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The Big Picture

Amber Glenn, 2024 U.S. Nationals



ISU Championship Allotments for 2024/25 and Later

Season 2024/25 Figure Skating

    December 5 - 8, 2024 - ISU Grand Prix Final, Grenoble, FRA

    January 20 - 26, 2025 - ISU European Figure Skating Championships, Zagreb, CRO

    Feb 18 - Feb 23, 2025 - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Seoul, KOR

    February 24 - March 2, 2025 - ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Debrecen, HUN

    March 24 - 30, 2025 - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, Boston, MA, USA

    April 4 - 5, 2025 - ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, Tampere, FIN

Season 2025/26 Figure Skating

    January 12 - 18, 2026 - ISU European Figure Skating Championships, Sheffield GBR

    January 19 - 24, 2026 - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Beijing, CHN

    March 02 - 08, 2026 - ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Tallin, EST

    March 23 - 29, 2026 - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, Prague, CZE

    April 10 - 11, 2026 - ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, Salzburg, AUT

Season 2026/27 Figure Skating

To be decided after January 15, 2025

    January, 2027 - ISU European Figure Skating Championships, TBD

    January, 2027 - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, TBD

    March, 2027 - ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, TBD

    March, 2027 - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, TBD

    April, 2027 - ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, TBD


Recent Competition Reports

Skate America Preview

Skate America

Skate Canada

Grand Prix de France

NHK Trophy

Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy

Cup of China

Past Video Interviews on YouTube

Interview with Isabeau levito

Interview with Ilia Malinin

Interview with Adam Siao Him Fa

Interview with Amber Glenn

Interview with Keegan Messing

Interview with Sophia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev, 2023 World Junior Pair Champions

Interview with Emily Chan and Spencer Howe

Interview with Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen

Interview with Nikolaj Memola, 2022 Junior Grand Prix Men's Champion

Interview with Madison Chock and Evan Bates

Interview with Ilia Malinin

Interview with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, 2022 World Pairs Champions

Interview with Loena Hendrickx, Belgian Women's Champion, 2022 World Silver Medalist and 2022 Grand Prix de France Gold Medalist

Interview with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Canadian Ice Dance Champions, 2022 Skate Canada Gold Medalists

Interview with Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, Canadian Pairs Skaters, 2022 Skate America Silver Medalists

Interview with Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, British Ice Dance Champions

Interview with Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, 2022 Four Continents Ice Dance Champions

Interview with Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, Italian Ice Dance Champions

  In the News

2024 Grand Prix Final

Grenoble, FRA

4 - 10 December 2024

Malinin Free Skate, What went Wrong?

One of the more surprising programs at the Grand Prix Final was Ilia Malinin's frees skate.  Surprising, but for the wrong reason, with all seven of his jump elements called with missing rotation.  When the protocol was posted we were all in shock.  Was it really that bad?

Making use of a new higher performance camera at the Final, we photographed Malinin's free skate with 24 Mpixel images - equivalent to 11K video resolution, if such a thing existed - 25 msec temporal resolution, and a 1/1250 shutter speed.  We captured part or all of his jump elements, and have used that to compare analysis of the photographic record to the calls given for each of the jump elements. To do this we measured the line of flight of the jump and the angle of the blade with respect to the line of flight, taking into account perspective correction.  We also measured the time in the air for each quad.

For each jump element we provide next the call and the result of our measurements.

Images of the jumps can be found in the following YouTube video.

4Fq 4F< - just past quarter - 0.68 sec
4Aq 4A - less than quarter - 0.80 sec
4Lz< 4Lz< - just past quarter - 0.70 sec
4Lo< 4Lo< - very close to << - 0.63 sec
4Lz< + 1Eu + 3S 4Lz< + 1Eu +3S - just past quarter - roughly 0.68 sec
4Tq + 3T 4T< + 3T - very close to 4T<< - 0.63 sec
4Sq + 3A + SEQ 4S< + 3A + SEQ - very close to 4S<< - 0.58 sec

By our analysis Malinin was robbed of points on the 4A and gifted points on the 4F, 4T combination and the 4S sequence.  The difference in base value points is enough to erase most of his lead in the event.  Depending on what the judges would have done for GoEs with the correct calls he might well have ended up second overall in the event; however, we can only guess at what the judges would have done and make no prediction on what his final score would have been.

One can also, of course, question whether the calls for Kagiyama were equally flawed.

We did the same analysis for Kagiyama's jumps and found no differences between our analysis and the official calls.

So why were Kagiyama's jumps all fully rotated and Malinin's not?  To answer this we measured the height of the jumps for both skaters.  While the height of Kagiyama's jumps were what one typically sees for quads and triples and his past performances, Malinin's jumps in the Final free skate were distinctly lower than other performances, except for the quad Axel, which was near his usual height for that jump.

For whatever reason, in the Final, Malinin did not achieve the time in the air that he usually does, and thus could not complete the rotations in the lesser time available.  We also note that as the program progressed, the time in the air for the quads decreased after the first 4Lz, being less than 0.6 sec by the end of the program.  The average time in the air for Kagiyama's three quads was 0.71 sec.

[In contrast, in the short program, the time in the air for Malinin's triple Axel and quads averaged 0.71 sec.]

Another takeaway from this, though the sample is small, is that it appears when jumps are fully rotated the technical panel gets it right, but when jumps have missing rotation technical panels make numerous errors.  For Malinin's free skate the accuracy of the calls was 3/7 = 43%.  We attribute this to the inadequate capabilities of the replay system used by technical panels, a subject we have discussed in depth in the past.

Finally we observe that these jump examples suggest that determining the missing rotation in a jump might be better determined by an accurate measurement of the time in the air together with the average rotation rate.  We note that quads with < are about 0.7 sec in the air or less and quads near << are about 0.6 sec in the air or less.  Comparison with clean examples elsewhere have quads with less than one-quarter missing rotation in the air 0.7 sec or greater.  Clean examples of Malinin quad Axels have 0.8 sec in the air or greater.

Common Air Time for Missing Rotation, for Quads other than Axel
(Give or take a few tenths of second, depending on average rotation rate.)

Less than q More than 0.7 sec
q 0.7 sec
< 0.6 - 0.7 sec
<< less than 0.6 sec

David Sanchez Interview



Senior Report

Junior Report



French Team Press Conference

Senior Preview

Junior Preview

The Raspberry Twist, What Is It?

Revised 13 December 2024:  Following the Grand Prixs we obtained a new camera that allows us to study elements in detail with nearly three times the temporal resolution as previously.  We got to use this camera at the final to revisit this element.  The text has been updated accordingly.

The raspberry twist is a signature move for Ilia Malinin. It is a dramatic jump used as a connecting move in both the short program and free skate. But what is it?  So much is happening, and is so unexpected, it is hard to say looking in real time.

While included in both programs the executions differ slightly.  In the short program the pattern is counterclockwise and the jump is exited with several turns and steps.  In the free skate the pattern is clockwise and the jump is exited with steps into twizzles on the right foot. In both programs the jump is executed in the same place on the ice.

The following YouTube slideshows provided stop motion images from Malinin's two programs at 2024 Skate America, the short porgram at the Grand Prix final.

Skate America

Grand Prix Final

The jump entry begins with steps and turns ending with a LFO to LBI three turn.  The skater then sets the right foot, pivots on the right toe and rides the LBI edge for much of 1/2 of a rotation, and finishes the initial half rotation on the left toe [the amount of each varies with execution].  He then takes off from the left toe while the right leg kicks back and up.  There is no turn or step onto a forward edge. Kicking the leg propels the skater into a lateral position nearly parallel to the ice.  There are then 1 1/2 rotations in the air.

The pre-rotation is not a part of cheating the jump as pre-rotation is in other cases.  Rather, riding the LBI edge to mostly forwards with the right leg back puts the skater into a position that allows the right leg to be kicked back and up to change the air orientation.

The jump lands on a LBI edge.  The free foot toe is quickly put down on the ice.  In the short program the exit consists of double threes on the left foot, a step from LBI to RFI [a Mohawk], a RFI to RBO three turn, then a hop and tap from RBO onto RFI [a falling leaf].  In the free skate the exit instead has the free foot put down on its edge and then the skater rotates one half rotation on widely spaced two feet.  He then steps into twizzles on the right foot.

Putting the free foot down rather than gliding out of the landing is driven by the fact the lateral air position causes the weight of the skater to be forward of the left toe on the landing.  Putting the right foot down is necessary to prevent the skater from falling forward on the landing.

So what does all that make this jump?

Even though it has 1 1/2 rotations in the air and takes off from the left toe this is definitely not an Axel.  It does not have the same entry motion as an Axel and never gets on a left forward edge.  Nor is the free leg motion that of an Axel.

As it starts on a LBI edge and the initially free right toe contacts the ice, it might be considered a variation of a flip jump; however, the right foot doesn't really tap the ice, but rather provides a pivot point to ride the LBI edge for 1/2 rotation.  Also in a flip the entry leg leaves the ice first followed by the tapping leg.  In this case that is reversed. But fundamentally, not being a tap jump this isn't a flip either.

The other jump from a back inside edge is the Salchow [long ago once also known as a toeless flip], and many skaters today use the nominally free foot to assist in the take-off without a tapping motion.  In that case, the foot assisting the Salchow leaves the ice first and then the entry foot, as we see here.  So of all the listed jumps, the raspberry twist might be described as a one foot double Salchow with a one-half pre-rotation, a lateral air orientation and loose air position. 

Since the rules allow jumps to be landed on either foot and judges don't seem to care about pre-rotation, this could be considered a listed jump with a 2S base value.  But since it is executed after all other jumps elements, whether it is or is not is irrelevant to the scoring.

But wait, there's more. The take-off from the toe while kicking the free leg is also the take-off for a flying camel spin; but instead of laying out parallel to the ice and landing into a camel spin, the skater inserts 1 1/2 rotations and then exits the landing without executing a spin.  In a flying camel there is 1/2 rotation in the air and the skater lands on the right foot and commences the camel spin.  In the raspberry twist an additional rotation is added, with a bent right leg.  The bent right leg precludes landing on the right leg.

Whatever you call it, though, it is a spectacular moment in each program.

Loena Hendrickx: “My love of the sport is just too big to quit”

by Tatjana Flade

Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx has made history more than once and is the most successful skater from her country. She is a European Champion, two-time World medalist, Grand Prix Final medalist, Grand Prix event Champion … However, there is more to her career than just medals. Loena had to overcome many challenges on her way to the top and she is a role model for young skaters from all over the world.

The off-season was busy for Loena with shows for example in Japan, Canada and a visit in Paris during the Olympic Games – including some roller skating around the Eiffel Tower. Obviously, the preparation for the new season and the work on new programs continued nevertheless. Hendrickx revealed her new music in July: For the Short Program, she picked the jazzy “Black and Gold” by Brenna Withaker and for the Free “Believe” by Madilyn Bailey. Her long-time choreographer Adam Solya once again created these programs for her.

The process of creating a new program takes some time from the selection of the music to fine-tuning every detail. “Jorik was already searching music before Worlds and was putting on different kind of styles on the ice,” Loena said about the Short Program. “We immediately liked the song, the kind of style as well. It's also a style that I've never done before, but it's also not as crazy as last year because that was really a different style.”

The editing of the music plays an important part as well, to enhance it and to make sure it perfectly suits Loena’s skating. Hendrickx and her brother and coach Jorik as well as Solya have been working together with music designer Hugo Chouinard from Canada. It is not always easy when everyone is in a different time zone like this April, when Loena was in Europe, Jorik attended a camp in Australia and Chouinard was at home in Canada.

For her Free Skating, the European Champion was looking for a softer, more lyrical style this time. “For the free now I want to put more attention on my skating skills because the Vogue program was a lot with the arms and it took away a bit of my skating skills,” she explained. “The attention was really on the vogueing. In the free program we want to show to everyone that I don't have to hide my skating skills behind the choreography so that's something we want to focus on.

“It's the feedback from the audience, from skating people. They were telling me that I try to hide myself behind the choreo because my programs are full of choreo. However, that is what makes a program way harder to skate. If you don't have so much choreo, a free program is easier to skate. With a lot of choreo, it's harder for your condition, the breathing. I think many people in the audience don't really know this part because they think I try to hide my skating skills. But that's not what it is, it's just to make my program even harder. So now I just want to show them something else. This is what I like to do from the beginning on - I just tried to go out of my comfort zone, show them that I'm not only a skater who can skate on one type of music.

I want to show as well that I'm very open for any style.”

Winning the European title was a big goal that Hendrickx achieved last January. “I think I was living towards this goal for two years now because last year Europeans (2023) I didn't accomplish my goal,” the 24-year-old commented. “So this year I really felt that I really had to go for it. Living two years towards one goal is just very tiring for my body. Also mentally it was very hard and I started the (past) season with a lot of hesitations because the summer wasn't easy for me. I lost a lot of jumps and I lost the confidence and I was training and training and it didn't happen so there was a few moments that I was hesitating if I ever could come back to my level but because of the love of the sport I just never gave up. I just continued and continued and then I had on my mind - if the first competition didn't go as I was hoping then maybe it's just over but then I did a very good first competition. First Japan Open and then also Skate America so I was like, okay I still got it.”

When there are problems and difficulties, it is important to analyze what caused them in order to avoid them in the future. Loena believes that she was not used to do so many shows which eventually led to her struggling in training.

“Now I know what I have to do when I'm at the shows. At that moment I was like okay I'm doing shows and I will fully live my life and enjoy everything. I will eat whatever I want and just do whatever I want. No I just know that that it's not like that. If you still want to be in shape the next year you have to pay attention to everything even in the off –season,” the European Champion noted.

“If I just train in the off –season, then I can eat whatever I want but not when the training load is much less than normally. It's not that I was gaining a lot of weight but my muscles went down and the fat went up - so it was a bit the same level of weight but it was in a different way. So I think that was the thing when I started (full training) I gained muscles again and then that's when I became heavier and I had to lose weight again, lose the fat and it was hard but I I managed to do it. I also heard a lot of people who were doing the shows that they also struggled with this and that they now know how to deal with it.”

“Then Europeans came and I accomplished my goal,” Loena continued. There was a new challenge before the World Championships as the skater suffered from a hip injury. She won the Short Program and eventually finished fourth.

“Actually Worlds was beyond my expectations because the week before I was hesitating to come because I couldn't train,” Hendrickx noted. “I wasn't ready at all for it but I just wanted to be there and enjoy the competition and then I skated my short and didn't know what happened at that moment. That was great, it was just mind -blowing also for me because it was just not what I expected as I really had a hard time going into Worlds. With the injury I didn't have enough practice but I knew for a short program it's still okay. I've had all the practices before so it's not that I didn't work for it. However, if you didn't do run-throughs, the short program is still easy to do clean. So I was sure that I could do a good short program but I didn't expect it was that good and then because of that I got a lot of hope. However, I knew in the back of my head that it would be impossible to do a good free program. I think after all I can be very happy and I'm very proud of myself that I still accomplished to be fourth because before I wasn't even sure if I could go.”

Even with all the success she had, Hendrickx stays motivated to train hard and to continue to compete at the highest level.

“I think my love of the sport is just too big to just quit and I cannot imagine a life without skating, without training at the moment”, she shared. “Sometimes it's hard because I'm getting older, my body is getting older as well, everything is harder. When I was much younger I didn't have to warm up and I could do triples on the ice immediately but everything changed. Now I really have to warm up to be able to do just double jumps. That's just how it goes when you're getting older. Everything is more sore and you don't feel your body if it's not warmed up.”

In the past few years figure skating has started to change with more young women and less tiny teenagers at the top. The ISU has gradually raised the minimum age to 17 for senior-level competitions and Russia that used to put out every year a new wunderkind has been banned since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Among the top ten women at the 2024 World Championships, seven were 18 years or older and three of these seven (Kaori Sakamoto, Loena Hendrickx, Amber Glenn) were over 20.

Hendrickx is happy about this development. “I think it's nicer to watch it because they're real women and for me I also admire them more because at the moment now I know how hard it is,” she pointed out. “When I was young, I didn't realize it. It didn't matter if there was a 16-year-old girl or a 24-year-old girl, for me was the same. But now I'm getting older and I just know and I also feel how hard it is and that's why I also admire it more. I also think you can really see all the experience they have and you can see the difference between a less experienced skater and an experienced skater.”

Looking ahead, Loena has set new and different goals for herself. “For me the main goal for next season is that I just want to enjoy the competitions more,” she said. “I want to try to put less pressure on myself because I did accomplish almost everything I want and I think it's hard to accomplish even more. Of course, I still want to be at the top, but I think I've accomplished already so much that I just have to enjoy the sport more. I want to be more like Jason (Brown). He used to feel like ‘I have to be at the top of the US’ and ‘I have to go to worlds and this and that’. And now he's open -minded about it and just wants to enjoy and it works. So that's what I want to do for next year and still get good results.”

For now, Loena Hendrickx has been assigned to the ISU Grand Prix events in Angers, France and in Helsinki, Finland.

U.S. Elite Set for Skate America

by Liz Leamy

Ilia Malinin

Ilia Malinin, the reigning World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist, 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final victor, 2023 and 2024 U.S. titlist and 2022 U.S. silver medalist, is looking to make a bold mark at the 2024 Skate America Championships that will be held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas next week.

Malinin, in his characteristic golden style, is poised to once again deliver the goods in the men’s showdown at this celebrated annual event that will be held from October 18th through October 20th and represents the kick-off of six Grand Prix competitions held all around the world from October to November and concluding with a final in December in Grenoble, France.

For this remarkable 19 year-old athlete who lives in Vienna, Virginia and trains in Reston, Virginia with his parents, Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, both of who are former World and Olympic contenders, the primary goal is to do his best and continue evolving on all levels.

“The competition is between myself and I see it as I’m on my own and not against anyone else,” said Malinin in a pre-Skate America media teleconference. “I really try to focus on myself and there’s always a lot more work to do in everything and I always have that mindset where I try to be better and better.”

Certainly, this mindset has been quite effective for Malinin who, over the past few years, has racked up an incredible list of world and national titles with his remarkable library of explosive and lightning-quick quads, including a quad Axel (of which he has made history with) as well as for his electric skating style and compelling series of programs.

“I always tell myself ‘you’ve got to trust the training’ and then ‘you’ve have to trust what your coaches say and make sure you attack everything 100 percent,’” said Malinin.

Malinin, meanwhile, said he is super excited to compete at Skate America next week.

“I’m just very excited to be going to Skate America next week,” said Malinin. “I’ve been training really hard and working really hard on improving the programs and improving all my abilities so I’m ready for the Grand Prix series.”

This season, Malinin plans to skate to ‘Running’ by NF for his short and ‘I’m Not a Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse for his free program, both of which were choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne, the Canadian World dance champion and renowned ice artisan and which is he amped about.

“I’m really satisfied with the programs and really enjoy skating [them,” said Malinin.

Clearly, the creative connection between Malinin and Bourne is an effective one.

“Working with Shae-Lynn, it’s pretty incredible,” said Malinin. “From the first time I worked with her, it was pretty obvious I really enjoyed the process and being able to collaborate with her during the programs.”

Malinin further elaborated on their collaborative dynamic when creating programs. 

“I’ve always had ideas of my own and she has hers,” said Malinin. “So when we do the program, we kind of play around with things until they look cool and feel comfortable for me.”

Notably this season, Malinin plans to feature a back flip in his free skate, an element that was ratified by the ISU in a recent ruling to be allowed in competition.

“It does add another big surprise to the program and gives the same energy as if I were to add a quad jump,” said Malinin. “When I first did it in Sun Valley [last summer], it was pretty magical.”

Malinin, who had been involved in gymnastics from ages three to eight, said he has been in the habit of doing back flips for a while.

“When I was younger I first had gymnastics experience from three to eight years old and it became muscle memory,” said Malinin. “It’s definitely something that keeps me chasing. It’s always on my mind to give ways to level it up in the future, adding a twist or some crazy combination.”

Conclusively, Malinin talked about the inspiration he got from having performed at the celebrated Dreams on Ice show in Japan this past summer as he has a philosophy of approaching each show and competition ‘one event at a time.’

“At the beginning of the summer, I went to Dreams on Ice which was pretty cool,” said Malinin. “I’m just taking it one event at a time.” 

Chock and Bates

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the 2023 and 2024 World champions, three-time World medalists, five-time U.S. titlists and 2022 Olympic gold medalists in the team event are the lead U.S. dance couple entering Skate America.

“We’re extremely excited about kicking off our season at Skate America,” said Chock. “It’s become somewhat of a tradition of the season and we’ve been working really hard on our new material, crafting it over the springtime amidst all the travel and busy schedule.”

Clearly, Chock and Bates seem to be as masterful at managing time as they are with their skating especially in considering how effectively they have been navigating some major events that have taken place in their lives over recent months while also maintaining an intensive training on-ice schedule.

Notably, two major life events Chock and Bates have experienced over the past several months include their dazzling wedding that was held in Hawaii in June and the fact they were awarded the 2022 Olympic U.S. Figure Skating Team gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games in July.

In tandem with these life-changing experiences, this remarkable and radiant duo has all the while maintained a steady training regimen in which they have been able to continue to build, evolve and further raised their already stellar skating standard.

Since winning a second consecutive World Championship title in Montreal last March, Chock and Bates have been working as hard as ever to keep raising their bar both technically and artistically to further indicate why they have achieved such astounding success in their competitive careers to date.

Essentially, for Chock and Bates, the primary goal is to share the experience of their skating with others through their programs, which always been consistently compelling, fresh and innovative each season since they achieved premier national and world status starting in the 2011, when they first started skating together.

“We’re really excited about the programs we crafted that we did with our team in Montreal and cannot wait to share them with everyone,” said Chock. “We just feel like we’re so inspired and just feel like we’re really finding new things about our skating that we have been looking for and wanted to work on. So, it feels really great to keep finding that improvement and self growth, so that’s what’s keeping us going.”

For the Rhythm Dance this season, the duo will be skating to a lively music medley of selections from the 50s, 60s, and 70s such as the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ theme, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees and ‘Last Dance’ by Donna Summer, among other classic pieces.

“There’s so much music to choose from and so many different ideas that we had. So we ended up doing a medley and really trying to showcase the evolution of dance as we see it and kind of touching the American culture aspect of where these dances came from,” said Bates. “We’re trying to stay true to this era and it has been really fun for us.”

Chock and Bates also gave big props to their music editor, Hugo Chouinard, for formulating this program’s memorable audio composition.

“We have to give a big shout out to the music maestro, Hugo, because he’s created a really cool, fun and energetic mix of tunes from those three decades,” said Bates.

For the free dance, Chock and Bates will be skating to JuJu’s vocal version of the famous jazz classic, ‘Take Five’ by Dave Brubeck.

“It’s a very moody and jazz-inspired kind of theme,” said Chock. “We were very inspired by the idea of Lady Luck and making your own luck and how it kind of goes into this American dream of your will of creating your own luck as well. It’s kind of like using your luck to your own benefit.”

In regard to costumes for the free dance, Chock and Bates said they were inspired by the art deco design, structural beauty and spirit of the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty.

“We were inspired by the idea of the American dream and what could be more inspiring than the Empire State Building and all of its art deco facets as well as the beauty of the Statue of Liberty,” said Chock. “It’s really about the seamlessness, spontaneity and creativity of jazz as music and Lady Luck and that whole energy.”

For Chock and Bates, it’s all about expressing their love of skating and also life itself through their on-ice narratives, something they view as the heart and soul of all that they do and that requires great dedication, energy and work.

“We’ve been so fortunate to have longevity in our career, but it also poses a challenge where you want to come out with fresh material every year,” said Bates. “We take pride and joy in crafting new elements year after year.”

Isabeau Levito

Isabeau Levito, is the 2024 World silver medalist, 2023 U.S. Champion, two-time U.S. bronze medalist and 2022-2023 ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist.

Regarded to be one of the most balletic and enigmatic skaters in the sport today, as well as one of its fiercest and most formidable contenders, Levito has been steadfastly preparing for the new season and has been especially amped up ever since she scored silver at the 2024 World Championships, that is for certain.

This talented and driven 17 year-old Mount Holly, New Jersey native, in fact, has been as focused as ever since that time, as she has been rigorously training all aspects of her skating in terms of her technicality and artistry at the Igloo Ice Rink in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is about a 15 minute drive from her home.

“I’m excited to start the season and I feel well trained,” said Levito. “I feel very excited going into Skate America.”

Levito, who plans to skate to ‘Moon River’ the compelling Henry Mancini piece from the ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ classic film soundtrack for her short, and then to ‘Liebestraume’ by Franz Liszt for her free skate program this season, said she is feeling as confident as ever due her stellar results at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal last March.

“Being the World silver medalist definitely came with some confidence,” said Levito. “I’m just excited to skate my best.”

Levito further elaborated on each of her programs.

“I feel very classy and I really love it,” said Levito about her short program.

Levito then spoke about the inspiration for her free skate.

“When we listened to the music, I thought of the Primavera statue in Sanremo, Italy, and it’s very stirring,” said Levito, referencing the breathtaking Primavera (spring) symbol of liberty statue created by Tuscan artist Vincenzo Pasquali in Sanremo between 1924 and 1926 that is located on the famous seafront waterfront promenade of this famous locale known as the ‘City of Flowers.’ “I really like the concept of this program. The choreography is very statuesque where I hit a lot of poses and it’s kind of like a statue coming to life.”

Ultimately, for Levito, it’s all about building and moving forward with all things related to skating.

“I want to just keep building up my accomplishments and live up to what I did last season too,” said Levito.

Summer Sizzler Event a Golden Showcase Headlined by America’s Premier Skaters

by Liz Leamy

(27 August 2024) America’s premier skaters, including Ilia Malinin, the 2024 World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist and two-time U.S. titlist, Madison Chock & Evan Bates, the 2024 and 2023 World titlists, 2022 Olympic Team Event gold medalists and five-time U.S. champion, Isabeau Levito, the 2024 World silver medalist, 2023 U.S. titlist and two-time U.S. bronze medalist, Jason Brown, the nine-time ISU Championship Grand Prix medalist, 2015 U.S. champion, seven-time U.S. medalist and 2014 Olympic Team Event bronze medalist and Amber Glenn, the 2024 U.S. gold medalist and two-time ISU Championship Grand Prix medalist, along with many more of the country’s top contenders in singles, dance and pairs, all convened at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts this August to participate in its first annual Summer Sizzler.

This unforgettable show was held Thursday August 15th as part of the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp at the Skating Club of Boston and drew more than 2,000 spectators, most of who had traveled amidst torrential rainy weather to cheer on the remarkable work and skills of this incredible group of athletes.

For U.S. Figure Skating, this event represented a benchmark moment being that it marked the first time ever in which participants of the Annual Champs Camp had performed their programs and skills in front of a live audience in a show format.

“I’m really excited to get to perform my program and have some audience feedback,” said Brown, whose dramatic short program to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ which he plans to use for the 2024/25 season was a big hit with the crowd. “We love the sport, we love to perform.”

In addition to Chock & Bates, Malinin, Levito, Glenn and Brown, this show’s roster also featured Alysa Liu, the 2022 World bronze medalist and two-time U.S. champion, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the 2024 U.S. titlists, Maxim Naumov, the 2020 U.S. junior champion and 2024 U.S. fourth-place finisher, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, the two-time U.S. Championship medalists, Starr Andrews, the 2022 Skate Canada silver medalist, Jimmy Ma, the nine-time U.S. Championship contender, Logan Higase-Chen, the 2024 U.S. junior ladies champion, Josephine Lee, the 2024 U.S. silver medalist and the Skating Club of Boston’s Theatre on Ice Overture of Boston Team, among other notable performers.

Photo courtesy of Janet Liu and Skating Club of Boston

For the athletes, this event served as a vital part of the whole week-long Champs Camp experience, in which they had also participated in an extensive series of on and off-ice training sessions and seminars with their coaches and U.S. Figure Skating officials and committee members to help further optimize their skating and programs going into the 2024/25 competitive season.

“We’re all benefiting from the support we get at Champs Camp,” said Chock, whose gorgeous 2024 gala program with Bates to Melody Gardot’s ‘Once I Was Loved’ was also a rousing hit with spectators. “It’s a great opportunity for everyone to keep learning and growing.”

Bates echoed similar sentiments.

“I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we got here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really inspiring,” said Bates. “I mean, maybe it is a touch of nostalgia, just the fact that we’ve grown up with Champs Camp every August. “There’s something about that, like you know, back to school, feeling the end of the summer and getting new programs vetted among all the other exciting stuff.”

These athletes also expressed palpable excitement about the fact that Champs Camp was held in Boston, the site of the 2025 World Championships.

“I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the environment here and really get to know the people here and see just how [everything] might look in the bigger venues,” said Malinin, who wowed the crowd with his dramatic 2024 season gala program to NF’s ‘Hope.’

Note: Amber Glenn skated to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire,’ her 2023/24 gala program, while Isabeau Levito performed her 2024/25 short program to ‘Swan Lake,’ both of which were also memorable as well as terrific hits with the audience.  

Performing at the 2024 Summer Sizzler were:

  • Patrick Blackwell
  • Sofia Jarmoc & Luke Witkowski
  • Jimmy Ma
  • Jinna Han
  • Annabelle Morozov & Jeffrey Chen
  • Sophie Jolie Von Felten
  • Skylar Lautowa Peguero
  • Eva Pate & Logan Bye
  • Josephine Lee
  • Ian Somerville
  • Logan HigaseChen
  • Starr Andrews
  • Theatre on Ice Overture of Boston Team
  • Ashley Cain
  • Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarkenko
  • Alysa Liu
  • Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov
  • Maxim Naumov
  • Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea
  • Amber Glenn
  • Jason Brown
  • Isabeau Levito
  • Ilia Malinin
  • Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Prior to the show several of the performers took questions from the media on various topics.

On Champs Camp and the Summer Sizzler Show

Brown:  “It’s been so fun [Champs Camp]. The whole point of it is to show our programs and get feedback from the judges. It was a lot of different work with so many moving parts. I’m really excited to get to perform my program and have some audience feedback. I mean, we love the sport, we love to perform.”

Chock:  “We’re all benefiting from the support that we get at Champs Camp. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to keep learning and growing.”

Bates:  “I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we got here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really inspiring. I mean, maybe it is a touch of nostalgia, just the fact that I mean, I can say we’ve almost grown up with Champs Camp every August. There’s something about that, like you know, back to school, feeling the end of summer and getting the programs vetted amongst all the other exciting stuff.”

Glenn:  “Champs Camp is kind of the first time that all of us come together and we only get a few opportunities a year to do that, so it’s been great to see everyone.”

Levito:  “I love seeing everyone, the athletes and U.S. Figure Skating staff and all of the people. It’s great.”

Malinin:  “I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the environment here and really get to know the people here and see just how [everything] might look in the bigger venues.”

On their skating, training and new programs as they head into the 2024/25 season:

Malinin: “What’s motivating me this season is wanting to kind of push my limit again and not only with technical ability, but also in artistry and creativity and trying to really go for all aspects of skating this year.”

“I think I’m just trying to explore all types of genres and to try to go to somewhere outside to really just see what I can accomplish and whichever ways fit me best and is the most comfortable for me to perform.”

Chock: “We’ve just hit the running as soon as we got back from the tour and started making new material, so I think we’re in a very good place for this point in the season and we’re really happy with the programs. I think we started a little earlier knowing that we had something big on the calendar for June.” (Chock and Bates got married in June.)

Bates: “We came right back (after the Worlds tour) and tried to make the most of each day and get our choreography done earlier in the spring knowing that we had the wedding.”

Chock: “For us, it’s the connection. We want to keep fostering on the ice and optimizing our speed and the efficiency of our movement.”

Bates: “I think we like to go to the drawing board and try to pick the music and concept and try to just not retrace our steps a little bit. So picking music this year feels a lot different that what we’ve done at least in the past year or two and was a big priority for us. So we feel like the programs are fresh for us, which is really something that we value a lot.”

Bates: “We’re really big on self improvement and just trying to find every little iota of improvement that we can find within ourselves.”

Glenn: “My short program (to Janet Jackson’s ‘This Time’) is very fun. It’s very sassy. It’s something I’m absolutely thrilled about. It’s very different from what you might expect when you think of figure skating, especially in women’s singles. And the free skate (to music by Sound Machine) is something I’m really looking forward to. It’s a beautiful, mesmerizing piece that starts off kind of quiet and builds into this huge finish. I feel like it’s very exciting and theatric. Our goal was to just be able to put out a great performance in general, along with some very difficult technical content.”

Levito: “[My programs this year] are both music that I love very much and I just enjoy skating to these types of music. I decided to skate to something I just l love very much for this season.”

Brown: “I’m skating to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ (for the short). I competed it at two events last year and didn’t give myself enough time to train it. So we decided to go a different route for the (2024) U.S. Championships (with his memorable ‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’ free skate), but it’s a piece of music that I still really loved and I wanted to see if I could still use it and see it through in a different way, so we kind of reimagined it as a short program.”

Brown: “I’m still doing what I love and still getting to perform in front of crowds and improving and chasing goals and dreams. I keep wanting to explore different styles of music. That’s a very big motivator. I always trying to improve my lines and challenge myself and that’s really the biggest factor now and then using this season almost as a guide in some ways of how to manage next season.”

On the 2024 Summer Olympics

Malinin: “Watching the Olympics, it was a very cool event. I was very inspired by a lot of the events, watching gymnastics, it was a pretty amazing event and even skateboarding. I like to ride around on my skateboard. I wish I was as good as them, but it’s just very fun to watch them, you know, do a lot of cool tricks. And of course, the new addition of breakdancing. I really enjoyed it. I mean, a lot of the competitors, I really like their own style and they always have something unique they bring, which is kind of why I take inspiration from breakdancing. They find their own style and I try to incorporate that in my skating.”

Chock and Bates (who had received their gold medal for the 2022 Winter Olympic Figure Skating Team event at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics earlier in August.)

Bates: “We brought both sets of parents, aunts and uncles on both sides, my brother and his family and my nieces. We had a huge group and it was, I mean it was amazing and it was better than we could have imagined. We were [part] of the whole team, back together for the first time in two years and just the whole atmosphere in Paris was incredible.”

Chock: “We were also so inspired by the Summer Olympics, just seeing all the athletes in different venues and being at the Olympics fully in spirit was incredibly infectious.”

Glenn: “There was so much [with the] behind the scenes and characteristics to different people and different stories and I felt so much more invested than ever and it made me excited. It made me just all the more motivated and excited to try and make it to Italy.”

 (The 2026 Winter Olympics are slated to be held in Milano/Cortina, Italy.)

USA and Japan Received Olympic Team Medals for 2022

by Tatjana Flade

(8 August 2024) The end of an (almost) endless story.

Finally, on August 7, 2024 the time had come at the Champions Park in Paris at the Summer Olympic Games: Two and a half years after the Olympic figure skating team event in Beijing the skaters from team USA received the gold medal and the Japanese athletes were awarded the silver medal. The Russian team, competing under the acronym of ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), became the bronze medalists. However, the IOC did not invite them to Paris citing organizational reasons and the fact that the ROC has been suspended (because of the war of aggression in Ukraine). This award ceremony in Paris is meant to be the conclusion of the doping drama around former Russian wunderkind Kamila Valieva that kept the figure skating world busy for more than two years.

Photo courtesy of IOC

The final decision was made by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, the highest and final authority in sport.

The CAS had to rule several times on the appeals of several parties in this case. These various appeals have protracted the proceedings. The CAS rulings can only be appealed on the grounds of formal errors, so the appeals are now exhausted and the result will remain as it is.

The athletes from the USA and Japan were able to enjoy this moment, for which they had to wait so long through no fault of their own.

"We all wished to be able to celebrate this medal together as a team, so it was really great that we were all able to come here and share this moment together,” the ISU press release quoted Nathan Chen (USA), who now has two Olympic gold medals from the individual and the team event. 

“As skaters we're all individual athletes, we skate alone, we do medals alone, we do all this alone, so to be able to have a moment like this where we're actually collectively together as a team, we've been training and competing and knowing each other so many years, so we're all family at this point in time,” he continued.

"These last two and a half years have been very long,” said Japan’s team captain, ice dancer Tim Koleto. “In the situation in Beijing we were unable to have family and friends come in person to watch us compete and celebrate this moment with us, so it's such a super special moment to be able to celebrate alongside family and friends and our other competitors. To do it in front of the Eiffel Tower is something even in my wildest dreams I didn't imagine."

 

 

 

Team USA consisted of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, ice dancers Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue and pair skaters Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier. They all had come to Paris. Only Chock/Bates are currently still competing.

 

 

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of Diane Eggert

Team Japan members were Kaori Sakamoto, Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Wakaba Higuchi, pair skaters Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara and ice dancers Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto. All but Uno, who had other commitments, were present in Paris.

 

Photo courtesy of IOC

Photo courtesy of IOC

Cause and Effect

Initially unnoticed, the saga began in December 2021. Kamila Valieva, then 15 years old and the top favorite for Olympic gold, had tested positive for the banned substance Trimatezidine at the Russian Championships on December 25, 2021. The substance is found in a heart medication. Doping athletes take the drug primarily to be able to train longer and with greater endurance. The testing laboratory in Stockholm, which was responsible for the evaluation, delayed the analysis of the urine sample from Russia due to a lack of personnel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as was later reported. In any case, the Russian federation, Valieva, the ISU and the IOC only found out about the positive test on the night of February 7-8, i.e. after the end of the Olympic team event in Beijing. Valieva had already competed in the short program and free skating events on February 6 and 7 and had won first place for her team (a total of 20 points).

Normally, the award ceremony would have taken place on February 7 in the evening on the so-called medal plaza near the main press center in Beijing. However, as the competition continued the next day with the men's short program, one of the federations involved asked for the award ceremony to be moved to the next day. The IOC complied with the request, but while preparations were underway and the teams were about to set off from the Olympic Village, it was suddenly announced that the award ceremony would be postponed. Within a couple of days, it leaked out that the reason for the delay was a case of doping and that Kamila Valieva was involved. Due to her young age, the name should not have been made public, but someone leaked it to the media.

An unprecedented back and forth began. As is usual after a positive test, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA suspended the skater. Valieva appealed against this, as she still wanted to compete in the individual event. RUSADA lifted the ban, the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, the IOC and the ISU appealed to CAS, which allowed Valieva to compete. The skater argued that the banned substance had entered her body unintentionally through contamination, as her step-grandfather took the drug and she had drunk from the same glass. In the short program, the young Russian skated to first place with a flawless performance, but in the free program she fell apart and came fourth. Every training session and every walk through the interview zone turned into a gauntlet in which some journalists threw aggressive questions at the young girl. Valieva did not give any comments.

The IOC did not want to hold the team victory ceremony until the case had been resolved. The Americans appealed against this to the CAS in Beijing, but the appeal was rejected. The 2022 Olympic Games ended without a medal ceremony for the teams and the moment was irretrievably lost. Not only the Russians were penalized, but also the teams from the USA and Japan, even though they had nothing to do with the matter. It was a huge disappointment. At least the Americans and Japanese could have got silver and bronze - it wouldn't have been the first time that medals had to be swapped after the results had been changed.

The Valieva case went through all instances. The RUSADA disciplinary commission initially acquitted the skater of the accusation of deliberate doping and only stripped her of the 2022 Russian national title. WADA, the ISU and RUSADA itself (!) lodged an appeal against this and the case was retried. CAS finally ruled on January 29, 2024 that Valieva was guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and imposed the maximum penalty - a four-year ban with retroactive effect from December 25, 2021.

The defense had changed the "grandfather thesis", now it should have been a dessert that the grandfather had prepared. But the man refused to testify before the CAS and there was no evidence that he had actually taken or even bought this prescription drug. It is still not clear who administered the Trimatezidine to Valieva and how it got into her system. The CAS even considered the skater's statement that she had not deliberately doped to be credible, but she could not conclusively prove what had happened.

The New Result

Following the final CAS ruling, the ISU recalculated the results of the team competition and deducted Valieva's 20 points. This left the USA in first place with 65 points ahead of Japan with 63 and Russia (ROC) with 54 points (instead of the original 74). There were protests against this not only from the Canadians, who remained in fourth place with 53 points. Team Canada and many others argued that the ISU could not simply deduct Valieva's 20 points, but that the skaters behind her should each move up one place and receive one more point. Canada's Madeline Schizas, who was third in both the team short program and free skating and had earned 16 points, should therefore receive 18 points. This would put Canada into the bronze medal position with 56 points. In the individual competitions, in the event of a disqualification, the athletes behind them all move up one place. After Valieva's subsequent disqualification at the 2022 European Championships, for example, second-placed Anna Shcherbakova was crowned European champion, Alexandra Trusova took silver and Loena Hendrickx bronze.

However, the ISU argued that this rule (ISU Special Regulations Rule 354, para 4) did not apply due to the special nature of the Olympic team competition. The legal experts had established this. So nobody moves up, only the accumulated ranking points are lost and, according to the ISU, this is the only decision that is compatible with the CAS ruling. A different calculation could affect teams that were not involved in the case. More detailed information on this could not be found. The rules of the Olympic team competition published by the ISU do not mention the case of disqualification of a participant. The obvious explanation is that the team competition is about the overall performance of the team and not the individual performances. This means that Valieva's points are deducted in full, but the other individual performances do not receive more points.

Both the Russian and Canadian teams appealed against the ISU's recalculation to the CAS. While the Russians wanted to be placed first again, the Canadians demanded the additional points and thus bronze. CAS dismissed both appeals on July 25 and August 2, 2024 respectively and confirmed the ISU's final result. The reasons for the ruling were not yet available.

The Americans and Japanese, who had already been confirmed as gold and silver medal winners, reacted with joy and relief. Skate Canada announced that it was disappointed with the CAS ruling, stood by its own athletes and congratulated the teams from the USA and Japan. The Russian federation thanked its supporters and emphasized its opinion that the Russian team was the strongest in Beijing. The Russian athletes are happy that they retained bronze. "Yes, it's bronze, but with a golden glow," wrote team captain Nikita Katsalapov. "Considering everything that has happened, this is also a victory for us and one that is important for all of us." The Russians' overall performance was better than that of the Canadians, even without a female competitor, you have to admit.

Nevertheless, a bitter aftertaste remains in the Valieva case after the conclusion of all proceedings. The career of a young, highly talented athlete has been destroyed and there are still too many unanswered questions as to what really happened. Even the CAS was unable to answer these questions. Maybe one day it all will come to light.

Sources for further reading

 

Full decision of CAS from January 29, 2024

 

Rules Olympic Team Competition 2022

ISU Statements regarding the recalculation of the Team Event

From January 30, 2024

From February 9, 2024
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