This year's U.S. Stars on Ice tour celebrates the success of the U.S. Olympic figure skaters--including the team gold medal and Alysa Liu's Olympic title--but also nods to the tremendous pressure and nerves of the Olympics.
Category: Opinion
2022 Worlds Diary
Spring. Bright sunshine, passing showers, flowers, a touch of warmth in the air. The World Figure Skating Championships always takes place at the intersection of seasons, between winter and spring, in March. You never know what those days will bring. This year, in the south of France, Worlds came with beautiful days of cool breezes, …
Pairs Season Preview 2021
It’s hard to believe that another Olympic season is here already. Thanks to covid-19, the last four years have been unlike any other quad in figure skating. The sport saw the unprecedented cancellation of the 2020 ISU World Championships at the start of the pandemic, then a truncated 2020-21 season that ended in a World …
A Shadow on the Sport
Why the war on figure skating YouTube is a no-win battle Another figure skating season is winding toward a close, with the World Championships starting next week in Saitama, Japan. Like most, I’m looking forward to Worlds with anticipation. It’s been a year of great skating and great memories. Yet all along, there’s been a …
Skate Canada 2018: Odds & Ends
Last weekend, I went to Skate Canada in Laval, QC, to cover dance and pairs for Two for the Ice. Fortunately, I also got to see some of the ladies and men. I thought I’d share some random impressions from the competition ... and some thoughts on the singles disciplines. Random things I’ll remember from …
Best, Most & Worst of Pairs: 2017-18
So the new figure skating season has already started this week, with the first Junior Grand Prix … and I realized I still hadn’t finished my end-of-year wrap-up for last season!! Here it is finally. Because it’s so late, I’ve tried to keep this edition a bit shorter than usual. Hope you enjoy this look …
Remembering Denis Ten 1993-2018
A couple days ago, I was reminded again of all that we lost on July 19, when Denis Ten was killed in Kazakhstan. Russian skater Sergei Voronov announced that Denis had choreographed his new short program. Usually I love it when gifted skaters try their hand at choreography; it's wonderful to think of their artistry …
The Significance of Trusova
A week and a half ago, 13-year-old Alexandra Trusova won Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a record-setting performance in the free skate. New world records in ladies' skating have become fairly common in recent years, due to the technical brilliance of Russian ladies. In senior ladies, Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova have taken turns …
Is the ISU on the Wrong Course?
It's unclear what problems they are trying to fix with recent rules change proposals In the last 6 months, the ISU has passed or proposed significant changes to the competition format/judging system of figure skating. The scope of these changes could be far-reaching. Yet, their full purpose and effect remains unclear. Change can be a …
Going from 4:30 to 4:00
In June 2016, the ISU voted to reduce the length of men's and pairs free skating programs, starting in the post-Olympic 2018-19 season. Announced as one of many votes at that ISU Congress, this decision represents a major change in pairs skating. The 30-second decrease is an 11% reduction in program time. Pairs free skates …