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A new skating season is upon us, and it is one that will have a very different look and vibe than the previous one in many different ways for many different reasons. The death of Denis Ten in July is, without doubt, the saddest event I have ever had to report on in my long career. It has taken us all a few weeks to come to terms with the loss of such a beloved athlete. In this issue, we look back at his many accomplishments, the highs and lows of his career, along with insights from some who knew the Kazakhstani skater well. On the flip side of the coin, the return of Daisuke Takahashi to competition this season gives many of us a reason to celebrate. The 32-year-old’s…
Four years after their Olympic triumph in Sochi, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia have settled into a new life as parents, show performers, and most recently, he as a coach. The Russian pairs team were in PyeongChang last February to watch Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot succeed them on the Olympic throne. Trankov was commentating for Russian television and Volosozhar attended as a spectator. It was a new experience for both, but especially for her. “I looked at the Games in a completely different way,” Volosozhar said. “It’s great that I had the opportunity to see it all live. It was incredibly interesting for me. I woke up in the morning and thought, ‘great, now I will have a shower, then go to breakfast, and go to the…
For four years, they skated in the shadow of one of the most accomplished pairs teams in Canadian figure skating history. But now, their moment is at hand. The mantle has been passed and it is the time for Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro to lead the way for a new generation of pairs teams in their homeland. Both feel more than ready to take on the task. The pairs landscape in Canada has surely changed since the 2018 national championships. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro head into this new season as the top pairs team in their country and the only team remaining of the four that battled it out for the three places at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. Not only are Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford…
On July 19, 2018, the world learned the tragic news that Kazakhstan’s Denis Ten had been murdered in his hometown of Almaty. The global skating community went into a state of shock and disbelief. Who and why were the questions everyone was asking. News reports stated Ten confronted two thugs attempting to steal the side mirrors from his car on a street in Almaty. An altercation ensued, which ended with one of the perpetrators stabbing Ten in the upper right thigh, rupturing his femoral artery. Found by a passerby lying in the street, Ten was rushed to hospital. But he had lost three liters of blood and though surgeons operated immediately, they were unable to save him. Ten died three hours after being admitted. Two suspects were arrested for what…
Canadian-born Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen of Denmark had represented his homeland in ice dance since the beginning of their partnership in 2012. Danish citizenship laws are among the strictest in the world and from the outset both understood it would likely be impossible for Fournier-Beaudry to obtain a passport, which is a requirement to compete at an Olympic Games. Instead, Fournier-Beaudry, 25, and Sørensen, 29, had focused on improving their World placement each season, with the goal of making the top 10. But when they earned an Olympic berth for Denmark with a 13th-place finish at the 2017 World Championships, not being able to go to the Games in PyeongChang brought a disappointment neither had anticipated. “In the beginning we didn’t talk seriously about going to the Olympics because…
Making a comeback after a long absence from the competitive scene is a risky move for anyone, but even more so for someone who was a skating superstar not only in his nation, but also around the world. Daisuke Takahashi is aware of the risks of returning to competition after a four-year hiatus, but his reasons for coming back are strictly personal. This time, he is skating for himself. “There are only a few years left where I can show my best in my personal skating.” Daisuke Takahashi took the skating world by surprise when he announced in early July that he was returning to competition. Though he had made the decision many months before, few were aware of his intentions. Absent from the competitive scene the past four years,…
