International Figure Skating February 2021

No doubt many of you were as happy as I was when the clock struck midnight on Dec. 31 and a new year was ushered in. While 2020 initially had a certain magical ring to it, there was unfortunately little magic to be found in the world during that tumultuous year. Despite the challenges, some nations opted to hold competitions in the latter half of 2020, which was a blessing for many of us. The Grand Prix Series was reduced to four competitions when Internationaux de France was cancelled due to the pandemic, but all the events that took place were, for the most part, of a high caliber. The U.S., China, Russia and Japan went ahead with their scheduled Grand Prixs and we have a recap of all the…

Nathan Chen, the two-time World champion from the United States, knows all too well the pitfalls of focusing on one particular thing. He has not forgotten what transpired in the short program at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang — it was a game changer for the U.S. star. Chen went to South Korea as the great American hope, perhaps the most ascendant talent in men’s figure skating at the time. Armed with a bulging arsenal of quadruple jumps, he seemed ready to take the world by storm. Then a disastrous short program happened and, buried in 17th place, Chen’s hope for gold was gone. A decisive victory in the free skate, courtesy of his technical skills, pushed him up to fifth in the final standings. It was the…

Over the past six decades, renowned Russian coach Alexei Mishin has witnessed—and been a part of — the evolution of figure skating. His contributions to the sport are legendary and, at age 79, he remains as invested as he was 60 years ago. Throughout his long career, Alexei Mishin has built a résumé that includes Olympic, World, European and national champions, and a list of medalists that is too long to recount. Mishin’s parents, who both skated recreationally, first introduced him to the sport at age 15. He recalled a winter when his father mounted blades on normal shoes so he could go skating but instead he and his friends took to sliding down the street while hanging on to the back of a truck. This, among other shenanigans, encouraged…

He is one of his sport’s ultimate travelling men, a coaching savant whose desire to develop the world’s best figure skaters is hardly constrained by his own country’s borders. In ordinary times, Brian Orser would be bouncing across Asia or Europe countless times over, racking up the frequent flier miles. It has been his life and his livelihood for almost 14 years. But these are not ordinary times. In a COVID-19 world, international travel is almost at a standstill. And so Orser’s passport has been starved of travel stamps for most of 2020 — at least since the global pandemic’s tentacles fully extended their reach into North America back in the spring. “I have not been on an airplane since Junior Worlds, so that would be the beginning of March,”…

For the second year in a row, the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, hosted Skate America, the first Grand Prix Series competition of the season. American skaters dominated the line-ups for the most part, but U.S. Figure Skating invited elite-level athletes that train full-time in the U.S. to also compete. For the first time in history no spectators were permitted, but to give the arena some ambience, fans were offered the opportunity to provide photos of themselves, their pets or whatever they wished, which were placed in the seats in the lower bowl of the arena during the competition. Media who attended the event in person were subject to strict conditions: A COVID-19 test upon arrival and isolation in a hotel room until the test was returned; no interaction…

CUP OF CHINA, the second stop on the Grand Prix circuit this season, took place in the megacity of Chongqing, with only homeland skaters competing. Though organizers originally planned to allow spectators to attend, that idea was aborted days before the competition due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the city. With the 2022 Olympic Winter Games now just 14 months away, Chinese skating officials must be having some sleepless nights, given the low number of competitors the organization was able to field: six men, five ladies, three pairs and five ice dance teams. THE JIN FACTOR Boyang Jin, 23, debuted two new programs, both choreographed remotely by Canadians: Shae-Lynn Bourne designed the short and Lori Nichol crafted the free. Despite having no major competitions, Jin laid down two…