International Figure Skating February 2022

The Secrets of the Ice “A really enjoyable book that provides an insight into skating history in a part of the world that previously was hidden and very little was known about. Though we saw the people that Alexei speaks about in this book, we did not have any context as to what they meant to the Soviet/Russian figure skating system. Now we have some context. If you love the sport and the people who have helped build it globally, you want to give yourself some time to read the words of an extraordinary man! What a joy!” AVAILABLE NOW! @ifsmagazine.com (eBook Format) Print edition available November 2021…

With just a few weeks until the 2022 Olympic Winter Games begin, the excitement is building in the skating world. The first half of the season closed out on a high note with Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu returning to competition and dominating the men’s field at the national championships. Across the pond, Kamila Valieva won the Russian Championships with a mile to spare. We will see both of these athletes taking the ice in Beijing with Hanyu’s sights set on claiming a third Olympic crown and Valieva her first. As the Grand Prix Final was cancelled this season, we did not have the opportunity to see the top guns go up against each other. The Japan Federation only gave the International Skating Union (ISU) notice that it was cancelled a week…

Long before the 2021-2022 season got underway, Jason Brown and his coach Tracy Wilson had set a plan for which competitions he would be attending in the first half of the season. They settled on two Challenger Series events along with the two Grand Prixs he would be assigned to. Brown won his first competition, Finlandia Trophy, in early October over Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada and Dmitri Aliev. Two weeks later, he finished second to his teammate Nathan Chen at Skate Canada and in mid-November captured bronze at Internationaux de France, behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato. The next competition on the calendar for the 26-year-old American was Golden Spin of Zagreb in early December, which was scheduled to take place the same week as the Grand Prix Final for…

Loena Hendrickx continues to build on the success she enjoyed last season, which concluded with a fifth-place finish at the 2021 World Championships. The native of Belgium opened her 2022 Olympic season with a fourth-place finish at Finlandia Trophy in October. Three weeks later, Hendrickx competed at her first Grand Prix, Gran Premio D’Italia, where she shocked the world by finishing in first place ahead of Russia’s Maiia Khromykh and Anna Shcherbakova in the short program. It was the first time Hendrickx had ever won a segment at a major international competition. “It was a weird feeling because it was the first time I had to skate on my birthday, so I wanted to do the best I could,” said Hendrickx, who turned 22 on the day of the short…

When Boyang Jin captured back-to-back bronze medals at the 2016 and 2017 World Championships, the Chinese Skating Association had good reason to believe he was on track to bring home a medal from the 2018 Winter Olympics. That belief was reinforced by his victory at the Four Continents Championships just weeks before those Games began. But Jin finished fourth in PyeongChang, missing the third step of the podium by 7.47 points. A month later, he finished 19th at the World Championships. In the two full seasons since then, his results have been an up and down affair. At the 2021 World Championships, China was aiming to earn two men’s spots at its home Games. But that plan was foiled after Jin had the worst outing of his career, finishing in…

Japan’s Mai Mihara was a star on the rise during the 2018-2019 season, capturing four medals, including gold at the Winter Universiade. But shortly after that season ended, the Kobe native was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, which in turn led to other health issues that prevented her from training or competing. As the months passed, many wondered if Mihara would ever return to the sport. But showing the grit and determination she is known for, she returned to training and made her first competitive appearance in 21 months, finishing fourth at 2020 NHK Trophy. A month later, she placed fifth at the national championships. Mihara opened this season with a win at the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, defeating her long-time training mate Kaori Sakamoto by 1.30 points. “From start…