Figure Skating’s wonder kids are always popular. However, most of these young skaters that make headlines with their early success are girls. Canada’s up and coming Stephen Gogolev is an exception to the rule.
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2019/20 features talented junior skaters from all over the world and provides young skaters aged 13 to 19 (21 for the male ice dance and pair skating partners) with the opportunity to compete at a high international level. The 2019/20 season marks the 23rd edition of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating that was introduced in 1997.
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For a moment at the 2019 ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, it looked like Ren Ziwei, the 22-year-old Chinese skater, was going to win one of the oddest gold medals in the sport since Steven Bradbury took the 2002 Olympic title in the men’s 1000m due to a pile-up.
The International Skating Union (ISU) has published the International Speed Skating & Short Track Speed Skating Competitions for the season 2019/20.
While Europe is suffering from the August heat, Bart Swings (BEL) is already looking forward to the winter. After having won three world titles and seven medals in total at the World Roller Games in Barcelona, the Belgian skating champion switched from wheels to blades by the end of July already.
Japanese star Shoma Uno has surprised the skating world recently when he announced that he is leaving his long-time coaching team of Mihoko Higuchi and Machiko Yamada and has not picked a new permanent coach. “I want a new start,” the Olympic silver medalist stated on his official homepage.
Not many Olympic champions have a Hollywood film made about their lives. But not many Olympic champions have a story to tell quite like that of Steven Bradbury. The Australian has packed more than most into his 45 years.
Every season the ISU invites its Members to send applications to host events as part of the Challenger Series. For the season 2019/20 two applications from Asia were received, Taipei and Hong Kong, to host an event as part of the Series. During its meeting last March, the ISU Council decided to include the event proposed by the Chinese Taipei Skating Union to be held in Taipei City mostly due to more suitable dates.
Arguably the best 1000m skater of her generation, Christine Nesbitt (CAN) was inducted to the Olympic Oval Hall of Champions during the 2019 ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Calgary. In 2017 she had already been inducted in Canada's Speed Skating Hall of Fame. The Melbourne born Canadian celebrated her biggest success on home soil at the Richmond Olympic Oval at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, when she took gold in her signature race.
Jayne Torvill/Christopher Dean. Ice Dance. Bolero. These three terms probably will be connected forever in the world of Figure Skating. The British ice dancers made history with their Bolero Free Dance at the Olympic Winter Games 1984 in Sarajevo (at the time Yugoslavia) and revolutionized the sport.
Inline skating and ice skating are similar at first sight. Many Speed Skating champions also compete in inline competitions and the other way around. Yet, apart from the obvious differences between wheels on tarmac and blades on ice, the two sports require different techniques. Combining inline and ice is by no means easy.
Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva is only 19 years old, but her career already is a story good enough for two skaters. Instant success at the senior level and two ISU World Figure Skating titles were followed by injury, disappointment, a hotly discussed move to Canada and a difficult post-Olympic year. Evgenia ended the season with a personal victory by returning on to the ISU World Figure Skating podium in Saitama, Japan, in March 2019 which gave her confidence for the future.
Last season, the Ice Pearls launched themselves into the Synchronized Skating scene. Based in Harbin, China, they became the first senior team from China to compete at an ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships. The group now looks to continue elevating their exposure during the 2020 season—both as a team and for China—on the international stage.
Who would have guessed that a kids’ birthday party would lead Vincent Zhou (USA) into a successful figure skating career. When he was around five and a half, Vincent attended the party of a friend at a local ice rink. He had so much fun that his mother decided to register him for group lessons.