Figure Skater Asks Professor for Homework Extension as She Competes in Winter Olympics — And His Reaction Goes Viral

NEED TO KNOW

• Figure skater Maddie Schizas is doing her best to balance being an Olympian and a college student
• The Team Canada star went viral after she shared the email she sent to a professor asking for an extension
• Schizas' professor said he appreciated the 22-year-old wasn't trying to get "special treatment"

Being an Olympian is a pretty solid excuse for getting an extension on a college assignment, Maddie Schizas learned.

The figure skater, 22, is pulling double duty between competing for Team Canada and finishing up her environment and society degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and went viral on Saturday, Feb. 7 when she shared a photo of the email she sent a professor asking for extra time.

“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 in the email, which she took a picture of for her Instagram Stories. “I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and thought the reflection was due on Sunday, not Friday.”

At the bottom of the email, she even included a link to the Canadian Olympic Committee's press release announcing her participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"LOLLLL I ❤️ being a student athlete," Schizas added over the image.

The email worked, she revealed a day later, after fans from around the world became invested in her plight.

"Since it seems everyone was quite invested, I did get my extension lol," she said. "I can't believe anyone cared so much 😭."

Schizas avoided naming her professor, blocking out his name in the email, but he ended up making himself known in an adorable way later that day.

McMaster University sociology professor Vic Satzewich created his own Instagram account, and uploaded a single image — him watching Schizas perform the women's short program in the figure skating team event.

View this post on Instagram

"So proud of you Maddie!" Satzewich captioned his post.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the professor said he wasn't previously aware that he had an Olympian in his class, which is about race and ethnic relations in Canada and is taught online, with about 200 students. When he asked his class to write an icebreaker post at the start of the semester, as a way of getting to know each other, Schizas never mentioned she had competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, nor that she was heading to her second Games in February.

“I respect the fact that she wasn’t using that as a reason to get special treatment or accommodations,” he says. “Good for her for keeping it under her hat.”

Schizas ended up finishing sixth in the women's short program during the team event qualifying round and fifth in the free skate, helping Canada to a fifth overall finish.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.

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