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, …
Ice dancers Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, who represent Lithuania, have both been part of the international ice dance scene for many years now. Reed began competing internationally in 2009, while Ambrulevicius’s ice dance career began in 2014. But, it’s only since the couple teamed up and started to compete together that they have gained …
Continue reading Reed/Ambrulevicius: “We haven’t reached our limit”
All photographs by Olga Trofimova (courtesy of Stars on Ice) Stars on Ice returned to New England this past weekend for the first time in three years. And what a return it was! The headliner of this season’s tour is newly crowned Olympic champion Nathan Chen. But, he’s just one star in a cast full …
An Evening with Champions–the longest-running charity figure skating show in the world, organized by students at Harvard University–returned last weekend for the first time since 2019. The show, which originally started back in 1970, had been set for a gala 50th-anniversary celebration in 2020. Unfortunately, the covid-19 pandemic interrupted those plans. But, after a two-and-a-half-year …
For 22-year-old Roman Sadovsky of Canada, the Olympic season was one of peaks and valleys. The peaks included qualifying a second men’s Olympic spot at Nebelhorn Trophy in September and placing fourth at Rostelecom Cup in November. Unfortunately, the low point came at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where Sadovsky struggled and placed 29th in …
Continue reading Roman Sadovsky: “I’m proud that I finished the season well”
Last week, Keegan Messing competed in his fourth ISU World Championships in Montpellier, France. Messing’s 14th-place finish in Montpellier was well off his career-best 6th place at 2021 Worlds in Stockholm last year. However, the Canadian skater was unfazed. “It’s always a pleasure to represent [Canada],” Messing said after the free skate. “And it’s always …
Continue reading “Everything he does is extreme”: Keegan Messing
“I have mixed emotions,” coach Bruno Marcotte confessed Thursday night, after his students Riku Miura, 20, and Ryuichi Kihara, 29, won the silver medal at the ISU World Championships in Montpellier, France. Seeing Miura/Kihara reach the World podium–less than three years after they first teamed up–was exciting. However, Marcotte also knows that his team is …
Continue reading Bruno Marcotte: “Miura/Kihara are very special”
This week, Canadian ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha will write the final chapter of their season at the 2022 ISU World Championships. The duo are hoping to put out season’s-best performances of two programs that have served them well this year: Their “Funkytown” disco rhythm dance and their signature “Birds” free dance set …
Continue reading Lajoie/Lagha: “We want to do a good performance for the fans”
The past week’s events in figure skating have almost rendered predictions pointless. Because who could have predicted that the biggest Olympic women’s favorite in recent memory would have a positive drug test days before her individual event? Or that she would be allowed to compete, despite this? Or that we would witness today’s bizarre spectacle, …
When Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir parted ways in 2014, they didn’t expect to ever skate together again. As a pairs team, based at the Skating Club of Boston, they won two U.S. national titles (2013-14) and an Olympic bronze team medal in 2014. But despite their success, Castelli and Shnapir didn’t always get along …
