International Figure Skating October 2021

As we go to print, a new season is about to get underway, starting with the Junior Grand Prix Series. The first two competitions will take place in Courchevel, France, after Canada canceled an event due to ongoing pandemic restrictions. With many of the top skaters from the 2019-2020 junior campaign now in the senior ranks, a new crop of young stars is set to hit the seven stages. I am really looking forward to this Series, and the surprising new talents that will emerge from many different countries. As always, every skater at every stop of this Series will be shown on the ISU YouTube channel, with commentary by Ted Barton. The first senior competitions of the season, the Challenger Series, begin in early September. But, it will be…

It is almost uncanny. Karen Chen, a 21-year-old from Fremont, California, has competed only twice at the World Championships — 2017 and 2021 — and the stakes were identical at both. Not only were global titles and medals on the line, but also berths at an Olympic Winter Games the following year. And to add to the mystique, those two World Championships just happened to be contested in neighboring European countries (Finland in 2017 and Sweden in 2021). At each of those World Championships, the United States went in with two women’s entries, aspiring to land a third spot at the Olympics. It required the American skaters’ final placements to add up to 13 or less, and on both occasions they did exactly that — with Chen playing the primary…

It was, Nikolaj Sørensen will tell you now, the craziest of thoughts – or so it seemed at the time. After being denied the chance to compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea due to citizenship issues, the Danish ice dancer and his Canadian partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry first hatched the idea of switching countries. In March 2018, they made the decision to represent Canada with the goal of earning a place on its 2022 Olympic Winter Games squad. Now the second top team in the country, that dream could very well become reality in a few months time. Though the path has been anything but smooth at times — especially the last two years—Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen can now see the biggest prize squarely…

Rohene Ward has earned global recognition for his work as a choreographer, particularly for the programs he has created for the American skater Jason Brown. But getting to this point in his life and career has been a long and often disappointing journey. As a skater of mixed race, his competitive career was a series of highs and lows, both on and off the ice. However, after retiring in 2008, Ward found his calling and went on to develop a successful career on the other side of the boards. Can you tell us about your family background and how you got into figure skating? I grew up in North Minneapolis. My father was African American, and my mom is Puerto Rican. My parents never married, and they split up when…

The 2021 Grand Prix Series opens with Skate America in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late October, and concludes with Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Russia, at the end of November. With a fairly equal distribution of the top skaters in the world across all six events, including the 2021 World and 2020 European and Four Continents champions, this promises to be one of the most competitive Series in years. Given how challenging it was to secure a berth at any of these competitions, there will likely be very few changes, other than those that withdraw due to injury or illness. The Russian women captured 17 spots for their nation on the circuit this year. On the flip side, no Australian or Israeli skaters ranked high enough in the World Standings to…

A new generation of young stars fresh out of the junior ranks will be gracing the senior Grand Prix stages for the first time this season. Some will come armed with quads and triple Axels, and all will be looking to make a solid impression in their respective debuts in the big leagues. The top four women from the 2020 World Junior Championships have all moved up to the senior level: Russia’s Kamila Valieva, Daria Usacheva and Maiia Khromykh, who are coached by Eteri Tutberidze and her team in Moscow, and Alysa Liu of the U.S. None of these skaters were old enough to participate in any international competitions at the senior level last season. Kamila Valieva Like many of her predecessors, Kamila Valieva was a dominant force in her…