2009-2010

Phaneuf's Grand Prix season did not go well, as she finished 6th and 7th.  The low point was the free skate at Skate Canada in November.  She fell four times and had one jump that didn't even count.  Her coach, Annie Barabé wasn't sure how she was going bounce back.  Phaneuf met with a sports psychologist who helped her see that what she did at Skate Canada was just one small thing and it was fixable.  She entered the Canadian Championships with a completely different mindset.

Phaneuf delivered a clean short program including a huge triple Lutz.  She was the overnight leader after Joannie Rochette fell on one of her jumps.  She held on to second place with a solid free skate, earning her trip to Vancouver.   

2008-2009

Cynthia Phaneuf made her season debut at Skate Canada.  In the short program she popped her planned triple-double combo into a single and she also fell on a triple flip.  She was ninth in the segment.  She landed four triples in the free skate and moved up to eighth overall.   

Her second Grand Prix event was NHK Trophy in Japan.  The short program continued to be a problem when she doubled a required triple flip.  A poor free skate in which she popped two jumps left her seventh overall.     

Phaneuf had made it her goal to get back on Canada's team for the World Championships, where she hadn't competed since 2005.  At the Canadian Championships, she was the leader after the short program following a bad performance by defending champion Joannie Rochette.  Phaneuf successfully landed four triples in the free skate which was enough to earn the silver medal behind a perfect performance by Rochette and a spot on the World team.

At the Four Continents Championships, Phaneuf had her best competition since missing the entire 2005-06 season.  She placed third in the short program, behind Kim Yu-Na and Joannie Rochette, but ahead of Mao Asada.  It was her first clean short program in four years.  "I was feeling so good out there.  Finally a clean program."  In the free skate, she was able to complete six of her planned seven triples, to finish fifth in the segment and fifth overall.

She could not keep the momentum going for the World Championships, as she finished 15th.

2007-2008

In the fall of 2007, Phaneuf competed in her first Grand Prix event since she won the 2004 Skate Canada. She would finish 10th at Skate Canada.

By the time Nationals came around in January 2008, it had been four years since she had won her national title.  But the year and a half she had spent away from competition was almost like time that didn't happen.

"Now that I have all my jumps [back,] everything is like it was before on the ice. It's very weird because it's 2008 but, for me, it's like 2004 was two years ago,"she told icenetwork.com.

"This year was a lot better because every competition I was having a big improvement so that when I went back to training, I knew I was getting better each time so it was easier."

She arrived at Nationals with a full arsenal of triple jumps once again. She was confident and determined and with the help of her beautiful choreography she was back on the podium, winning the bronze medal.

"I am a lot stronger than I was before. I gained muscle from working out at the gym. Being stronger is maybe why my jumps have more height now. I jumped high before, but not that high and not with that much speed."

2006-2007

Off the ice since the summer of 2005, the long lay off proved to be a major battle for Phaneuf. She had grown five inches and put on more weight. But in the summer of 2006 when she decided to give skating another go, her coaches came up with a plan.

Both Annie Barabé and Sophie Richard were encouraging, yet realistic. They helped her to stay focused on one goal at a time, even if she didn't want to.

"For sure I was not very patient at the beginning," she told icenetwork.com

"I had a hard time because when I came back, I had to start with only a double axel and not the jumps that I used to land before the injury. It felt like I was starting all over again."

The eventual goal for the season was to make the national team, meaning a top-five finish at the Canadian Championships.

"It was a very rough time for me. Everybody tried to help me and they don't give up, but in their head everybody was like, 'she's not going to do it; that's impossible starting from her double Axel.' I was falling on double Axels. I was crying every day. After almost a year like that, things started to be better -- one after another, but after a very long time. For me and my family, it was very tough."

"I was thinking maybe I should go back to school and stop wasting my time at the rink. I realized I had to start over again, just be patient, not panic at every jump I was missing. Then, things started getting better and I worked harder and harder."

By Nationals, Phaneuf had only remastered two triple jumps - the toe loop and the Salchow. But she attained her goal of making the national team by finishing fourth.

2005-2006

In the summer of 2005, Phaneuf's progress came to an abrupt stop. During a practice she landed funny on a triple loop, hurting her right ankle. She did not think anything of it and tried to push through the pain, even though she couldn't jump. She actually exacerbated the injury, which turned out to be a stress fracture. She was also dealing with a growth spurt and before she knew it, overcompensating for her ankle injury created problems in her knee as well.

Phaneuf was forced to miss the entire season. She had gone from being an almost-certain Olympian to a spectator.

"This was a hard time for me. I didn't know what I was going to do. It was the first time that I considered that my life might not be in skating and as a skater," she said in an interview with CBC.

"I started to recognize the importance of school," she said. "Even though I would like to be a coach and work with children one day, I also want to have an education first."

2004-2005

In October 2004, Phaneuf competed at her first senior Grand Prix event, Skate America. With programs and presentation suited perfectly for the recently introduced Code of Points judging system, Phaneuf won the silver medal. A week later at Skate Canada, Phaneuf won the gold medal, qualifying her for her first Grand Prix Final. She would finish 6th of six skaters at the event.

At the 2005 Nationals, Phaneuf could not defend her Canadian title. She had trouble with many of her jumps while Joannie Rochette had the competition of her life. But in winning the silver medal, Phaneuf qualified for her first World Championships. Expectations were high after the decision not to send her to the Worlds the year prior. But Phaneuf did not perform well and finished 20th.

2003-2004

After placing seventh at the 2003 Nationals, Phaneuf shocked everyone when she won the 2004 Canadian title less than a week before her 16th birthday. She became Canada's youngest ladies champion since 13-year-old Tracy Wainman in 1981. In upsetting six-time champion Jennifer Robinson and heir apparent Joannie Rochette, Phaneuf became an instant star. The win created much debate about whether she should compete at the World Championships or just at the World Junior Championships. She had never skated in a senior international competition and many people wondered if debuting at the World Championships would be too stressful for her.

Skate Canada made the decision not to send Phaneuf to the World Championships, believing she would gain more experience competing as a junior and it would be less demanding on her. It would be the first time in 24 years that Canada's ladies champion would not compete at the World Championships. Phaneuf was also assigned to the Four Continents Championship, her first senior international competition.

"My goal was to go to Junior Worlds, and I get the Four Continents as a bonus," she told CBC

There was only one Canadian spot available for the Junior Worlds and Phaneuf bumped junior champion Mariane Samson from that trip. Samson's coach Maryse Gauthier was adamant that it was not fair.

At Four Continents, Phaneuf placed second, winning the free skate portion easily after finishing eighth in the short program. But the success did not follow to the Junior Worlds where she placed a very disappointing 10th. Phaneuf then attended the World Championships as an observer.