The 2026 World Figure Skating Championships men's FS results, final results, and Stephen's protocol. With this new personal best free skate and total score Stephen is our new Canadian record score holder. Congratulations!
First of all we love to see all level 4. Great job there. This FS was one where Stephen had to show grit. Like in the Team Event at the 2026 Olympics the crowd was in a frenzy from the previous skater. Stephen kept calm and did his best. He had to fight a bit on the combos but he didn't let anything go. Seeing those GOES on the 4S and 4T was beautiful. If he can get those kinds of scores throughout his programs it will go a long way for him. But he's making progress.
I think Stephen was surprised he got a new PB considering his Olympics FS was better skated. But his BV was higher today thanks to his CCoSp. His PCS were marginally better too (83.15 in Milano vs 83.26 today). With him out of competition so much he hasn't had a chance to build his reputation and show off his skills enough. It will be a different story next season so I'm hopeful about this in particular. Stephen put up two great skates this week and we're proud of him for doing his best.
He looked dead tired today and is need of a vacation but he is not getting a break right now. First he has to do the gala tomorrow. There is also a banquet. After Worlds Stephen has to deal with school and exams. In the mixed zone he said he's going on vacation after school then back to training. He has SOI in May and then he will do Peak Ice Camp (likely June 15-July 4 in Courmayeur). He will also be getting two new programs choreographed. He has gone in May to the US to do this in 2023. If some of you are the type who wish to only follow when there is steady content come back in June and Benoît will feed you well as it will get quiet over here really fast (sorry).
Stephen's 4th place finish at 2026 Worlds is the highest placement for a Canadian man since Patrick Chan won in 2013 in London, ON. With this placement Canada has secured two spots for men for the 2027 World Championships in Finland. That will make for some interesting competition within Canada for the number 2 spot. Just don't forget who's number one. :)
It's been an incredibly long and stressful season. Thank you to first to Stephen for the incredibly hard work he's put in. Though we believe in him a year ago, with him having missed most of the season, we could not have imagined seeing him come this far. It's been unimaginable breakthrough. To put it into context for new fans: Stephen had never finished in the top 5 at a Grand Prix event until November 2025. So top 5 at the Olympics and top 4 at Worlds is just next level.
Secondly I want to thank you guys. It's been so amusing and fun to have an army of Gogolev fans now. Some of you are making some interesting edits too which I should not comment on but the bandwagon is open for absolutely everyone so thanks for coming along on the ride. Let's keep this up so we can share the big experiences together as a community instead of the usual 15 or so of us crying in January.
Thanks as well to Benoît Richaud, Lee Barkell, Cedric Tour, the staff at Granite Club & CSOI, Astraee Couture, the folks at Skate Canada who continued to believe in Stephen, and Stephen's family for everything they've done this season and beyond. It takes a village and Stephen has a great one behind him.