After two seasons working to regain her championship form, Cynthia Phaneuf of Sorel, Que., is hoping to challenge for a medal at the 2008 Canadian figure skating championships in Vancouver. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
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Growing Pains
Former Canadian champion Cynthia Phaneuf is back on track
Last Updated Tues., Jan. 15, 2007
By Pj Kwong, CBC Sports
Cynthia Phaneuf had just stepped onto the ice for her Claire de Lune program in the qualifying round of the 2007 Canadian figure skating championships in Halifax.
Of all the skating programs the 19-year-old had performed or watched, from Jeffrey Buttle's Heartbeat free program from a few years ago to Jamie Sale and David Pelletier's famous Love Story performance from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (which Phaneuf still watches over and over on YouTube), this one — hers — was her favourite.
This program was a defining moment.
"When I stepped on the ice [at nationals last year], I felt for the first time that I was okay and I was back," she said.
It has been a wild ride for Phaneuf, who competes from CPA Contrecoeur in Quebec under the watchful eyes of longtime coaching partners Annie Barabe and Sophie Richard.
Phaneuf had always been coined as a future contender from the time she started skating, but it was her meteoric rise during the 2003-04 season that would see all eyes focused on her.
In 2004, she was crowned Canadian women's champion as a 15-year-old, defeating Joannie Rochette and six-time Canadian champion Jennifer Robinson. It was a magical season for Phaneuf. She captured a silver medal at the prestigious Four Continents championships and had the opportunity to compete at the world championships. Instead, Phaneuf and her coaches decided to opt for the junior worlds, where she finished 10th.
Her subsequent season was not as strong, but she was by no means off the radar, finishing second behind Rochette at the nationals that year.
Taste of adversity
But Phanuef's triumphant rise came to a tumbling halt during a training session in the summer of 2005.
"I remember landing funny on a triple loop and my ankle hurt," she recalled. "I didn't think about it and went to the gym as normal because often things hurt anyway.
"I remember I could only do some stroking and some spinning at the time and not jumping."
Phaneuf pushed through the pain at first, but quickly came to realize that by doing so she actually exacerbated the injury, which turned out to be a stress fracture. A growth spurt further compounded the situation and before it was all said and done, overcompensating for her ankle injury created serious problems in Phaneuf's knee as well.
"This was a hard time for me. I didn't know what I was going to do," said Phaneuf, who was forced to take the entire 2005-06 season off because of the injuries. "It was the first time that I considered that my life might not be in skating and as a skater."
Cynthia Phaneuf was just 15 when she captured the Canadian women's figure skating title in 2004. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)
It was also during this tough time that Phaneuf had time to re-evaluate other parts of her life. With skating on the backburner, she began to look at the world in a different way.
"I started to recognize the importance of school," she said. "Even though I would like to be a coach and work with children one day, I also want to have an education first."
She is currently completing her CEGEP — a Quebec post-secondary education program — by correspondence with a view to heading to university at some point.
The comeback
The thought of being out of skating was scary for Phaneuf — but so was the task of coming back. Once she was well enough to return to the rink in the summer of 2006, Team Phaneuf came up with a plan.
Barabe and Richard were encouraging and supportive and yet kept a realistic view, encouraging Phaneuf to stay focused on one goal at a time — a philosophy that did not always sit well with their determined pupil.
"For sure I was not very patient at the beginning," Phaneuf said with a laugh, adding that working through technical issues and re-establishing her jumps were in some ways the biggest challenge of all.
"I had a hard time because when I came back, I had to start with only a double axel and not the jumps that I used to land before the injury. It felt like I was starting all over again."
Eventually, Phaneuf and her coaches set the goal to make the national team in the 2006-07 season.
Competing on her 19th birthday, the former Canadian champion placed first in the women's qualifying session in Halifax. She finished off the podium in fourth place, but still earned a coveted berth on the Canadian team.
With her skating back on track and a successful re-introduction to the Grand Prix Circuit by way of 2007's Skate Canada International, Phaneuf is poised and ready to compete at this year's Canadian championships taking place Jan. 16-20 in Vancouver.
And this year, she wants more than a spot on the national team.
"I want to do four triples in the long and have a clean short," Phaneuf said, adding with confidence: "I want to be on the podium."
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- Canadian figure skater Fedor Andreev is attempting a comeback on his terms
- Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are drawing comparisons to Torvill and Dean
- Growing Pains: Cynthia Phaneuf is back on track
- Q and A: Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison
- WATCH NOW: Brian Orser breaks down the favourites for nationals
- Behind-the-scenes work of choreographers is key to figure-skating success
- Fire and Ice: The hot skaters to watch at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships
- Pj Kwong: It Figures
- Kurt Browning: Inside edge
- Contest: Skate Home with a Champion
