Keegan Messing

Biography

Keegan Messing began competing for Canada during the 2014-15 season after having represented the United States since the start of his career. His decision was founded from conversations with his Canadian grandmother, who told him over the years that Canada had never won an Olympic gold medal in men’s figure skating. 

Since making that switch, he has had more fun than ever in his sport. He finished in the top five at the 2015 and 2017 Canadian Championships, earning him a place on the national team. In October 2015 Messing made his Grand Prix debut at Skate Canada International. In November 2017 he placed an impressive fifth at NHK Trophy, his first Grand Prix event on foreign soil. 

After winning silver at the 2018 Canadian Championships, Messing made his Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018, where he placed 12th. A month later, he posted an eighth-place finish at his first world championships, making him the top-ranked Canadian man at the event. 

In October 2018, Messing earned his first Grand Prix medal when he won silver at Skate Canada International, which was key to him qualifying for his first career Grand Prix Final. He claimed the bronze medal at the 2019 Canadian Championships and followed up with a career-high fourth-place finish at the 2019 Four Continents Championships. 

The 2019-20 season had its highs and lows for Messing. He was married in August but then in September, his younger brother Paxon was killed in an on-road collision. Messing performed a tribute in the gala after his fourth-place finish at Skate America just a few weeks later. He was also fourth at Cup of China. Messing won another bronze at the Canadian championships in January 2020 but was not selected for the world championship team. 

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Messing was the lone Canadian to compete in a Grand Prix event in the fall of 2020. He won bronze at Skate America, which was run as a domestic event for skaters who represented or trained in the United States. After the 2021 Canadian Championships were cancelled, Messing was selected as Canada’s lone entry in men’s singles for the 2021 World Championships. With the pressure on, he posted a sixth-place finish which made Canada eligible for two men’s Olympic spots for Beijing 2022.  

In December 2021, Messing won his second career gold medal on the ISU Challenger Series with a victory at the Golden Spin of Zagreb. He had previously won gold at the Nebelhorn Trophy in September 2018. He won his first national title in 2022. 

As he was preparing to depart Canada for Beijing 2022, Messing tested positive for COVID-19. Forced into quarantine, he missed his chance to compete in the Olympic team event. After finally producing the necessary negative tests, he flew almost around the world and just 24 hours after arriving in Beijing, he skated a clean short program in the men’s event. He finished 11th overall. He went on to place 14th at the 2022 World Championships.  

Messing had been the silver medallist at the 2009 US Junior Championships. He finished fourth at the junior world championships in both 2010 and 2011.