International Figure Skating August 2021

Around the same time this issue arrives in your mailbox, another exciting Olympic season will be on the doorstep. With most of the world rebounding from the pandemic, things are looking so much brighter for figure skating on many levels. One of the most positive signs is that fans will be able to attend some competitions in person this season. U.S. Figure Skating is already selling tickets for the first Grand Prix event of 2021, Skate America, which will take place in Las Vegas in late October. In many ways, it was fortuitous that the World Team Trophy took place this year. The event gave skaters a reason to celebrate and, for some, the first opportunity to compete. Though some nations sent members of their 2021 Worlds teams to Japan,…

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier sat and watched the rest of the world go by in the first half of the 2020-2021 season. With no opportunities to compete domestically or internationally, the duo used the time to hone their skills and work on new programs for the Olympic season. But the lack of competition experience proved to be no issue for the Canadian ice dancers at the World Championships in Sweden in late March where Gilles and Poirier, in their season debut, danced into second place in the free and finished third overall, capturing their first global medal in eight appearances. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were absolutely certain they had produced an extraordinary moment in a setting that was anything but ordinary. They knew it as the last note…

Despite the uncertainty of whether or not a skating season would take place in any form, Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc continued to train and stay in shape as if it was business as usual. With only a short closure of their training facility in Euless, Texas, they were in a more fortunate position than many others in that they were able to continue working without interruption throughout 2020. The American duo kicked off their season with a fourth-place finish at Skate America in late October, missing the podium by just 0.42 of a point. Three months later they captured bronze at the U.S. Championships — their first national medal in two seasons since winning the title in 2019 — but both felt the performance was a personal victory in…

When Tamara Moskvina’s father brought a pair of second-hand skates for his then 10-year-old daughter, little did he, or anyone else know that this gift would steer the course of her life for the next 70 years. Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1941 as Tamara Bratus, she first learned to skate on an ice surface that sat on top of a tennis court. Years later, she moved to train at a rink that was housed in an abandoned church. By the time she was 21, Moskvina had won five successive Soviet Union titles (1962-1966). Looking back on everything she has achieved in her life, Moskvina still regards winning her first national title as one of her most cherished memories. “At the time there was the strong singles skating school…

THE TOP SIX HIGHEST-SCORING NATIONS from the past three seasons were invited to contest the 2021 World Team Trophy in Osaka, Japan. In normal times, qualification for this competition would be based on the scores from the current season, but with a number of events canceled due to the pandemic and many skaters unable to travel, the International Skating Union extended the time frame of the World Standings to equalize the playing field. Russia ranked first in the Standings with 9,847 points, followed by the U.S. (8,001), Japan (6,441), Canada (5,580), China (4,537) and Italy (4,021). However, after a disappointing showing at the 2021 World Championships with only one medal to its credit, China declined the invitation and France was invited in its place. Skaters, coaches and officials were secured in…

Figure skating is often the most solitary of pursuits. It was even more so for Keegan Messing in a season overwhelmed by the effects of a global pandemic. That feeling of separation is rather routine for Messing, but it was enhanced even further when COVID-19 tore through the 2020-2021 skating season. Messing, who trains in his home state of Alaska with long-time coach Ralph Burghart, was thousands of miles away from any of his Canadian teammates for more than a year. Keegan Messing’s arrival in Sweden came at the end of 24 hours of travel and three flights, which took him through Seattle, Washington and Amsterdam. But he was not complaining. Messing welcomed the opportunity to reunite with his friends and teammates in March at the World Championships in Stockholm.…