This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi, Daphne Backman and Matteo Morelli is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Tuesday.
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May 15, 2024
General Skating News
- Shoma Uno announced his retirement: Instagram/Press Conference/Olympics.com article
- U.S. Figure Skating announced the 2024-25 U.S. Qualifying Season and International Events Schedule.
- Halifax, Nova Scotia to host 2024 Skate Canada International.
- Grenoble will host the 2024 Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix Final
- A new location is needed for the 2025 European Championships
- The first Junior Grand Prix iin France has been moved to become the 7th & final event in Wuxi, China.
- Eric Radford, who is the Athletes Commission member of the ISU Council, has temporarily stepped down as a Council member for the period during which the appeal against the ISU in which he is named as an appellant is pending at CAS.”
- The ISU released its list of proposals for the upcoming Congress in Las Vegas from June 8-14.
- U.S. Figure Skating released its 2023-24 Combined Report of Action, which was published after last month’s Governing Council.
Retirements/End of Partnerships/New Partnerships
- Japan’s Misato Komatsubara has announced the end of her competitive career.
- Adrienne Carhart has announced the end of her competitive career
- Team USA’s Helena Carhart announced that Volodymyr Horovi has decided to his competitive career and will now focus on coaching.
- Georgia’s Maria Kazakova announced the end of her partnership with Georgy Reviya.
- Team USA’s Kristina Bland announced that she is stepping away from skating; Matthew Sperry will continue skating.
- Chloe Panetta and Flavien Giniaux are announced as a new pairs team for France
- Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart, who both previously represented France, announced they are a new pairs team for Switzerland
Other News
- Congress okays Filipino citizenship for figure skater Alexander Korovin.
- Figure skating coach Slava Uchitel shared that a brick block has been added to the entrance of Philadelphia Skating Club & Humane Society in memory of Joshua Soto, a figure skater/ice dancer who was killed in November 2021 during a robbery.
- Three men were convicted in 2021 fatal shooting of 18-year-old figure skater Joshua Soto.
- 1964 Olympic Champion, three-time ISU World Champion and five-time ISU European Champion Sjoukje Dijkstra of the Netherlands passed away at age 82 on May 2, 2024.
Safe Sport Topics & Online Resources for skaters, parents and the figure skating community:
- Three-time Olympian Brendan Kerry of Australia has been sanctioned with permanent ineligibility (subject to appeal) by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct involving a minor.
- Gymnasts for Change (Canada) will now be known as Athletes Empowered, and is advocating against abuse in all sports, at all levels.
Event Recap
- Nation’s Cup Theatre on Ice international competition: Replay videos/
- ISU International Adult Figure Skating Competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, May 12-17, 2024: Event info/schedule link, results page,
free live streams by day (+ replays). Midori Ito won the Masters Elite Women III + IV Artistic Free Skating event, skating to “Aqua” by Ryuichi Sakamoto:
- Mexico Cup is May 16-18, 2024, in Queretaro, Mexico.
- Oceania International Figure Skating Competition, May 29-31, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia.
Recent Interviews:
- Golden Skate’s interview with Elizabeth Tkachenko & Alexei Kiliakov (Golden Skate)
- Nathan Chen: Pursuing Passions, New and Old (Yale University)
- Olympic Champion Nathan Chen graduates from Yale (People Magazine)
- Engaged Olympians Madison Chock & Evan Bates Share Their Top Wedding Planning Tips (Knot.com)
Social Media Updates:
- Madison Chock, Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou, #TeamUSA 2022 Olympic Gold Medalists honored at #GoldGala by Kristi Yamaguchi, Apolo Anton Ohno, Chloe Kim, and Shibutanis.
Kristi’s photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C676A21O3RO/
Madi’s photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C69DavORHc2/
Shibutanis’ photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C67h2l7rQtV/
- Camden Pulkinen graduated from Columbia University on Monday, May 13 with a degree is Psychology.
- Alexe Gilles graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
- Congratulations to Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus who got married on May 2 in Cancun, Mexico.
Upcoming Events
- May 18: Marjorie Lajoie’s Patinage Atypique: https://fondationautisteetmajeur.fundkyapp.com/fr/patinage-atypique
- June 14-15, 2024: Diversify Ice’s Skate Raiser Soul Chicago https://diversifyice.org/events/
New at IDC: Morgan Matthew Pennington joined the team, solo dance interviews, photo shoots in LP, etc. 25 years!
New at FSO: Photos from Ice Theatre of NY, Interviews with Lukas Britschgi and Hilbelink sisters.