmer.
“I was quoted a truly exorbitant amount of money (for clearance rights). If someone wants to get a GoFundMe together for that … ,” Schizas said ruefully about the decision to go in a different direction with a short program for the coming season. “So that one is very clearly firmly out.
“We knew that this was a possibility. I was hoping that it wouldn’t end the way it has, but I enjoyed it while it lasted, so maybe it was just a sign that it was time to learn something (new).”
Understand that the three-time Canadian champion had a true fondness for the program, and the music which just clicked with her personality. She put it this way after turning in a strong performance to it back in October at Skate Canada International in Halifax.
“It’s a joyful program … it’s a joyful piece of music. It’s hard not to smile. Something about this program just makes me really happy to get out there and happy to compete … I was so excited here. It’s just a program that gets me to that place of being excited and happy to be skating.”
And really, isn’t that where you want to be every time you’re on the ice?
But the waiting game isn’t quite over for Schizas when it comes to an Olympic season short program. She and her team at the Milton Skating Club west of Toronto, which also includes choreographer Alison Purkiss, have something new in mind (under wraps for now, naturally). Again, though, there’s an issue with the music, at least for the moment.
“We’re still waiting to hear about music clearance. I can’t speak for anyone else but for me, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what will clear and what will not,” said the 22-year-old from Oakville, Ont. “I have a really solid backup plan in mind on the off chance that the first choices don’t clear … I have a backup plan and a couple of weeks at the end of the summer where I’ll be able to do choreography if that is what ends up happening.”
She would also like to have some contrast in the music choices for her two programs. As has been well documented, Schizas turned to “The Butterfly Lovers Concerto” for her free program to close out last season (it’s a violin concerto, and one of the most famous pieces of Chinese orchestral music) and clearance is not a concern for that one, which she had long ago planned to be her Olympic season free program.
“The only things you can be really sure are going to clear are classical music written before 1929,” she said. “I’d like to have (a short program with) some kind of lyrics and that becomes hard when you’re looking at classical music. It’s not impossible, but I’d like something more modern as opposed to doing two pieces of slower, romantic classical music. I want something different. So I have a backup plan in mind but I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
While that remains a worry for her, there is no such issue with her free program. Schizas spoke enthusiastically about “Butterfly Lovers” at nationals in January, and with three major competitions under her belt with it (nationals, Four Continents and Worlds), it puts her way ahead of the game in the Olympic season. Given the issues with the short program, it’s been a huge blessing, one that is greatly appreciated.
“I am so incredibly grateful that is done. It’s maybe the best decision in 15 years of skating that I’ve ever made, starting it early. It’s done, I can run it start to finish as much as I want,” she said. “I’m not learning choreography. I’m not changing jumps in it. I just get to train.
“I’m training every day so when it comes time to get a short program together, I feel strongly that it will be straightforward. The long is a bigger project, so I am so happy that that’s done because now I just get to train it.”
Again, that’s a major comfort given what’s at skate this season.
“Yeah, it’s great. Without all the jumps, I ran a full long two weeks ago. That would never happen if you need choreography,” she explained. “A mid-May free skate, that’s not possible if you need to get choreography done. So I feel like I’m just starting from a much more organized and better position.”
It’s also fair to suggest she’s riding some clear momentum heading into a new season. We’ve mentioned what the short program did for her at Worlds in Boston. And while the overall finish (11th) wasn’t exactly what she wanted, Schizas gained the experience of skating with some of the best skaters on the planet in the final flight for the free skate.
While there were lessons to be taken away from that afterward, she also soaked up every moment of her time on the ice, from the practices through the competition, and stayed present throughout it all.
“It was really nice to go out in that last group at Worlds and I just really let myself enjoy the experience. I think I enjoyed the practices. I enjoyed the warm-up. I enjoyed the skate … it didn’t go exactly the way I wanted, but I think I handled the moment well,” she said. “I practised well for three days. I didn’t let the pressure of being in the last group get to me. I was just genuinely really happy to be there.”
And there was also the wall of noise from the packed house at TD Garden that grew to a deafening level as things went deeper into the event. While Schizas experienced some of that on home soil a year earlier at 2024 Worlds in Montreal, this was next level in her mind.
“I was nervous but I really I wanted to enjoy the experience. It’s not really fun skating early (in the event) because most of the time, you’ve ended up there because you skated a bad short program. It’s simply not very fun,” she explained. “Sometimes, that’s what happens but it’s never an ideal situation.
“So it was really nice to walk into the free skate at Worlds knowing that I had done everything I could possibly have done at this point. I’ve never skated in an arena that loud before; it was truly crazy. The fans were going nuts. It was just a really different experience for me, even than in Montreal, because I skated so early (in the competition) in Montreal.”
Without a doubt, Schizas had the attention of every senior women’s skater in Canada (at least those with Olympic dreams in sight) when it came to the free skate. A top 10 finish at the biggest competition of the season, something no Canadian woman has produced since Kaetlyn Osmond won the World title in 2018, would open up the opportunity for Canada to send two women to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics next year.
(an aside: Schizas knows this story well. Back in 2022 in Montpellier, France, she placed 10th in both programs but the math didn’t quite add up for her and she placed 12th overall, a mere 0.28 points out of the top 10. She went to the Beijing Olympics that year as Canada’s lone women’s entry).
But it wasn’t meant to be (again) in Boston. Schizas wound up 11th, an agonizing 3.37 points shy of 10th, with an overall score (190.79) that would have easily done the job in Montreal a year earlier. But alas, not this time (we did deep dive on what led to her near miss on the night of the event, if you want to refresh your memory).
And yeah, Schizas took it hard. Real hard.
“I was quite upset in the moment because it was so close and it would’ve been enough any other year. I felt really bad; like, I felt so bad that it just didn’t shake out the way I was hoping,” she said. “The second spot, it’s a favour for other people, but it’s also a favour to yourself. Because when there’s two spots and you’ve been the one to get the two spots … you aren’t guaranteed one but it improves your chances of going the Olympics markedly. Everybody clamouring for one spot, man, that sucks.”
Soon enough, though, Schizas warmed up to the idea that she’d produced a lot of good in Boston. And that there is certainly plenty for her to keep building upon as the Olympics in Italy draws closer.
“After a few days, I was like you know what, I did everything I possibly could have. I trained really well in the lead up, I skated lots of clean programs, I took it super seriously — not that I don’t always — but I did everything I needed to do and the fact is that on the day, other people skated better,” she said. “So I was kind of able to let go of it and say you know what, I did what I could, I gave it my very best shot and sometimes things don’t go your way.
“In the moment I wasn’t happy but when it all shook out, a few days later I was like, you know what, I should be proud of myself.”
It’s with that thought in mind that Schizas glides forward into the biggest season of her career. Not that she needed any reminding, but the Olympic Lab presented by the Canadian Olympic Committee that she and eight of her teammates attended two weeks ago in Montreal emphasized exactly how big a deal this season will be for all of them.
“When you start off the year with that big reminder, it definitely puts it into focus a little bit more. We got details on Milan, a lot more detail than we got going to Beijing (her first Olympics),” she said. “We already have more information about the Games as a whole than we did last time. Just sitting there and having them tell us about all these different things about the village and whatever, it really puts it into focus that this is coming and it’s coming fast.”
And these will be a Winter Games that won’t have the spectre of COVID-19 restrictions hanging over them. The venues will be full with spectators, and there won’t be any guardrails in place to limit athlete movement and interaction. In other worlds, a real Olympic experience awaits them all.
“It’s just going to be a different experience and the prep work, it’s starting earlier. I was thinking about it this time four years ago, but I was still kind of like, ‘oh well, now if I’m the one who gets to go and obviously, I still have to qualify …’ but it’s definitely coming to focus a little bit earlier,” said Schizas. “Last time, I think everyone around me was talking like the Olympics are coming, but I was a little bit like ‘oh, it’s so far away, it’s a long season, and we’ll see how it goes.’ Whereas now, I’m well aware that it’s going to come fast. One way or another, it’s coming.”
And should Schizas be the one to represent Canada at those Winter Games — she has to be considered a big favourite to do so — she’s got the experience of Beijing to draw upon this time. Especially in the Team Event, where Schizas was Canada’s top performer, with her high quality short program giving the country its opportunity to advance to the free skate (only the top five of 10 teams qualified).
“(The Team Event) was definitely a career highlight, there’s no two ways about it. I feel like I’ll just always look back on it fondly. It was just fun and I like a team competition … I’m always really motivated by stepping up for my teammates,” she said.
“Just the experience of being (in Beijing) is going to make it less daunting a second time around. It would say it went very well for me last time; I stepped up to the challenge, but I think the experience of having been there the last time means you’re not going to show up and be an awe of the whole thing. I’m going to show up ready to compete and ready to get through my event.”
But there is a long road to get there before then. Schizas benefited greatly last season by getting busy early when it comes to competitions, and she and her team want to stick with that plan again in the season to come.
“That’s my plan right now. I am going to do at least one summer event in August or maybe something before that, but we’re kind of figuring out how that’s going to work,” she said, adding Challenger Series events are likely also going to be on her fall agenda.
“Ideally, I’d like to do two (Challengers). We’ll see how it all plays out (Schizas learned last week she’s got two Grand Prix assignments: a return to Skate Canada International, this time in Saskatoon, Sask., from Oct. 31-Nov. 2, and Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, the last event of the series, from Nov. 21-23).”
While Schizas does plan to dial her school commitments back “a bit” given the importance of the coming season — she’s a student at McMaster University in Hamilton, just down the road from her home in Oakville, Ont. — she is hopeful she can complete her degree in a year’s time.
“I’m pretty much done my degree. I have a few classes left, so we’ll see how those kind of slot into the year. I’m hoping to graduate in June 2026; I would like to graduate with my peers, with my friends and everyone I went to school with for five years,” she said. “I’d really like to graduate with my friends in the spring. But if that doesn’t happen, that doesn’t happen.
“I quite literally have, I think, four or five classes left. It’s not very much, so we’re going to see how it plays out. I’m not really committed to anything one way or another but in any case, five classes over the course of the next year is not very much, so we’ll see if those get done or not. There’s a lot on my plate this year, but I’ve really powered through it the last four years to give myself that kind of breathing room for the Olympic season.”
What’s also undecided is where Schizas takes her skating beyond the Olympic season (there are likely more future opportunities to do things like Stars On Ice; she did the full Canadian tour again this spring). She was asked at nationals what she thought about Amber Glenn, the 25-year-old American now turning in some of the best skating of her life, and called it inspiring.
“Now I’m looking at Kaori (Sakamoto, the three-time World champion who’s also 25) and Amber and all of these mature skaters and thinking, wow, I could have more of a career if I want one. I could keep going if I want to,” she said at the time. “I thought I had one more chance at a Games (after Beijing) and that would be it. And now seeing how senior women has evolved in the last four years, it’s inspiring.”
We put that question to Schizas again during our chat and well, let’s just say she’s still thinking about it. In other words, it’s indeed the proverbial question for another day. Let’s just say for certain that she won’t be taking the upcoming season as any kind of farewell tour.
“I’m not really committed to anything one way or another, but I’m also a big believer that going to every event saying, ‘oh this is my last nationals, this is my last Skate Canada or this is my last whatever’ is really not setting yourself up for success,” she said. “I think you’ve got to get through the year and then reassess where you’re at. So I’m really not committed to anything one way or another.
“I like skating, I like my life, I like a lot of things about it, but you never know where you are at the end of the year. You never know what your motivation is going to be. This is something my older teammates have told me many times. You have a plan in mind but you have no idea what will motivate you and what you’re going to want to do year after year. You can’t plan (for that) and I thought, you know what, that’s a great way to look at it.”
Two of her Canadian teammates, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, are prime examples of that mindset. A lot of folks thought Beijing 2022 would be the end of the line for them but here they are, skating better than ever in their 30s and prime contenders to be on the ice dance podium in Milan.
“They’re often the ones who tell me that,” said Schizas. “They’re like, you’re never going to know what’s going to motivate you, right?”