Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac officially secured their spot to represent Canada in ice dance at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympic Games after coming third in the Canadian Nationals. This marks their return to the coveted stage, where they previously skated for France at PyeongChang 2018. However, instead of basking in this accomplishment, the Quebec-based skaters have been pushed into a high-stress race against time.

As reported by Radio Canada, the duo learned just last December that they would not be able to use the two Prince songs they had carefully selected for their 1990s-themed rhythm dance at the Olympic Games due to an unresolved music rights issue.

So, with their carefully crafted program, which had been in use since last February, suddenly becoming unusable on the sport’s biggest stage, they were left with no choice but to just have three weeks to conceive, choreograph, and perfect an entirely new routine before competition starts.

Romain Le Gac explained this situation, saying, “We got the news that it wouldn’t work, but it’s really just for the Olympics. The rest of the season is okay.” While it’s quite uncommon for ice dancers to change their program right before a major event like the Olympic Games or the World Championships, the Canadian pair just can’t do anything about it. However, the incident isn’t the first time that a pair has faced issues with the music rights.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Team USA pair Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier basked in the spotlight following their gold medal feat. However, it came with a surprising copyright infringement lawsuit over the music that they used in their short program. It was a 2015 cover of a folk rock song, but this particular lawsuit shocked the figure skating world.

The Canadian pair, though, isn’t too worried about the future, where they won’t be able to use their previous program. “Once there, we will be happy to change because we are qualified and it will be a different experience, indicated the skater. We still experienced a lot together, and our team is very proactive in allowing us to feel good quickly, even with new equipment,” Le Gac said.

For Team Canada, their ice dance pairs will include Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, and Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac. This will be a stacked roster, and they will be facing a formidable Team USA roster, too.

The ice dance competition at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games will be quite interesting

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik will be representing Team USA at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games. The ice dance pairs have secured their berth, following their individual success at the recent US Figure Skating Championships.

Reflecting on it, Kolesnik said, “For me, it’s a dream of my life to represent the U.S. Ever since I moved here at the age 15, I knew that I wanted to represent the U.S. and go to the Olympics and do my absolute best, so it’s an honor for me.”

Similarly, Ponomarenko expressed his excitement, saying, “Unbelievable. I just can’t wait. … We are finally in a good groove, so just keep working. We still have a lot of little details to fix up and show the best possible version of ourselves at the Games.”

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However, for someone like Bates, who has been on this Olympic stage three times and will be heading towards his fourth one, he made a confession that included his ice dance journey. “No journey is linear, and ours certainly hasn’t been. And, I think those years where we felt the struggle set us up for this run now that we’ve been enjoying for the last four years or so,” he said.

“And I think the domestic rivalries that we had through that span of time sharpened us for international competition. And when I look at the landscape of US ice dance right now, and I see the talent on the podium, and just off the podium, the field is so deep.”

His partner, Chock, though, expressed her own excitement, saying, “We are so excited. The Olympics definitely never loses its luster. I’m just as excited as I was the first we made the team. It’s such an honor to be a part of Team USA and represent our country and U.S. Figure Skating at the Olympics. I feel so grateful to be part of this team. All of the people on the team are so incredible, so special and so talented.”

So, with the clocks ticking for the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, only time will tell who will prevail in Italy and grab that glorious gold medal.