International Figure Skating October 2020

In recent weeks, skaters around the globe expressed relief and happiness that they are once again back training. While pairs and ice dance teams in many countries were permitted to train together the past few months, that was not the case in Canada, and it was not until the very end of July that Skate Canada gave them the green light. In recent weeks, skaters around the globe expressed relief and happiness that they were finally able to resume training. While pairs and ice dance teams in many countries were permitted to train together the past few months, that was not the case in Canada, and it was not until the very end of July that Skate Canada gave them the green light. Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances caused…

It is likely that nobody had more fun than Adam Rippon during the two weeks at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. His performances on the ice, and even more so those backstage when addressing the international media, introduced the world to a star that was just beginning his ascension to global fame. In the wake of it all, many new doors have opened for the 30-year-old American over the past two years — both on and off the ice. Much of what Rippon is doing now plays on an obvious, sometimes self-deprecating sense of humor that is a delight to be around. So much so that, despite all his on-ice achievements, Rippon sometimes has to remind people that he is much more than just a “funny boy”…

It has been an almost meteoric rise to the top for Russian pairs team Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii, who first caught the world’s attention when they claimed the silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Taipei City in 2017. That success motivated the team to set higher goals for the following season, but all did not go as planned. Though they captured gold at their first senior event in Minsk, Belarus, and mined silver at Warsaw Cup in Poland a month later, they finished fifth at the Junior Grand Prix Final. That competition would be their last international of the season. Boikova and Kozlovskii did not skate well at the Russian Championships, finishing fifth in seniors and fourth at the junior level. That disappointing result precluded them from…

How did you stay active and what did you do during the COVID-19 lockdown in California? It was a busy time for me, which was funny because there was no skating and no tours. When the quarantine first started, I took two weeks to just do nothing. I had been so busy with tours basically since I retired that I had not really stopped in almost two years. It felt like I was just going from one city to another and I was not home for more than two weeks at a time — and that was maybe like three times a year. So I was going at a pace that was difficult to handle but also extremely satisfying because of the jobs and the tours that I have had…

It seemed to many that the cancellation of the World Championships also meant the ISU Skating Awards gala would also be shelved. However, as tragedy unfolded around the world with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the ISU believed it was more important than ever to honor those who had worked so hard in what became a shortened 2019-2020 season, and quietly began planning an online awards show for July 11. Starting in late 2019, the worldwide skating community had the opportunity to vote for their favorites in four categories: Most Valuable Skater, Most Entertaining Program, Best Newcomer and Best Costume. International media and federation officials were also able to vote for nominees in two other categories: Best Coach and Best Choreographer. In June, the top three vote earners in…

Though the concept of acknowledging skaters, coaches and choreographers for their achievements every year is an idea that is long overdue, the current format for the ISU Skating Awards needs some One of the first things that caught my attention were the nominations for Best Choreographer and Most Entertaining Program. When the list of programs was compiled, it would stand to reason that the people who crafted them would be on the Best Choreographer list. However, when the nominations for this category were first released, just five names were included. Missing from that list were Romain Haguenauer, Benoît Richaud and David Wilson, among others. Richaud and Wilson were added a month after IFS raised the question about their omission from the nomination list at a press conference during the Grand…