Madeline Scissas, a Canadian figure skater, recently found herself in the spotlight for an interesting reason. On Saturday, she emailed her university professor seeking an extension for an assignment. Why? She’s busy competing at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games.
At 22 years old, Scissas is a fourth-year student at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Unfortunately, she missed her assignment deadline and thus reached out to her sociology professor for a little extra time.
So, what’s the story behind the delay?
In her email, which she later shared on her Instagram Story, Scissas explained, “I was competing in the Olympics yesterday and thought my reflection deadline was Sunday, not Friday.”
She even attached a link to a Team Canada press release that acknowledged her as an Olympian.
While speaking with CBC’s Olympic correspondent Devin Herault, Scissas mentioned that she was awaiting a response from her professor.
“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a reply because it’s Saturday,” Scissas remarked. “I didn’t think anyone would really care. I just found it amusing.”
She also noted that she had “no idea” how the professor might respond.
“I’m just giving it a shot,” she added. “People don’t realize you have tons of free time at the Olympics. I didn’t really do anything until 5 p.m. today. So, I mean, I could have finished the assignment, but it was locked. We’ll see how this goes.”
Scissas is working towards a degree in environment and society while competing in her second Olympics. In the women’s team short program, she finished sixth with a score of 64.97.
After the first day, Team Canada placed fifth overall in the team competition. Additionally, Scissas is set to be Canada’s sole representative in the women’s individual figure skating event, which is scheduled for February 17.
