Sherbrooke’s Sarah-maude Blanchard wins gold at the Quebec Figure Skating Summer Championships
Eighteen-year-old Sarah-maude Blanchard is a figure skater who is making a name for herself across the province and the country. The Sherbrooke native won the gold medal at the Quebec Summer Championships in Pierrefonds this weekend, her first competition of the 2019-2020 figure skating season.
Blanchard is embarking on a crucial transition in her skating career, as she will be leaving the junior category to compete among senior skaters. “Changing age groups is going to be a challenge, but I think I have what it takes,” said the part-time Cégep de Sherbrooke student.
“The long program lasts even longer in this category. I’ll have to go back to Toronto to meet with my choreographer, Joey Russell, to make some arrangements,”
she explained. “My new long program is with a song by Lorde, and I’ve received a lot of great comments. It’s different than what you usually see in long program skating, it’s really intense.”
Much of her life is dedicated to skating, as she practices five times a week, three hours a day, as well as three hours of strength training off the ice. “I was supposed to compete in Ottawa two weeks ago, but I injured myself the day before the competition. I went back to practicing and took a few days off before the competition this weekend to stay in good shape for the Quebec summer championships,” admitted Blanchard.
“You never know what to expect because this was my first competition of the season, so I changed my objectives to stay safe, but I ended up receiving the gold medal too which was great!” she exclaimed. “I received higher scores than I usually do in the beginning of the season, so I was really glad about the outcome. I’m looking forward to the bigger competitions in January.”
Her father, James Blanchard, described being very proud of his daughter. “She delivered a high caliber performance and two great programs,” he said. “She skates all year round to be ready for every competition. She’s well prepared and she started on a really good note. Figure skating is very technical and it’s tough physically and mentally, but Sarah-maude is an amazing athlete.”
She began skating when she was four years old and entered a competition for the first time at the age of six. In the short term, Blanchard hopes to be in the top five at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships, where she placed second in the junior category last year, and to win the provincial championships for her first time in the senior category. As for the future, she is very hopeful. “I would love to make it to the World Championships, and maybe even the Olympics one day,” she concluded.