ISU

We’re getting closer to the official start of the skating season with the first ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event in Bangkok, Thailand, later this month. Before we are fully switching to competition mode, we have some more news and updates for you.

Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) has been selected as a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2023 Individual Sportswoman of the Year Award.

The International Skating Union (ISU) today announced the appointment of Colin Smith as its new Director General. Following an extensive and global search process, the ISU Council decided he is the right person to take the ISU as an organization and the ISU sports to the next level. Colin will succeed Fredi Schmid, who has been the ISU Director General since 1996 and retires effective at the end of 2023. Colin will join the ISU in October 2023 to ensure a smooth transition, and effective January 1, 2024, he will assume all responsibilities of the ISU Director General.

The 2022 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) is a trendsetter. It starts with her energetic way of skating and does not end with her exciting programs. The upbeat 23-year-old defended her World title last March in her home country, becoming the first Japanese Skater to win back-to-back World titles (teammate Shoma Uno followed her example in the Men’s event by remaining the reigning World Champion this year after his win in 2022).

Canadian Ice Dancers and silver medalists at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen acknowledge that there is still more to be done behind the scenes to achieve true equity and diversity in the sport.

 You can’t wait for the season to start? The Skaters are getting more and more excited as well. Let’s see what they have been up to recently. 

A winter sports athlete lays the foundation for success in the summer. However, with all the intense training and ongoing preparation for the season ahead, it is also important to balance with physical and mental recovery routines.

The season is gaining momentum. While most Skaters are working in summer camps on their new programs and elements, others are already testing their skills in the first competitions of the new season.

Nutrition is an important part of everyone’s well-being and health, especially for athletes who have to make sure they are fueling their body with the proper type and quantity of food. Let’s have a closer look at what top Skaters are eating to stay healthy and energized.

It’s summer time, but if you think that Skaters are just relaxing on the beach, you are wrong. It is during the summer actually that the athletes lay the foundation for the next competitive season. Let’s have a look at what they are doing to stay fit.

Leading Figure Skaters including all four reigning World Champions Shoma Uno (JPN), Kaori Sakamoto (JPN), Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) and Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) along with Olympic, World and European medalists highlight the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2023/24.

The Olympic Day was also an occasion to celebrate another great announcement: Brittany Bowe (USA), three-time Olympian and seven-time Speed Skating World Champion, was presented today with a Fair Play award from the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in recognition of her extraordinary display of sporting spirit during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The International Skating Union (ISU) is honored to announce that ISU Honorary President Jan Dijkema (2016-2022) was presented today with the Olympic Order – the highest distinction in the Olympic Movement – by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach. Coinciding with the Olympic Day celebration that takes place annually on June 23, the award ceremony was held at the Olympic House in Lausanne (SUI).

As the summer training and season preparations continue, more news and updates from the Skaters are coming in. Believe it or not – there was even a competition happening! However, the Skaters are not only active on the ice these days.

“The world is moving faster than ever, but young people are moving less.” This statement, based on research made by the World Health Organization (WHO), has driven the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to come up this year with the “Let’s Move” initiative, designed to inspire and enable the world to move more every day. Starting today, June 23, 2023, to mark the Olympic Day, “Let’s Move” aims at creating a global movement encouraging people to make time – at least 30 minutes a day – for physical activity. In its continued support to the Olympic Day spirit and values, the International Skating Union (ISU) invites the ice skating community to join the movement and launches on this occasion a special training campaign in collaboration with internationally renowned athletes from all ISU disciplines.