Figure Skating World

Hello everyone! It is fskatingmaniac here! Welcome to my blog!

In this blog, I will be reporting on figure skating events that happen during the season.

This blog was created to foster a safe and welcoming community for ALL figure skating fans. Slander, harmful/hateful towards skaters or users, or inappropriate comments will NOT be tolerated.

Please note that I am a full time student and competitive figure skater, so my free time for this blog is very limited. Please be patient with me as I try to update this blog regularly!

Sasha Trusova (Ignatova) has revealed her program for this season. She will be skating to Stranger Things. I'm not sure if this is her short program or free skate though.

More skaters were granted neutral status today, including Elena Kostlyeva, who will compete at JGP Xi'An.

Here is the masterlist of skaters granted AIN Status: Adeliia Petrosian (May not compete this season) Alisa Dvoeglazova (Injured. Will resume training in October, may miss Grand Prix series) (Senior) Anna Frolova (Senior) Alina Gorbacheva (Senior) Grigory Fedorov (Senior) Margarita Bazylyuk (Junior) Victoria Dvinina and Artyom Petrov (Junior) Sofia Dzepka (Junior) Arseny Fedotov (Junior) Maria Fefelova and Artyom Valov (Junior) Egor Karnauhov (Senior) Elena Kostyleva (Junior) Lev Lazarev (Junior) Polina Sazhina Polina Shesheleva Ivan Telnov Darya Drozhzhina Alexey Belkin and Victoria Streltsova

Anna Shcherbakova, the 2022 Olympic Gold Medalist, announced her marriage via Instagram. This is so cute

Adeliia Pestrosian announced on Instagram that she has left Team Tutberidze. She hasn't announced her new coaches.

(Not announced on this Instagram post) She is also focusing on her studies, and dealing with an injury that she sustained before the Olympics, halting her preparations for this upcoming season. Unfortunately, it seems very unlikely that she will compete this season.

Another quad lutz from Stephen, but this time in France. I think this was in his program, so we might see him jump a quad lutz in the short or free skate.

Mikhail Shaidorov will skate to Michael Jackson for his exhibition program. Honestly thought this would have been his short program haha

Amber Glenn landing triple axel + triple toeloop combo. She got really nice height on this jump combo, and it looks very effortless.

credits: Amber Glenn's ig

Not related to skating, but this could happen before/during the season of the 2030 Winter Olympics.

The IOC lifted the ban towards Russia, meaning that the Russian athletes will be able to compete for Russia (ROC) under the Russia flag. Unlike in skating, athletes will be able to wear national gear, the Russian flag will be allowed, and the Russian anthem will be allowed to play.

This is the first step towards ALL Russian athletes (including those in winter sports) to return to competition fully, without representing a neutral flag or with restrictions.

This news alone is already stirring some controversy. The Olympic Committee states that they fully support Ukraine and its athletes. However, some viewers are seeing this as the IOC turning its back on Ukrainian athletes, and starting to lean towards supporting Russia and the war.

In my opinion, the ISU may allow Russian skaters to compete under the Russian flag before the Winter Olympics or during the Olympic season. If the ISU is already allowing Russian athletes to compete under neutral flags and are adding them to the ISU websites under the Russian flag, it is only a matter of time until the ISU lifts this rule and allows them to compete without the neutral flag.

ISU has just announced that Synchro9 will be included in the 2030 Winter Olympics in France.

For those who don't know, Synchro9 is a different form of Synchro skating. Instead of teams with 16 skaters, the teams consist of nine skaters. Just like singles and pair skating, Synchro9 teams will be scored using IJS.

Mone Chiba has opened an Instagram account. I hope this isn't a fake account. Here is the link to it:

Benoit Richaud posted Isabeau's footwork from her free skate, Pirates of the Caribbean. It is very dynamic, artistic, and matches Isabeau's style.

JSF held a selection trial in June. Mayuko Oka, Mei Okada, and Taigo Nishino were selected for two events, while other skaters were selected for one. However, based on the result of their first JGP competition, they can earn their second assignment. Here are the assignments:

JGP Xi-An (August 20–22, China)

Men: Daiya Ebihara, Hayato Okazaki

Women: Karin Miyazaki, Kaoruko Wada

Ice Dance: Ayumu Shibayama & Tomoki Kimura

JGP Riga (August 27–29, Lativia)

Men: Sena Takahashi

Women: Mei Okada, Kei Yamada

JGP Bangkok (September 3–5, Thailand)

Men: Taiga Nishino, Shun Uemura

Women: Sumika Kanazawa, Rena Uezono

Round 4: Ankara (September 17–19, Turkey)

Women: Mayuko Oka

Round 5: Batumi (September 24–26, Georgia)

TBD

Round 6: Ljunljana (October 1–3, Slovenia)

Men: Taiga Nishino

Women: Mei Okada

Round 7: Gdansk (October 8–10, Poland)

Women: Mayuko Oka

Here, Jia Shin talks about her new programs, embracing the ISU rule changes, preparing for the new season, her planned program content for her free skate, and more.

The ISU has finally commented on Russian and Belarusian athletes today. Athletes from Russia and Belarus are now able to compete under Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).

Athletes from these two countries who wish to compete will need to be approved by the committee that they are indeed neutral, and fill out a form, agreeing:

To compete as a neutral athlete, without any national flag, anthem, uniform, or other national symbol, and to not use ISU events or international competitions for political propaganda of any kind

To cooperate with the ISU, including the Skating Integrity Unit (SIU), when they conduct reviews to assess and monitor compliance with the eligibility requirements and the Communication

To comply with all applicable ISU rules, including the ISU Code of Ethics, the ISU Safeguarding Policy, the ISU Event and Competition Rules and relevant sport-specific regulations, as well as all anti-doping obligations under the International Testing Agency (ITA) Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code In the same agreement, if the athletes:

Breach the eligibility criteria or any other conditions of AIN participation set out in this Communication, the ISU Council may revoke AIN status and the status of the athlete's support personnel, which may affect the athlete's eligibility to participate in ISU events;

Provide false or misleading information, it may result in disciplinary action under the ISU Code of Ethics.

Athletes will not be cleared if they:

Supported the war since February 2022

Are active or have taken part in military operations since February 2022

Have actively and publicly supported the war since February 2022

Athletes can still face issues getting their visas.

Athletes under AIN will not have their flags bared or anthems played.

The ISU, when asked why did the organization allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete again in a Q&A, said that athletes should not be held responsible for the actions of their governments.

Athletes will still be required to perform antidoping tests before every competition.

This goes for both junior and senior figure skaters. I'm pretty sure just for this season, only one spot will be given for each discipline. However, depending on the results at EUROS, Four Continents, and Worlds, the spots will increase for the 2027-28 season. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Stephen Gogolev's quad lutz at Benoit's camp in Courmayeur, Italy. He restored his quad lutz, which he has previously landed in competitions during his junior years.

I'm sorting everyone out based on country. I will add/update this post as we get more announcements. Stay tuned!

Updated on: July 3rd (*added after post was created)

Japan:

Kazuki Tomono – FS - "It's a Beautiful Day" by Queen, choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne

Ami Nakai – SP - Por una cabeza, choreo by Yea-ji Shin

Sota Yamamoto – SP - "Tombeau de Vivaldi" by SPEARFISHER & Cicely Parnas, choreo by Kana Muramoto

Yuna Aoki – FS - "Desert" & "Pageant" by Cirque du Soleil

Shun Sato – SP - "Csárdás of Love" by Iwao Furusawa, choreo by Kenji Miyamoto

Rio Nakata – SP - "Alive" (feat. Pangea & DEGO) by R3HAB & Vini Vici, choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne

Mei Okada – SP – Hernando's Hideaway/Milonga de mis amores, choreo by Kana Muramoto

Mayuko Oka – SP – Don Quixote, choreo by Kana Muramoto

Mao Shimada – SP – Between Two Worlds, choreo by Kana Muramoto

Kushida/Shimada – RD – And The Waltz Goes On/Libertango, choreo by Cathy Reed

Yoshida/Morita – RD – Danse Macabre/Carnival Chant, choreo by Cathy Reed

Mone Chiba – SP – James Bond (Skyfall, followed by Bond's Theme), choreo by Jeffrey Buttle

Kao Miura – SP – Mambo, choreo by Kana Muramoto (now reported to be a mix of "Historia De Un Amor" by Pérez Prado and "Gopher Mambo" by Leandro Da Silva)

Rion Sumiyoshi- SP: Let's Face the Music and Dance. FS: Awakening and Everlasting Light, Humility, and Love

USA:

Isabeau Levito- SP: Memória by Rosalia (Choreo by Lori Nichol and Carolina Kostner). FS- Pirates of the Caribbean (Choreo by Benoit Richaud)

Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik: RD- Mission Impossible. FD- Bolero by Maurico Ravel

Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez: SP- Quizas, Quizas, Quizas by Michael Buble

Korea:

Haein Lee- SP: Experience (Chore by Benoit Richaud). FS- The Great Gatsby OST (Choreo by Yeaji Shin).

Jia Shin*- SP: Dona Nobis Pacem 2 by Max Richter (Chore by Jeffrey Buttle). FS: In the Mood for Love soundtrack (Choreo by Shae-Lynn Bourne. Exhibition Program: Die on This Hill by Sienna Spiro

Estonia

Niina Petrokina- SP: Berghain by Rosalia, Bjork, and Yves Tumor. FS- Game of Thrones

Aleksandr Selevko- SP: Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson

Australia