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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Season 4: Episode 46 (Dec. 23, 2025)
General News
- The U.S. government admitted that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilots played a role in causing the Jan. 29 collision between an airliner and a Black Hawk near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, 28 of which were a group of elite young figure skaters, coaches and families.
- In their updates to Championship Requirements for the 2026-27 season, British Skating revealed that same sex couples will now be permitted to compete in all events, including the British Championships.
- Skate Canada announced that it will stop holding national and international events in Alberta because of the province’s legislation on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sport.
- According to the Safesport database, ice dancer Ivan Desyatov is now permanently ineligible with no contact directives as of December 19, 2025
- On December 25, the ISU will drop a series devoted to synchro titled Blades in Harmony – the Art of Synchronized Skating.
- .The ten teams for the 2026 Olympic Team event have been confirmed.
- The International Olympic Committee announced the event program and athlete quota for the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games, which will use infrastructure from the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina.
- Netflix announced the premiere date for a new figure skating tv series called “Finding Her Edge.”
- The Boston Globe named Skating Club of Boston on their list of 2025 Bostonians of the Year for their support of the skating community after the tragic crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 on January 29th. Six members of Skating Club of Boston were among the victims. Club president Doug Zeghibe, elite skaters and other club members not only helped the victims’ families navigate the aftermath, they also served as a contact point for the media and government officials. The club also started the Always Champions campaign to create scholarships and remembrances to honor those lost.
- Alysa Liu was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last week and unveiled a video clip of her completing a clean triple Axel in practice.
- Adam Rippon will be the new co-host of the podcast My Favorite Olympian along with journalist Chase Cain.
- Ashley Wagner will serve as a figure skating analyst on NBC Olympics’ Gold Zone, which will air daily on Peacock and NBCSN during the Milano-Cortina Games.
- The cast for Stars on Ice Japan next spring was announced, and the ticket application process is now open.
- Ilia Malinin teamed up with gymnastics world medalist Fred Richard to create National Backflip Day on December 21 to raise money for the Team USA Fund. For every flip fans submitted online, a donor matched the impact up to 10,000 flips and $10,000.
- USFS has announced that Build-A-Bear, which is based in St. Louis, will serve as the official plush and tossie for the Prevagen U.S. Championships.
- The ISU has allocated the 2028 Junior World Championships to Lithuania, the 2028 European Championships to Sweden; and the 2028 Four Continents Championships to Korea. The 2028 Junior World Synchronized Skating Championships has been allocated to Finland.
Event Results
FROM THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 14-20
- Italian Nationals
- Japan Nationals
- French Nationals
- Swiss Nationals
- Bulgarian National Championships
- Croatian National Championships
- Turkish National Championships
FROM THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 7-13
- 2025 Southeast Asian Games
- Santa Claus Cup (SYNCHRO)
- Finnish Figure Skating Championships
- Armenia National Championships
- 2026 Four National Championships National Championships for Four Countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (including junior for pairs and ice dance)
- German National Championships
- Kazakhstan National Championships
- Spanish National Championships
- Austrian National Championships
- Estonian National Championships
Upcoming Events for the Week
| DATES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| Jan. 3-6 | South Korea National Championships | Seoul, South Korea |
| Jan. 4-11 | 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jan. 5-11 | 2026 Canadian National Skating Championships | Gatineau, Quebec |
| Jan. 6-11 | 2026 Sofia Trophy | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Jan. 9-10 | 2026 Dresden Cup / Synchro | Dresden, Germany |
| Jan. 9-10 | 2026 Britannia Cup / Synchro | Nottingham, Great Britain |
| Jan. 9-11 | 2026 NRW Solo Ice Dance Trophy | Oberstdorf, Germany |
Online Updates
| DATE | POST/INFORMATION | PLATFORM |
| Dec. 9 | Swedish pairs skater John Crafoord has announced that stepping away from competition due to a back injury that he’s been struggling with for almost a year. | |
| Dec. 11 | Michelle Kwan announced the birth of her second child, Della Rose. | |
| Dec. 12 | Georgian ice dancer Diana Davis shared her journey of living with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss grade 3. | |
| Dec. 14 | Sara Kishimoto has shared glimpses into her new partnership with Mikhail Savitskiy. | Instagram/Tik Tok |
| Dec. 16 | 2024 German National Champion Kai Jagoda announced his retirement from figure skating | |
| Dec. 22 | Michel Tsiba shared that he and partner Daria Danilova will be able to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. | |
| DATE | ARTICLE SUBJECT | OUTLET / OUTLET TYPE |
| Dec. 8 | Jimmy Morgan, former competitive skater and vice-president of American Ice Theatre was a guest on the Future of Figure Skating Podcast | Future of Figure Skating Podcast |
| Dec. 9 | Sexual assault survivor Olivia Oliver provides a rare window into her reality of reporting concerns to Skate Canada. | Broken Ice / Lori Ward on Substack |
| Dec. 9 | Interview with Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius | Ice Skating International |
| Dec. 9 | Aboian and Veselukhin Striving for Meaningful Performances | U.S. Figure Skating |
| Dec. 3 | Welcome Home, Paul Poirier | Skate Ontario |
| Dec. 10 | New Jersey teen figure skater Isabeau Levito sets sights on 2026 Winter Games | Nexstar Media Wire |
| Dec. 11 | Gay Olympian Jason Brown is chasing a historic third Olympics — 12 years after his first | Out Sports |
| Dec. 10 | Dying to Ask | Olympian Alysa Liu and her world-class comeback | Dying to Ask podcast |
| Dec. 12 | A to Z with Jason Brown | Anything GOEs |
| Dec. 11 | Born to Soar: Isabeau Levito | Red Bull |
| Dec. 13 | Finding his moment: Lukas Britschgi on joy, pressure and growth | Golden Skate |
| Dec. 16 | Stéphane Lambiel: Guiding the next generation with vision | Golden Skate |
| Dec. 16 | Interview with Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik | Blades and Banter Podcast |
| Dec. 17 | Carolina Kostner on coaching Yuma Kagiyama | Anything GOEs |
IDC and FSO spotlight & TWIS updates
- New at TWIS: This Week in Skating, Figure Skaters Online and Ice-Dance.com’s new store, Three Turns Shop
- New at TWIS: This Week in Skating on Patreon
- New at TWIS: This Week in Skating on YouTube
- New at IDC: Italian National Championships Photos
- New at IDC: Japan National Championships Photos
- New at IDC: Chinese Junior National Championships Photos
- New at FSO: Italian National Championships Photos