Sarah-maude Blanchard enters the international arena
Following her impressive performance at the National Championships held in January in Vancouver, Local figure skater Sarahmaude Blanchard was contacted by Skate Canada with an offer to compete internationally.
Sarah-maude, competing in the junior category, finished first in the short program and second overall in the competition.
At her highest level of competition to date she has represented Quebec.
Shortly after her second place finish in Vancouver, Skate Canada contacted Sarah-maude and invited her, at just 17years-old, to begin representing Canada and compete at the international level.
“We have to jump on the opportunity,” said James Blanchard, Sarah Maude’s father.
On the national circuit, the season usually begins in the summer and ends after national championships in January.
“We thought the season was over,” Blanchard said, explaining that Sarahmaude had surgery scheduled to deal with a small cist rubbing against her skate.
The surgery has been postponed so that Sarah-maude can enter the upcoming Egna Spring Trophy competition in Italy in April.
“This was Sarah-maude’s dream,” her father said, explaining that since she began skating, her goal has been to represent Canada on the international stage.
According to Blanchard, skating at the international level will allow Sarahmaude to continue her development by facing stiffer competition, and bring her one step closer to the Olympics in four years.