A dozen or more Ottawa athletes could represent Canada in Sochi, with numerous medal contenders

It was a pinnacle moment many years in the making for Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships medalists Alaine Chartrand and Zoe Gong. And when they accepted their prizes in mid-January in Mississauga, both athletes reflected on how their parents’ years of dedication to the sport was also paying off.

At the 2013 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships last month in Mississauga, Darlene Joseph of the Gloucester Skating Club was presented with her certificate as a Level 5 nationally-certified coach.

On February 6th, 1948, 19-year-old Barbara Ann Scott won Olympic gold in women's figure skating at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Performing in front of seven judges and 5,000 spectators, "Ottawa's sweetheart" beat out women much older and much more experienced to take the crown from European hands for the first time. Of the seven scores awarded her, Scott garnered all fives. (At the time 6.0 was a "perfect" score.)

It’s a big tag to carry for a 16-year-old – she’ll be the hometown’s best hope when Ottawa hosts the Canadian figure skating championships and Olympic team selections in 2014 – but make no mistake, Alaine Chartrand’s got Sochi on her mind no matter what her birth certificate may say compared to her competitors.

It was their first year in the junior women’s category, but there were no rookie performances for Kelsey MacLean and Nikki Mattocks at the Skate Canada Eastern Ontario Sectionals, as the Gloucester Skating Club teammates finished 1-2 last month in Kingston.

Ottawa lost one of its greatest athletes of all time when Barbara Ann Scott passed away on Sept. 30 at age 84. The former Minto Skating Club member was the women's singles figure skating gold medalist at the 1948 Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Gloucester Skating Club coach Cathy Skinner has been selected as an associate coach for the Canadian figure skating team that will compete in the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Korea.

The Gloucester Skating Club wrapped up its main competition season in style last month with numerous top results. Hayley McGuire, Annika Majcher, Shaanen Willbond, Chantal Prouse, Kaitlyn Butterfield and Michaela Feibel all finished on the podium at the Eastern Ontario STARSkate Invitational Championship, while Phillipe McGuire, Hailey Fournier, Josh Allen and the dance pair of Chelsea Sheridan and Alex Gunther competed at the Ontario Winter Games.

It was a long way to go for a girl who expected her competitive season would end at the Eastern Ontario Sectionals, and for Elizabeth Comeau, the dream kept on playing itself out from the moment she arrived for the Skate Canada national championships to the moment she left.