Stephen Gogolev enters the 2026-27 season with something he has spent much of his career chasing: momentum. The Canadian had a breakthrough 2025-26 campaign. He made his Olympic and World Championship debuts and emerged as a serious contender.

“Honestly, I feel like it was a very quick season, although it was the longest senior season that I’ve done in my career,” Gogolev reflected. “I achieved a lot of new things. A gold medal in a Challenger Series event [Nebelhorn Trophy], podium in the Grand Prix Series [Finlandia Trophy], and obviously my first Olympics and Worlds, where I was able to become top five and top four, which was very exciting. I guess it kind of gave me some more hope that I can compete at a higher level.”

Starting the season with more confidence

As the season progressed, Gogolev found himself taking on bigger challenges with each competition.

“I think with every competition, I surprised myself more and more, especially leading into the end of the season with Olympics and Worlds,” he noted. “The more I competed, the more confident I became in my abilities.”

The Canadian champion is carrying that momentum into the new season. This summer, he joined his choreographer Benoît Richaud’s Peak Ice camps in Courmayeur, Italy, and Angers, France. He has been working on technique and new programs.

From “last shot at skating” to podium contender

A year ago, Gogolev was in a completely different situation during summer training. A skating prodigy who landed numerous quads at a young age, Gogolev began struggling with back injuries as he grew significantly. He was not sure whether he could continue skating. He had withdrawn from the Canadian Championships in 2024 and 2025, but he felt better in May 2025 and started to prepare for the Olympic season.

“A year ago this was the point where I kind of said to myself this is probably my last shot at figure skating,” Gogolev recalled. “I was constantly injured. My first time coming back to skating was about in May and then I came to this camp. All I was thinking about was ‘I really hope my back doesn’t flare up again because otherwise I’m done for the season again.’”

The back held up. Gogolev put in the work and gained consistency on his quad toe and Salchow. Working with Richaud, he also took a major step forward in his presentation.

Working on new quads

A year later, Gogolev is training consistently and working on new quads.

“I’m in a much better position now although I have some minor issues with my body which are nothing significant at all,” the 2025 Finlandia Trophy bronze medalist shared. “I’m more focused on actually preparing for the season and being able to compete the way I did last year and even better.”

Training has been going well.

“I think this is the best I’ve felt in the off-season, which is pretty self-explanatory because I never really had an off-season in the past two years,” Gogolev pointed out. “Now it’s just working on new elements, putting new jumps in, new programs. It is just exciting.”

Gogolev has been working on the quad loop, Lutz and flip.

“I’m working on all quads and trying to get them consistent,” he said. “I’ve been really working on the loop, but those others are still in contention to be added in the next few seasons.”

Focusing on artistic growth

The jumps were only part of Gogolev’s progress. He also became more comfortable performing his programs and showing more of himself on the ice.

“I think it also came from the confidence that I gained throughout the season,” Gogolev explained. “At first, I remember I was really kind of nervous going into competitions. I wasn’t really confident in myself. I think that’s what was holding me back also emotionally and not being present in the program and being the character that I am. Throughout the season, and with the training I did, I got more used to it and kind of being inside myself with the program.”

Richaud also took on more of a mentoring role as their relationship grew.

“It’s a much closer relationship that we have, not just a coach-to-student relationship,” the skater noted.

Creating two new programs

Richaud also played a key role in choosing Gogolev’s two new programs. For the short program, Gogolev is skating to “Small Town Boy” by Bronski Beat.

“It is quite a fun program,” the Canadian said. “When Benoît came to train with me in Toronto in February, right before Worlds, I remember he started playing this when I was warming up on the ice. I told him that I really like the song.”

Richaud picked that up immediately and suggested the piece for the new short program. They considered several other options before settling on “Small Town Boy.” Cédric Tours, a French coach who has worked with Richaud for several years, edited the music and created the arrangement for the first part of the program.

“I think it’s going to be quite a good program,” Gogolev said.

“Stephen loved the music as soon as he heard it,” Richaud recalled. “The idea for the short program was to find something really different, something that helps him to grow. And most importantly, something that he enjoys. I wanted him to love the music and to go all out and I think you can really see that in this program.”

For Richaud, the program was also a chance to bring something new out of Gogolev.

The free skate to Moulin Rouge! sets a completely different mood, with a more dramatic feel. Richaud deliberately chose a familiar piece of music but felt it could bring out a different side of Gogolev.

“This is something that Stephen didn’t see right away, but I told him to trust me like with Rachmaninov in the last season,” Richaud shared. “Last year, he told me, ‘At the beginning I didn’t believe in Rachmaninov and then I loved it.’ And now, after we did the first minute to Moulin Rouge! he said, ‘I love it already.’”

While many skaters have used Moulin Rouge! over the years, Richaud said he had not seen many men skate to it recently.

“I think Stephen, with his looks, his hair, has something that matches very well with the aesthetics of Moulin Rouge!” Richaud pointed out. “It suits him very well and I think we made the right choice. The free skate is more based on emotions. There are differences in the rhythm throughout the program, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out.”

Aiming at more podium finishes this season

Armed with two new programs and a productive summer of training, Gogolev is looking ahead to the new season. Gogolev will compete at Skate Canada International in Kelowna and Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki. He also plans to compete at a Challenger Series event, although that event had not been decided at press time.

After everything he accomplished last season, Gogolev is setting his expectations higher for the year ahead.

“I would like to be on more podiums this season, especially at the Grand Prix, because I think I am capable of doing that,” he said. “I want to do more clean programs, including whatever new jump I will add in. I would also like to have more confidence in myself following last season.”

The ISU Grand Prix Final is another goal. Gogolev won the junior event in 2018 but has never reached the senior final.

“I haven’t done it and I think I will be capable of doing it if I perform the way I can,” Gogolev noted.

Beyond the results, Gogolev wants to keep developing as a skater and bring more of himself into his programs. After a season in which he reached new heights, he now has a chance to see just how far he can go.

Tatjana Flade

Tatjana is a freelance sportswriter from Germany specializing in figure skating. She has covered the sport since 1992 and attended Olympic Games, World and European Championships as well as many other events. When not sitting in an ice rink, she enjoys writing fiction, cooking, travelling and spending time at home with her cat. Tatjana is a published fiction author in Germany.