“I can’t explain it,” she reportedly said in court. “I don’t remember doing it. I can’t make sense of it.” Simon was fined and given a probationary sentence, but was still allowed to compete. Over the weekend, Simon was also part of the gold medal-winning French relay team.
The teammate whom she defrauded, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, also competed in the individual event. She placed 80th.
A Class Act
Madeline Schizas competes in Women Single Skating – Free Skating Team event on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.Tang Xinyu/VCG/Getty Images.
We’re all watching the Olympics to see the feats of strength and athleticism, but the world doesn’t stop just because someone is super good at a sport, as Canadian figure skater Maddie Schizas demonstrated by sharing her own charmingly relatable micro-drama.
The 22-year-old is working on a degree at Ontario’s McMaster University, and Instagrammed the image of an email she sent to the professor of an online course on February 7.
“I am a student in your Sociology 2FF3 course and am wondering if I could get a short extension on this week’s reflection,” she wrote. “I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and thought the reflection was due on Sunday, not Friday.”
She included a link to a roster for Team Canada as proof with her plea.
Her earnest ask worked: The next day, she updated her social media, writing, “Since it seems everyone was quite invested, I did get my extension lol. I can’t believe anyone cared so much 😭.”
Schizas helped her team to a fifth-place finish.
Her professor, Vic Satzewich, told the Wall Street Journal that he had no idea that Schizas was an Olympic athlete until she emailed about the assignment, a one-page reflection about how well different Canadian cities have integrated immigrants.
The assignment, Satzewich said, will count toward about 3 percent of her final grade. “It’s not Earth-shattering,” he added.
