Podcasts about shoma uno

Shoma Uno, two-time world champion and decorated Olympic mens skater, has officially announced his retirement. We share our feelings about his career and exit from competition, talk about other recent retirements, and explore the new Rhythm Dance themes and proposed ISU rule changes.   The inevitable has finally happened: Japan's legendary short king, Shoma Uno, has announced his retirement. As you may expect if you've listened to this podcast — or are also a huge Shoma fan — we have a lot of feelings about it that we share during this episode. There have been hints for the past year the his retirement from competitive figure skating was coming, but the reality of the hit the men's field takes without having Shoma's distinct artistry, ability, and sportsmanship cannot be overstated.  However, if there's a bright side, it's that Shoma can now pursue more artistic endeavors with his skating — which hopefully fans far and wide will be able to enjoy for years to come. Also, there's something to be said for the new guard of men's skating taking its rightful place and going forward. The field has its next tri-velry — with Ilia Malinin, Yuma Kagiyama, and Adam Siao Him Fa showing they are all in line for podium spots at the next Olympic Games. Behind them, there's a long list of men who are not too far behind and perhaps soon will be vying for those top spots as well. It's a time of change, and we'll have to wait and see what the landscape looks like next season. Ice Dance Thematics for the Next Two Seasons Speaking of next season, we also dig into the updated themes for the Rhythm Dance for the next two season — which will be “Social Dances and Styles of the 1950s, 1960s & 1970s” next season and “Dance Styles and Music from the 21st century – high energy and pop culture” in the 2025/2026 season.  Proposed ISU Rule Changes There are also rule changes potentially coming soon. The ISU will be voting this July on quite a few adjustments to the current rules, which are rumored to include everything from the removal of one jump combination in the free skate for single skaters to no more penalties for the backflip. We'll have to wait and see what passes and what doesn't, but its certainly something the keep an eye on during the offseason! Deanna Stellato-Dudek Petition If you'd like to help Canadian pairs team—and reigning world champions!—Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deshamps realize their Olympics 2026 dream, here's how: Sign the Change.org petition in support of Deanna's bid for Canadian citizenship! View and sign the petition here. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We return to discuss Shoma Uno's retirement, Chappell Roan, figure skating fandoms, and definitely a bunch of other random topics.

We look back at our highlights from the '23-'24 figure skating season, talk about the World's exhibition gala, conjecture on possible retirements and team changes, examine the state of figure skating and FS fandom, and hand out our season-end Gold in Our Hearts awards.   The 2023-2024 figure skating season is over — now what?! Before we settle into the off-season, let's recap some of the best moments of the season and dig into some thoughts on what's to come in the sport we love. Whether it was the Quad God Ilia Malinin claiming his first World title in World Record fashion, or the volatile rise of Adam Siao Him Fa, it's easy to see why the men's discipline has been probably the most exciting of the season. The men from Japan alone proved they could have a competition as compelling as the World Championships with their two top men — the glorious Shoma Uno and sublime Yuma Kagiyama — leading a field of so many medal contenders its sad to see any get left off the World team. Now that we're halfway through the Olympic quadrennial, things are about to get even more interesting — and more serious for everyone. What may we see next year? Maybe the first quint? It's very possible. Outside of the men's division, though, it's been a great if unpredictable season for the women. Queen Kaori Sakamoto's three-peat World victory was historic and not surprising, but many of the other women seemed to struggle to find their consistency this year. However, the rise of Ava Marie Ziegler from the United States, Hana Yoshida from Japan, and Nina Pinzarrone of Belgium lit up the sport and gave us some enthusiasm for the future. Also, after such an up and down year, it was heart-warming to see Isabeau Levito fight for her first World silver and remind us all that she's a force in this sport. The dance discipline held true to its standard of being the most predictable, with the same top teams from last season remaining on top. However, we saw some hints that a changing of the guard may soon be on the horizon. For all our love of Chock & Bates, admiration of Gilles & Poirier, and awe at Guignard & Fabbri, we're slowly starting to see a shift in Ice Dance that may lift teams like Lajoie & Lagha, Fear & Gibson, and maybe even Carreira & Ponomarenko to the podium. How that will rollout over the next season is TBD, but it'll be interesting to watch. Last but NEVER least, the pairs discipline saw the biggest emotional moment of the season with Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps finishing the season is storybook fashion by winning their first World title on home ice. Rarely have we seen a moment in the sport as inspiring as this one, and it will be remembered for years to come. That said — outside of them, Japan's Riku Miura & Ryuchi Kihara, Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin, and several other notable top teams — the pairs discipline is where we hope to see the most improvement going into next year. There are many teams with potential, but few making big strides. We hope to see bigger and better — and just more — from them next season. All in all, its been a great ride this year — and we cannot wait to see what you all have in store for us this fall! Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We recap the earth shattering action from World Figure Skating Championships 2024 in Montreal, including Ilia Malinin's historic 6-Quad winning free skate, the 3-peat gold for Kaori Sakamoto, and Canada's own Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps finally ascending to the Pairs throne.   The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal gave us several moments we expected, others we wished for, and whole lot we never could have predicted. Most of all, it gave us countless extraordinary skating moments we won't soon forget. Men's Competition The formal coronation of the Quad God, Ilia Malinin, as the biggest rockstar in men's figure skating happened here—with a program that literally had us screaming in our living room in disbelief. Coming into the free skate a close third behind reigning World Champion, Shoma Uno, and returning Olympic silver medalist, Yuma Kagiyama, Malinin closed the event with a World Record-breaking free skate that started with a quad axel, ended with a boggling triple lutz-triple axel combination, and found room in the middle for 5 other quads. At the end of it, Malinin collapsed while the arena went bonkers — knowing they had seen something extraordinary. His first world title is certainly one to remember. In the silver slot, the utterly brilliant Yuma Kagiyama skated in a way that would have won him any other title on any other night. His continued growth as an artist as much as an athlete is glorious to watch, and while this year gold may not have been his, do not underestimate his potential to win the Olympic gold medal. He's on a path that could definitely get him there. In third, with the biggest comeback ever seen in ISU competition, was Adam Siao Him Fa from France. As if jumping from 19th to 3rd with an incredibly powerful free skate wasn't enough, he was second in the free program only to Ilia — and did that while also including an illegal backflip that cost his 2 points. It was bold, intense, and one of the best stories to come out of the championship. In fourth, Shoma Uno — who led after the short — had a rougher free skate than we've seen from him in quite a long time and couldn't hold onto a podium position. That said, he was still Shoma — meaning he was still brilliant and amongst the class of the field. Rounding out the top 5 was Jason Brown — who again competed very little internationally this season, only to come to Worlds with no quads and still skate SO BEAUTIFULLY that he landed amongst the top men in the world. Fingers crossed we see him again next year as the sport is always better for having him still competing in it.  Pairs Competition All season long, we've been watching Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps look like they were ready to take that step into being World Champions — but a few moments during the season had us worried the title may not happen this year. Our worries were wasted, thankfully, as Deanna and Maxime put down two dazzling programs that led to their history-making win on home soil in Canada. To say this moment was emotional is a massive understatement. As the oldest woman to ever win a figure skating world title in any discipline at 40 years old, Deanna becomes, not only a legend in the sport, but even more of an inspiration than she'd already proved herself to be. An extraordinary moment for this exceptionally talented team and fans everywhere to share. Riku Muira & Ryuchi Kihara came to Montreal with a lot of question marks. As the reigning World Champs, they were certainly not to be discounted — but injury had kept them from most competitions this season and it was unclear how they would perform. With a win in the free skate and a silver medal overall, they silenced all of those who doubted them and shined like the champions they are. In a scary moment, Ryuichi had to be helped by EMTs directly following their free skate — unfortunately meaning they missed the medal ceremony. Thankfully, he bounced back quickly and the organizing committee redid the medal ceremony on Saturday night to allow them to participate. Taking the bronze medal were the surprise pair of the season, Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin. After their misstep at the European Championships, this team came here and showed why they went undefeated in the first part of this season, with two very strong programs that defy their short time together. We cannot wait to see how this team evolves and gets even better with time.  Women's Competition Kaori Sakamoto proved again why she's in a league of her own right now in the women's division, coming back from a 4th place finish in the short program to win her third gold medal. This third world title makes her the first woman since Peggy Flemming in the 1960's to win three consecutive world championships. Taking a bit of a surprise silver, Isabeau Levito came back from a rough US Nationals to skate two exceptional programs and earn her first World medal. This is the first silver medal the US has taken in the women's event since Ashley Wagner in 2016.  In third for the bronze was Chaeyeon Kim from South Korea — who skated a near flawless free skate to move up from 6th to 3rd. This 17 year-old skater has only been on the ice for 7 years and is already a world medalist — it will be very interesting to see how far she can go! In a disappointing placement, Loena Hendrickx — who won the short program — ended up in fourth overall after a sluggish, error-laden free skate.  Ice Dance Competition The most predictable of the disciplines provided some excellent performances—but stayed to the script in terms of the medals. Madison Chock & Evan Bates decimated the rhythm dance, earning a sizable lead that they needed after a small mistake in the free dance—which was still absolutely gorgeous and enough to earn them their second world title. The silver went to the hometown heroes, Canda's Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier, who won the free dance with the best performance of their Wuthering Heights program of the season. Their rhythm dance again seemed just a bit less impactful and held them back from taking the title. In the bronze position was Italy's Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri, who turned in two extraodiary performances that may have been the most technically sound of the event. However, a few small issues in their free dance — and a larger one with a scary costume malfunction — dropped them from 2nd in the short to 3rd overall. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

Kaori Sakamoto and Shoma Uno are aiming to win their third consecutive figure skating world titles. Other key storylines are also highlighted.

In part two of our 2024 Worlds preview, we dig into the absolutely stacked Men's competition, including the “Thrivalry” between Shoma Uno, Ilia Malinin, and Yuma Kagiyama. Then we go deep into the Ice Dance lineup, which promises to be a close showdown between 3-4 top teams.   In this week's episode, we're shooting our final shot at predictions for the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships — this time discussing the men's and dance competitions.  From the “Trivalry” we're expecting to see between Ilia Malinin, Shoma Uno, and Yuma Kagiyama in the men's event to a probable four-way race for the podium in the dance event, we're holding our breath for these two competitions.  Men's Competition  This season has been an incredibly strong one in the men's division, making this event possibly the most competitive and anticipated of the World Championships events.  Coming in off his Grand Prix Final win, Ilia Malinin heads to Montreal as a definite favorite for the podium. He didn't have the best US Nationals, but also didn't have much competition there — so its possible that lessened his preparation. Regardless, he recently shared a quad toe loop / quad axel combination he's doing in practice — throwing an absolute gauntlet down to the rest of the field and clearly stating that he will be tough to beat if he skates cleanly. However, he's not alone in the “favorites” camp — Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and reigning World Champ, Shoma Uno, are coming in looking phenomenal. Kagiyama showed up better than ever at Four Continents back in February — taking that title in a dominant fashion and giving him a ton of momentum coming into Worlds. Uno has looked solid all season, but hasn't had quite the consistency and has been “plagued by the q” (I.e. quarter understated jumps) on a few occasions. We're crossing every finger and toe that he can bring to Montreal his fight and his special artistic magic — and get on that podium again! Also in the medal mix, the early-season frontrunner — Adam Siao Him Fa — comes in after having along break since winning his second European title. His last three competitions have looked a bit messier than the near-perfection of the first half of the season, but you cannot count out this exceptional Frenchman on the rise. Japan's Kao Miura arrives hungry to his first World Championships — and has far less pressure on him than his countrymen. It'll be very interesting to see what he can bring to the ice here. There are quite a few other men here who could show up and surprise everyone, including one of skating's favorite sons, Jason Brown of the U.S, who is a wild card here but can never be counted out. All in all, this feels like the first real step towards the next Olympics and expect to see some big programs here. Ice Dance Competition Reigning World Champions, Madison Chock & Evan Bates of the US, come here seeking a repeat win and two great skates in their adopted hometown of Montreal — and we're here for all of that. However, Canada's darlings, Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier, have home country advantage as well as the highest score of the season. Not to be outdone, Italy's Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri have shown extraordinary performances throughout the season and may be the most consistent of the top three teams. So, while Ice Dance is usually the most predictable, this competition feels like a toss up between the three powerhouse teams. Waiting just a tiny bit behind them and ready to take a big step forward are Great Britain's Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson. They had a big surprise victory over Guignard & Fabbri at NHK Trophy last fall, and under the right circumstance on the right day, could slide onto the podium. It's a long-shot, but not impossible. What is wonderful about this competition is that there are also no less than a dozen other excellent teams all vying for top 10 finishes here. From Lithuania's brilliant Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius fresh off their European bronze medal to Finland's inventive Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Verslus to France's Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud who recently went viral with their rave-inspired exhibition program — there will be a lot of skating to love regardless of placement.  Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show    

As we get ready for the final competitions of the '23-'24 season, we answer listener questions about all things figure skating — predictions, favorite skaters and FS moments, and what 20 programs we'd save in our end-of-the-world bunker.   Welcome to our first Scoreography Q&A Episode! We asked listeners to let us know what in figure skating they wanted us to talk about. And we received a far more enthusiastic response than we ever could have imagined! As you will hear, you asked some amazing Q's about our favorite skates and skaters of all time — which, honestly, led us to a mild existential crisis! You asked what programs we would take with us into a dystopian bunker — which REALLY gave us a much greater existential crisis! You were so creative and thoughtful in your questions, we hope we did some of them justice. You also allowed us to dig into some of reasons we love the sport. From Wendy's childhood crush on Kurt Browning to Adron's epiphany at the 2006 U.S. National Championships in St. Louis, MO — all of it was fun to reminisce about. We did make sure to also dig into some of the judging changes we'd like to see, and even offered a few hot takes (Adron had far more than he expected.) We hope you enjoy us getting nostalgic about Paul Wylie program, gushing over countless skaters we adore, and let us know who your favorites are, too! What would you “take to the bunker?” We'd love to hear!    Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We examine all the competition at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2024 in Shanghai, China. We discuss the dominant, definitive gold medal wins, dozens of highly memorable performances, and a couple frustrating judge calls.   In the last major international skating competition before the 2024 World Championships, we saw some iconic performances — from many who may be destined for World medals — at the Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, China.  From a stunning season's best from Japan's Yuma Kagiyama to the continued dominance of Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier of Canada, to renewed hope for reigning pairs World Champions, Riku Miura & Ryuchi Kihara, this event felt like a preview for what we're about to see in Montreal this March. Men's Competition Yuma Kagiyama was in a league of his own here. Not that he didn't have incredible competition, but Yuma leveled up his already stellar programs this season and took another step towards what may be his first world title. Both programs saw increased difficulty, and while he had a couple of errors in his free skate, its hard to remember them since there was so much to be excited about. Seeing him at Worlds against Ilia Malinin and reigning World Champ, Shoma Uno, gets more exciting by the day. In silver, the ever-solid (in consistently improving) Shun Sato delivered his quad lutz (twice!) and continued to show why he is always a threat. We want to see him show more emotion and really develop a persona on the ice, but his talent is undeniable.  With his best showing this year, the bronze landed around the neck of the brilliant Junhwan Cha. After a rough start to his season due to injury, we've been seeing consistent improvement and a steady increase in his technical difficulty. Here, both performances brought the drama in the best way, and proved that Junhwan is definitely capable of showing up on the podium at Worlds again this year. The  most popular performances of the entire championship easily belonged to China's Boyang Jin — who delivered two incredible performances to wind up fifth, and was showered with stuffies from a grateful and excited home audience.  Pairs Competition At the top of the podium, this season's superstars — Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps — continued to deliver great performances, with a few unfortunate errors. The quality of so much of their skating is near-unmatched in the discipline right now, though unfortunately they have been plagued by challenges, in the singles elements especially. However, they still handily took the gold and continue to be the favorites going into the World Championships. In second, we saw the return of World Champions Riku Miura & Ryuchi Kihara from Japan. If you have listened to the podcast, you know we love this team — so it's no surprise that we are very excited to see them. As they are still getting back in the swing of competition, this was not their best showing — but still enough to take silver and bring a little of their magic to the ice. The newly crowned US National Champions, Ellie Kim & Danny O'Shea, took the bronze with two flawed but excellent programs that showed off their continuing development as a team. The throws still pose an issue for them, but their excellence in the lifts and improved singles elements have taken them to a new level in their trajectory. Women's Competition This competition saw a huge breakout for Japan's Mone Chiba. After an excellent showing at Japan Nationals, Mone came here and delivered two outstanding programs that were near-flawless. After a rough Grand Prix series, she has found more consistency and delivered the best programs we've seen from her yet. In silver position, South Korea's Chaeyeon Kim gave two solid performances that felt far more confident than what we saw in the Grand Prix Final. It solidifies her as South Korea's top woman competitor going into Worlds. Japan's Rinka Wantanabe landed her first triple axel of the season and earned the bronze in fantastic fashion. In fourth, Ava Marie Ziegler from the United States proved that her decision to skip Nationals for Four Continents may have been a good one since she scored over 200 again. This should solidify her as one the the top U.S. women going into next season — even without her getting a bid for Worlds. Ice Dance Competition Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier continued to dominate this season with two stellar programs, and earned their first Four Continents gold. While having a small twizzles issue in the rhythm dance, their free dance to Wuthering Heights was near flawless and completely captivating.  The silver was won by Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nickolaj Sorensen, amidst Nik's continued assault investigation.  In the bronze medal position, Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko delivered a fantastic rhythm dance but did see some small errors creep into their free dance. Another American team, Emilia Zingas & Vadim Kolsnik, gave possibly their best performances of the season and landed solidly in fourth.  In fifth, with possibly our favorite performances in this discipline, the Canadian team of Marie-Jade Lauriault & Romain le Gac received a questionable deduction for an lift they have been performing all season in the rhythm dance, but moved up in the standings with their stellar and inventive free dance to the music of The Corpse Bride.  Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We take a look at the All-Japan Championships 2023 competition, including hotly contested podiums in the Mens and Womens divisions. We also discuss news from the Italian and Spanish Nationals events, and quickly look back at the 2023 year in figure skating.   We're back and talking about the All-Japan Championships 2023, where some of the best figure skating of the season-to-date took place. With deep Men's and Women's fields—led by reigning World Champions, Shoma Uno and Kaori Sakamoto—this national competition was stronger than most International events. And the Men's event especially lived up to all of the hype! Men's Competition The top six skaters in this field are all amazing, but there can only be one champion — and Shoma Uno had just enough to pull off his another nationals victory. Shoma's win here ties him with skating legend, Yuzuru Hanyu, with both now having six titles. In the silver spot, Yuma Kagiyama continued his comeback and delivered an especially gorgeous free skate to edge out the incredibly “on” Sota Yamamoto. Sota took the bronze, but may have had the best competition of his career with two stellar skates.  Women's Competition In another deep field that included some of the top women in the world, the decisive victory of Kaori Sakamoto was even more impressive. Queen Kaori continued to dominate the season with two solid performances — giving her national title number four. Mone Chiba, who had a rough Grand Prix series, showed up big here and took silver with two effervescent skates. In third, the brilliant juniors skater Mao Shimada showed she is in fact human with a few errors. Still, Mao is the definition of “one to watch” in the future — she's a powerhouse who has everything.  Ice Dance Competition While the teams competing here are not a super competitive internationally, the top three all put on entertaining performances, and the younger skaters particularly looked quite promising. With their fifth All Japan title,  Misato Komatsubara & Tim Koleto looked comfortable and confident — especially in their beautifully emotional free dance. In second, the relatively new partnership of Azusa Tanaka &  Shingo Nishiyama presented two lovely performances—most noteworthy being their fun and campy Rhythm Dance being to music from the Super Mario Brothers game! In third, another promising young team of Utana Yoshida & Masaya Morita had some fairly big mistakes, but look to be a threat in Japan as they evolve together. Pairs Competition  With reigning World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara out with injury, there was only one other senior pairs team that qualified to skate here — Yuna Nagaoka & Sumitada Moriguchi. To earn the national title, they skated both their short and long programs and did a great job under the unusual circumstances.    Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

The Grand Prix Final 2023 is now complete, and we knew it would be a wild one — we just didn't know HOW wild! From historic jumps to messy twizzles, the competitors in Beijing, China, kept us guessing until the very end, and we love them for it. Men's Competition One of the most stacked men's final's in recent memory! While Ilia Malinin had been focused on progressing his composition scores earlier this season, he threw down the gauntlet here by landing the first quad axel in a short program ever. That gave his the thinnest lead over World Champion Shoma Uno going into the long. Both men had extraordinary free skates, with Shoma showing off his ever-increasing artistic brilliance — and bringing a lot of heat on the jumps as well! But Ilia had just too much technical fire power to beat — winning with his personal best score. With Shoma firmly in silver, the bronze went to Japan's comeback kid, Yuma Kagiama. A brilliant short program and a flawed but emotive free skate punctuated by his remarkable skating skills gave him the well-deserved medal. Ilia Malinin, USA, 314.66 points Shoma Uno, JPN, 297.34 Yuma Kagiyama, JPN, 288.65 Adam Siao Him Fa, FRA, 278.28 Kao Miura, JPN, 261.53 Kevin Aymoz, FRA, 219.91 Ice Dance Competition Typically we have an inkling of what to expect in the dance event going into a final. This season, with the unexpected win of Fear & Gibson at NHK Trophy, as well as some very “all over the place” scoring, it felt a little more up in the air. However, in the end, the three teams on the podium were exactly who we would have expected when the season began. World Champions Madison Chock & Evan Bates reminded everyone why they won Worlds 2023 and skated two clean, inventive, gorgeous programs to take the gold. In silver position, the Italian team of Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri shook off the vibes from their NHK defeat and came in on fire.  In bronze position, the dramatic and lovely team of Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier of Canada seemed to be skating only for the joy of it and for each other. Programs we have not been super fond of this season showed massive improvement and displayed their true artistry. Madison Chock / Evan Bates, USA, 221.61 Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri, ITA, 215.51 Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier, CAN, 213.58 Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson, GBR, 202.27 Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen, CAN, 195.57 Majorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha, CAN, 193.63 Women's Competition As was destined, reigning figure skating queen Kaori Sakamoto dominated this competition with two nearly flawless skates. A gold for the competition and a forever gold in our hearts. In second, Belgium's Loena Hendrickx had a strong short program and a mostly good free program that, while looking a little sluggish, still showed why she is consistently on podiums.  In third, a somewhat unexpected showing from Japan's rising star, Hana Yoshida, made people take notice. Her triple axel in the long may have been slightly under-rotated, but she absolutely shined in the free skate following an iffy short to take the medal. Kaori Sakamoto, JPN, 225.70 points Loena Hendrickx, BEL, 203.36 Hana Yoshida, JPN, 203.16 Nina Pinzarrone, BEL, 194.91 Isabeau Levito, USA, 191.86 Rion Sumiyoshi, JPN, 180.39 Pairs Competition Fresh from back-to-back GP wins, Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin kept the streak alive with another win — this one over the reigning World bronze medalists and the unequivocal favorites for the championship coming in.  In second, Italy's Sara Conti &  Niccolo Macii finally seem to have shaken off the issues that plagued them so far this season and skated two lovely programs that almost won them the competition.  In third, the favorites coming in from Canada, Deanna Stellato Dudek & Maxime Dechamps, had errors in both their short and long programs that held them back from capturing the top spot.   Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nikita Volodin, GER, 206.43 points Sara Conti / Niccolò Macii, ITA, 205.88 Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps, CAN, 204.30 Maria Pavlova / Alexei Sviatchenko, HUN, 192.02 Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini, ITA, 188.85 Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud, CAN, 185.16 Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

Figure Skating: Shoma Uno in 2nd Place after Short Program at Grand Prix Final

We preview the upcoming Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China, December 7-10, 2023. We breakdown the action in the hotly contested Men's competition, the uncertainty in the Women's division, the fight for silver and bronze in the Pairs, and why the Ice Dance competition is such a wild card. After six Grand Prix qualifiers that included dozens of thrilling performances (as well as a fair amount of messiness), we're finally ready for the Grand Prix Final for 2023!  To say this competition is stacked would be an understatement — especially when looking at the Men's and Dance competitions. In this episode, we break down each discipline, pick each of our favorites for the podium, and even throw out a few “we wish they made it” honorable mentions. Men's Competition FINALISTS: Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) — 30 pts / Gold at Grand Prix de France and Cup of Chine Ilia Malinin (USA) - 28 pts / Gold at Skate America and Silver at Grand Prix de France Kao Miura (JPN) - 28 pts / Silver at Skate Canada and Gold at Espoo Yuma Kagiama (JPN) - 26 pts / Bronze at Grand Prix de France and Gold at NHK Trophy Shoma Uno (JPN) - 26 pts / Silver at both Cup of China and Grand Prix de France Kevin Aymoz (FRA) - 24 pts / Silver at Skate America and Bronze at Espoo It's not an overstatement to say that this has the potential to be the best men's competition we've seen since the Beijing Olympics. The six men who qualified have all laid down stellar performances this season — each one showing growth when compared to previous seasons. It's certainly hard to pick a favorite here, but momentum seems to be with France's Adam Siao Him Fa. If we look purely at technical merit, it's hard to beat Ilia Malinin from the USA. Based on overall track record and all-around performance skills, reigning World Champion Shoma Uno of Japan should be a lock for the podium. However, ice is slippery and the other three men are all more than capable of earning a podium spot. Watch out for the resurgence of Japan's Yuma Kagiama, the power of Japan's Kao Miura, and the absolute artistic commitment of France's Kevin Aymoz. It's going to be a wild ride! Pairs Competition FINALISTS: Deanna Stellato Dudek and Maxime Dechamps  (CAN) - 30 pts / Gold at Skate Canada and Cup of China Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodi  (GER)- 30 pts / Gold at Espoo and NHK Trophy Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud  (CAN) - 28 pts / Silver at Skate America and Gold at Grand Prix de France Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii  (ITA) - 26 pts / Silver at both Grand Prix de France and Espoo Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini  (ITA) - 24 pts / Silver at Cup of China and Bronze at NHK Trophy Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko*  (HUN) - 24 pts / Silver at Skate Canada and Bronze at Bronze at Espoo *Replaced Hocke and Kunkel, who withdrew due to injury Of all of the disciplines, the pairs has the most clear-cut favorite. Canada's brilliant Deanna Stellato Dudek and Maxime Dechamps have come out swinging this season and given fans a team to be genuinely excited about. They are certainly not a lock to win, but the odds are definitely in their favor. Others to watch here are Germany's Hase and Volodin, fresh off of back-to-back Grand Prix wins and Canada's Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, who have looked stronger at every competition. The two Italian teams, Conti and Macii and Ghilardi and Ambrosini, are nearly neck and neck this season — with Hungary's Paclova and Sviatchenko not far behind. All could definitely be in the mix for podium spots if others falter. Women's Competition FINALISTS: Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) - 30 pts /  Gold and both Skate Canada and Espoo Isabeau Levito (USA) - 28 pts /  Silver at Skate America and Gold at Grand Prix de France  Loena Hendrickx (BEL) - 26 pts / Gold at Skate America, Bronze at Cup of China Hana Yoshida (JPN) - 24 pts / 4th at Skate America, Gold at Cup of China Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) - 24pts  / Silver at Grand Prix de France and Bronze at NHK Trophy Rion Sumiyoshi (JPN) - 24 pts / Bronze at Grand Prix de France and Silver at Espoo Will this be the formal Grand Prix coronation of Queen Kaori? Only time will tell. Last year, Japan's Kaori Sakamoto went in as the favorite, but faltered. This year, we've seen a much more consistent and focused Kaori — which may give her the edge here. On her heels, Isabeau Levito from the U.S. and Loena Hendrickx of Belgium have had moments of brilliance already this season — though both have also faltered a bit more. Two more Japanese women, Hana Yoshida and Rion Sumiyoshi, both came on strong over the course of the Grand Prix and showed the promise that could make them contenders here. Also, the consistently improving Nina Pinzarrone from Belgium could be a spoiler! Dance Competition FINALISTS: Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (CAN) - 30 pts / Gold at Skate Canada and Cup of China Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA) - 30 pts / Gold at Skate America and Espoo Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) - 28 pts / Gold at Grand Prix de France and Silver at NHK Trophy Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (GBR) - 28 pts /  Silver at Skate Canada and Gold at NHK Trophy Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) - 26 pts / Silver at both Grand Prix de France and Espoo Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (CAN) - 26 pts / Silver at both Skate America and Cup of China The Dance competition is usually the most likely to be predictable, but after Fear and Gibson's upset at NHK Trophy, everything seems a little more up in the air. The top score of the season has been from Canada's beloved Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier — however, their performance at Cup of China saw them nearly lose to another brilliant Canadian team, Lajoie and Lagha. Our reigning World Champions, Chock and Bates, have great material this season and have shown well at both of their Grand Prix assignments, but their free dance at Espoo wasn't as clean as they would like — so we don't yet know what their scoring potential with these programs could be. And then there are the two European rivals of Fear and Gibson from Great Britain and Guignard and Fabbri from Italy who just flipped in their expected standings at NHK Trophy. The Italians are reigning World medalists and extremely strong skaters, but is the momentum with the disco Brits now? Also, because that's not enough, you have the smoldering Canadians, Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen, who may not be favored for the podium but will certainly melt some hearts. And who knows this season — their Top Gun program could take flight here and move them back into the conversation. All in all, this competition looks to be a doozy — we can't wait to see what happens! Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

The NHK Trophy 2023 in Japan closed out the Grand Prix qualifier series with some of the most wild competition (and results!) we've seen. From a potential change in the tides for which dance team is the favorite for Europeans to a shock winner in the women's event, there was a lot to discuss! Women's Competition There is no way anyone saw this coming! After a rocky short program for many of the favorites, a brilliant Lindsay Thorngren led the way. However, a stunner of a free program gave the edge to another American — 17 year-old Ava Marie Ziegler — who capitalized on the moment and skated her way to gold in her only Grand Prix assignment this season! The surprise win with a score topping 200 points puts Ziegler squarely in the mix for U.S. Nationals. Thorngren also shined and made it a tight competition, landing in second by less than 2 points! In third, the rising Belgian star of Nina Pinzarrone laid down two solid programs and continued to show off the talent and consistency that is bringing her to her first Grand Prix final this December.  For other favorites in the competition — which included reigning World Silver medalist Haein Lee and 2022 Grand Prix Final champion, Mai Mihara — here's hoping the second half of the season is where they will come into their own. Ice Dance Competition It may not be a shock that Great Britain's Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson won NHK Trophy, but it was certainly a surprise for them to defeat reigning World Silver medalists, Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri. Dance rarely sees a “changing of the guard” mid-season, as teams typically rise at a glacial pace when it's “their turn.” This may not officially mark a shift in judges preference for the Disco Brits over the exceptional Italian team, but it certainly sends a bit of a shockwave through the dance world and likely has the top teams looking over their shoulder. In terms of the skates themselves, both teams turned in brilliant performances in completely different ways. The enthusiastic Japanese crowd showed their appreciation for great skating all around, but it was certainly apparent that Fear & Gibson won the day in their collective hearts.  In the bronze position, the talented Lithuanian team of Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius scored their second podium spot of the Grand Prix series and continued to show their growth as a team.  Pairs Competition The pairs here gave us more of a competition than we've seen at many of the other events this season. In their second straight weekend of Grand Prix competition, the new German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin looked even stronger and took gold again! We're super impressed with this team and cannot wait to see how they evolve. Italy took silver and bronze with great performances from another relatively new team, Lucrezia Beccari & Matteo Guarise and veterans Rebecca Ghilardi & Filippo Ambrosini — the latter of whom also earned their ticket to the Grand Prix final with this medal. Men's Competition In what was probably the most predictable event of competition, we saw the thrilling first meeting of the season between reigning World Champion, Shoma Uno, and reigning Olympic Silver Medalist, Yuma Kagiyama.  Both extraordinary skaters threw down gorgeous, beautifully skated programs that reflect the talent and skating skills they both possess — but the day belonged to Yuma by a smidge. Both of them move onto the Grand Prix final with their medals here — and to say we cannot wait for that competition would be a massive understatement. In third, Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland continued his strong season and threw down two strong skates for bronze. Also worth noting, the artistic development of Deniss Vasiljevs continues to impress — fingers crossed that the second half of the season sees more consistency in his jumps since he's truly one of the best overall performers the men's discipline has right now. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

Scoreography's recap for the Cup of China, the fourth competition in the 2023-24 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. We discuss upset wins from Japan's Hana Yoshida and France's Adam Siao Him Fa, argue for a different outcome in Ice Dance, and welcome Canada's Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps to the back-to-back GP gold medal club. The 2023 Grand Prix series landed in Chongqing, China for its fourth stop, and it was… a surprising one, indeed. The Cup of China saw some long-awaited Grand Prix debuts (Shoma Uno, Yelim Kim), several upsets (men's and women's champions were both somewhat unexpected), and one BIG step forward for Lajoie & Lagha in ice dance. Men's Competition The continued rise of Adam Siao Him Fa is nothing short of astonishing. Adam, fresh off a win in France last week, came to Cup of China and took his second Grand Prix title after two flawed but fantastic performances. This win makes him the second man to lock in his spot at the Grand Prix Final in December. In second, King Shoma Uno finally appeared — and it was lovely. After a stellar short program that had him in the lead, he had two falls in his long program that dropped him to silver. Maybe not quite the triumphant return some had hoped for, but Shoma seemed genuinely happy and more focused than ever on being the artist — not just the athlete. Rounding out the top men was bronze medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov, who became the first person from Kazakhstan to medal at a Grand Prix since the late Denis Ten in 2016. Ice Dance Competition Wow, this one was a fight! Favorites Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier of Canada had some trouble in their rhythm dance that opened the door just a crack while fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha had the best rhythm dance we may have seen from anyone this season. While Lajoie and Lagas held first going into the long program, they did drop to silver behind Piper and Paul — but only by less than 2 points! Their overall score of 206.02 — the fifth best score of anyone this season — definitely moves them forward as they head into the Grand Prix final. Also, Canadian Nationals are going to be fascinating! In third and fourth, two American teams — Caroline Green & Michael Parsons and Eva Pate & Logan Bye — delivered solid performance and scores that continue to make the road to US Nationals an interesting one. Such a deep field of teams vying for the two spots next to Chock & Bates for a trip to Worlds. Women's Competition While this competition was expected to belong to Loena Hendrickx of Belgium, it was the young Japanese powerhouse, Hana Yoshida, who won the day! After her 4th place debut at Skate America, Hana had another great competition here and surprised even herself with the win. In second, another great Japanese talent, Rinka Wantanabe, skated perhaps the event's most solid two programs to improve upon other results this season for a silver. After a messy but strong short program, Hendricks had an uncharacteristally slow and rather lethargic overall performance in her long, but held onto third and assured her spot at the Grand Prix final as well. Pairs Competition Another step on the path to Worlds for Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps was the highlight of the competition, though both programs had noteworthy errors. Regardless, this team was still the class of the field and handily won their second Grand Prix of the season. The Italian team of Ghilardi & Ambrosini had a strong outing to take the silver, as did the new Chinese team of Peng Cheng & Wang Lei to take the bronze in their first appearance as a team on the Grand Prix circuit. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We review the action from the World Figure Skating Championships 2023 in Saitama, Japan — triumphs, surprises, disappointments, and occasionally questionable scoring. ... Analysis of the Figure Skating World Championships 2023 After a long post-olympic season, the best-currently-competing-skaters from around the globe converged on the World Figure Skating championships in Saitama, Japan. They and gave us a few disappointments, some great surprises, and a lot of gorgeous (even when it wasn't not perfect) skating! In this super-sized episode, we cover each of the disciplines in a lot of detail — comparing notes on our favorite performances of the competition and talking through everything from the emotional kiss-and-cry's to the questionable-as-ever judging.  Pairs Competition Highlights Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara's win—in spite of a flawed free skate—brought Japan their first Pair's world title. They are our favs of the season, making us feel our full range of emotions every skate. Alexa Knierim & Brandon Frazier coming through for silver—in spite of the terrible health crisis their coach and friend, Todd Sand, is going through. Sara Conti & Niccolò Macii from Italy skated to the moment with two exceptional programs. Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps skated strong, if not flawlessly, for 4th place at their first worlds. That, in and of itself, is an incredible feat for the Canadians. We saw particularly great showings by Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud from Canada (they are ones to watch next year!) and Emily Chan & Spencer Akira Howe from the US. Final thought: We need more pairs teams ASAP! Women's Competition Analysis Kaori Sakamoto held on after a phenomenal short, and a not-as-perfect long program, to claim her second world title. The grit she showed completing the second triple in a combo after popping the first shows why she is a champion's champion. That, and her fantastic sportsmanship during the medal ceremony celebration. An absolutely amazing performance by Haein Lee for the silver caps a breakthrough season for this young talent from South Korea. We expect her to be a THREAT next season. Loena Hendrickx's resolute fight through both programs to grab bronze was lovely to see, and a nice way to end a rocky season for her. Isabeau Levito was near-perfect in the short, but an unfortunate fall on the triple lutz and other small mistakes dropped her to 4th overall. Still wildly impressive, even if disappointing for the young American. Now if we could just get the America program and media to stop over-hyping her so she can just concentrate on her skating… Mai Mihara was a dream in the short, but could not sustain the momentum in the long and dropped to 5th. Still, big season for the Japanese veteran and reigning Grand Prix champion. What a competition for Germany's Nicole Schott! A Top Ten finish and a personal best is a huge accomplishment this deep into a long career. Amber Glenn and Bradie Tennell were scored low enough to land outside the top ten — leaving the US with only 2 Women's spots for 2024 Worlds. Thank goodness Maddie Schizas changed her long program. (We were practically begging her to get rid of that wretched West Side Story free skate.) Redemption is a great way to end her season! Final thoughts: Not the best overall competition. A lot of little mistakes from nearly everyone except Haein and Nicole. Hoping to see some more personality and variety in next year's programs. Ice Dance Competition Thoughts FINALLY, Madison Chock & Evan Bates go from bridesmaid to bride, taking home the World Championship gold — even with a fluke (and largely irrelevant) fall. Surprise-but-well-deserved silver for the highly technical Italians, Charlène Guignard & Marco Fabbri — already making their case for the 2026 Olympic podium. A bronze for Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier with lovely, if a bit tight and sluggish, skates. Not what we expected, really, but great to see them skate well. Very surprising 4th place finish for the good time dance team of Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson. This often mid-tier team lit up the Japanese crowd and, apparently, the international judges. Deeply underscored (or were others over scored??) Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada unquestionably deserved to be on the podium. Their 5th place finish is our biggest complaint in all of the Worlds judging. Best moment: Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi, no contest. Their free skate was an explosion of emotion and pure joy. Though Ice Dance is the least popular discipline in Japan, this performance on home might just change that trend. Final thoughts: Impressive skates by the top 12 teams, but WTF is up with the scoring?!  Men's Competition Celebration Shoma Uno showed up, regardless of ankle injury concerns and weeks of terrible practices, to win his second consecutive world title. The Short King Reigns! Wow wow wow, Junhwan Cha is The Moment!! Possibly the performance of the competition overall, the South Korean skater nabs silver with two fantastic skates. Ilia Malinin gave us a great quad axel and a slightly tight performance in the long to earn his first world medal, bronze. Though an extraordinary jumper and technician, the international judges sent a clear message that his artistic elements were not equal to the rest of the top 5 skaters. Its something Ilia clearly took to heart, commenting on it during the press conference, with an intend to focus more on artistry next season. OMG, what an unexpected competition for Kevin Aymoz — a 4th place Worlds finish for him is gold for us all. Two flawless performances elevated this French artiste well above his own expectations. WE LOVE YOU KEEGAN MESSING! This short program was a thing of beauty. The free skate saw him drop in the standings, but not in the hearts of the audience and skating fans everywhere. Thank you, Keegs, for all these years on the ice. You're a legend. Jason Brown lands in 5th on the scoreboard, but first in our hearts. His performances were simply perfect, top to bottom. “Master of the Blade”, indeed. Kazuki Tomono is a force of nature.  Wasn't perfect, but a damn delight on the ice. Expect big things for his future. Lukas Britschgi from Switzerland made his case for one-to-watch status going into next season. Final thoughts: A stellar competition to end Worlds 2023! 

We discuss the favorites, the long shots, and all of the in-betweens leading up to the 2023 World Championships, happening this week in Japan. This season has been the deepest dive we've personally taken into figure skating in a very long time, and looking back — for all of the post-Olympic year doldrums and troubling political issues that are very real — there's a lot of skaters to be excited about leading into the biggest competition of the year.

This Week in Skating is hosted by Gina Capellazzi and Daphne Backman and is a cooperative project between Figure Skaters Online and Ice-dance.com. New episodes are available every Monday.Website: http://www.thisweekinskating.comEmail: thisweekinskating@gmail.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisweekinskatingTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thiswkinskatingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinskating_________________________________________EPISODE 34 SHOW NOTESEvent Results BriefNHK Trophy ResultsWarsaw Cup ResultsOpen d'Andorra Results Skate Celje Results Sectionals and U.S. Dance and Pairs Finals Midwestern Sectionals and U.S. Pairs Final ResultsEastern Sectionals and U.S. Dance Final ResultsPacific Coast Sectionals ResultsAll the juvenile, intermediate and novice events can be viewed on demand in U.S. Figure Skating's Fan Zone: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/watch/General Skating NewsThe World Anti-Doping Agency has asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to find Kamila Valeva guilty of doping, seeking a four-year ban and disqualification of all her results from December 25, 2021 onward. Entries were posted for the ISU Challenger Series event - Golden Spin of ZagrebSkate Canada International will be returning to Vancouver in 2023.Aleksandr Gorshkov, president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation and the 1976 Olympic Champion in ice dance with his late wife, Lyudmila Pakhomova, passed away Nov. 17 .Recent InterviewsMadison Chock and Evan Bates uploaded their first episode of Seaaon 2 of their podcast “Unlaced”. They had Jason Brown on their first episode. Starr Andrews was the subject of a Los Angeles Times article by veteran sports columnist Helene Elliott (Nov. 14): Starr Andrews also appeared on Jennifer Hudson's syndicated daytime talk show on Nov. 14.In an article with the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone, Kaitlin Hawayek talks about what happened at Skate America. U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone interviewed Emily Chan and Spencer Howe about their rise in pairs skating.U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone interviewed Starr Andrews ahead of NHK TrophyShoma Uno and Stephane Lambel spoke to the Olympics.com about how Uno is approaching the new Olympic quad. Shoma Uno talks with Olympics.com about how he feels he still hasn't reached the highest level in the world Olympics.com posted facts about Skate Canada Champion Rinka Watanabe NBC Sports' Phil Hersh interviewed Jason Brown about his announcement to compete at the 2023 U.S. ChampionshipsSocial Media UpdatesNathan Chen is featured in the new music video for the acoustic version of “Hold Me Closer” by Elton John and Britney Spears (uploaded to Elton John's official channel on Nov. 17).Nathan Chen will appear on NBC's “Today Show” on Nov. 21His book is out on Nov. 22Ashley Cain posted videos of her and Timothy LeDuc skating together in ChicagoLoena Hendrickx posted that she is the Belgium ChampionAshley Wagner's Skate and Sculpt will be coming to CanadaEstonia's Solene Mazingue posted on social media that before Finlandia Trophy, she had a very bad fall, hit her head and had to go into emergency surgery. : Art on Ice's Instagram account has been revealing cast members for their shows in Switzerland, February 2-12, 2023.Jason was announced on Nov. 11: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck0up1nIbVc/  Knierim & Frazier were announced on Oct. 28: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkQqu7hoXDa/ Timothy Dolensky shared a video of his 10/15/22 wedding.Upcoming Events for the WeekGrand Prix of Espoo –  EntriesGolden Skate Awards - Nov. 26 in MilanIDC and FSO spotlightIDC: Photos from the 2022 U.S. Dance FinalFSO: Greta and John CrafoordFSO: Amber Glenn FSO: Photos from MK John Wilson TrophySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/this-week-in-skating-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wendy and Adron breakdown the performances from Skate Canada 2022 — including standout performances from Rinka Watanabe, Shoma Uno, and Miura & Kihara. We also discuss issues watching skating on Peacock, some bizarre scoring during the women's short program, and an often disasterous competition for the men. 

The 2022 Figure Skating World Championships crowned 4 new world champions last week: Shoma Uno, Kaori Sakamoto, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, and Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. Others also made history for their countries. Loena Hendrickx won Belgium's first world figure skating medal, while Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Japan's first even world pairs medal. Listen in as we break down the competition!

We work through the trauma of watching the womens event at the 2022 Olympics. Also, we look at Yuzuru Hanyus inspiring post-competition skates, and we learn english with Shoma Uno.

It is officially the Beijing 2022 Olympics! It has already been incredibly eventful, but we are going to start with the Team Event short programs and rhythm dance events. This episode was full of math as we tried to add everyone's points together, and we talked about the fight for the podium spots between ROC, USA, and Japan, as well as the fight for that 5th FS qualifying spot between China and Georgia.The Men warmed us up with notable skaters like Shoma Uno, Nathan Chen, and a special shoutout to Boyang Jin who took his first step onto home Olympic ice. Then in Ice Dance, we saw Hubbell/Donohue's amazing Janet Jackson program, and Mom and Dad (Guignard/Fabbri)'s Michael Jackson program. In Pairs, Moore-Towers/Marinaro had a redemptive skate, Miura/Kihara made us cry with Hallelujah, and of course, Sui/Han had the skate of their lives. Finally, in the Women's SP, it was so nice to see Eliska Brezinova here, as well as a phenomenal skate from Madeline Schizas.Timestamps:(00:00) - Intro(01:55) - Men's SP(25:37) - Ice Dance RD(46:40) - Pairs SP(1:00:25) - Women's SP(1:18:18) - recap of the standings after the SP(1:20:29) - Outro------------------------------------------------Follow our figure skating podcast on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lutzgetdownpod/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/lutzgetdownpod And to work with us please contact lutzgetdownpod@gmail.com Logo design by @dezisartvibes on Instagramxx Joce & Clauds

“冰上王者”不畏挫折 虽败犹荣｜Brave 'Ice Prince' sees crown slip from graspDespite missing out on the podium, Yuzuru Hanyu deserves the utmost respect for his Beijing 2022 campaign.尽管错失奖牌，羽生结弦在2022年北京冬奥会上的表现值得最高的敬意。In alast-ditch attempt tosalvagea medal, the "Ice Prince" took on figure skating's most difficult jump－the 4 1/2-rotation quadruple axel.为了登上冬奥最高领奖台，这位“冰上王者”只有孤注一掷，去完成花样滑冰中难度最大的跳跃动作——阿克塞尔四周跳（4A）。 The 27-year-oldunder-rotated and stumbled upon landing. He fell again attempting a quadruplesalchowbefore performing the remainder of his routine cleanly.比赛中，27岁的羽生结弦旋转周数不足，滑倒在冰面上。紧接着的下一个四周跳，羽生结弦又摔倒了，但他依旧完美地完成了接下来的表演。 Taking a bow to loud applause and touching the ice before stepping off the rink at the Capital Indoor Stadium, the two-time defending champion cut a lonely figure sitting by himself as he awaited his score, intensifying the feeling that this could have been hisswan song.在首都体育场内，这位奥运会卫冕冠军在雷鸣般的掌声中深深鞠躬。他弯腰用双手接触冰面，直至离开冰面的那一刻。在等分区，羽生结弦独自一人坐着，更让人觉得这可能是他的最后一场比赛。 The judges scored him 188.06 points－good enough for third place in the free skate but fourth overall. He could only manage eighth in Tuesday's short program after missing a quad salchow near the start of his routine.裁判给出了188.06分，这个分数足以让他在自由滑比赛中获得第三。但在2月8日的短节目比赛中，他开场时错过了一个四周跳，暂列第八。因此，羽生结弦的总成绩排名第四。Nathan Chen of the United States won the gold medal with 218.63 points in the free program and 332.60 in total. Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno took silver and bronze respectively.最终，美国选手陈巍以总分332.60分、自由滑218.63分夺冠。日本选手键山优真、宇野昌磨分获银、铜牌。"I have given my all, and the quadruple axel was better than I executed before," said Hanyu, who also under rotated the quad axel and landed it with two feet at the Japanese national championships in December.羽生结弦表示：“说实话我发挥出了全部水平。很明显，我的4A跳比以前的比赛要好。”在去年12月的全日锦标赛中，他挑战了4A，但双足落冰。 "I made a big mistake in the quad salchow, but I performed well to the music Heaven and Earth. I regretted the performance in the short program, but I did my best today. “我在四周跳的时候失误了，但我想，就某种程度而言，正是因为开局阶段的那两次失误，才成就了《天与地》其中的意味吧。在短节目中发生了那样的意外，确实是非常遗憾和不甘心。但我一直以来，我已经尽我全力把我能想到的，还有应该做的都做了。”"Honestly, it feels like everything has gone wrong this time around, but I did my best," he added.羽生结弦补充道：“说实话我感觉这次哪里都不对劲，但我真的拼尽全力努力了。”Hanyu started skating at the age of 4, and made his international debut at the 2008 Junior Grand Prix Merano Cup, where he finished fifth.羽生结弦四岁开始滑冰，2008年开始在国际上崭露头角，在世界花样滑冰大奖赛青少年组排名第五。After joining the adult ranks, he quickly began torack upsilverwareand milestones. He became the first Asian to win men's singles Olympic gold at the 2014 Sochi Games and retainedthe title four years later in Pyeongchang to become the first male skater to captureback-to-backOlympic titles since American Dick Button in 1952.在升入成人组之后，他很快就开始收获奖牌并创下各种纪录。2014年，他夺得索契冬奥会金牌，成为亚洲首位冬奥会男子单人滑冠军。四年后，他在平昌冬奥会上蝉联冠军，成为继1948、1952卫冕的美国选手迪克·巴顿（Dick Button）后以来，首位蝉联冬奥会男单冠军的花样滑冰选手。 Pioneering difficult jumps and combinations has been a signature of his career. He was the first skater to perform a clean quadruple loop jump, a quadruple toeloop-Euler-triple flip combination, and a quadruple toeloop-triple axel sequence in competitions.开创性的高难度跳跃和动作组合是他职业生涯的标志。羽生结弦是历史上第一个在正式比赛中完成后外结环四周跳、后外点冰四周接尤勒接后内点冰跳三周跳（4T+1Lo+3S）、后外点冰四周接阿克塞尔三周连跳的选手。 He has been crowned world champion twice, in 2014 and 2017, and also broken 19 scoring records－the most in singles since the current judging system was introduced in 2004.除了在2014和2017年卫冕世界花滑锦标赛，羽生结弦还19次打破世界纪录，这是自2004年引入现行裁判制度以来最多的。Hanyu has achieved all of this despite numerous injury setbacks.羽生结弦获得了所有荣誉，但也经历了数不尽的伤痛。Before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, he injured his right ankle after landing awkwardly in practice before the 2017 NHKTrophy. Being unable to train for several weeks, he returned to the ice just in time for the Pyeongchang Games and remarkably came away with the title.在2018年平昌冬奥会之前，在国际滑联NHK杯花样滑冰大奖赛的公开训练中，羽生结弦因摔倒导致右脚踝受伤。在数周无法训练的情况下，他在平昌冬奥会上及时复出，并出人意料地获得了冠军。 He endured similar problems in the build-up to Beijing 2022, withdrawing from the Grand Prix events due to a right-ankleligamentissue before coming back to win the Japanese national championships at the end of last year to secure his Olympicberth.在备战2022年北京冬奥会的过程中，羽生结弦也经历了类似的挫折，因为右脚踝韧带问题退出了大奖赛。但他在2021年年底复出并问鼎全日锦标赛冠军，保住了北京冬奥会的入场券。 He raised the bar for the Beijing Games, challenging himself to complete the quad axel in a bid to claim a third straight singles crown. But it wasn't to be.在北京奥运会上，羽生结弦对自己提高了标准，挑战完成阿克塞尔四周跳，争取获得第三块奥运会金牌，但现实却和他开了个玩笑。 "It was a hard time for me on the ice. If I wasn't doing the quad axel, I could have done a better combo. But that was my target. It felt more complete to attempt it. That's why I did it," Hanyu said.“虽然觉得很难，但这是我无论如何都想达成的目标。我今天如果不做4A，完全可以做一个成功率更高的动作组合，但在这届奥运会上尝试完成4A，这是我的骄傲，它让我的冰上生涯更完整。”"As for whether I will continue to attempt the quad axel, I think I need more time to consider. This time I have tried my best."“这是迄今为止我完成的最好的4A了。至于以后是否会继续挑战，我还需要时间去考虑一下，这次我已经拼尽全力了，请给我一点时间。”Hanyu's bravery earned the respect of his younger rivals.羽生结弦的勇气赢得了年轻对手的尊重。"Only Hanyu could complete the quad axel and he's always been at the top for years," said bronze medalist Uno. "He pushed the limits of himself, which I cannot imitate. I don't think I can do what he does. He carries everyone's hopes and pressure on his shoulders."季军获得者宇野昌磨表示：“我觉得只有羽生结弦才能做到4A这个动作，这么多年来他一直都是顶级选手。而且他的精神一直是在挑战自己的极限，这是我没有办法去模仿的。他肩负着每个人的希望，也需要承受很多压力。”China's Jin Boyang, who finished ninth, also expressed admiration.中国选手金博洋获得第九，他也向羽生结弦表达了敬佩和赞叹。"It's incredible that he took on the challenge of the quad axel at the age of 27 at his third Olympics. It shows his hunger to keep striving for better performances, which is what the spirit of sports and the Olympics is all about. We can all learn from it," Jin said. “我觉得他的精神是不可思议的，如果是我，参加第二届奥运会后肯定会退役，但他还继续参加了第三届。在27岁的时候还在突破四周半可能会更难。这两点如果能够达到一点，我觉得这种精神都值得人们学习。”Chen, who atoned for his fifth-place finish in Pyeongchang, simply said: "In my opinion, he's the greatest skater ever."这次夺冠的美国选手陈巍曾在平昌奥运会获得第五，对于羽生结弦，他表示：“在我看来，他是有史以来最伟大的花滑运动员”。last-ditch英 [lɑ:st ditʃ]；美 [læst dɪtʃ]adj. 坚持到最后的;拼死抵抗的;无后退余地的;最后防线的salvage英 [ˈsælvɪdʒ]；美 [ˈsælvɪdʒ]v.挽回，保留，维持swan song英[swɔn sɔŋ]；美[swɑn sʊŋ]n.最后作品;（歌唱家、演员等的）告别演出;天鹅哀鸣（西方古老传说中认为天鹅临死前会发出忧伤动听的歌声）rack up英 [ræk ʌp]；美 [ræk ʌp]（商业上）大量获得（利润），遭受(严重损失)，热销；（体育中）获胜，得（分）silverware英 [ˈsɪlvəweə(r)]；美 [ˈsɪlvərwer]n. (新闻用语中有时指体育比赛中的)银杯

Nathan Chen wins the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, Yuzuru Hanyu nearly lands a quad axel (4A) on Olympic ice, rising Japanese star Yuma Kagiyama wins the silver medal at his first Olympic games, and 2018 silver medalist Shoma Uno captures the bronze in Beijing. Meanwhile, veterans Jason Brown and Boyang Jin put out skates to be remembered. Watch to find out what we thought as we recap the Men's Event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

American Nathan Chen did what he set out to do in Beijing - have fun, and win gold. This week on Ice Talk, Tara chats with Jackie Wong to recap a remarkable men's competition that had all the highs and lows the Olympic Games can bring.  And yes, the Games began with the Team Event competition... which has become the talk of the town, since the medal ceremony was postponed indefinitely due to an ongoing legal issue reportedly involving the Russian Olympic Committee team who finished the competition in first place.  Beijing brought the drama in week one... it's all here in this episode of Ice Talk.

Jack speaks with 2021 world silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama about winning the gold medal at the Youth Olympics, his impressions of Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno, the dynamic with his father as his coach, and his goals for the Beijing Olympics.

Japanese Nationals brought a week of exactly what we love to see - everyone skating their hardest, tight competition, and tears of joy.In Ice Dance, we had Team Koko just edging out Team KanaDai for that coveted Olympic spot, but both had some shaky performances during Nationals.In the Men's event, Yuzuru Hanyu debuted his 4A (!!!), Joce continues to hold a grudge against Shoma Uno for still refusing to take her to an Armin van Buuren show, and we show great enthusiasm for the generation of up and coming skaters.And of course in the Women's event, we cried and screamed with happiness with Kaori Sakamoto and Wakaba Higuchi, and sat on the edge of our seats to see what would happen with that third Olympic spot.Timestamps:(00:00) - Intro(01:57) - News: Chris Reed Trophy(02:58) - ICE DANCE(03:58) - Kana MURAMOTO & Daisuke TAKAHASHI (村元 哉中 & 髙橋 大輔)(07:38) - Misato KOMATSUBARA & Tim Koleto (小松原 美里 & 小松原 尊)(11:10) - MEN(11:40) - Keiji TANAKA (田中 刑事)(14:13) - Koshiro SHIMADA (島田 高志郎)(16:24) - Tatsuya TSUBOI (壷井 達也)(19:57) - Sota YAMAMOTO (山本 草太)(21:13) - Shun SATO (佐藤 駿)(24:48) - Sena MIYAKE (三宅 星南)(27:04) - Kazuki TOMONO (友野一希)(30:15) - Kao MIURA (三浦 佳生)(32:47) - Yuma KAGIYAMA (鍵山 優真)(35:46) - Shoma UNO (宇野 昌磨)(39:06) - Yuzuru HANYU (羽生 結弦)(45:16) - WOMEN (including mention of Rika KIHIRA)(47:28) - Marin HONDA (本田 真凜)(50:36) - Yuhana YOKOI (横井 ゆは菜)(52:30) - Rino MATSUIKE (松生 理乃)(53:17) - Rinka WATANABE (渡辺 倫果)(55:26) - Satoko MIYAHARA (宮原 知子)(58:10) - Mai MIHARA (三原 舞依)(1:01:56) - Mana KAWABE (河辺 愛菜)(1:04:33) - Wakaba HIGUCHI (樋口 新葉)(1:07:23) - Kaori SAKAMOTO (坂本花織)(1:08:56) - **Kiss & Cry Segment** - Team announcements and discussion(1:16:07) - General talk about Yuzu(1:18:27) - Outro------------------------------------------------Follow our figure skating podcast on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lutzgetdownpod/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/lutzgetdownpod And to work with us please contact lutzgetdownpod@gmail.com Logo design by @dezisartvibes on Instagramxx Joce & Clauds

Welcome to episode 19 of The Ice Skating Podcast – brought to you by the International Skating Union. It's another packed edition, with two Grand Prix figure skating events to report from – the Gran Premio d'Italia in Turin and the NHK Trophy from Tokyo. And we've got interviews with the stars of both meetings, including Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis, Anna Shcherbakova, Loena Hendrickx, Shoma Uno, Anastasia Mishina, Alexander Galliamov, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsapalov. As if that wasn't enough, the ISU World Cup Speed Skating season kicked off last weekend in Poland, and produced some incredible results. We've got chats with Nils Van der Poel, Irene Schouten, Laurent Dubreuil and Brittany Bowe from that event. The Ice Skating Podcast is the official pod of the ISU, hosted every fortnight by Luke Norman and Nick Moore. 

Get ready to have your ears talked off, because this Worlds Men recap episode is our longest one yet - but for good reason! There was SO much to discuss especially when we are so invested in so many of the men! We chat about sageing the cursed ice, cry a ton more for our favourites who had rough skates, and cry even more for the skaters whose amazing performances gave us the feels. Shout outs a plenty also go out the amazing commentary from Mark Hanretty, the costumes that had color wheel decisions we at the pod don't agree with, and of course we shouted out the tutber_house TikTok account. Timestamps:(00:00) - Intro & General News(03:11) - Event overview(04:55) - Vincent Zhou + discussion on Worlds as the Olympic qualifier event(12:36) - Alexei Bychenko(16:27) - Nikolaj Majorov(17:00) - Donovan Carrillo(20:02) - Michal Brezina(22:57) - Morisi Kvitelashvili(27:40) - Deniss Vasiljevs(31:20) - Daniel Grassl(35:06) - Matteo Rizzo(38:02) - Junhwan CHA(42:49) - Boyang JIN(47:00) - Han YAN(54:32) - Kevin Aymoz(56:40) - Evgeni Semenenko(59:50) - Jason Brown(1:05:10) - Keegan Messing(1:10:34) - Mikhail Kolyada(1:17:40) - Shoma Uno(1:22:47) - Yuma Kagiyama(1:27:32) - Yuzuru Hanyu(1:36:17) - Nathan Chen(1:46:20) - K&C: book recommendation(1:49:00) - Outro------------------------------------------------Follow our figure skating podcast on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lutzgetdownpod/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/lutzgetdownpod And to work with us please contact lutzgetdownpod@gmail.com Logo design by @dezisartvibes on Instagramxx Joce & Clauds

Japanese Nationals 2021 saw a triumphant return of some beloved champions. We marveled at Rika Kihira's “The Fire Within” and let Yuzuru Hanyu entertain us. Of course, we had to wonder if Keanu Reeves would show up in the kiss and cry if Kaori Sakamoto's blade entered the judges' Matrix, and sob over Stephane Lambiel and Shoma Uno's coaching relationship. And a friendly reminder to socially distance, just like Yuzu and Pooh!Timestamps:(00:00) - Intro(02:27) - News(08:22) - Ice Dance(15:20) - Mens(42:19) - Ladies(01:13:05) - Kiss & Cry: book recommendation(01:15:40) - Outro------------------------------------------------Follow our figure skating podcast on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lutzgetdownpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lutzgetdownpodAnd to work with us please contact lutzgetdownpod@gmail.com Logo design by @dezisartvibes on Instagramxx Joce & Clauds

An informal walk through of Shoma Uno's riveting free skate to "Moonlight Sonata" at Four Continents 2019. Includes some discussion about jumps (and how to spot at least one, or not), spins, base values, and GOE (grade of execution). The video for Moonlight Sonata is here.