ISU

Sweden’s Josefin Taljegard’s dreams came true at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 in Stockholm: Competing in her very first World Championships, she not only skated two clean programs on home ice, but also earned an Olympic quota place for her country. Plus the 25-year-old drew attention with her captivating Free Skating program to “Joker”.

The ISU Council decided to provisionally allot the following ISU Championships for the seasons 2022/23 and 2023/24.

The International Skating Union (ISU) announces the launch of This is UpAgain: A Speed Skating documentary. The four-part short-form documentary series follows the stories of five athletes who competed in the 2021 Speed Skating Hub, that took place in Heerenveen, The Netherlands, in January and February and Premieres Friday, July 2 via the ISU Newsletter.

Figure Skating is a sport that combines athletic skills with art like no other. Skaters perform elements of highest difficulty and at the same time interpret the music and dance. The ability to bring across emotions plays, in addition to all technical skills, a key role for success. Kevin Aymoz of France is one of those skaters who has that package.

Speeding to a screen near you... it's the Liu Brothers! Skate into the lives of the legendary Shaoang and Shaolin Liu on the latest #UpAgain Show where the Hungarian Short Track Speed Skating heroes let loose as we explore their incredible stories. From tales of sibling rivalry to smashing records and winning medals, you're going to want to hear everything this dynamite duo have to say! Tune in and share the Liu brother love! 

In April 2021, the National Speed Skating Oval opened its doors in Beijing. The Speed Skating rink, also known as the Ice Ribbon due to its slick exterior lighting beams, is the only newly built venue for the ice events at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Figure Skating is a glamourous sport, but there is a dark side to it that not many people talk about. Behind the glitter, pretty dresses, dance, music and beautiful smiles, Figure Skating is a very tough sport. Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman has seen a lot of this dark side. The 2017 ISU World Figure Skating bronze medalist is only 23 years old, but she struggled with injuries, mental health issues, bullying and yet she is still here and still loves the sport.

Italian Short Track Speed Skating legend Arianna Fontana is targeting her fifth Olympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022.

Katrin Manoilova is one of just two Bulgarian Short Track Speed Skaters to have won any sort of Olympic medal but, when asked to explain the status of the sport in her homeland, she is adamant only one of them really registers.

In Sweden, the name “Majorov” and the word “konståkning” (Figure Skating) are almost inseparably connected to each other. Alexander Majorov senior and his wife, Irina, emigrated from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Sweden in the early 90s to coach the sport of Figure Skating.

The Polish Speed Skating Association PZLS will celebrate its 100th anniversary on October 9, 2021. Over the past century the sport has had its ups and downs in Poland, celebrating its biggest success when Zbigniew Bródka won gold in the 1500m at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Four years later in PyeongChang, Poland did not manage to win any Speed Skating silverware, but PZLS sports director Konrad Niedźwiedzki is working hard to raise a new generation of Polish Speed Skating talent.

With the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games getting closer, Dutch Short Track Speed Skater Sjinkie Knegt still seeks daily improvement after coming back from two horrific injuries. “I am happy I came this far, but I still hope to improve and get better in the future,” Knegt said.

Skaters travel the world at a young age and visit many countries. Well, at least they did that before the pandemic hit and hopefully they will be able to do that soon again. They come into contact with different cultures and languages when travelling and meeting fellow skaters from all over the world in competitions. Jason Brown (USA) was 15 years old when he went to Karuizawa, in Japan, in his first ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating season, in 2010, and he was fascinated right away by the far eastern country.

They often get super nervous when they watch each other’s races, sometimes even a bit frustrated if things don’t go as planned. But most importantly, siblings Hanne and Stijn Desmet (BEL) enjoy living the Short Track Speed Skating life together. “It’s nice to always have someone around you can talk to and be close with,” they said.

The rocker and the bend. Few people outside Speed Skating know what it’s about, but on the ice it can make a world of difference. Twofold ISU World Speed Skating Champion Nils van der Poel (SWE) found out only two weeks before his legendary world record 10,000m race in Heerenveen last February. A Speed Skating tube is neither flat nor straight, here’s why.