International Figure Skating June 1, 2015

The World Championships closed out an exciting post-Olympic competitive season on a high note. I cannot remember the last time that all new champions graced all the top steps of the podiums. The Chinese organizers did a commendable job in hosting their first World Championships. Security was tight at the venue and official hotels, and everything went off without a hitch. The level of skating and the enthusiasm of the audiences in Shanghai were the highlights of this competition for me. Not all of the results met with everyone’s approval, but that is what is so great about skating. The sport is replete with knowledgeable fans who do not hesitate to voice their opinions. We have full coverage of the World Championships in this issue, as well as exclusive interviews…

Many assumed one year ago, with four U.S. titles and an Olympic team bronze medal in hand, that Jeremy Abbott had taken his final bows on competitive ice and that the 29-year-old would move on to the next chapter of his life. But Abbott, motivated by the allure of winning a World medal, instead began training for the 2015 U.S. Championships. His dream came to a screeching halt in January when he finished in fifth place and failed to make the World team. “It’s sport, and disappointment is part of it, but that’s not the thing that frustrates me,” Abbott said. “What does frustrate me is that I get criticized for peaking too soon — that I do well at nationals and then I don’t do so well at the…

In the summer of 2013, in search of new inspiration and motivation, Kiira Korpi moved from her native Finland to California to work with Rafael Arutyunyan. She enjoyed the training environment and was embracing her new life in the United States, but everything changed in an instant when she ruptured her left Achilles tendon on the takeoff of an Axel jump. The injury forced her to miss the Olympic qualification event and, ultimately, the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Korpi had never imagined she would be watching that event play out on television. Her injury failed to heal at the pace her Finnish doctors had anticipated. At the height of her frustration at not being able to return to the ice, Korpi met Carlos Avila de Borba, a German skating coach.…

The past year has been one of many inspiring changes for U.S. ice dancers Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani. After training on the same ice as Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for so many years, the Shibutanis were cast into a new leadership role at their Detroit training base when those two teams moved on after the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. “As developing skaters, we had learned so much from watching Meryl and Charlie and Tessa and Scott train,” Alex said. “They mentored us as we grew up, and Maia and I really made the most of that opportunity. But it was time for us to take a leadership role, so we brought our energy to the rink.” Alex wanted to address the rumor…

In the spring of 2014, Jeremy Ten had all but decided walk away from competitive skating. He felt that his career, which had yielded a pair of Canadian national bronze medals and a solitary appearance at the 2009 World Championships where he placed 17th, was over. “After Four Continents last year, I was like, ‘I’m done; this is it. There’s no point,’” said Ten, who failed to make the 2014 Olympic team. “Then, as time passed, I started to feel this sense that something was missing. So I skated here and there — not serious at all — maybe once a week for a couple of months. It was not until Ten had a conversation with his coach, Joanne McLeod, and Ted Barton, executive director of Skate Canada British Columbia/Yukon…

The venue in which skaters hope to fulfill their dreams in 2018 is yet to be built. But for Alaine Chartrand, it has never seemed more real. In the days that followed the Four Continents Championships in South Korea — in which she placed 10th — Skate Canada took its athletes on a sightseeing trip to Pyeongchang, the city that will host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Though the athletes’ village is still under construction, the Olympic rings are already omnipresent. Chartrand posted a photo of them to her Instagram account, hashtagged with the words “dream” and “inspiration.” “It was very inspiring,” said the 2015 national silver medalist. “Things weren’t finished, but it was still quite the opportunity to be able to go there. You can imagine how everything will…