You know, my favourite versions of Shoma's programs for the season were at Cup of China. He was focussed on the performance, not at all distracted by errors and obviously completely at peace with the scores. Both he and Stephan appeared completely relaxed. For the rest of the season i felt the performances were adversely affected by the external pressure to chase higher scores. A pity that fans projected their need for winning onto him.

Wendy, you are not 🚭🚫 the only one but there were plenty of retirement: Uno was an all around skater and has a good personality: he skated with Yangu and Chen and one of the TOP three medalists and Uno said that Yanyu retired and entertaining now and Chen had evolved in other things but entertaining now and Shoma Uno said that he would retire from competition and he would be missed in the skating world 🌎🌍!!! Maybe, he would decide to coach and entertain as others!!!! A whole new world would open up to him but he left behind good Japanese men skaters for his COUNTRY!!! Or Uno might decide to attend college so you would recover, Wendy!!!! Oh, I didn't know that for the ice dance skaters and now I am shocked because they were moving up and Japanese Skating Federation is demanding and if Timothy wanted to compete, he might try to have another partner who his wife approved but we would find out...I heard that the social ice dance for the rhythm dance would be extensive if you go back in time, there are going to 50's, that I remembered, and I saw 60's that I remembered, and I saw 70's that I remembered too in the past so whatever the ice dance skaters feel comfortable and can bring out their personalities but the question is how the judging system would judge correctly: and the changing for pairs and single skaters to curtail the technical components and extended artistically like ice dance skaters and the interpretation of the 🎵🎶 music would be the key instead of the technical components so much: it's who has what it takes to be a CHAMPION technically and artistically regardless of the country represented and again the scoring system would have to change too: the first back flip was Scott Hamilton of the United States that I remembered, and the second one was Surya B. if France and now Adam of France, but a back flip is illegal technically and there are rules to that effect for competition and that is problematic to those who want to excite the CROWD but it's a competition only so that rule is not 🚭🚫 going to change.. and I am shocked that Conrad threw in the towel too because he was one of the Canadian raising stars of the men after retirement of the Canadian champion last year and you mentioned a couple of them and they have to work on their consistently after injuries and last but not 🚭🚫 least, I thought 🤔 that Deanna had already changed citizenship because the United States of America had already RELEASED her from our part and she RESIDES in CANADA like Piper who was an American and changed citizenship to compete for CANADA and I heard that an American surfer who is changing from American citizenship to compete for CANADA because she too was RELEASED here so the problem is the CANADIAN Homeland Security SIDE and they got their own rules and regulations since they are part of the COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES and who knows, she might be closed to her Canadian citizenship before 2026 and she doesn't seem that worried about it to me and personally, for her sake, I hope that she accomplished that goal like others but I am sure that she would be a Canadian through and through as we speak!!! Thank you for sharing though!!!

Ha, noted the talk of k-pop in competition. noted Yuzuru is doing the k-pop dance in his show.

Шома Уно - гений ФК! Уникальный фигурист!!! Спасибо огромное Шоме Уно за потрясающую карьеру! ❤💥👏👏👏 Счастья и дальнейших успехов в профессиональной карьере!!!

My initial reaction was "ughhh more decade dances" but I'm hoping we'll see some gems because dance was a huge part of the culture in the 50s-70s. Overall, I just think the governing body needs to bring in outside voices for the themes going forward if this is the best they can come up with. The themes are giving high school dance, this is a prestigious global sport.

I’m with you, Wendy. I actually cried after hearing his announcement, even though I knew it was coming, knew he wanted to retire, knew it was the right thing for him and for Yuma and Japan Fed, who are so ready for Yuma to be Japan’s Ace. I think Yuma may be a small part of the retirement equation for Shoma; he may have felt, like I did, that Yuma was holding back a tiny bit at Japan Nationals, because of the strong age bias in Japan, whereby the young don’t challenge the old. Interesting that he told Stephane he was retiring after Nationals. But most of all, I think he retired simply because he was ready. He was ready when he won injured at 2023 Worlds. He was ready at the beginning of 2024 season. He wants to skate now “for himself”, without the incessant focus on jumps which is men’s figure skating. And he correctly feels that he has “done his duty” and can retire now with honor. Also, Shoma’s emotional perspective is so unusual. He honestly seems to love his competitors’ successes. That is incredibly rare in any sport or any kind of work. He loves watching his competitors skate and is thrilled instead of threatened by the beauty of their performance. His former coach Mihoko tells us that he was so excited by Javier Fernandez’ skate at FS 2018 Olympics that she didn’t think she could get him calmed down for his own performance immediately after. And, shy as he still is, he seems to genuinely care for many other skaters, wanting them to do well and relishing their accomplishments, even those from other countries. He got severe criticism in Japan and internationally for saying he wanted Nathan to win Olympics 2022, but by Shoma’s logic of the heart this made perfect sense: Yuzuru had already won 2 consecutive Olympic gold metals, Nathan was humiliated and defeated in 2018, he had won almost every gold from 2018-2022, he was working incredibly hard almost to the point of injury (I read his book), and now he deserved the relief of victory. Also, I don’t think Shoma is ‘done’ with skating, its difficult and complicated part. When he left Mihoko I was so eager to see him skating under other choreographers. Likewise, although Stephane has been a superb coach in terms of emotional growth, artistry, improving confidence, and blade mastery, Shoma now can explore other choreographers, other regimes. Kenji Miyamoto who created Oboe, Shay Lynne Bourne with Great Spirit and Come Together, David Wilson for DOMO; the list is really endless. Go now Shoma! Show us what a fulfilling, creative, and happy retirement in figure skating looks like. Yuzuru’s creativity has exploded in a blast of amazing works since he retired. Shoma doesn’t have Yuzuru’s seductive charisma and amazing financial acumen, but he has wonders of his own to show us, and I am ready for them.

Grew up in the Chicago suburbs -- we had square dancing and East Coast Swing in PE class even in high school. I think it was a way to deal with long winters and avoid making us change out of our Catholic School uniforms.

Even though I saw it coming, I'm devastated by the news of Shoma's retirement - especially because I feel like he could have continued on as a top competitor for another year or two. There was no one like him on the ice and his absence will be felt in the upcoming seasons. I hope he'll be happy and fulfilled with whatever he chooses to do next.

Great episode as always ! Your show always gets me hopeful and excited for what's to come 🥰

Does the ISU dislike Ice Dancing now?

Do you still think that Chock and Bates will come back or retire?

I am sad to see Shoma Uno retire; however, I will be also sad, for different reasons when Jason Brown retires from competitive skating. I can't wait to see what Jason skates to for the next two seasons. I can't wait to see if Jason Brown makes his third Olympic Team. Jason is one of the greatest artists of any generation. I bet he will be a choreographer after he retires from competitive skating.

Same, Wendy, I am sad , but not shocked. I think that Shoma Uno retired this year because he thought he couldn't win an Olympic gold medal. This is this the only medal that Shoma hadn't won. I get the sense that he is tired of getting silver.

No word if they're going to ban skaters going up to the judges panel during their program? Got tired of that last year. For the short program they should try a movie's dance scene theme.

The dances styles of the 50s, 60s, and 70s are SO different from each other. It's gonna be *_really_* interesting how all the styles will be interrogated. 🤔

Gold in my heart I didn't watch most of the season but from the competitions I watched I will start with my favs which are the Men. Gold in my heart for the men is Adam Siao Him Fa. It so amazing how far he has come since he caught my attention in 2022. He earned the second Olympic spot for France in 2022. He went from middle of the pack over the past 2 seasons to being among the top Men and sealing his legend with that final performance this season ❤ The gold in my heart for women was Kimmy Ripond. I have been a fan for a short time. I know she had an injury and growth spurt that she struggled with all season. That final performance after a bad short demonstrated with great skating skills how despite all those struggles she had no control over was able to perform a phenomenal program that gave her 5th overall in the world. ❤ Gold in my heart for pairs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara. They are just so magical to watch and I love them so much. Fighting through injury to take the silver was just great to watch. ❤ Gold in my heart for ice dace Alison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius. That AcDc program was everything. I am so looking forward forward to the push towards 2026 ❤ Special shout out Deniss Vasiljevs for bringing the house down with the Lion King program that was a program constructed from an existed one in 3 weeks and finishing in the top 10. ❤️

Wendy, how are you after hearing about the retirement of shoma? I think everyone was expecting it, but it is still sad 😕

We don't know for certain yet whether or not he's retiring, but... I want to shout out Shoma Uno for carrying these post Olympic seasons. What he achieved at Worlds in the short program for me embodies almost like, the Platonic ideal of what men's skating can be. Disciplined and clean, but so deeply felt, soulful, and introspective. Gold in my heart for sure, even though it wasn't his time to podium overall. And he has more than enough medals, anyway. What a journey he's had! What an impact he's had.

My absolute Fav from the juniors men was definetly Yanhao (Dwayne) Li of newzealand. He kind of flew under the radar here after having won bronze at YOG, but in my opinion still worth mentioning. We almost had a dejavu from last JWC where he just barely did't qualify, and i think he was definetly underscored, mainly due to early group judging sydrome. (five points less in components than YOG)

My golden my heart this season is Adam Siao Him Fa. I was not a big fan of Figure skating until I heard his name and saw his performance. I fell in love how he narrates on ice. Now I watch nationals and went to the ice shows. He drew me in and made me a fan of FS.

My personal fav this season from the senior field (i am way to obsessed with juniors) is probably Chaeyeon Kim. Probably the best jumps in the womens field (apart from the iffy flip edge, but i thinks thats fixable), and an amazing level of skating skills and spinning ability considering she was such a late starter.

Missed you guys, love this new form. They were lots of amazing skates this season, can't wait for the next one

It has to be Deanna and Max for me. Their season was historic and something that all of figure skating will remember and celebrate for years to come. I also can't wait to see what Adam and Benoit create next year. They seem very well matched as a team.

Only recently came across your podcast - long time figure skating fan (was a young kid when Torvill and Dean won gold) and used to figure skate. LOVE your insights, both of you. And you've definitely gained a new fan/subscriber here! Looking forward to more! Thank you so much for a great season retrospective!

What a great recap - brought back so many great memories. Crazy how it all already seems so long ago! I'm a massive Reed/Ambrulevicius fan and your comments about them really chime with my own feelings: such great story-telling, and they always go left-field with their music choices. My gold in my heart for the season is, however, Piper and Paul. I felt that they were very much swimming against the tide in terms of the notorious Ice Dance 'Judging Order' all season - but to pull out that truly beautiful and spectacular FD at Worlds - almost forcing the judges to reward them, took real guts. Two really awesome people, into the bargain. Roll on the next season!

many of my favorites of the season were mentioned here as well, it's nice to look back to some of the earlier performances. i'm a huge fan of Marjo and Zak so i'm so happy they're being mentioned a lot here 😂 they had a lot of big moments this season (almost beat Gilles/Poirier at Cup of China, GPF debut) but their defining moment for me is delivering 2 spectacular skates at home Worlds after Marjo's concussion :') so happy they could come back on time and i hope it's only up from here for them. i also really enjoyed Hase/Volodin, what a dream debut season for them! their short program may be quite generic but i love it a lot.

I really enjoyed Loena H's programs. So energetic! I know some people don't like her style but I found her entertaining, and sports stars still have to entertain at the end of the day. I also discovered junior ice dance this season and love all the teams!

I think it's already established wisdom that Ilia Malinin is the greatest jumper in the history of figure skating. It's not simply that he does the jumps but he makes them look simple. One skating commentator said he makes quads look like triples. My observation is that he looks as comfortable in the air as he is on the ice. It's only a few years since we left the age of Hanyu when it comes to skating competition. There were two brief interludes where neither Nathan Chen nor Shoma Uno could command the attention that Yuzuru Hanyu commanded when he was competing, even after he started losing major competitions to Nathan Yuzu remained the one who set the standards, who defined what great skating is. We are now entering the age of Malinin and I think he has both the ability and (just as important) the charisma to define the era, Right now it looks like we'll be charting the campaign that will take Ilia to Milan two years from now and if you are thinking this might all be hype, one question I'll ask to make my point; When was the last time (if ever) that a skater entering senior level competition medaled in every competition in which he skated with the overwhelming number of them being gold? Ilia did this and yet, you can see this in his interviews, he is in awe of what he has accomplished and determined to take things further. This is precisely the mindset Yuzu had in his early years of skating. He always bowed to his coach in the kiss and cry, letting the world know his was a joint accomplishment. Ilia, however, has a different relationship to his coaches as they are also his parents. I think that both of them were experienced skaters back in the 90s will enable him to avoid the pitfalls other skaters might succumb to. His parents are there to act as his ego circuit-breakers.

I'm super late to the game, but these are my bunker picks ! - Aljona Savchenko & Bruno Massot's "La Terre Vue du Ciel" free skate at the 2018 Olympics - Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir's "Moulin Rouge" free skate at the 2018 Olympics (and the tape HAS to include the kiss and cry) - Joannie Rochette's short program at the 2010 Olympics (also has to include the kiss and cry, as someone who also lost a parent at a similar age I can't put words onto what it means to me) - Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron's "Fame" rhythm dance, I love the costumes so it pains to me to say this but I think it has to be the OnIcePerspectives version because my god the way it shows off the speed of their finstep blows my mind - Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron's "Find Me" free dance, probably at GP finals, or maybe NHK purely because of Gabi's adorable reaction to the slow motion replays - Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani's rhythm dance at US nationals 2018 - Mirai Nagasu improv'ing to Styx's "Boat on the River" at Improv Ice - Nathan Chen's 2018-2019 "Caravan" short program (can't chose which iteration of it... Maybe Rostelecom??) - Kevin Aymoz's "Horns" short program at skate Canada 2018 - Wenjing Sui & Cong Han's "Rain in your Black Eyes" free skate at worlds 2019 OR their Blues for Klook short program - Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean's Bolero at the 1984 Olympics - Olivia Smart & Adrian Diaz's "Mask of Zorro" free skate at the 2022 Olympics (Yes I know that's 12 but you guys get to watch each other's stuff !) Honorable mention to Tessa & Scott's compulsory dance from the 2010 Olympics because I've never been so excited during a compulsory dance (and maybe their Carmen too!) And in terms of all-time Favs : Single Men is Shoma Uno (but maybe Nathan Chen too), single women Mirai Nagasu, Ice Dance I cannot choose between Virtue/Moir and Papadakis/Cizeron, and Pairs probablt Sui/Han but also specifically Vanessa James And a question, if you ever do another Q&A or if the subject comes up : I'd love to hear what you guys think about specific clubs dominating a whole discipline, like for example IAM or Eteri before the ban (maybe positives and negatives of this...) I feel very negative about what happened to the women's discipline because of Eteri, but I love IAM, and I feel like that's helped me see more nuance in the topic Love the podcast, can't wait for more !!

If you guys run out of topics during the off season, maybe you could do a rewatch and retrospective on past events? Just wish your podcast was around during the 2022 Olympics 🙂 Or your top 10 programs of the season for each discipline, love hearing your opinions!

So fun to go back and listen to your first episode! Really appreciate your insights!

podcast sucks .. have zero idea what you are talking about with no event to have watched.

There is going to be zero growth in the USA for figure skating if everyone cannot view the competitions to create the fan base. WHERE is there a recording we can access of an entire event for the senior competitions? I HATE these clips out of context and have zero idea who you are speaking about without the video of the skaters. THIS IS AWFUL! A life long lover of figure skating and a computer nerd that cannot find recordings a month later. What the hell! ... YOU GUYS may be wonderful and interesting but this is a SAD recording for someone looking for the VIDEO of a complete event with commentary and judging scores in real time. THIS IS AWFUL. Who wants to watch an event a clip of one participant at the time. THIS IS AWFUL!

I saw the Gold on Ice show in Leesburg. Had to invest 7 hours of driving to see a 2 hour show, but sooooo worth it! It was the kind of show you are talking about here, lots of local and up and coming skaters mixed in with their incredible line up of Ilia, Isabeau, Chock and Bates, and Stellato-Dudek. Ting Cui gave a heart meltingly beautiful tribute performance of East of Eden, including Michelle Kwan-like choreography with lots of spirals. I just about died of happiness. Lindsey Thorngren comes out as a surprise to me and did her phenomenal Windmills of Your Mind program, which one of my favorites of the season. All of this added to Ilia's Malaguena short and his new Hope program, Chock and Bates with a unique and beautiful exhibition piece, Stellato and Dudek wowing the crowd with lifts, spirals, and throw jumps, and Isabeau with a beautiful exhibition number to a Lana del Ray song about love and "soft ice cream." That lyric took me by surprise! Ilia did a few quads but honestly, in live performance they are difficult to tell from triples, he rotates so fast. After Ilia's first number, he introduced his little sister skating to a kitty cat number! Adorable. You are so write that seeing live skating is transformative. What Chock and Bates do is amazing in every way. Madison is such a big personality on tv, in person she is tiny but perfection itself in how she completes all their intricate lifts so fluidly. Ok, how can I forget Keegan, who was the only one beside Ilia to do TWO programs, and his spirals and moves are so fast and so big he really needs two ice rinks to complete them! He was flying around the ice, practically bursing out of the boards. His spins in person are at mind blowing speeds. He got huge audience recognition as did Donavan Carillo, it was of course a knowledgeable skating crowd. But...as reflective of the state of US skating and also the short notice given for the show, the small arena was not sold out, there were a lot of $100 seats empty as people mostly paid for the $49 seats that had a tall hockey barrier between them and the skaters. There was a large syncho group "Washington Theatre on Ice" that did two programs and I believe a lot of tickets were sold to their family and friends and they probably were included to build up ticket sales (there were very good and definitely contributed to the excellence of the show). Seriously, the only US show for the greatest technical skater of all time, newly crowned world champion, who trains in that area, should have sold out in minutes! I'm enjoying your podcast and wish you could have seen this show!

Where can I see the videos about Japan SOI and the social interactions between skaters?

Really enjoyed this episode. New fan here. I DO call bullshit on the Japanese reaction after the Free Skate. Friends who were backstage said that the story fed to the public didn't align with the activity backstage. I hope SHE can understand why people resented HER reactions, she can fix this, and we can celebrate them again the way we did last season. Left a bad taste in MANY people's mouths.

Can't wait for the Japanese pair to grow up a whole bunch. The childish reaction after the Free Skate in the Kiss and Cry was so unprofessional and truly left a bad taste in my mouth. He wasn't sick for the medal podium. Worst case of disrespect to the sport EXCEPT FOR THE RUSSIA DRUG CHEATING. Get it together. You are better than that.

Love your insights about broadening the viewer’s aspects of the figure skating. Adron and Wendy are really the gem. I love this show so much, I’m listening to some of the older ones, I laughed so hard when Wendy imitated Mark ‘What a shame~!’ 🤣🤣 I’d very much appreciated if you could cover something like how social media expanded the skating lovers to have more contents to watch on their hands nowadays. Kids scroll down instagram and fall in love with not just with competitive skaters, also for the ‘skating for fun’ skaters. Such inspirations like ‘I started skating at 15 and got this far at 17.’, or middle aged people love to watch ‘skating at 48’. During the season, there were so many posts like ‘is it too late to start learn skating?’ posted on Reddit so.many.times. Everytime I go to the public, I can see people in their 30s to 60s, came with their children or grand children, trying to learn skating. And their kids just love being on the ice with them. We love to watch the skating, we love to go out to watch the skating, we love to learn to skate. It’s fun! There’s no age limit to learn skating. Just wear the protective gears. I am unsure if it were like this even before the social media but this is definitely how I feel about FS these days. At least in terms of parent of early teen. There are so many fields of movements, kids find them cool and want to learn. Some of them bring their gymnastics and dancing background to the ice. It’s evolving and I can’t wait to see FS 5-10 years from now.

I actually understand where P and C are coming from. They've had the opportunity to live in the world without the pressure of competition for an extended amount of time as individuals. It makes sense that they may be on different paths. I love them but I'm satisfied with just seeing the beautiful clips they post on social media. They've given a lot to the sport, I just want to see them thrive as people.

Love your show.

Did NBC take down that viral video of Ilia’s free skate? I wanted to rewatch it recently and I noticed I can’t find it anymore. If they did take it down that’s really a shame as it was doing a great thing by spreading the word about how exciting figure skating is.

I'd love a guide to warhorses! I enjoy classical music and opera, but I don't always understand the context of the storytelling of the pieces, the history of definitive skates that made each work of music so iconic in skating, and a refresher on which current skaters have done the best job of modernizing them. Who has the best Bolero, for instance? Would also love music recommendations: what war horses should Kaori, Ilia, etc. take on? thanks for this video 🙏🏾

I was surprised not to see ice dancers Flores/Desyatov in any shows. Their Nationals performance was the crowd favorite, and Bella has the biggest IG following of any US ice dancer. She's picked up 150k new followers since December. Their fan base is probably dying to see them skate in person.

Adam's redemption was the highlight of the championship. I was so sad after his short program; I even had a hard time sleeping that night. I was crushed for him. It's easy for me to relate because I have anxiety, and it can really change the way I react in this kind of situation. On Saturday, I watched the first group alone, and when I saw him step on the ice, I started to cry! I just wanted him to overcome his stress and show everyone how talented he is. I was completely in tears before the end of the program, and I KNEW he was going to do the backflip. So happy for him that he medaled, but most importantly, he got to skate how he loves.

The French tour looks incredible; I'm so sad not to be in France right now! Every day, I'm watching all the stories the skaters are sharing, and I just hope the Canadian tour will be just as good (but it's going to be hard to beat!).

I feel like we've been having this conversation about making the sport popular in the US, but the usfsa refuses to listen to great ideas like yours.😢